Fall reading period acts as a much-needed break in the middle of a hectic term. Students have spent the past several weeks coming to terms with the end of summer and adjusting to life back at Lawrence. If you ask a group of Lawrentians what they’re planning on doing over the four-day break, you’re bound to get answers as varied as the students themselves. Lawrence clubs and groups sponsor several different activities and trips, and students also make independent plans to travel, visit friends or go back home.
One of the most popular reading period offerings are Outdoor Recreation Club (ORC) trips. Sophomore Matt Larson, a leader of one of the trips going out this week, will be taking a group of students to “the superior hiking trail…along the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota.”
“It’s going to be cold, it’s been snowing up there. There’s going to be cliffs and bluffs and inland lakes. Thursday, Friday and Saturday we’re sleeping on the trail and we’re heading back [to campus] Sunday,” he explained.
Sophomore Aaron Witter, a close friend of Larson’s who will be out on the trail, expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “I’m really excited, it’s going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend timeout in nature with some of the greatest people I know.” Other members of ORC are also leading trips to the Black River State Forest, The Porcupine Mountains in northern Wisconsin as well as on a bird watching trip in conjunction with the Bird and Nature Club.
Some students take this time as an opportunity to think about their future, both academically and professionally. Sophomore Elana Lambert is joining a group of students attending the Lawrence Scholars in Business trip to visit businesses in Chicago, an overnight trip leaving campus on Wednesday. Lambert explained that the group will be “meeting some alumni and seeing what they are doing in their life after Lawrence. I am interested in meeting them and seeing if anything they are doing inspires me.”
But many students decide to remain on campus, and dorms and clubs try to plan activities and events accordingly. Sage, for example, will be hosting movie nights open to all students left on campus. Sophomore and RLA Jacob Dalton explained that they will be showing a three-day romantic movie marathon.
“We’ll be showing ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ ‘Love Actually’ and ‘The Princess Bride.’ It’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday and we’re supplying tissues and chocolate,” he said. There is also a trip to a corn maze planned for Saturday.
It seems that students, no matter what they’re doing for reading period, are taking advantage of the time given to them to relax, explore, and regroup for the rest of the busy fall term.