Picture being 10 years old and reading books on the Salem Witchcraft Trials, watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch and wanting a black cat- That’s how I acted when I was in fifth grade. I would borrow books from the library on the Salem Witch Trials, watch Sabrina the Teenage Witch every Friday night on TGIF and continously beg my mother for a black cat. You could say I was obsessed with Salem, but I don’t know if that would really cut it. Actually, looking back, I remember a couple of my friends calling me a “witch” because I was so interested in Salem.

Ever since I was a little girl, have been in love with spooky things that scare me. I love the feeling of being scared with my heart racing and my blood pumping. For example, that scary house on the corner street of your neighborhood that no kids dare to visit, watching horror movies with my father and collecting every book of R.L. Stine’s Goosebump series you could find.

When I entered high school, I was still interested in the Salem witch craze although now I didnt have as much time to read up on it as I used to. I would always be busy with homework, sports and friends, making it very difficult to have a personal “hobby”. When I signed up for classes my junior year I requested a class called Honors Seminar 11. This class was designed to read and discuss classic books at a college level that would provide an insight to the books that could contribute to future college classes. The first book we read was called The Scanet Letter written by famous American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book took place near Salem, Massachusetts. My two teachers of the class decided to take the class on a field trip to Salem. This totally blew my mind. This was my big chance to fufill my dream. As the days passed by, I became more and more anxious and finally, October 9, 2003 came.

I woke up to my alarm clock beeping and a huge smile on my face. I literally jumped into the shower and sang until my voice was hoarse. I was so happy that I couldn’t hold back the dance moves that contributed to my singing. As I was busy bustin’ my moves, my mom was yelling at me to hurry up or I’d be late. I quickly got dressed, packed my bags and ran to my car. When I arrived at the school at 6:30 a.m., everyone was anxiously awaiting the chance to board the bus. We drove continously except for a few bathroom stops along the way.

We arrived in Salem 45 minutes eariy and drove around sight-seeing. During our trip we visited the Customs House which was where Hawthorne worked. We then went to The House of the Seven Gables which was very interesting. I loved all the old things in it and how it had secret hidden passages. My class and I joked around saying how it would be neat to play hide and go seek in it. The next thing on the agenda was probably my second favorite of the trip. We visited the oddest candy shop in the world!! (Dont worry though, only the store was otd not the candy!!) Our next stop was my favorite of the day. We went to the Witch Dungeon and the actors re-enacted a scene from the trials for us. The scene was the trial of Elizabeth Proctor. After the play we headed down to the dungeon and looked at all the jail cells they had made to show us what it was like during the witchcraze. I learned many more interesting facts and I got to see what the dungeon actuaily looked like. From there, our teachers allowed us a “free” hour to walk around the stores and buy whatever we wanted. I bought some prank gifts, a t-shirt and lots of other odds and ends. Our trip was closing quickly on us and I’m not sure any of us wanted to let go yet.

On our way home we ate at Friendly’s Diner and sealed our memories in our heads. Our bus ride home was the best bus ride ever. We played charades, battle of the sexes and even ‘freestyled’ about our trip. Although, I cant remember enough to write it in with this article, I remember enough to put a smile on my face every time I think about it. This trip left my classmates and me closer together and it included many great memories that I am very proud to have. I am so glad I went on this trip and I’m very thankful to my teachers for bringing me and fulfilling my dream. I plan to go back someday, especially around Halloween, and who knows, maybe I’ll live there.