Day 1: Finding Comfort in Each Other and the Airport Floor - Sydney

Don’t worry, we didn’t spend the night in the airport.

Our first day of J-Term! We were all at the airport by 4am, saying our goodbyes (and hellos) ready to head to
Jamaica. We were all at the very least really tired, but very excited at the same time. This was our first trip of the
year, so I was extremely pumped. A couple hours went by, and I woke up to a bunch of loud teenagers talking over
me about where we landed and what was going on. As I looked out my window, I saw big chunks of snow and ice.
I was very confused, and then Zoey told me we were in Michigan. At that point I was officially awake.

You know, you think you know people, and then you travel with them, and you learn a whole new side of them.
And then you have a travel mishap, and you learn even more about them. The far majority of the people we are
with I thought I knew well, but I learned so much more about everyone in the best way possible. You’d think
having a bunch of tired teenagers without their luggage would be a toxic situation, but it turned into an awesome
bonding experience.

We spent the next 4 hours napping at the gate, walking around the airport, playing cards, and doing yoga while
Dr. Lee was busy trying to find us a way to not spend the next four days in Chicago with no luggage! I was very
tired, but at the same time I couldn’t have been happier with how everyone was coping. We all had so much fun
just spending time together after the break, and just talking about life in general made me smile so much. We
knew we would be able to handle whatever came our way, and we all knew we would be able to have a positive
attitude about it. By some miracle, we found a way to get to Jamaica the next morning, and we were off on our
next adventure: Figuring out what to do for the rest of the day while in Chicago!