May 12

This week was a busy one at the RMS. To begin with, we had the AP exams, which, even to students not taking them, created a foreboding air. This, in conjunction with other academic work, kept most everyone busy. The tests always make things a bit stressful, but everyone really supported and encouraged each other; the community really came together to be successful. Luckily, work and study were punctuated by some fun classes and activities. Monday's cheese tasting activity helped us put our minds to something less academic: holding a contest of flavors between French and Spanish cheeses and meats and refining our palates. On Wednesday science class traveled to a recent controlled burn site. We did a mini-field-study, in which we compared the difference in vegetation variety in three different burn sites. It turns out that localized forest fires are highly beneficial in the long term to flora and fauna in an area. Another great study break was the swimming activity. It was incredibly relaxing to sit in a hot-tub and let the stress of the APs melt away.

This Thursday and Friday we had a lot of fun. Through hard work, reviews in AP US History, and late-night cabin study sessions, everyone made it through the first week of AP tests. On Thursday some people caught up on work during activity period showing how responsible we can be. This week we've starting working on our sustainability projects in Science, turned in our essay of A River Runs Through It in English, and began our last unit in Spanish. On Friday, Karl's Algebra II class went out for pizza and pie at his house. Even though the classes can get a bit stressful in the last few weeks, we are learning so many great things that it definitely makes it worth all the work. As it is the last two weeks and crunch time at the RMS, breaks like this are nice. Going to Karl's house set a great tone for the weekend to come.

This past Saturday, we spent the morning in classes, a deviation from our normal course of messed up schedules and tests. Many people felt a great sense of relief after finally having finished their AP US History exam on Friday. In science, both classes participated in a debate over the benefits and disadvantages of a wind farm on Cape Cod, ultimately deciding that building wind farms would be beneficial to the area. In Advanced Spanish, we had a discussion (in Spanish, of course) about the changes in the Chicano movement over recent decades. The P&P discussion of the day centered on the types of people who enjoy wilderness and if white people are more likely to be found in wilderness than other ethic groups. The small group discussions got heated at the tables in Who's Hall, eventually culminating in a heated debate about homosexuals and the wilderness. AP US celebrated their end of exams by not having class in the afternoon and got to spend some extra time enjoying a sunny afternoon in town. We did our laundry, cruised around town, and hung out at Provin' Grounds. Once we finished up our town rounds, we ate dinner and got ready to leave for the scheduled Saturday night activity: the hot springs! We drove an hour to the closest natural hot springs, where we all rotated between the two hot pools, the river, and the steam room. We had a bunch of fun playing around in the hot water and enjoying the nice night there.

Sunday was equally, if not more fun. We had a couple different activities offered. A few people got to relive a mini winter expedition and went for a backcountry skiing day. They woke up early and drove out to the Dyer Amphitheater and hiked in for about 2 hours. Upon reaching the top, Ben, the Spanish teacher, snapped his binding and had to sled down the slope on his ski while everyone else telemarked down what is now the steepest slope ever skied in HMI history. Others went for an outdoor climbing day. They drove down to Buena Vista and hiked a few minutes to a prime climbing. There were 5 routes set up, ranging from some nice beginner climbs to one that challenged everyone. We all ended up with scratched legs, tired, but very happy. We sat out in the unusually warm weather, enjoying the sunny day. Sunday night, everyone went to bed early, waiting for an exciting week of classes. The remaining students stayed back at HMI and enjoyed the nice weather on campus doing homework, climbing on our bouldering wall, and sunbathing. Overall, the weekend was definitely one to remember.

By: Hanson Smith, Dan Eppstein, Alex Huber-Weiss, and Lauren Maricle