On a cold and crisp weekend in late January, six students and three teachers went sky high up into the mountains of southern California, their destination a cozy cabin in the heart of Big Bear Lake. The reason? It was the annual Deaf Academic Bowl (DAB) retreat, and the students were more than ready to enrich their minds with all kinds of knowledge, as well as spend quality time with each other and to bond as a real team. The teachers were there to guide the students through the mazes of facts, dates, formulas, and words, and the students drank it all in like very thirsty people. It was like that for two days and then everyone took a well-deserved break by painting the town red. They went out to a local Italian restaurant and stuffed themselves with pizza and escargot. Yes, escargot! It was a first for many and laughs were shared all night long. After a few more hours of study on Sunday, everyone was ready to head back down into reality. But one thing was certain–the DAB team was more than ready to show the world what they were capable of accomplishing.