By Gracie Fairfax | Echo
"What are you doing for spring break?""Going to Florida."
It seems like all conversations about break end like this. While a lot of the student body will be catching some sun at the beach, some of your fellow students will be taking some trips that are out of the ordinary.
While riding in a cop car is something most people avoid, sophomore Brock Bucher can't wait for the opportunity to spend his break riding shotgun with a sheriff. Bucher is spending part of his spring break shadowing a police officer at the Metropolitan Police Department in Indianapolis.
"There's a lot of officers who don't get as much credit as they should get," Bucher said. "It would really cool to at least see what they do for my community. I get to see the cool opportunities they get and interact with people downtown in some really tough neighborhoods."
For Bucher, who always thought to enter law enforcement, seeing the daily life of a police officer is a dream come true.
Currently a biology/pre-med major, Bucher hopes this shadowing experience will help determine whether he makes the switch and goes into law enforcement in the future.
Four seniors are also spending their spring break on the road, but they're traveling across the country. Lauren Bishop, Sarah Clark and Emma and Elise Heyen are driving all the way to California, making a one-night stop at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernadino, California (featured as the Cozy Cone Motel in the movie "Cars"). It's a hotel with standalone rooms shaped like teepees.
"We've been planning this trip for over two years now, so it's really exciting to know that we're actually going to do it, Bishop said. "When people hear about our trip, they think the entire week is going to be consumed with driving. But we actually have several entirely free days that we're using for hiking, sightseeing, checking out national parks and sleeping. One day is solely dedicated to hanging out at the beach in San Diego."
They will be staying with friends and family along their route and will even make it back to Kansas in time to spend Easter with the Heyen family.
In just a few months, these seniors will be graduating and going their separate ways.
"This is a great time to travel all over the country together one last time," Bishop said.
Senior Trent Stegink's spring break is a music-lover's dream. Stegink, an audio production major will bespending the first weekend of spring break touring with alternative rock group Remedy Drive.
"I will be traveling on their bus, helping set up, running sound and other aspects of the show as they perform at a church or two in Iowa," Stegink said.
Stegink got connected with the band through the Contemporary Music Center in Nashville when he interned there last spring. He's previously worked with Remedy Drive in Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia and Illinois.
"I'm looking forward to seeing some friends and helping put on a rock and roll show," said Stegink.
Freshman Olivia Gramling will also join a traveling music group over break. As a part of Taylor Chorale, Gramling is heading on a four-state tour ending in New York, where she'll see "Les Miserables" on Broadway.
"We'll be staying with host families and making our way through the country," Gramling said.
The group will make several stops to perform throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. They will give a total of five performances, including singing at an Amish theater.
"I'm not really sure what that entails," Gramling said. "It's going to be an adventure either way. I'm ready to make Amish friends."
If you're not spending spring break riding in a cop car, sleeping in a teepee, touring with a band or singing for the Amish, rest assured. There's always next year.
