Everyone has a favorite board game. Maybe yours is my childhood love, Candy Land. You could be a fan of Monopoly, which has always put me to sleep before I'm even done buying properties. Or for budding detectives and "CSI" enthusiasts, there's Clue. I, myself, have always been partial to Miss Scarlet.
But just like everyone has a favorite board game, just about everyone has a least favorite person to play it with. You know who I'm talking about - a whiny little brother who always has to go first or an over-competitive friend who bends the rules so she's always ahead. And then there's the worst kind of player: the sore loser.
I must admit that as a youngster, I was quite a sore loser. My parents had to play me in Candy Land a million times before I finally understood that no matter how hard I tried, sometimes luck just wasn't going to make me the first to land on that beautiful candy castle.
When I got older, I traded in my purple gingerbread man playing piece for Scrabble tiles, pitting myself against my most formidable opponent, Mom. Her high scores in the 150s always beat my high scores in the 140s - nothing like SPM writer Celeste Sepessy's usual 400-range scores.
That's why sending Celeste to play with Arizona's resident Scrabble Champion made so much sense (Page 10) - and also why now, whenever I see Celeste, I can pretty much feel my brain mass cowering in deference to hers.
And while Celeste navigates her way across a Scrabble board like a pro, after 3 1/2 years, I still find myself barely able to navigate around campus.
So when State Press city desk editor Emilia Arnold told me that her late grandfather designed the Art & Architecture Complex on campus, I wasn't surprised that I had never even noticed the buildings before.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most students who have classes in these buildings pass through them on a regular basis without ever giving it much thought.
But for Emilia, whose grandfather died before she was born, playing detective and learning more about this landmark brought her closer to a family member she never knew (Page 8-9).
Sure, the Art & Architecture Complex may not look anything like Candy Land's candy castle. But for Emilia, reaching her goal of learning more about it bears far more rewards than any board game could offer.
