MCLA Blog

Final post from  Dan Dubois, a MCLA student visiting the APAP conference in NYC.

Last chance to finish your projects! A few students headed over to the Resource Rooms in the Hilton to finish booking before we checked out of the Sheraton at noon.

Lunch was at Carmine’s, an upscale Italian family style restaurant near Time Square. We sat around a circular table and helped ourselves to an array of delicious Italian dishes. There was chicken marsala, spaghetti and meatballs (the meatballs were the size of your head), manicotti, broccoli, salad, something else with chicken that I don’t know the name of, and angel hair with garlic. It was one of my favorite meals on the trip. Myself along with Ashley, Jonathan, and Lauren needed an espresso before we left. With a full stomach and a tired mind there was a need for some energy to make it to Penn Station.

We picked up our bags at the Sheraton and took cabs to Penn Station. The view of the Hudson River from my seat on the train back to Albany was stunning. It was late afternoon and the sun glinted off the ice patches. It reminded me of the tundra or the arctic.

Our bus didn’t show up at the Albany train station. We eventually rented a van and were ecstatic in an exhausted sort of way when we finally pulled into North Adams around 8:30. It had been a trip filled with excitement, culture, sickness, uncertainty, education, exhaustion, and fun. These simple blogs can’t do our time at the APAP conference justice. It’s one of the best times I’ve ever had in my life. I think I can speak for just about everyone when I say that.

As I lay in bed that night, my suitcases left packed with dirty clothes all around me, I could feel nothing but gratitude for those who made the trip possible. Jonathan, as always, displayed ingenuity and creativity when faced with a change in plans. Lauren was so hopeful, optimistic, and supportive, even in the end when she was sick. The professionalism displayed by all of the students on the trip made me proud to be a student at MCLA. And the anonymous donor who funded this trip will always be on my mind when I think of this trip.

Thank you, on behalf of everyone on the trip.