'Real World' star attends IUDM

Dancers at the 14th annual IU Dance Marathon this weekend got a dose of the real world when "Real World: Philadelphia" star Landon Lueck visited.\n"I was here for STA Travel, promoting spring break," Lueck said. "We were lucky enough to have a booth while people were there dancing for Riley (Hospital for Children)."\nLueck said it's important to have such an event because it benefits so many people. \n"It's amazing to see people get together for something like that and get so much done," he said. "It's nothing short of amazing."\nLandon, a senior at the University of Wisconsin, is taking a year off to travel. This was his first trip to Bloomington, but he said it has the same feel as Madison, Wisc., where UW is located.\n"It's a very nice place," Lueck said. "It has a really nice feel to it and it's very laid back. The campus is beautiful."\nLueck described his time on "The Real World" as the best four months of his life, saying it was not weird living with two gay guys, and that he believes the show portrayed him accurately. \n"I would do it again in a heartbeat," Lueck said. "I love all my roommates and try to stay in touch with them. It's hard, though, because we are all very busy."\nLueck said the worst part about being on the show was the people in the city who didn't like the cameras around all the time.\n"The hardest part was the negative stuff," he said. "People who don't know who you are or what you are doing would yell and swear at us for no reason. I still don't know why."\nTraveling is the main reason he decided to audition for the show, he said. STA Travel sent the cast on a trip to Fiji, which was an experience that changed him, he said. \n"The best thing about traveling is seeing what is out there and where I want to live," Lueck said. "Going to Fiji was great. I had been to Cancun before, but that was just partying non-stop, but in Fiji we got to experience a lot more."\nLueck has been working for STA Travel for about a month. He has traveled to the University of Florida and Ann Arbor, Mich. to promote the travel agency. STA Travel focuses on students and getting them out there to see the world, he said. \n"I do a lot of meet-and-greet, and getting people pumped up for spring break," he said. "STA Travel mostly focuses on getting students to travel the world."\nLueck said he encourages students to get out and travel. He emphasized that those experiences will change people and open their eyes to so many things.\n"Start planning now for your spring break," he said. "Save your pennies. The experience does change you."\n-- Contact staff writer Maggie Bozich at mbozich@indiana.edu.