“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” rang the alarm clock. I rolled over in my cocoon of blankets to see that my clock read “3:00 am.” I remembered that today, Oct. 27, was the day newspaper and yearbook traveled to Nashville, AR for the fall workshop.
I rubbed my eyes, threw off my blankets, rolled out my warm, cozy bed, and began to prepare myself for the long day ahead of me. I made myself some hot chocolate for breakfast and packed my pillow and blanket so that I could sleep in that crowded 15-passenger van.
Finally, I was ready to go. I hopped in my 1999 Ford Escort and headed off the school…at 3:45 am. I must say, it was pretty amazing driving around Springdale that early in the morning. I felt like I was the only person left on planet Earth.
Anyways, I arrived to school safely. Of course, I was the first person there so I decided to speed around the parking lot for fun, avoiding those light posts of course. I saw a car pull into the lot and I thought it was my teacher, Mrs. Sprague, so I waved like a crazy woman. Turns out, it wasn’t her. Boy, did I feel like an idiot.
I then quietly parked my car, ashamed of myself, and waited for the rest of the group to show up. Around 4:00 am, they decided to get their lazy selves to school. We boarded the vans and set out on the open, vacant, road. Their I sat, with my best friend Ethan Wilson on my right and my other friend on my left, Anna Moore.
After the sun came up, we stopped at good ‘ol Mcdonalds for breakfast. After satisfying my hunger, I put in my headphones and attempted to fall asleep.
Eventually I gave up on my sleepy dreams and just waited to arrive to Nashville….Arkansas I mean. Not the one in Tennessee.
After a long drive on curvy, two lane roads, we came to the city on Nashville, AR. The first thing we saw when we arrived into town was a pant-less woman, standing in the glass screen of her front door, looking dazed and confused. I felt sorry for that poor woman. I really did. There she stood, with about 15 high school student gawking at her exposed, robust body. Here’s a lesson for everyone reading this. Wear pants when you’re exposed to the outside world, even if you think nobody is looking.
Needless to say, we were scarred for life and there is no looking back when you’ve seen something like that.
After laughing for about ten minutes straight, we came to Nashville High School, home of the Scrappers. It was drizzling a little bit so we hurried inside the building. As we waited for directions as to where to sign in, I noticed an open locker. I was curious as to why it was open so I swung open the metal door a little bit to peek inside. Ethan was standing beside and did the same thing but tried to shut it.
“DON’T TOUCH THAT!” yelled a student down the hall with a fierce tone.
I turned to hide my almost grinning face as Ethan stood straight as a pencil. I’m pretty sure he was fearing for his life at that moment. We walked down the hall, past the dictating girl, and signed into the workshop.
The workshop consisted of two sessions in the morning, lunch, two sessions in the afternoon, and a brief conclusion consisting of awards and door prizes.
After the morning sessions, we all hopped back into the van to go out to lunch. We ended up going to this sketchy looking Mexican restaurant.
I’m not gonna lie, I had my doubts about the place. After being seated, we ordered our food. I decided on chicken enchiladas with rice and beans. The food came and to my surprise, it was the BEST Mexican food I had ever had. It just tasted so GOOD. And the best part was that it wasn’t even that expensive. My meal costed around six dollars.
Afterwards, we headed back to the high school for our afternoon sessions. I had chosen to go to an InDesign and Photoshop class. I walked into the room and my jaw dropped. There sat about 30 brand new iMacs, waiting to be used. I was so excited. Those were my favorite sessions just because of the amazing computers. All the keyboards worked, the mouses actually scrolled, and the monitors were huge.
Next, came the award ceremony. We gathered in the lecture room and waited to hear if our stories and designs had won. I hoped that Har-Ber would win SOMETHING, but I never thought we were going to win 23 awards! 23!!! Every time I walked up to the podium to get the certificate, I could feel the other schools shooting daggers of hate with their eyes into my back. I would make my way back to my seat and as soon as my butt hit they chair I’d hear Har-Ber’s name being announced for another award. It was great; it truly was.
After the closing ceremony, we all boarded the vans to head home. We said goodbye to the small town we had shared so many memories in, and traveled four in a half hours back to Springdale.
Along the way, we stopped for dinner at the Chick-fil-a in Fort Smith. As we sat down, we noticed the workers carrying this GIANT Chick-fil-a cow. Of course, we wanted one. Turns out, the cow costed $30! Personally, I believe that’s a smidge on the expensive side. In fact, we almost stole the cow. It was just sitting out in the open looking lonely and whatnot. Sadly, we didn’t steal the cow for fear of being expelled or giving Har-Ber a bad name.
Finally, the vans hit the blacktop of the school parking lot. We were home. I said goodbye to the new friends I had made along the way. It was 9:00 and I was exhausted.
The trip had created new friendships, and I definitely became closer to some of my classmates. Hopefully, the national convention in Seattle, Washington in April will be even better.
