The friends I made in Iowa gave me a completely new perspective on friendship. My roommate, Sylvia, and I became good friends over the eight months of my co-op. On weekends, we ate out, went to movies, and shopped. When the weather warmed up, we canoed, picnicked, and watched live bands perform. Along with other co-ops, we also did the craziest thing: skydiving!!! Since we all worked and had no school, there was time and money to travel. My roommate and I had the opportunity to vacation in Seattle, Washington. We toured the city, shopped and ventured the night life. It was the beginning of our good friendship.
I did not realize that I was going to miss my co-op friends as much as I do right now until I returned to Michigan Tech in Fall 2005. Missing the fun times in Iowa made it harder for me to adjust to Houghton, Michigan. There was more snow, most of my old friends were graduating, and I moved into an apartment with a random roommate who I did not know. After a while, nothing seemed to be fun enough to go to and no one seemed to be as good of a friend as Sylvia. I found myself frequently reminiscing of the fun times in Iowa and feeling totally out-of-place in MTU. Soon enough, I grew depressed and isolated myself from everyone – even from my family.
It took over a semester before I moved on and socialized with new friends. What helped me adjust was being active in student organizations and trying out new activities. I participated in the International Club, Society of Women Engineers (SWE), ITOxygen Enterprise, and Poetry Slam. In the International Club, I took a huge part in coordinating International Nite, International Week, and picnics. In SWE, I had the opportunity to attend a regional conference in Chicago, Illinois. In the student enterprise program, I gained new technical skills that classes didn’t provide. Lastly, I was awarded first place in written poetry and first place in performing poetry in the Poetry Slam. That year my true leadership characteristics and creative personality emerged.
When summer came, I moved into a house closer to campus and took summer classes. Every other weekend, my friends and I went hiking and camping. We went to Baraga to attend the Native American Pow Wow and we visited the Copper Mines in Hancock. Houghton is actually a very tranquil and beautiful place! For the first time in all my years at Michigan Tech, I finally opened up to the warm Houghton outdoor activities. Now and then I still drive up to Lake Superior just to sit and watch the waves. I learned to not compare other places to Houghton, because doing so comes at the price of missing out on breath-taking outdoor activities.
During the cold seasons I played broomball by the Walker Arts Building, built snow statues for the MTU Winter Carnival, sled in Calumet, skied on Mount Ripley, and snowshoe in the back tracks of the MTU campus. During the warm season I camped by the lake, hiked near Eagle Harbor, went color touring, went wake boarding at the portage, and had picnics at local parks. I learned to not tell myself that I don’t have time because then I will never give time into anything else; you have to make time. Now that I am graduating, I am glad to have explored all the great things that the Upper Peninsula has to offer instead of trying to do everything in one year.
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