Thinking about joining Uni's new Habitat for Humanity Club? Interested in going on the annual Habitat trip to Mississippi during Agora Days? If so, be sure to check out Anna Gooler's account of this summer's trip to the Delta involving almost 20 Uni students.

This summer, junior Eleni Yannelis, English teacher Adele Suslick, and French teacher John Garvey participated in the European Union's summer study trip on governance and economy in France and Belgium. The tour was organized by the EU Center and was funded by the European Commission. Check out Eleni's firsthand account of the trip.

College visits aren't always that useful, but if you find the right program, they can truly give you a sense of what it would be like to attend. Senior Anna Gooler reports on her experience visiting Oberlin College through a fly-in program, from the airport to a vintage store and back again.

Nancy Tang is back from her year abroad in Shanghai, China, and eager to talk about her time in one of the world's largest cities. "In every sense, Shanghai is a city at the crossroads," she writes. "The cultural capital of China is where old meets new and East meets West, all blending into a bustling, cosmopolitan city."

The day before the freshman trip to Allerton last month, Aramael Pena-Alcantara eagerly spent the afternoon packing. When he arrived at the camp, a few second thoughts crossed his mind. But he and his classmates quickly acclimated themselves, and the result was a memorable two-day experience.

Come join Or Ashkenazi for a recap of the Class of 2012's recent overnight stay at the Allerton 4-H Memorial Camp. The fourth annual freshman excursion to the camp featured rock climbing, cardboard boat racing, and plenty of other fun activities. Or was one of the students on the trip, and she offers this first-person account.

As Brittany Scheid took her finish medal after running the half marathon at the April 11 Illinois Marathon, an unexpected flood of emotion washed over her when she realized that this was it. She had a great time, she was happy it was all over, yet it was bittersweet.

Going into the 2009 IHSA state chess tournament seeded ninth, senior Gordon Ruan and his teammates were expecting to do well but not necessarily challenge for the championship. Instead, they captured the state title by defeating the Chicago powerhouse teams. Ruan recounts those intense couple of days in February when everything seemed to go right for the team.

Hadley Hauser hopes you've seen it on the corner of Goodwin and Springfield as you were getting dropped off or picked up from school. But if you've missed it, let her introduce you to Uni's own pilot sneak garden. She and her Agora students have transformed a formerly hopeless chunk of dirt and trash into an energizing blast of color.

This year's United for Uganda annual junior/senior lock in raised over $1,500. People danced and played dodge ball and various card games all night long. But that's just how it looked on the surface. To investigate, OG reporter Erika Belmont went undercover as an innocent high school student just looking for a good time. Here is what she reported

For the third straight year, the student group United for Uganda held an all-night lock-in to raise money for children in the civil war-torn country. Senior Elaine Gu was there, and she provides this first-person account of the evening (and early morning). Another first-person story will follow soon, by junior Erika Belmont.

Diana Liu first noticed the practitioners of pencil twirling back in middle school. By her freshman year at Uni, they seemed to be everywhere. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get the hang of it herself. But then she encountered the wisdom of twirling expert Tuli Bera, and her world changed. Be sure to check out the audio slideshow that accompanies Diana's article.

Gordon Ruan was one of just 42 students from around the nation selected to attend the Asian American Journalists Association's summer camp in Chicago. Whether they were hitting the streets in search of a story or kicking back in the Loyola University cafeteria, Gordon and his fellow campers enjoyed their taste of life away from home.

Over the summer, Gargoyle reporter Danny Ge visited the People's Republic of China. With high hopes of seeing a different Beijing and possibly getting tickets to an Olympic event, Danny left for Beijing on July 31. Did the city live up to his expectations? Check inside to find out.

[UPDATED with photos] Last year's seniors filled the lounge with balloons and covered the west-entrance sidewalk with elaborate graffiti as their class prank. How would the Class of 2008 top that? This morning the rest of Uni found out. Senior Anna Cangellaris takes us behind the scenes of the latest senior prank.