Yesterday was our last travel day and the end to the most
amazing trip I could have ever imagined but like all great things there must be
a conclusion. In my opinion the best way
to wrap up such an outstanding trip is to highlight the best moments of my
fellow 2014 Olympic Odyssey goers.
Although there are many more than just one story I could share about
each person I’ll try and pick the best.
Jake Rosen (Mr. Technicality)
Let’s start with the man who has the voice that carries
further than any other person I’ve ever met.
Jake was always great person to be around and always had something to
say about everything. I had the pleasure
of being his teammate in the scavenger hunt that Professor Ryan had setup for
us. One of the items on the list was “A
business card from a KFC restaurant signed by the manager.” Little did we know that we were destine for
failure because Professor Ryan knew that this item on the list didn’t actually
exist. That didn’t stop Jake. Jake ran into a KFC restaurant without
thinking twice in search of something that the manager didn’t have. So when he found out that the manager didn’t
have a card he asked to have a piece of paper printed with the manager’s name,
phone number and the address to the restaurant just so he could argue that we
should be awarded the point. In the end
P. Ry didn’t approve the makeshift business card and we were awarded no points at
the end of the trip. This story just
highlights the person Jake is, determined.
It’s as if he would stop at nothing to achieve greatness and I know in
the future he will succeed.
Byrson Walker
The Olympic Odyssey class was the first class I ever had
with Bryson and I knew very little to nothing about him but over the course of
the trip we became friends. We shared a
love for Frank Ocean and sarcasm about a sculpture or a painting that wasn’t
there in a museum. We would say things
like “Wow! This might just be the best artwork I’ve seen all day!” when there
was simply an empty frame and this happened in quite a few of the museums we
went to throughout the trip. The story
about Byrson I have to tell is also the story about his brief relationship in
Athens. He met a girl named Sarah (with
an H) on the beach. I wasn’t there when
they first got together but he introduced me to her once I saw him. He says,” Chan I want you to meet my new
girlfriend Sarah” and the proceeded to take a piece of paper out of his pocket. His girlfriend was a cutout animation of a
girl no bigger than two inches. Then we
all laughed hysterically as he placed her in the sand right by his side. Byrson was a pleasure to be around, an
overall a great human being and I’m happy that he was a part of this journey.
Kyle Basedow and Alex Carter
I think it’s only fair that I write about Kyle and Alex as a
duo rather than separately since that’s how they were on the trip. Kyle and Alex grew up together so it’s only
natural they spent a large portion of the trip by each other’s side. Alex wasn’t in the spring course I had only
met him once at a meeting for the Olympic Odyssey and Kyle and I hadn’t
formally met. I could tell a certain
story about the two but I think I’ll stick to something else less fruity. ;) I
had the honor of rooming with both of them for the time we were in Paris. Late at night on our first day in Paris the
day seemed to be pretty much over for everyone but collectively we decided that
we still had time to go on an adventure.
So when you’re in Paris and you want to go somewhere at night, where do
you go? The Eiffel Tower. The three of
us hopped on the metro late at night to go see the Eiffel Tower and for me it
was the first time. Seeing the Eiffel
Tower light up Paris was one of the most breathe taking moments I have ever
experienced and being there with Kyle and Alex made it that much better. The two are always great company and after we
took our pictures we headed back to our room satisfied with our first day in
France. This is something I will never
forget and tell my child about the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower with Kyle
and Alex. I know both of them are going
places in life and I hope them all the best in their ventures.
Hannah Howe- Lubewich
I had a great time getting to know Hannah (and Emma in
Paris) over the course of the trip. She
is an unbelievable person and is a trooper for putting up with Jake day in and
day out. (Just kidding Jake you know I’m
just playin) Hannah and I always seem to
want to capture each moment of this trip with the best photos possible. So we would share ideas and show each other
the pictures we took and admire the other’s excellent work. Little to her knowledge she is a way better
photographer than I am. Although it
seemed as if we took many of the same photos, her pictures had the better
touch. It was to the point where I would
show her a photo I took and she would show me a similar photo and all I could
think to myself was,” dammit that’s a better angle” or “how come the lighting
in her photos are always on point?” This
happened a lot in Switzerland when we took our day trip to Monteux. In the end, there is no doubt in my mind that
I will probably “like” every single one of Hannah’s Instagram or Facebook
photos that she posts. Aside from
capturing each moment to perfection Hannah has a lot to look forward to and I’m
so thankful that we became friend over the trip.
Matt Kehl
I had the pleasure of rooming with Matt in four of the five
cities we stayed in. All I can say is
thank you for putting up with the early wake up calls and constant mess on my
side of the room. In the beginning of
the trip it was known that Matt was a quiet guy but little did we know that he
was also very funny! He had a habit of
throwing in little sly comments which no one saw coming that could bring tears
of laughter. Matt was also the only one
in the group that knew any French besides Bonjour. He came in the clutch one night in
Switzerland when we were on our own looking for a place to eat. Everywhere seemed to closing or couldn’t seat
nine so when we finally got to a certain restaurant he was able to talk to the
waitress in French to find out if we could sit down or not. We were able to sit down and the waitress set
in front of us menus…in French. So once
again Matt had to come in and translate everything just so we could eat. Thanks to Matt we all didn’t starve to death
that night. I wish you the best of luck
and hope to see you in the fall!
Jess sat in front of me the entire spring semester in the
Professor Ryan’s Olympic course and we shared maybe one interaction and that
was for me to plug in her charger for her laptop to the wall behind me. She is a delightful girl and it was great
having her on the trip because she brought so much energy and excitement to
every day. As many of you know Professor
Ryan’s birthday is on May 22nd so we wanted to give P. Ry (nickname
made by Jess) a gift. She had the great
idea of replacing the Swiss army knife that he had got taken away from him when
going through the airport in a past trip.
She was the one who brought such a large smile to Professor Ryan’s face
when he opened his gift. The knife is one
of the biggest Swiss army knives I’ve ever seen. It had everything on it and probably weighed
five pounds. Jess brought so much fun to
the trip and she is definitely going to be missed now that the trip is
over.
Last but certainly not least in the group is the other
Mike. Mike is one of the overall best
people I’ve met in Syracuse and I've had the pleasure of having multiple
classes with the guy. The story about
I’m going to share about Mike isn't just one specific moment but multiple events
over the course of the Olympic Odyssey.
He was one of the people I thought took away the most out of this trip
just by the way he acted when we were in the presence of something magnificent. At every museum or site that we went to Mike
was one of the last people to leave. For
example, when we were at the Archeological site of the ancient Olympia he would
hang back and embrace all history that surrounded him. At the ancient stadium he was the last one to
walk out and as I looked at him standing over the stadium it was clear that he
just didn’t want to leave. Even when
everyone else was tired and beat from travelling or walking all day he was
still ready to go and explore the new territory only offered to him for a few
days. I regret not imitating the way he
acted when surrounded by so much with so little time offered to us.
I’d like to start off by saying thank you to Professor Ryan
for everything he did to put this trip together. There are no words that I
could say or write how thankful I am to have him as a professor, an advisor,
and a role model. He is someone we as
college students can only dream of being and strive to be. If I could say thank you in every single
language it still wouldn’t be enough.
This trip has been the best experience and it’s all thanks to Professor
Ryan. I know that I will never have
another opportunity like this in my life and I am beyond grateful for what P.
Ry has done. Every morning I would wake
up early to have breakfast and the only person that could beat me to the table
was Professor Ryan. So almost every
morning I had the opportunity to have a meal with him and have a nice
conversation. It saddens me that I woke
up this morning unable to sit down across from P. Ry and say, “Good morning
professor”. But although the adventure
is over I know I will be seeing more of Professor Ryan even after I graduate
from Syracuse because it would be a mistake to have someone who’s had such an
impact on my life not continue to be a part of it. So once again thank you Professor Ryan for
everything you have done and I wish you good health and happiness.
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