January 29, 2011
After many long hours on the plane, we finally arrived to Denver International Airport. We were enthusiastically greeted by some of our future classmates and teachers holding a sign, and went to join the others. Some people had been there for hours, others for only a few minutes, but all of us were tired yet excited to meet each other. We entertained ourselves with a nearly impossible scavenger hunt, which included photographing a family meltdown, a Boy Scout, and a cowboy. Eventually, everyone made it back to HMI by the early evening, and chattered nervously with the people whom we had not yet met.
After we all arrived in different vans to Leadville, new faces were welcomed to the larger group. Fortunately, our dinnertime conversations were not as awkward as some might expect introductions to be. After dinner, we all met in Stuen Hall for circle. In circle we passed around a "power object" and each made an introduction about ourselves and what we were feeling right at that moment. It was important to see that we were not alone in all of our anxieties and excitement. To culminate circle, we all passed a pulse around starting with Molly, the Head of School. Since we were all very tired after travel, we then headed right to sleep. 
On Thursday everyone woke up early because we all had to be in Who's Hall for "AMX", our morning exercises. This morning we all went for a walk past the 'Ass Ranch' down the road. After our brisk walk we had breakfast, and went to our introductory classes.
Friday, after "AMX", we had breakfast and then had an orientation on chores. Every morning after breakfast we have an assigned space to clean on campus. This space stays the same throughout the semester so that we are masters at that one space. As a community we are responsible for how clean our campus is, so it is eminent that we make our spaces as clean as possible on a daily basis. Following chores, we had the rest of our introductory classes. After dinner, we all went to the nearby Turquoise Lake and had the chance to admire the stars.
Over the last two days, we have also been doing a lot to prepare for the expedition. When we met for the first time for our classes, we got our assignments for the first expedition. A lot of the work sounds really interesting and it is very related to the stuff we are going to see or do on our expedition. For example, our science project involves doing a field study that will actually take place while we are out in the canyons! Our readings for some of our other classes are related to nature and we will be discussing them while we are completely out in the wild.
We've also been learning a lot of skills we will need to use on the expedition. We've had classes on using a stove, setting up a tarp, and even classes on how to set goals for our group and for ourselves. We learned how to pack our packs, and ration food for the next two weeks in the backcountry. We're all feeling excited, prepared, and ready to have the time of our lives and learn a lot.
Our first expedition will bring us to the canyons, those wonderful landforms that split the earth to make a hiking trip beautiful. For several days now everyone has been anxious to get out on the trail to get to know each other and build friendships that will last for life. We have been told that all the stress about packing and getting everything ready will leave us during this expedition and give us a sense of peace. All of our groups are fantastic and each group has amazing teachers who have a huge wealth of knowledge to give us as they guide us on this great expedition. We are all packed up and ready to leave tomorrow to start this grand adventure.
Tonight, we are frantically letting family and friends know that we won't be able to be in contact with them for two weeks. Time to rest up for our long drive to the canyons of southeastern Utah tomorrow. We know it's going to be amazing!
By: Maddi Ginsberg, Madeline Nelson, David Glicklich, Max Silverman, & Ben "Sunshine" Gardner