I parked at the dome and turned off the engine. NMU’s fall semester had officially started with the laptop distribution. I excitedly stepped up to the desk, recited my long identification number, crossed my fingers that I had gotten it right, and walked away with a laptop.
Carrying the clunky cardboard box containing the laptop across the dome, I was corralled towards what appeared to be a college kid holding pen. While each kid in the holding area played with their new toy, we were forced to watch an “informative” video. Summing the lengthy video up in 6 words, don’t spill soda on your keyboard.
When my computer was set up and the supervisors were convinced I’d taken in enough “critical” information on how to care for my laptop, I was released. A little preoccupied by the brightly colored t-shirts at the NMU bookstore’s booth, I almost stumbled into a miniature traffic cone. Why was there a traffic cone in a building?
After hearing people screaming, I turned to see a pretty sweet swing hanging from the top of the dome. The traffic cones were keeping oblivious people (like me) from being run over by the swing while the braver souls took their turns standing the small round platform to swing 10 feet off the ground!
Although I was very tempted to try out the swing, I was also convinced that I would fall off and the floor looked pretty hard… With that decision I turned and left the dome with my laptop. Mission accomplished!