Spring break is commonly associated with drunken revelry and waiting until the last minute to do the homework your professor assigned you over break. Honestly, I’ve never seen the appeal of going to Fort Lauderdale and having massive parties on the beach. For me, all you need are your best friends and a nice, intimate location. For my senior year, my best friends and I rented a cabin in the woods of Kalkaska, Michigan, and had the best time of our lives. 

Since I was a freshman, I’ve had the same group of friends from the honors program and we’ve always talked about going somewhere for spring break. However, we couldn’t go anywhere the past few years for obvious reasons. So when senior year came about, we said carpe diem and decided to go on a big journey through three states and two time zones. 

A cabin truly was the best place because it got us away from all of our busy lives in DeKalb. We needed a place where we could just be ourselves and not have to be worried about homework or class. The cabin was a freeing environment to play cards, board games or a guitar.

We spent a lot of our time hanging out around the cabin, living the simple life. Most of us got to cook our own meals which were refreshing after weeks of dining hall food. And we didn’t mess around either. We went all out on shish kebabs, hamburgers, tacos and fried rice. I think I ate more that week than I have in a while. I guess you begin to lose a hankering for chicken strips after eating them five days per week. 

We also took plenty of time to enjoy nature by hiking in Hartwick Pines State Park. The ground was still snowy, but the weather was so warm that we hardly needed coats. We even committed the crime of trespassing on state property by going to Sleeping Bear Dunes, even though the dunes were closed in the winter. Climbing up those slopes was exhausting but it was a beautiful view. 

On the way up to Kalkaska, we went to Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. The butterfly garden was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. All of those butterflies got so close to our faces and we just felt that simple beauty that often goes unnoticed. 

But what’s great about my friends is that, when they’re not wanting to do something crazy like climbing a gigantic sand dune, we would just sit back and watch a lot of films like “Muppet Treasure Island,” “Up,” “Encanto,” “The Sandlot” and “The Last Waltz.” 

When St. Patrick’s Day came around, it was wild. Normally I don’t drink a lot but I felt safe in this cabin with my people. We actually ended up watching animated Barbie films and playing a drinking game based on their clichés. Why? I have no idea. 

My favorite moment of the entire trip was on our last night when we watched “The Big Chill.” The film is about a group of adults in their thirties who were friends in college reuniting for a weekend after one of them dies. Watching the film reminded us all of our trip and our friendship. It also brought up questions within us about the future. How do we stay friends when graduation splits us up? How can we live with being so far away? How can we muster the strength to keep hanging on?

When we had to leave, we had trouble getting one of the cars out of the icy driveway. It ended up that one of us had to drive it in neutral while eight of us had to push the car, using salt for traction. Not for the car, but for our feet because every time we tried to move the car, we kept slipping and falling. It’s like the cabin didn’t want us to leave. I honestly wouldn’t mind if we just stayed for the rest of the semester. 

I’m tired of being in a constant state of chasing some kind of future goal. It’s good to think about where we’re going, but it’s nice to actually take some time to live in the present. To just focus on what we’re going to do today. To laugh. To cry. To be young. 

I needed this trip. It reminded me that, no matter what, I’m going to have this group of friends in my life for a long time. Which is a reassuring thought for someone about to graduate.