Day One: The University of Michigan and the drive

Scenes from Michigan

We are all safe and sound in Stratford, Ontario after a long but exhilarating first day of our trip. We enjoyed a beautiful visit at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor that started with lots to eat at the dining commons, and ended with reflections about what will make our students prepared for an elite school like Michigan, and ruminations on how we could see ourselves on this campus as college students in just over a year. One of our students, Shanique, expounds upon these ideas below:

The University of Michigan was a beautiful campus! I could really picture myself enrolled in that university.  It was open and it had a lot of resources available for their students. For example, they offer a taxi service to ensure your safe return to your dorm at late hours and they also have centers to help people adjust to the college life. One thing I learned was that the lectures the professors give are recorded, which gives the students extra help outside of the classroom setting. I also loved how there are several libraries available on campus. I learned that the University of Michigan has a lot of student run groups and organizations. There is even a group entirely dedicated to napping! What I loved most  about the campus was that it is HUGE. I picture myself next year in a large university and I can definitely picture myself at Michigan. Our tour guide Jon was open and honest with us about everything that his school offers, and the best piece of advice he gave us was to not get hung up on one part of the application because no one qualification guarantees your acceptance. --Shanique Fields

Shanique and the rest of the Shakespeare Society learns about the U of M's history from our tour guide.

Michigan's beautiful library

The following is a reflection from another Shakespeare Society member, Francisco:

So… where to begin? Well for starters, the original vehicles that we had reserved ahead of time were unavailable and we had to settle for 3 SUV’s J. The bright side was that we got $800 off our original price, the downside: we were CRAMPED. Even-though we were cramped we made the best of it. We all laughed, sang, and told ghost stories when the night fell. 

            The delicious buffet at the university made up for missing the info session due to a delay in our vehicle delivery. Also our tour guide, Jon, explained everything that was relevant to what we wanted to know, probably even better than the people in the information session. Besides the long walks in the blazing sun, the campus was breathtaking, and the libraries…there were so many libraries!

            Once we departed from the University of Michigan, three words can describe the rest of the drive: long, goofy, relieving. If all of the detours, delays, etc. hadn’t been enough, we were stopped at the Canadian border for having copies of our birth certificates instead of the originals, even though the Festival directions clearly said copies were acceptable (as Mr. Schnall continuously reminded us). I think Ms. Krieg and Mr. Schnall’s hearts actually stopped when the border police said, “You most likely will have to turn around.” But after our teachers talked to the immigration officers, we got everything taken care of and were back on our way.

            It’s after midnight and no one seems to be tired because everyone is so excited about what awaits us in Canada for the rest of the trip. So this wraps up today’s adventure, and we are anticipating the next adventure tomorrow.

We are exhausted from day one, but are so excited to see our students genuinely enjoying each other's company, as well as learning how to deal with challenges and travel hiccups in an authentic way (maybe a little too authentic). But we know they will be stronger for it, and we can't wait to update you tomorrow about day two.

Go Blue,

Annie and David