By Allison Fitts
I know what you’re thinking. The Dart and Teresian staffs are a little nerdy for spending their weekend in chilly Minnesota going to workshops at a journalism convention. Well, you may be a right, but we are also having a pretty good time, too. Check out my recap of our day one activities:
10:07 a.m. A group of 13 seniors who didn’t have any pre-convention workshops visited the Minneapolis art museum. The obvious highlight for everyone involved was my tour guiding through the city on the way to our destination. I provided some factual info, but it was mostly fabricated, fun stuff with a lot of fake dates and names mixed in.
11:23 a.m. We all visited an amazing panoramic photography exhibit and saw lots of modern Japanese art at the museum. After all this walking around, Katie McCombs and Mary O’Leary got a little tired and decided to take a rest on a bench. Thirty minutes later they were awakened by Brenda, security guard extraordinaire, who informed them that although the benches were comfy, they weren’t for sleeping. This midday nap was probably a necessity for the two of them because there was still a lot to come the rest of the day!
2:55 p.m. The first real journalism activities began at the trade show. The trade show was basically a place where we got free junk and were bombarded with information from college journalism schools. The KU representative was especially enthusiastic to talk to us and he blamed his hyperness on the Monster energy drink he consumed moments before. It was more exciting than any college fair I’ve ever been to.
5:39 p.m. It was finally time for the moment we’d all been waiting for… THE MALL OF AMERICA!!! Hundreds of stores and restaurants, an aquarium and a full-sized amusement park. Where was a girl to go first? A couple of us took a brief pit stop at Panda Express, and then we were on our way to exploring this gem of Minnesota. Due to Mary’s pleading and crying, we were forced to stop by H&M, even though there is a brand new one in Kansas City. Shopping eventually got boring, so it was time to come up with a plan of action for the remainder of the evening.
7:41 p.m. We decided to go to the theme park and it was the best $22 I’d ever spent. The longest line we waited in for a roller coaster was five minutes, which was crucial for our short amount of time to enjoy the mall. The best ride hands down was the Avatar: The Last Airbender, a scream-your-face-off roller coaster that made it appear like you would shoot through the mall’s glass ceiling.
9:13 p.m. Exhausted from a full day of activities, we all returned to our hotel only to find a big shenanigan occurring in the parking lot. Approximately a dozen girls from another high school publication were running around in bikinis in the 17 degree weather. They also placed an ice sculpture that said “Thank You” in the circle drive of the hotel. And I thought STA girls did some crazy things…
Stay tuned for a day 2 update tomorrow!
