He grabbed his bags as the door shut behind him. After walking across the paved driveway, he approached the van lifting his bags and stuffing them into the back.

Mr. Lambert along with three other friends prepared themselves for the long ride as they climbed into their cars. With little knowledge as to what the future may hold, they buckled their seat belts, backing out of the driveway headed for Montana.

It was mid September, high school was over for Mr.Lambert, and it was now time for college. He had officially graduated from Lawrence Academy. Mr. Lambert along with a three of his close friends from high school packed their bags, planning to pursue college at the University of Montana. With little planning the friends hopped in the small van and subaru to begin the 52 hour drive across the northern states.

“My dad and I split the expenses” said Mr. Lambert. “ I was pretty excited when my friends and I made the decision to go to Montana but it wasn’t planned well”.

They backed out of the driveway of Lambert’s Amherst home. Every few hours the friends would switch cars and take breaks. Throughout the trip they stayed in four different hotels. They listened to music and talked, Mr. Lambert had a great ride and was excited to finally get to Montana. After a long but enjoyable drive, they arrived to their destination.

A long path led up to the arched doorway of the main building. The building was large with a tall clock tower above the doorway, windows covered the outside and intricate dormers protruded from the roof. The campus was surrounded by hills and valleys extending across the vast amounts of land. Pine trees were scattered around the brick buildings.

“ We got there pretty late, compared to everyone else. So, it was a rush to get checked in and enrolled in classes” said Mr. Lambert. “Afterwards we unpacked and met the people in our dorms”.

School started soon after and Mr. Lambert was living the college life. Although, he was having a great time living out west, he wasn’t being conservative with his money. One weekend he decided to drive to California with his friends to attend a Grateful Dead concert. It was a pretty expensive trip and was one of the many things that cause Mr. Lambert to go into debt. After about two months of living in Montana Mr. Lambert was completely broke, unable to pay for food. A couple days later Mr. Lambert’s dad pick him up.

The car ride was silent most of the way home. Mr. Lambert could tell his dad wasn’t too happy with what had happened. Mr. Lambert liked it out west but was happy to be heading home- he missed New Hampshire. This was only the beginning and Mr. Lambert was going to continue to face many obstacles as his story continued.

From this experience Mr. Lambert learned that life is filled with ups and downs. “Jump in the pool, test the water, and if you don’t like it get out and go somewhere else”.