Bonus Year

This past year I received the news. It was amazing. Back in the fall I had casually applied for an all expenses paid scholarship to study at Trinity College, Cambridge for the 2001-2002 school year. I had no particular belief that I would win. So you can imagine my shock when I was sitting at home over spring break and I received an email notifying me that I had won.

It turned my entire life on its head. A few days before I had been plodding along, planning what I would do with my senior year of college: what I was going to do afterwards, how I would occupy my vacations and so on. Suddenly a whole year had just been added to my life.

In the course of this coming year I will be doing a great deal more than studying at Cambridge. Before school starts I will be embarking on the longest vacation of my life. My trip will carry me through the Ukraine for three weeks. I will be in Kyiv and Odesa for several days. Then I will spend a week hiking around the Carpathian Mountains. All this will be done with my close friends Lada and Paul (get used to those names). Then Paul will leave and Lada and I will travel on through an eclectic mix of European countries. First to Hungary (Budapest primarily), then to the Adriatic coast of Croatia for a fabulous week or so on the beaches. Finally, we will end this debauched trip with a stop at Oktoberfest in Munich. From there I will fly back to London and begin school.

Don't expect me to stop there, however! In addition to what I expect will be regular European travel on the weekends, my winter vacation will be spent in Peru and Brazil. My girlfriend is currently in school in Lima. I will be going to visit her and hiking the Inca Trail, boating down the Amazon, and perhaps even hiking in the primeval forest.

Even that will not be the end. Before I return to the States I will be enjoying one more four week break from school and eight weeks off for summer. When I know where those adventures will take me, you'll be the first to know. Rest assured it will be interesting.

Inquiries or feedback, contact: pmayor@rice.edu

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