Studying - But Make It Island Style

By: Bella Burns

Home of the free, home of the brave is the first thing I thought of when I woke up this week. The beginning of this week was unlike any other, because this week began with Memorial Day! With no early 9 a.m. class to rush to and my roommate off on her own adventure, I was putting the “me” in memorial day to use. I spent the day leisurely, watching movies, casually drinking, a quick dip in the pool, and of course a call home to converse with my veteran parents. However, Tuesday came so fast it felt as if I had blinked Memorial day away. Our group presentations for our client profile assignments were Wednesday, so this meant a staying-in and grinding day. After class, our group met up and went over all details of the assignment, practicing and ensuring each other we were prepared. Selfishly, I had to reward myself for the hard work I had put in for this assignment and decided to have a night out. All I can say is no regrets, because $2 tacos and $2 shots were extremely rewarding.

Wednesday came anxiously, but I knew my team was ready. My nerves settled as we all gathered in the classroom at our table, fired up and recited our memorized talking points. Although we are group two, we got stuck with last place in the presentations. However, we were one of the best groups regardless of our presentation line-up. The feat of our first big assignment was over, but our campaign book was on the horizon. On Thursday, our group divided the work for everyone equally and began the seed of our book.

Even the studious need a break from their academia and deserve a boat day. Friday blessed us with another Catamaran daysail, visiting two islands, Prickly Pear and Anguilla. The excursion started early in the morning around 8 a.m. and lasted until 4 p.m. The entirety of that time was filled with joyous activities such as snorkeling, swimming to the beach, lounging on the boat, and most importantly tanning! I participated in all of these activities, and even threw in a couple of rhum punches to take the edge off the soreness I was developing from swimming hour after hour. The long day physically-demanding came to end, with the anticipation of another long day on the mental side coming tomorrow morning. A sweet pastry and salmon roll is how my day was welcomed Saturday morning at the Chez French bakery in Marigot. A majority of 4 hours was spent designing and inputting data for our campaign book with my group, along with a few others who like to study with great wifi. The last hour I reserved for a bit of shopping, because retail therapy never hurt anyone.

And then came our last Sunday on this peaceful island. I awoke too early, only for the commitment to my other courses and knocked out some assignments in the classroom. Shortly after, I excitedly got ready, because today was the day for horseback riding! Accompanied by my friend Gracen, we took off for our 12:30 ride. It was definitely fun, but oh my it terrified me to my core. My beautiful white horse, Marilyn, was a bit unstable when walking, but she held up the entire ride. Afterwards, I enjoyed a day at the pool and got back to work.

One more week left, and it’s times like these when I wish I had the impossible ability to turn back time.