Semester at Sea Olympics

July 17, 2005

The Olympics are a tradition with Semester at Sea. Classes are canceled for the day and the eight Seas compete in various games ranging from the hot dog eating contest to the talent show. A Sea is similar to a Hall on a land based campus – in our case a group of cabins in a certain section of the ship that join together in a proud union. I am proud to say I am the Resident Director for the Bering Sea (in case you as geographically ignorant as I was I will spare you the embarrassment of having to pull out an atlas and tell you the Bering Sea is between Alaska and Russia). The motivation for the competition is that the winning Sea gets to be the first Sea off the ship when we return to the States. This means first to catch their planes and first to see their family and friends who are greeting them on the dock. We were awesome and got first place in the Spirit contest, first in Trivia, second in the synchronized swim contest, and more. It was an awesome day! Overall, we fared very well in our Olympic escapades and took third place! We were really excited about third because we didn’t want to be first off the ship because then we would just be standing on the dock while everyone else was still getting to hug and say goodbye on board. But, anyway, it’s not about the competition – it’s about the camaraderie, the smiles, the laugher, and the memories (although I know my soccer-playing buds in Madison would debate me on this one).

Synchronized Swim Competition

Big Hair Contest

Bering Sea Rocks the Boat!!

The Orange Pass

The Tug-o-war