Wake up, it’s America’s foremost holiday: July 4th. Today began with another 8:40 alarm as I woke grudgingly to the sound of taco bell sounds. I quickly rushed to brush my teeth and wash my face and headed to the daily 9 am workshop/lecture. There, I worked on my OD code before the deadline hit. Then we had a pretty uneventful lunch as I headed to Chase dining hall. However, after lunch was over, the real fun began. The entire SSP group headed on a “Carolina Livery” bus and quickly departed all the way to Durham. As the bus traveled, I quickly fell into a nap and after what felt like 5 minutes I woke up to being in the middle of Durham outside the “Durham Bulls” baseball stadium. I heard from a couple friends that the Durham Bulls were the second best minor league team in the nation so I was pretty excited to be able to witness my first minor league baseball game. We headed into the arena and were given wristbands that granted us access to a private loft and seating area. There the fun would begin.
Before the game began, we all enjoyed various meals and desserts from the buffet counter. I grabbed a burger and some “Eastern style” BBQ which didn’t taste so familiar to me even though I’m from Eastern, North Carolina. The game then began as we watched an eventful first inning. The Durham Bulls squared off against the Norfolk Tides. The first inning resulted in a score of 4 to 0 with the Durham Bulls having a large lead to make up for. Despite this, I believed that the Durham Bulls would come back and they did. Soon enough the box score became 4 to 4 in the fourth inning with the game becoming extremely close. My friends were extremely weary and anxious at what the next big game moment could be but it unfortunately happened for the other side. Norfolk hit 8 runs in the last inning, blowing out the Durham Bulls completely. It was an absolute shame what we had to witness. I was disappointed in the Durham Bulls and I expected better from them. (They won the next 2 games 11-4/ 14-5). The day then ended with a 4th of July celebration with fireworks and some of the loudest sounds you can hear. The fireworks lit up the night sky and also made sure that observations would not be considered due to the large amount of light pollution. The day ended as usual as I took another nap on the way back and crashed out on my bed.
– George H.
