Memory Testing

I'm wearing my Minnesota Wild t-shirt today for the first time in several years.  Mostly because we don't have a washing machine and all my clothes are dirty. 

In high school I got a scholarship for computer art from the Imation corporation.  My mom and I (along with all of the other scholarship winners) had to fly (for free!) to Minnesota to accept this scholarship.  This trip was very memorable for me because 1) it was the first time I ever went on an airplane, 2) I had never been in the northern US before.  It turned out to be very hectic because we arrived on Friday and left the following Sunday, and the scholarship people had given us a crazy jam-packed schedule.

As soon as we arrived at the airport we were picked up and deposited at the Mall of America for five hours.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and then basically wandered and lounged for a looooong time.  My mom hates shopping and I didn't have any of my own money, so we did not go in very many stores.  I was wearing my Texas Longhorns t-shirt and someone jokingly told me, "you better be from Texas!"  I ended up buying my Minnesota Wild shirt to commemorate being in a place where people actually care about hockey.

Finally at about 7 pm after all of the winners and their parent had been picked up from the airport and left at the Mall of America, a bus picked us all up and took us to a hotel.  We had the option of going out to the movies that night, but we opted out from being exhausted.

The next day we had to wake up really early and go on a zillion tours.  First we were taken on a driving tour of Minneapolis and St. Paul which was very interesting, and then we went to a museum that had a viking exhibit and an IMAX where we watched a movie about Jane Goodall.  We went on a tour of an art school where they tried their hardest to entice us to attend after high school graduation.  Then they took us back to the hotel to get ready for the presentation of the scholarships.  Once we were dolled up we went on another bus to 3M headquarters and took a tour of that building.  We had a weird dinner followed by a presentation about something or other.  Then we went into a room where our art was displayed and loitered around there for awhile.  Finally we accepted the scholarships, took pictures and went back to the hotel.

That evening the scholars stayed up late visiting with each other, but I did not participate because I was (am) pretty antisocial.  The next morning we had the option to go back to the Mall of America.  My mom and I agreed on a big HELL NO.  We stayed around the hotel and walked to a nearby grocery store just out of curiosity.  Then we went back to Texas $1000 richer.  I had a good time during the trip even though everything was so crammed together.

And thus ends the story of why in God's name I am wearing a hockey t-shirt.