The last part of my scholars project to explore the opportunities around me included going to do something new! Over the years I have only gone rock climbing about one or two times, however, this time I decided to sign up for a rock climbing class and becoming belay certified, this means that I would be able to belay for other who wanted to climb and hold the ropes for them. The class was $5 which surprised me being that inexpensive! It lasted about an hour, and the instructors taught us how to tie different rock climbing knots, the different belay holders, and we even got to practice hoisting each other up on the free rock wall. After all the instruction the class was over and we were told to come back after 24 hours had passed in order to take the belay test. This was the scariest part, and may have been worse than some of my chemistry finals. The tester was so intense and I felt like I had someone hovering over my shoulder as I tied the figure 8 knot. I luckily got my friend up the wall and safely back down without dropping her or needing the tester’s assistance. Although he had a few pointers for me after the test was over I did pass! He took me over to the registration booth, and printed me a little badge to put around my waist anytime I came back in to climb. I was so proud of myself for accomplishing something brand new while also acquiring another skill!

Another encouragement of my scholars program was to try to go somewhere new! Therefore, although there are several spots to explore around the great city of Columbus I want to explore somewhere a little bit more up my ally. I’m an outdoorsy person, and I love to hike, so one Saturday afternoon I gathered my friends, and piled into my car to head to Hocking Hills Park. Once we arrived we saw many different signs for areas we could explore, and we got set on the one that read “Old Man’s Cave”. I have seen many caves in my life and all I was expecting was to hike down a small trail and find a tiny cave, but wow was I wrong. The trail started off with a waterfall leading to the river we’d be following. The river continued for about 4 miles, which we followed by climbing, walking and jumping around the rocks and trees. Once we headed down a tunnel and climbed a few more steps we finally arrived at the cave! It took me by surprise in its size, and also by the amount of people also there with us. Once we got back to the car (another couple of miles) I was exhausted and ready to head back to school. Overall, the trip was pretty amazing! I really enjoyed getting out of the city and getting back to my roots. If I have the chance next semester or this summer I would love to go back to Hocking Hills and explore more of the trails or see some of the lakes around the are.

Through my scholars program, I was encouraged to try many new things this semester, one of which being trying somewhere new to eat. For my eat requirement I ate an Italian restaurant I had never been to in Columbus with friends. I fell in love with the bread and oil served as an appetizer, and ate scallops which I had never had before! The atmosphere of the restaurant was dark and obviously meant for dates but it gave me an excuse to dress up and curl my hair. Normally I am not a huge fan of seafood but when the scallops were mixed in a cream sauce they tasted like chicken. Overall, the restaurant was awesome, and although the seafood dish was tasty I’m not sure if I would get it again over traditional cheesy lasagna. Dessert, however, was probably the best part of the whole entire meal. We went to this restaurant in celebration of my friend turning 19, so for dessert we ordered a piece of cake for her (which we all tried) but then I ordered a brownie sundae with my roommate, and even being stuffed from the meal, it nearly melted in my mouth. The brownie was so moist and they had drizzled chocolate sauce over the brownie which then mixed in with the ice cream. I would love to return to this restaurant during the next semester for another special occasion, and I would definitely try another meal but I would keep the brownie sundae as my dessert option!