Audio Adventure 5

Rance (v):  to run and dance at the same time.

Have you ever wanted to rance around campus to the music in your iPod?  Have you ever wanted to rance around campus with all of your friends listening to the same synchronized playlist?

Okay, you probably haven’t, but that’s fine.  I never thought that I would be one of those kids either, but then I discovered the wonders of Audio Adventure.

Audio Adventure is a new tradition at the college.  The whole ordeal started as a student-run escapade that took place at the end of one semester a few years ago.  I didn’t get up the nerve to strap on my running clothes and party hat until this spring for Audio Adventure 5 however.

You might think that you would get a few weird looks as you’re walking like an Egyptian, doing the time warp, twisting and/or shouting at 10PM on a Thursday night.  Okay, you’d be right.  If you’re going to look like a freak though, you might as well look like a freak with a few hundred others who look equally bizarre.  Once the governmentally approved clock hit 10PM and the Audio Adventure playlist was synced to my iPod, I hit play and set off rancing.

The track includes detailed instructions on where to go and how long you have to get there.  Once you arrive, actors appear with pre-recorded dialogue played through your own iPod.  This year’s adventure walked (or ranced) the participants through a plot filled with time travel, sabotage, and exploding students.

At the time I would have claimed that this was the coolest thing I’d ever done at the college.  The next day as I was nursing my sprained ankle (gained from having clumsily tripped over a tree branch), I was ever so slightly less enthusiastic.  With that said, I will still argue that Audio Adventure is one of the best ways I can think of to spend an evening with all of my friends on campus.

Strap on your headphones, lace up your running shoes, and leave any sense of embarrassment in your dorm.  I’ll see you at the end of next semester.