May 15, 2019

Instead of taking the usual route of flying as my peers did, my trek to the Hawkeye state began along Interstate 80 at the Mississippi River. Before I even reached the Iowa/Illinois border, I noticed farmers on their tractors farming in the dark, a spectacle that I did not expect to see at that time of night. Once we finally crossed the border the first thing to catch my eye was a road sign promoting the Buffalo Bill Museum, unquestionably an unexpected image. The majority of I-80 runs through farmland; this is extremely different than the Illinois side of I-80 that this Chicago boy is used to. I noticed a lot of differences including water towers, cows, wind farms, silos, and barns.

The first part of the drive concluded as I was driving through Iowa City. I made a quick pit stop to see my cousin for breakfast at the University of Iowa who recently won the Big Ten championship in the 400 meter hurdles. When the long drive finally concluded, I made my way into the Des Moines International Airport to meet with up Dr. HN and the majority of my peers. We had a quick lunch in the airport, then most of us made our way to Radcliffe. While some others waited for the other students to arrive, we met our host families and got settled in. The three guys Rob, Brandon, and Luke on the trip are paired with the Sweeneys, the three girls Hannah, Adare, and Sydney are staying with Morris Stole, and Sammy and I are being hosted by the Knutsons.

Once we all got accustomed and settled in, we made our way to Morris’s home with our host families, where we made our introductions to each other and enjoyed a very nice dinner. Right after dinner was finished, the group wrapped up the day at the Neubauer barn and discussed what we did today and our agenda for tomorrow.