Should YOU Have Experience or Achievement?

*Most information in this article is not accurate to what happened. My memory generates the information in this article, and my opinions may alter some information.

I’m 16-year-old writing this article at the University of the Pacific. I’m attending a summer camp programme called the Pacific High School Summer Institute. This summer institute is a college-prep program that invites many students, mainly those from San Joaquin County, to join in and learn about college life. The director of the Pacific Summer Program wants high school students like me to know the college life, with no homework and lots of excellent activities.

One of these activities is the Scavenger Hunt. In this Scavenger Hunt, participants must find QR codes all over the 175-acre university campus. Next, these participants must collect ten stickers from these QR codes, guiding them to the following QR code. Finally, after the participants collect all the stickers, they must return to the cafeteria, named the Don and Karen DeFlora University Center (spelt that way), to authenticate the records.

I joined in with my new friend, a tall, skinny, brown-skinned, and upcoming sophomore who wears a hat, a T-shirt, shorts, and shoes. His name is Chris. Chris and I got our first QR code from the man-in-charge in which we must go to a theatre named after an actress.

Immediately, I thought that the location was somewhat close to the centre. So Chris and I ran straight to the marketplace and the path on the left, which should lead us to the theatre. We managed to get to the theatre, called the Janet Leigh Theatre. I scanned the QR code while Chris placed a uniquely coloured sticker onto the paper. The next clue asked us to find a place where people would worship and stuff like that.

We left the theatre and went to the library. Before long, Christ found a QR code at the place surrounded by pillars. These white Greek pillars surrounded this circle with an opening for people to come in. Chris found the QR code, and I came to scan that while he placed a sticker from a sticker paper next to the QR code on the form. I checked the QR code and was not happy. The code said that I should return to the DeFlora University Center. Chris and I knew that we hadn’t found all ten sticky notes. So, Chris and I searched for those who saw more places with stickers than we did. I’m not sure if I remembered this correctly. Still, we returned to the extensive grassland in front of the University Center. There was this chess board that included all the chess blocks. There was a QR code and some stickers, which allowed us to scan a clue. I did, and the clue told us to go to the most iconic place of this University. The clue didn’t tell me that and instead said it quite vaguely.

Immediately, I thought of the big clock tower that appeared in every picture of the University of the Pacific. It was the big white tower like the tall tower at UC Berkeley, called the Burns Tower. However, I looked at the clue regarding the flowers and thought of something. Chris and I looked at the map of the University. We knew there was a garden at the South Campus (an entire campus that houses many science and engineering lab buildings and classrooms). So, Chris and I rushed to the South Campus and stopped at the tower, in which I separated myself from Chris to find two different QR codes.

Chris went to the big grey theatre called The Long Theater, in which there was nothing. I went to the garden and found a QR code and a sticker. I pulled my phone and called Chris to meet me up outside of the South Campus. He was pretty happy that we found four stickers in the scavenger hunt. At this point, we were not far behind. The new QR code told us that we must return to the main campus to find a place where students can “life, climb, and run”. (These quotes are from the actual clue provided by the Pacific High School Summer Institute) The clue was very confusing. Chris didn’t bother to read it. Regardless, we still followed the clue.

Chris and I immediately rushed to the DeRosa University Center because we thought of it as a place to “life, climb, and run.” But when we went in and asked the guys in charge of the scavenger hunt, they denied any clues from the Center. So, Chris and I left the Center and told him that maybe the big white tower had the QR code and the stickers. Then, we went to this marketplace where people could buy food. There were offices, usually those for education and international student support. Chris and I left, passed the marketplace and went to the extensive library. Chris thought that the big library might contain a QR code. So, we went in. Unfortunately, it was 7:45 in the afternoon, and it was about to close shortly. The librarians and the operators allowed us in, but they made us find them quickly.

Chris and I searched quickly for anything suspicious in the library, only to find nothing. I turned on the flashlight on my iPhone to search for anything with a brightly coloured piece of paper, ideally a yellow one with a QR code. As we explored the library for a QR code and uniquely coloured stickers, Chris told me about what happened in his creating media class. He remarked on the things that happened in the class, like the big glass room with computers and VR headsets. Chris and I searched the black space opposite the big glass room, where the place for the tag was from his words. Then we searched more glass rooms, like the one with six monitors, a trackball, three keyboards, and a gaming PC for editing. Chris and I searched the entire library but couldn’t find anything there. So, we left, and I split up with Chris to find two different QR codes. Chris would find the QR code and the stickers at the big white tower, while I would find the same outside the extensive library.

Chris immediately went to the big white tower, found it, and called me. I found nothing and anointed him in the middle of the road with a good chunk of new friends, who said hi to me. Chris asked me to meet him at the big tower and read the clue, asking us to go to the South Campus.

At this point, I questioned myself because our arsenal had no undiscovered hints. So, Chris and I left the big white tower and scattered around the main Pacific campus, where we saw a bunch of brick buildings. We found a group of people on the scavenger hunt along the way. They were looking for a QR code that was at the basketball gym. Because Chris and I were sceptical of anything, we took that as a hint for the scavenger hunt. Finally, we returned to the grass area at the DeFlores Center. We ran onto one of the employees at the University. I asked the employee where the basketball gym was. The person gave us directions to the basketball gym.

Chris and I left the grasslands and searched for two gyms because the University has two of them. We searched for the big gym building called the Baun Fitness Center. Chris found a QR code and some stickers on one of the chairs outside the big gym. I scanned the code, and the clue asked us to find one at the buildings behind the tower. We left the gym and managed to see one of them, just off to the side.

By this point, Chris and I have seven stickers on the paper, and we need three more. However, we had no clues and began searching like a detective. Chris and I searched throughout the main campus until we found a couple of people going to the South Campus, to which we went with them. A giant clock tower looked quite bland compared to the other one. However, that clock tower contained a QR code and a sticker, precisely what we needed. We took that and received a clue we already have. The process began again, but I split with Chris to find anything with a QR code and stickers.

I couldn’t find anything, so I kept calling Chris for progress toward the QR codes. It lasted 4 minutes until Chris found one just outside a local Starbucks next to the library. However, he called me to go there, which took me a while. I rushed to go to the patio, where there was a Starbucks next to the extensive library. The first time I couldn’t find it, the second time I could see it. The QR code and the stickers were on a small wall with the chairs and the table, which were not visible. While I took one of the stickers and scanned the QR code, Chris called me. His description wasn’t super clear for me. Chris said that he found a QR code at the building near the big white tower. However, his report was so unclear that I turned on FaceTime for Chris to find my location and pathway. Chris then called me and led me to a department of education building, where we found the QR code and the stickers.

Finally, at 8:10 at night, we have all ten stickers, and we have to run to the University Center to verify the hunt. Chris and I ran with limited energy, and we managed to get there. However, we realised that there was a trio of girls at the stop.

They stopped next to the University Center was a table with an umbrella and some chairs. The table contained a bunch of goodies, like candies and pens. I asked the people in charge who sat there whether these girls were the first to finish the hunt, and they confirmed it. So Chris and I waited for the girls and went in to collect some goodies. I ordered a pack of Skittles, a multi-coloured pen, and a bag of M&M’s and went to sit on one of those rocking chairs with Chris and another person. Unfortunately, I forgot my water bottle and my face shield, so I went to retrieve them from the stop.

Now, Chris and I are very tired. I ran out of water, and I checked my phone to discover over 25,000 steps walked. Chris opened his phone in which he walked over 14,000 steps, with around 7-8 thousand steps from the scavenger hunt alone. Then I asked the people in charge whether we could leave before the raffle awards at 9:00. They agree, but Chris would rather stay just in case. I left shortly to refill my water bottle and check the lounge at my dorm hall to see what was going on, only to find the lounge boring. I returned to the University Center and talked with some locals about the scavenger hunt. Chris had to help those struggling to find the QR codes because I didn’t remember much of the scavenger hunt. But the rest was all good until it was 9:00.

The people in charge were about to take their bags and belongings. They were about to leave the University Center probably for sleep. I didn’t bother meeting with these people to know who won the scavenger hunt. Chris and I were just sitting in our chairs looking at them. The people in charge didn’t announce the winners for the entirety of Monday, so everyone finished empty-handed.

You put in all the work, and you put in nothing. That sentence sums up Pacific’s scavenger hunt. I wonder why a small American university with an endowment of around $900 million that doesn’t spend a lot of money responsibly takes charge of small events like this one?

You shouldn’t answer the question because it doesn’t matter. Although I’m displeased that I didn’t get an award, the experience of going around the university campus was fantastic. Looking back at the raffle rewards, I wasn’t interested in these rewards. However, Chris and I enjoyed the scavenger hunt because of the running and team fun. I developed a bond with him too, which mattered the most.

The experience of being on a college campus is the Pacific High School Summer Institute’s mission. He doesn’t assume that the $3000 price tag is worth it for getting into MIT (I think that MIT requires notorious amounts of internships and stuff like that). Instead, the director and the University develop activities and the classes designed for high school students like me to enjoy college life.

Therefore, I believe that experience is worth much more. I think that experience goes together with achievement. However, having outstanding achievements doesn’t hurt either.