Spring Break, Red Lodge Montana

      

The Whole Group!

Chair Lift!

  This past week was spring break, and for me, that meant an adventure to a whole different side of the country. I travelled to Red Lodge Montana with thirteen other Coe Students. I was a little nervous, as this was the first spring break that I wasn't going to be spending with my family. We began our 19 hour roadtrip on friday at 4 and drove through the night, arriving at about 10 the next day. The car ride there was an adventure, and it was cool getting to bond, while planning some awesome events for the next week.



Skiing day 2!

       Once we got to Red Lodge, we got set up, and then took a much needed nap. That night, we all looked at the stars; It is amazing how many you can see out there, with no lights of big cities!    The Next day, we went skiing for the first of three days on this trip. Growing up, I loved skiing, but it has been about 7 years since the last time I went. Needless to say, I was a little rusty, but once I got my feet back under me, I was ready to go! (I only hit one tree).

Yellowstone sign!

         Other than skiing, We also took day trips to beautiful places like Yellowstone National Park. Don't get me wrong, I love Iowa, but no matter how hard you look you will NEVER be able to find places as beautiful as yellowstone. We saw some beautiful mountains, and were about a foot away from a group of buffalo! At the end of our trip to Yellowstone, we ended up getting our car stuck in about 2 feet of snow, but after digging and digging, we were finally able to get out.

Teamwork at its best

  What really sticks out for me about this trip was the fact that everyday, we all sort of split off and did our own things during the day, things like skiing, or hiking, or going to yellowstone, or just hanging out at the house and relaxing, but at the end of every day, we all met up again and hung out the whole night together. We all just played cards, and took turns cooking dinner, by the end of the week, it was clear that we all became so much closer, by simply spending time together.

       

The way back, EXHAUSTED

Unfortunately, at the end of the week, we did have to leave, and come back to school. We packed up our bags, cleaned up the cabin, and began our drive back. Like I said, the drive was about 19 hours and on the way back, everyone was so tired and grumpy!(we did listen to alot of Miley Cyrus) We made some stops in places like Wall, South Dakota,and tried our best to avoid a crazy snow storm! When we FINALLY got back to Coe, I did a little thinking about the whole week. I know I'm gonna miss the beauty present in Montana, the mountains and the Stars        More importantly, I started this week really homesick, missing Plainfield and my family, but this trip really openend my eyes. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by family every day on this trip; great, caring, friendly people who take me into their home for a week, help pick me up when I ski into a tree, hold my hand when we are driving through 2 feet of snow, and even put up with me in a car for 18 hours. I know that as classes start tomorrow, we wont all be seeing each other all the time; but what I learned in Montana is th
at whether its stars or family, just because you cant always see them, doesn't mean that they wont always be there, when you need them the most.
Until The Next Adventure,
Ryan Rey




Family

The Return and a great concert!

Now that indoor is over, I have officially been injured and unable to race for a whole season:( Fortunately, during the last few weeks, I have been able to slowly ease back into running, as well as doing other cross training activities, like biking and swimming. One thing that is great here at Coe is how proactive our athletic training staff is. Thorughout my whole injury,  the trainers have all been great about working with me and heating and icing and getting me healthy as quick as possible. I hope to be able to keep running, and get into racing shape by March 23rd for our first outdoor meet, where I will race a 5k at Augustana.

First time running!!

G-EAZY

This week was also awesome, because I was lucky enough to get to go to a concert in Iowa City. Iowa City always has great concerts, and is only about twenty minutes away from Coe. This time, I went with a few friends to see G-Eazy. After our concert, we also got Chipotle!! The only bad thing about Coe is that there is no Chipotles anywhere in town, so the clsoest one is in Iowa City. Overall it was a great concert to cap off an even better week, and I know that next week (Spring Break) will be even better!
Until the Next Adventure,

Ryan Rey

Conference Weekend

Junior Shea Devine, running
 his best time ever in the Mile

Senior Marcus Haustein long jumping at his
 last ever indoor conference meet

This weekend, the whole team travelled up to Dubuque for our alst outdoor meet of the season, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletics Conference meet! This is the meet that we trained all indoor season, and I knew coming in that we were going to have a great meet. We had alot of great times and seasonal bests run, including Stefanie Wright, setting a school record in the 200! Even though we didn't finish as a team where we wanted to, it was a great weekend to get to show off all the work we have put in. Even though I was still unable to suit up and run, I have never been prouder to be a member of this Kohawk team, we put our best effort in from start to finish, and that is always something to strive for. I know that we are setting ourselves up greatly for the outdoor season, and I know that come March 23rd, we will be ready to run our first outdoor meet of the season!

Kate Worthington, running hard in the last event of the day!

Scholarship Weekend!

My friend Kristen, visiting Coe!!

This last weekend was scholarship weekend, and we had over 540 prospective students on campus for the event. As a current student, it is great to see all of these students and be able to help them with their college search. This weekend is full of great events, including sitting in on classes, tours of the campus and meeting with faculty from every department. With all the students on campus, it was more crowded in places like the cafeteria than normal, but we all adapted and made the weekend a huge success. For me, the best part of this scholarship weekend was without a doubt hanging out with one of my friends from home,  she is looking at Coe, and I hope she liked her visit!
Until the Next Adventure, Ryan Rey

Valentines Day at Coe

Orange Crush

Every year here at Coe, one of the sororities on campus does this fundraiser, where you can buy a bottle of orange crush, and send it to your "Crush". It is great going and checking your mailbox on valentines day, and seeing that you got one, but a better feeling is being able to give them out anonymously, and make peoples days, even when they have no idea who it was from. I am already planning next valentines day!!
Until the Next Adventure, Ryan Rey

Going Home

Great Friend, and Shamrock Shakes <3

This past few days, I had to head home for a family thing, so I have not really been on campus. One thing that is great is that even though i had to miss a day of classes, all of my teachers and coaches were completely understanding about it. When I was back in Plainfield, it was great to get to see all of my friends, and do things like get shamrock shakes (They're back!!) and just hangout. I am lucky to be surrounded with the best group of family and friends that I could ever ask for, both at Coe and at home! Coe is perfect for me, because of it's distance, it isnt possible for me to leave every weekend  and go home, but I can occasionaly go home, when I need to see those home friends. Also, after this weekend it is clear that Coe stands out, because it really does have this family first attitude, where classes and education are obviously important, but so are relationships. I am extremely grateful for all of the people here on campus, and obviously at home, that constantly show how much they care about me.
Until the Next Adventure,
Ryan Rey

An Average weekend at Coe!

Emma Ethan and I at the Pub Concert!

This weekend was an off weekend for the team, so that means that we all got to hang out on campus, and see how much fun everyone else has, while we are stuck running! Friday night there was an awesome concert in the PUB, by a guy who sang covers of whatever songs we wanted to listen to. After this concert, we went to Zio Johno's a local place that sells spaghetti by the BUCKET! After filling our stomachs with some of the best college food ever, we went to Blindspot in Dows, our art building. Blindspot is a talent show that happens about once every two weeks here at Coe, and it is great because everyone on campus makes sure to come out and support all of their classmates. This week one of my friends Kyle sang, and did an outstanding job. After blindspot, we all went back to our rooms, to prepare for a big saturday that included alot of studying (and some goofing around) in our writing center!
 Overall, it was really nice to just get to relax for a weekend, and enjoy being a student, but I love racing, and can not wait to get back into it!
Until the Next Adventure, Ryan Rey