Mary Ellen Mack  March is an exciting time in the eyes of any student who attends Latin, whether they be a freshman or a senior. All grades receive the chance each year to dive into a topic through one of the most unique hands on learning opportunities, project week. Project week allows all students to explore topics that they are interested in, in both Chicago and across the globe. For some, the exciting week began on either Saturday or Sunday at the airport catching various flights. For those who were in town, the week began with an unexpected snowstorm. The unanticipated blizzard created a damper on outdoor project weeks, such as Biking the Boulevards. For sophomore Andrea Avila, she “had no idea what to expect” with the weather difficulties. In the end, the group still rode in the snow, and although “it was really slippery and people fell, it was a fun project week with a lot of great people!” Physically challenging Project Weeks, such as Bolivia Intro to Mountaineering and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, tested student’s endurance and perseverance. High altitude and the skill level of these trips played a role in the personal challenges. For myself, the altitude strain and lack of sleep from a busy schedule was the major battle to conquer in order to hike the Inca Trail. “Combined with the hiking, the days tended to seem long and endless. Overtime, we became extremely tired, but we were able to experience things we wouldn’t normally,” Nikolas Chambers explained. Izz Hernandez, a participant on the Bolivia trip stated that, “Project Week was challenging because there was a big divide between experienced people and inexperienced people, but we bonded in the end.” There was an overall theme of togetherness in these physically challenging Project Weeks, as the group endured a grueling accomplishment together. Scheduling throughout each day can be both invigorating and hectic. The Literature, Statistics, and Romance of Baseball Project Week’s schedule consisted of a Chicago Cubs’ game everyday. To some, this schedule may seem extremely strenuous, but Jack Tempone said that he “enjoyed the busy schedule because it was all baseball, all the time.” He was also grateful for the opportunities that the busy schedule allowed him to have, such as meeting Cubs bullpen catcher, Chad Noble. The Exploring, Creating and Curating: Art and Culture in Italy & France Project week, like many others has an exhausting schedule. Taylor Hurt described the experience as this, “when visiting the various museums in Italy and Paris, we had to make sure to gather as much content possible to put it on our website for the lower schoolers. All the walking was tiring, but it was worth it because we got to see everything.” Many out of town Project Weeks experienced jet lag, which Robert Kelly expressed as “extremely tiring, but once we got adjusted to the time, everything was great!” Olivia Harris, who was on the Roaming Rome Project Week, also expressed the same sentiment as other people by saying, “we did a ton and although we were tired, it was a good kind of exhausted and overall amazing.” Project Week 2017 was a success! As many of the challenges we faced, there was an infinite amount of fun and laughs. ]]>