Bradford Woods Weekend

Hello, all! My name is Kate Sanders. I am a rising sophomore at Hendrix College. Though I am currently undeclared, I plan to either major Computer Science or Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. The ProHealth REU appealed to me because the research I contribute to this summer will have a real impact on the health of Indiana citizens.

When I arrived on Friday, all of the REU students took a trip to Bradford Woods for an intensive bonding weekend. The first night, we got to know each other while roasting s’mores over the campfire.

The next morning it was quite rainy, so we did some team building activities inside. This included several puzzles and a lot of trust falls. These activities helped me understand the other REU students’ personalities better.

Later in the afternoon the skies cleared and we had the opportunity to take part in some outdoor adventures. I climbed to the top of the Alpine Tower twice. That made me proud because it was a really hard climb and I didn’t expect to make it halfway up. We also went canoeing in the creek.

Overall, the weekend was really fun. I partook in a lot of outdoors activities that I otherwise wouldn’t have and enjoyed them more than I expected. Also, I got to know the other participants in my REU pretty well. Everyone is kind and smart; I have learned a lot from several of my peers already. Now that I am back at Indiana University, I am excited to work with them for the next 10 weeks.