By: GROUP #4

On the Saturday after the 4th of July, the Governor’s School for Agriculture left the Virginia Tech campus early and drove to the Cascades Falls in Giles County.

It was a long, strenuous hike despite the signs that claimed it was an easy two miles each way. We carefully hiked over slick stones and bridges for 45 minutes.The Cascades were beautiful — almost 70 feet of falls crashed into a large pool of water. The adventurous climbed over the rocks and took turns jumping into the freezing water. Even the less adventurous GSL, Garrett, jumped in the water with much encouragement from the students. We took the easier loop back to the vans and finished the hike with no injuries (very impressive considering we are a fragile bunch).

After the hike, we spent the rest of the day getting to know our new friends. Some of the GSL’s took groups of students into the town of Blacksburg so that we could escape D2’s cafeteria food. Each of the groups of students were excited about the endless possibilities for dinner. There was sushi, Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, chinese food, and even frozen yogurt after. Sunday morning continued where Saturday left off. Some students attended religious services while others attended brunch or watched movies with their suitemates. A group of students ran a half marathon while others found that they were allergic to grass on the Drill Field.

The much anticipated Scavenger Hunt started on Sunday night. We all met outside of D2 and were briefed on the rules. Once the hunt began, it was chaos. Students walked hastily (NO RUNNING!!) around campus to complete various tasks and take pictures. The 34 tasks ranged from finding the biggest statue on campus to proposing to a stranger on campus. In a little over an hour, we covered the entire campus and now have less of a chance of getting lost. The Plant Science Group earned the most points and are anxiously anticipating the prize that they will receive at the closing ceremony.