On the morning of November 6, 90 juniors boarded buses to visit four in-state universities as part of the three day, annual college tour. The four universities included the University of South Florida (USF), Florida State University (FSU), University of Florida (UF) , and the University of Central Florida (UCF).

Junior class officers spent a total of three months planning this trip for the class of 2015. “We stuck to the three traditional universities because that’s where the majority of students attend if they stay in Florida, and then the students attending the trip voted on either the University of Tampa or the University of South Florida,” junior class president Allyssa Dobkins said.

After a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast, the group finally arrived at its first university, the University of South Florida located in Tampa. They were given a tour of the campus by current university students and were able to eat lunch in the student union center. At approximately 1:00 PM, students once again boarded the buses to head to their next stop, Florida State University, in which they arrived at approximately 6:00 PM and ate dinner in one of the univeristy’s dining halls.

“I loved it. It made me feel like I was a student there and allowed me to see what was in store for us in college,” junior Gabriela Diaz said, when asked how she felt eating in a university dining hall.

The next day, the students toured both the FSU and the UF campus. Both visits consisted of tours led by CGHS alumni. Students were not only taken through the campuses, but were also able to see the football stadium and dorm rooms.

Reminiscing on her high school days, alumni Gabriella Gonzalez said, “Honestly, time flew. While on the trip I told myself ‘wow, it’s time for me to fly the coup’. I had no idea how fast it would actually come. While on college tour, I thought it was so cool to see gables alums telling us how happy they were, but I never thought it would be me so fast. I was so proud to show off my school to my fellow Cavs. It was heartwarming to show my Cav family my new home.”

On the last day of the tour, the buses made their way to the University of Central Florida. “I went on the tour thinking I would fall in love with UF, but I ended up wanting to attend UCF. This is why it’s important for students to attend trips like these. It’s different seeing it in person than in a website or flyer. I cant wait to be a Knight,” junior Nicole Sanchez said.

The last stop of the trip was another activity planned out by the junior board, Boardwalk Bowl. “When we thought about bowling we booked that right away,” junior class treasurer Teague Scanlon said. Juniors were divided into groups of five and were seen bowling, dancing, and overall bonding with their class.

“Bowling was my favorite part of the trip,” said junior class secretary Logan Morris. “I liked the bowling because it turned out to be a great choice for our fun activity and because I was relieved to know that everything has worked out after months of planning.”

Students arrived back at school at approximately 8:45 PM on November 8th, and were welcomed back by parents who couldn’t wait to hear all about their experience on college tour.