Exam Week & Alumni Ball

After Hawaii, there was one study day followed by two exam days. The last thing I had on my mind was studying though! My Global Studies class was the only one that had an exam and that was over before we even got to Hawaii. So my exam week was exam-less. So nice! I tried to get as much sun and relaxation in as I could, but it proved harder than I thought. There was so much to think about, see and do before the week ended. I spent much of the time getting pictures and videos from friends and from the public drive in the IT lab where we could post pictures for the entire community to share. Another day was called Re-entry day in which we went to a bunch of little panels and seminars on re-entry into the United States as well as reverse culture shock. I think the best advice we were given was to continue to explore. We may not be able to travel the globe now, but there are cool places and things to see right around all of our towns. America has a ton to offer us! Another great piece of advice was to jump back into school and get involved again. This will help us take our minds off traveling and being at sea. Many kids said they have started to work in their school's study abroad office in order to live vicariously through other students.

I really do think I'm going to go through an adjustment after having been at sea for so long. Even while in Hawaii and having my phone with me, I realized that I really don't like phones so much. It takes work to keep up with it! I'm so used to being cut off from the world and socializing face to face with people rather than through technology....I think I like it better that way....you get to know and understand people better when you can actually sit down and talk with them for hours on end.

The night of the last exam day was Alumni Ball. This is the dinner where everyone gets dressed up, there is a champagne toast, dinner, and dessert, dancing, etc. To begin the night there was a showing of the voyage slideshow which was incredible. Brittany App, our photographer, did an incredible job with pictures. She's awesome! The slideshow was so well done and emotional and exciting all wrapped up into one amazing memory. There was also a musical performance. After that was pictures with Captain Jeremy followed by dinner with a champagne toast. Dinner was bread, spring rolls, broccoli cheddar soup, caesar salad and filet. Desserts were AMAZING. There was cake, pastries, jello, and so much more. It all looked really cool. Dancing was on the seventh pool deck with lights and music and basically a club scene. It was a super great night to wrap up our exam week and begin to look forward to coming home.