Touring Washington D.C in One Day

Beep. Beep. Beep. My alarm clock was going off and both Justice and I jumped up to turn it off at the same time. This time I didn't miss it. Unlike yesterday, today I was the early bird and Justice slept in. 

Washington Monument

Everyone met in the lobby like planned after multiple trips back to our rooms. After a couple minutes, our taxi arrived to drop us off at the National Mall. 

Upon our arrival, we headed for a restaurant to dine at. Eventually, we ended up at Potbelly Sandwich Works. The food was amazing and perfect for a breakfast meal. 

Walking off the meal was a good idea. After a couple of blocks, we strolled into the long Holocaust Museum line. Due to time limitations, we waited in line for tickets at a later time so we could come back. To kill time, we walked around National Mall. The first magnificent historic site we came across was the World War II Memorial. With fountains and great stone pillars, the monument amazed me a lot. After walking another long stretch, we wound up at the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was gigantic and splendid. The architecture was beautiful, along with the statue of President Lincoln himself. 

Cornell cohort posing in front of the World War II Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial was great, but we had to keep moving to stay on schedule. Due to the humid, hot weather. We stopped to get Popsicle and Italian ice. Thank you Chan-Law! 

Now with refreshments, we began our walk to Martin Luther King Memorial. MLK Memorial was just as beautiful as the Lincoln and WWII Memorial. The MLK Memorial consisted of quotes from Martin Luther King and an amazing statue of MLK himself. 

MLK statue

National Park was beautiful and after many pictures taken, we headed to Georgetown University. The first step onto campus made me gasp my breath and stare in amazement at the old style campus. Honestly, I felt like I was stepping into Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Before our tour of the campus, we stopped by at a coffee shop, Mugs, to eat a brief lunch. 

Our tour began at 12:30. Georgetown University was presented like the usual colleges. A quick introduction of Georgetown taught me that it was founded in 1789 and interesting enough, by John Carroll, the first catholic bishop. Currently, Georgetown consists of 13,500 students with 4 undergraduate schools. Like most colleges, many of their Freshman apply undeclared and by end of Sophomore year they declare a major. 

Georgetown is an amazing school, with students and faculty members knowing the extensive background behind their college. One building that caught my attention was the McDonough Business building, a brand new building with the latest technology. Beautiful on the outside and ten times more amazing inside. Thanks to Yijin, we got to tour the astonishing campus. 

Georgetown campus

The only downfall in my opinion for the school that deters me is the constant reinforcement of religion. Coming from a non-religion background, the talk about Catholicism around campus can be uncomfortable. Educational wise, I would totally consider attending Georgetown University. The great atmosphere and constant talk about the great staff, excites me more to learn more. 

Our last monumental site we visited was the one that excited me the most: The White House. Wow, I couldn't believe I was standing right there. Right in front of the White House. Due to the lack of time, we snapped multiple pictures and headed to the Holocaust Museum. The moment we walked into the museum, all the laughter and smiles dissipated and was replaced by gasps of astonishment. An hour of walking through the 3-story museum, taught me so much I never knew about the Holocaust. 

The front of the White House

The Holocaust Museum

Walking into the pouring rain in 80 degrees changed our mood in a good way. With smiles back on our faces, we called a taxi and headed back to the hotel in a rush to shower and get ready for the dinner with Georgetown alumni and students. I hit the shower first, followed by Justice. Everyone met downstairs in the lobby on time at 6:50 and we headed to the City Tavern Club. 

The City Tavern Club was beautiful. The decor was very different, making one feel like they are in the White House dining with first class citizens. Introductions were exchanged between alumni, ILCers, and Sean Redmond the president of City Tavern Club. After mingling with Connor Rohan, Kevin Sullivan, and Joe, we took our seats. I gladly took a seat with Sean to the left of me, Gabriela Perla to the right of me, and Bebe Albornoz in front of me. The dinner was amazing! I held conversations with each alumni sitting near me and Sean. Gabriela was great to talk to. We found out that both of us have a passion for musical instruments, she plays the piano, while I play the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. Bebe Albornoz was very chill to talk to, but she hates physical sports, while I love any physical activity. Both were very nice and funny, treating Shanti and I as long time friends. Connor, Sean, Julie, Thao, and I had another conversation. After telling Connor and Sean about our day and what we thought about Georgetown, Connor and Sean got into a fiery debate about Capitalism and Socialism. It was quite interesting listening to both sides, but I have to give my hats to Sean, as even though I believe in Socialism, he won the debate against Connor. All in all, both were amazing guys who have become so successful in their lifetimes. 

Group picture of Georgetown alumni, ILCers, and Sean

The dinner ended and we all headed up the stairs to take a group picture. Surprisingly, our night was not over there. Sean cordially gave us a tour of the building. By the end of the night, I realized I had just dined in a very historic building that was founded in 1796. The only part of the tour that made everyone jump out of our pants was when Sean brought us to the Inn keeper's room and said her spirit supposedly still haunts the tavern. Luckily, he has not met her and we left quick enough to not meet her either. 

Today was a long day, but tomorrow will be even more hectic and busier, with our train ride to Pennsylvania, lunch with UPenn alumni, a tour of  UPenn, and a plane ride to Cornell. Wish us luck!

Hogwarts in Georgetown?

This morning we all went to the National Mall before our Georgetown University tour. We visited the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr, Memorial.

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln himself!

Lincoln's speech

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Our Georgetown University tour started at 12:30 PM so we didn't have that much time to spend at the Mall. We took two taxis to Georgetown University because the seven of us couldn't fit into one.

Georgetown University is beautiful. It looks like Hogwarts. The buildings are huge and made of bricks and stone. I don't see many brick buildings in California because of the danger of earthquakes. There are huge trees everywhere and the land is hilly.

Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University

At the beginning of our tour, we were introduced to the school by Kelly Young. She talked about what the school admissions officers looked for, and the details of applying to the school. Georgetown suggests taking three SAT subject tests that relate to your desired field of study. I really think I'm going to apply to Georgetown. The location is perfect for me because there are Fortune 500 companies that hire Georgetown interns, and you can intern for the government as well. I am interested in business, even though I'm not sure what type yet. Being right in the middle of D.C. is a prime location for being able to hit the ground running in my future careers though. 

Georgetown University also offers a lot of great courses for business and politics. Both the location and the courses are perfect for those interested in business, although my other interest (sports medicine) isn't offered. Georgetown also has an equestrian team which is great for me, as well as a club soccer and ultimate frisbee teams. 

The only drawback to Georgetown is that it is really far away from the Bay Area and I do like colleges that are on the West Coast, such as UC Santa Cruz, which also offers business, soccer, frisbee, and an equestrian team. 

After our Georgetown tour, we took taxis to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Holocaust Museum was eye-opening. My World History class spent a solid month on the Holocaust, so I knew  the backstory and most of the information. The part that hit me the most were the personal quotes by Holocaust survivors, victims, and those who saw it first hand. Their descriptions were so raw and poignant, the words of people who had experienced the worst and spoke without reservation. 

Photos of Holocaust Victims

As we were leaving the Holocaust Museum, we were caught in a short and heavy downpour of rain. I love rain and I enjoyed it, although Thao eagerly took out her rain poncho to use as protection.

We returned to the hotel and had to quickly shower and change before heading to dinner at the City Tavern for dinner with Georgetown alums and students. 

The dinner with the alums was so informative and fun I didn't want to leave. I sat with Kevin, Joe, and Abby for dinner along with Justice. It was really great to talk to them because they had first hand experience with the college and their own experiences. It was really fun talking to Joe about the online newspaper he worked on, The Georgetown Heckler. We also discussed time travel, nuclear war, large fish, lizards, and pinkie fingers. Kevin was really informative about how welcoming the college is and how you can go in wanting to study one field of study, but end up studying something different because of the wide range of classes. Kevin also explained to us how Georgetown really is all about teaching its students to think about problems and approach questions and theories in different ways and think outside the box. I think that's really cool because everyone needs to see the world in a different light and not just have one opinion on everything because it's not that simple. Abby was really great because she talked about how Georgetown was a great community and how people would reach out to help others without any benefit to themselves. She recalled a story from when she was visiting the school before she was a student, and how she went up to a student to introduce herself. That student gave Abby her number and information and offered to help her with whatever she needed or to answer questions, which is so cool because it came at no benefit to her at all. This spirit of helping others seems to be a great theme at Georgetown University. 

Before visiting Georgetown University through the Ivy League Connection, I never thought about Georgetown University as a possible college, but after talking with students and alums I am really interested in how Georgetown offers opportunities for their students to give them a great start in their future careers. 

Cloudy with a Chance of Heat Stroke

The morning started with the familiar electronic tones that began Ellie Goulding's remix of Flashlight. A smile found itself on my newly awoken visage. Oh, my favorite song. The melody flowed to my hands and I beat rhythmically at the pillow with my fingers. My eyebrows furrow. This isn’t my pillow. My eyes snapped open as I dove for my phone, concerned that my alarm bothered my roommate. I almost forgot I was in Atlanta.

Shanti was already awake at time, thank goodness, so I hopped out of bed and begun my morning routine. Part of me was still surprised I made it halfway across the United States in one piece without my family nagging me every second, but it was too early to dwell on the subject. We only had half an hour to prepare for the day.

Shanti and I phoned the other cohort members in case their alarms didn't rouse them and waited at the lobby. After catching some breakfast, our group hopped into a car for our tour of Emory College.

Timothy in the front dressed in a white suit and black tie.
Looking Good!

We got there ten minutes early, giving us time to observe the building before us. From the outside, the structure stood tall and sleek, tinted in a humble grey. The inside exerted a similar atmosphere. The ceiling was high and grand. Auburn polished wood composed the walls. The room was beautiful. The sun peeked warmly though the window to create a soothing mood for book openers. A little after skimming through our informational pamphlets, a refined African gentleman politely informed us that the meeting would begin shortly. Once everyone was seated in the lecture hall, the man stood in the front of the room, introducing himself Timothy Fields.

The presentation began with a short clip followed by an informative discussion led by Timothy. He discussed the long-standing traditions on campus, difference between Oxford and Emory, as well as key components in the application process. Each section was accompanied by an opportunity for questions which Timothy expertly handled. After the seminar, four young women filed to the front of the room. The audience was sectioned off into four groups, each accompanying one of the guides.

Our cohort had the pleasure of following Kari Burdzinski. We moved out of the recruiting station and

Kari (far right) starting the tour.

wove through the campus. The university was, without a doubt, wonderful. Because Oxford was founded in 1836 and Emory in 1915, the school was rich in culture and polished in education. Kari explained that in the past, wednesday was free of class to allow students to catch up on their work. Instead, many scholars spend their Wednesday snoozing in their dorms past noon. The admission saw this as a necessary change from a quarter to semester system, bringing class back on Wednesday. However, their old system was not forgotten. Campus organizations all come together on Wednesdays and offer students food and club information in memory of the leisurely Wednesday.

There are many other traditions on campus including Dooley the skeleton putting an end to classes or

The popular mascot-- Dooley.

the competitive battles between campus dorms. Aside from all the amusement on campus, the university is heavily focused on academics. This factor is blatantly apparent by observing the eleven extravagant libraries on campus. I gave myself a mental slap when we stopped by the Robert Woodruff Library. My school library has at most twenty full shelves of books accompanied by miniature book shelves scattered across the center of the room and ancient box windows computers lining one wall. I thought my local library was quite impressive compared to this, with different rooms and books sectioned off by genre and three study rooms for the locals to concentrate in silence. This was on a whole new level. We were only taken to observe the building from the outside, and the sheer size of the structure was breathtaking. The colossal library had ten floors of books, study rooms, as well as technology. As Kari explained, I peered into the glass windows, catching a glimpse of their plush colorful couches and modern computers open for students to use. To think there were ten more of where this came from. Aside from the libraries, students are also encouraged to study in study rooms available in their dorms. Each floor is supplied with at least two rooms for collaborative work, each room complete with rolling couches, tables, and a white board.

Kari led us into the sports building and everyone’s jaw dropped the second we stepped in. We walked on a bridge inside the second floor of the building, giving us the complete view of two full size basketball courts on either side of us. The high ceilings were decorated with awards achieved by the student athletes. As we continued down the hall, I had to contain myself from running into the fully equipped dance studio and busying myself with the untattered gymnastic mats. As we made our way to the end of the hall, Kari explained that there was also an indoor and outdoor track, an Olympic size swimming pool and many more facilities for students to maintain their physical health located in the building. Kari explained that the school strongly believes in academics, therefore competition is held among schools with the same ideal. Their focus on education over athleticism is also apparent in their lack of a football team. Emory admissions and student leaders came together and agreed that immense funding required to establish a football team should instead be used to develop the academics. We made it to the end of the building and I looked back at the flags with disappointment. There were no golf awards to be seen.

Sports building from the outside.

We met back at the recruitment building. Kari took the last few moments to explain her journey to becoming an Emory student. Our cohort mused when she mentioned she is a native of Los Angeles and fell in love with the campus during a college tour with her junior class. Although I enjoyed the campus tour and the academically focused culture, I wouldn’t say this is my dream school. Of course, it would be an honor to attend a campus with eleven full blown libraries and a gym with more equipment than I could ever get through, Atlanta heat does not mix well with a bay area native. On top of this, the school lacks a marching band and golf team! That isn’t to say I won’t apply though. I respect their ideals regarding the relationship between academics and other activities. In addition, the students on campus all seem very engaged and outgoing. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back in two years as a freshman.

We returned to the hotel for a moment to freshen up and pack our bags before heading to the airport once more. I released a breath I was holding when the metal detector didn’t sound as I walked through. Supplied with our memories of sweat and back-ache, we decided to try the tram today. Soon after, we boarded the plane and arrived to Washington D.C. in the blink of an eye. Just like the Atlantic airport had its quirks, the D.C. airport had a beautiful wall decorated with movie and magazine covers. It was, truthfully, one of the most patriotic murals I’ve ever seen.  

The bold D.C. wall of media.

I thought the worst of East Coast weather was over when we spent an entire two hours dragging our burning legs under the hot sun during the tour of Emory University. I was wrong. I saw the hidden blue sky as a greeting from cool breezes and chilly water droplets. Instead, I was introduced to humid air, returning heat, and fat spheres of rain. We spent a swell fifteen minutes adjusting to the new weather before our ride arrived.

Although this is the second day of many, I already knew dinner would be fantastic. Our cohort agreed to dinner at a local German diner titled Old Europe Restaurant. Everyone giggled about the idea of

Inside of the diner.

pronouncing German dishes, but the jokes ended the moment the door flew ajar. The first thing that caught our attention was the sound. From the inside, a man and a woman played traditional English music with none other than the accordion and guitar. We squeezed through the narrow door one by one, each person slowing down as they entered to stare at the furniture in awe as the others from behind ushered them forward. They didn’t lie when they said this was an Old European styled diner. The walls were decorated with old oil paintings, the tables were elegantly decorated with a classy crimson cloth and dim yellow lights added to the old atmosphere. Once we thought the acts were over, the group performed a knee-slapping dance as we ordered our food. Our final surprise was the dinner itself—authentic German food in both taste and size. We thought the liver and raw beef would be the highlight of our meal in terms of flavor. Wrong again. People tend to mock the serving size of American dishes, but German meals are another story. The food was, without a doubt, delicious to every bite, but there was so much food. Even leader Chan-Chan had trouble finishing his dish. We took our leave at 9’o clock, both Justice and I surrendering to take-out boxes. 

We left the building with full bellies and stepped into the soothing evening drizzle. I can’t recall who started it. Maybe it was the eager Stephen rushing to get back to the hotel, or competitive Shanti who followed behind him, but our entire cohort began a sprint. We all shared a liberating laugh, disregarding the raindrops soaking through our clothes, and continued the rest of the way to the hotel. 

Washington D.C Here We Come!

The grand school of Emory University, is where we started off for the series of college tours that we would experience. But before we went, we spent sometime getting complimentary continental breakfast downstairs in hotel. I delighted myself with some pancakes, eggs, sausages, and a glass of orange juice. Throughout breakfast, I observed the lobby and dining area for breakfast. One thing I realized was the music selection that they play throughout the day. I was curious about what type of music that they play that correlated with the hotel ambiance they have. I began to think "Would the music be contemporary or from other age or is it always classical?" I began to think do they play different music that correlate with the time of the day. Although I didn't recognize the song, I heard a slow song that relaxing, which I believe fit the homely environment. I then decided to take a note for myself to check what the music was like during the afternoon to see if there was a change in the style of music.

Shortly after we ate breakfast, our shuttle came to pick us up to head toward Emory University. When we got close enough to the colleges premises I started to see what type of things and places were located in the vicinity of the school. While I couldn't recognize most of the stores and small businesses, I did know a few of the stores/restaurants we drove by. For example, Starbucks and Chipotle. Throughout the limits of the school boundaries, there were many small business and restaurants that students could visit. I admired this because students don't have to travel to far to grab coffee or other necessities. 

Since the school wasn't to far we arrived there a bit early. The shuttle driver dropped us off in front of the school's bookstore, where there was a Starbucks(notably known to be the largest indoor Starbucks in the country) and where the student store was. We walked up the three flights of stairs to get to the waiting room. The waiting room was very decorative and organized. One thing that stood out, for me, was the three posters that each had "#EMORY" and the year with students signatures around it in colorful ink. They also had a series of bookshelves with little trinkets as well as books. When it got around 9 AM, one of the deans of admissions, Timothy Fields, came into the waiting room and directed us to the seminar room where the information session would be.

 
The information session started as soon as all the people from the waiting room came in. The session started with a very fun and interesting video showing what the campus looked like when class was in session. Being very informative, we saw a range of students all interested in different things share their opinion about the school. After the video, the dean went into more statistics about admission acceptance and requirements for the schools. One aspect that I admired, that the dean went over, was the fact that the regional and admission advisers don't compare schools and their students. They look at what the school offers based on their curriculum and see how much the student has challenged themselves. I was quiet interested in the difference between their Oxford College and Emory College. Both schools coincide with each other. One useful piece of information that the dean shared was how he looks at the common applications for admission. He gave us incite in what he looks for, how he looks at it, and certain things that may "turn off" admission advisers from a student's acceptance. Soon enough we started the actual college tour.

Our college guide was this junior, Kari, showed us different parts of the schools including the dining commons, one of the dorm rooms, the main fitness center, etc. Since Coca-Cola has been a major beneficiary to the school, the school always funds building new facilities for the university. Having new facilities is an important aspect to me because not only does it give students better resources but it also shows that the school is always improving and dedicated to academics. With every turn, our tour guide had something interesting to say about the school, whether it varied from a fun fact, school traditions, or some history about the university. I was quiet astonished to hear about some of their schools tradition. For example their tradition including their skeleton mascot, Dooley. In this tradition, Dooley can come into any classroom and dismiss the whole class for the whole day. I thought that was so interesting because my high school wouldn't even allow our mascot to enter a classroom let alone dismissing a whole class/lecture.

Main Fitness Center

One Quad of Emory University

After the tour my cohort and I went back to the hotel. At this time it was almost noon and I still was curious about the hotel music. When I walked in, I rushed to my room first because we only had about 15 minutes to finish up packing and change to check out by 12:00 PM. When we finished, we all headed downstairs. When I first walked in to the lobby, I heard this contemporary/modern song called "Cool Kids" by Echosmith, which was very different from the song I heard earlier in the day. In the morning they were playing this older song that was very slow but near the afternoon the music changed to this some what upbeat, but still relaxing. I wanted to see what they would play near the evening, but unfortunately we had to leave. 

When we reached the airport, we rushed to our gate. We decided to eat at the airport as well. After some time contemplating where to eat, we finally decided upon two places, which were a philly cheese steak place and a pizza place. The restaurants being next to one another it was extremely easy to stay together. When it was time to board the place, we prepared our things and left to get on the plane. 

The plane, being overbooked again, didn't follow the seating arrangement, so I sat next to Julie. Julie and I conversed about what we were excited about and what we were really looking forward to seeing in Washington DC. I was really happy because I got the window seat, therefore having the ability to see all the beautiful scenery being above in a plane. 

When we got to Washington DC, it began to drizzle. It felt great because on the West Coast we don't see much rain in the summer, in addition to that theirs a drought. Although it was raining, it was humid. But it wasn't to long till we got a shuttle bus came to take us to the hotel. 

When we finally reached the hotel, all of us waited for Mr.Chan-Law to grab our keys. As we waited, one of the employees offered us ice tea. Most of us weren't interested, but Helen did checked what they had, just in case. She came back and said that they had ice tea and ICE CREAM! We were so overjoyed but confused as well. We asked ourselves "is this even free?" The employee then came around and we asked him politely if they were free. He nicely replied it was complimentary. We quickly grabbed one and went back. 

When we got our room key. Mr.Chan-Law told us to meet back at the lobby at 7:15 to get dinner. Helen and I were roommates this time so her and I went into our room and just relaxed a bit. We also took our time to blog as much as we could since we had a little more than twenty minutes to spare. When 7:15 cam around all of us were down stairs ready to go. As we sat their in the lobby, Mr.Chan-Law gave us some suggestions of where to eat. He gave us a few different places but it came down to two choices, one being a German restaurant the other being a Vietnamese restaurant. But since none of us had experienced German cuisines, we chose to get German. 

Pork Schnitzel!! Yummy!!

The restaurant was very unique and it wasn't anything I've seen before. Right when we walked in we saw live performers playing German songs. It was such as amazing experience. When we got our menus, it was almost impossible to pronounce half the cuisines on the menu. But later we realized that getting the name correctly was only half the battle. The real challenge was actually eating all the food. It was so delicious, but so much. The food had incredible flavors and the place was amazing overall. Some point of the dinner, the live performers did this traditional dance that was entertaining. It was a lot different from how we dance in the states. I was so happy to be exposed to the German culture, I couldn't believe that one restaurant could expose that much culture. We were so full by the end of the night that we didn't even know how we would get back to the hotel!

When we got outside it was drizzling just a little bit. As we walked down the street, we had the sudden impulse to jog to our hotel even though we were so full. It was great. We made it to our hotel before the rain got any worse.

Today was an amazing experience full of bonding, learning, and cultural experience.  I had an amazing time in Atlanta and so far an amazing time in Georgia! I cant wait to see Georgetown tomorrow!

A City of Neighborhoods

My second day in Atlanta, Georgia included a tour of Emory University.  The two hour tour started at 9 o’clock in a lecture-styled classroom. We were first welcomed by Timothy Fields, a dean of the university. He first presented a 5-7 minute introductory video which contained a wide variety of opportunities; for instance, there are many organizations, community service, and extracurricular activities available for students. Emory has a tradition every Wednesday in which the clubs gather at a meeting spot to give out food and talk with students. This day is called “Wonderful Wednesday.”  Did you know that Emory’s women flag football team is the most competitive sport?  In addition, the women swimming and diving has won a banner for four years, 2005, 2011, 2012, and 2014. Timothy Fields stated, “[Atlanta, Georgia] is a city of neighborhoods,” because 75% of the student population are from out-of-state. He then jokingly revealed the reason for the traffic was because everyone brings their driving habits to Atlanta. I imagined one car zooming and swerving, while another car was cruising and relaxing on the highway. On the topic of international students, I was primarily interested in the study abroad programs. Emory offers 120 programs in 80 countries, such as Vietnam, India, and China, for a semester, a summer, or a year. I imagined myself traveling for a year to Vietnam, to improve on my Vietnamese skills.

Emory University's Mascot

After the informational presentation, we took a campus tour. Our tour guide, Kari Burdzinski, is a rising junior who showed us around. She showed us the freshman dormitory, which was completed in 2007. The room consisted of two beds that were lifted, two open closets, and a sink. Outside the room, there was a thermostat that controlled the room’s temperature. We also visited the “Duck,” a cafeteria that is a building within a building. Flags of different countries draped from the ceiling, a beautiful decal. Kari told us that we were able to eat at the Duck, but the food would be more catered to young kids; since children were taking a P.E. course on campus. Kari also told us another tradition that happens on campus, which involves a senior dressed as a skeleton. The skeleton is known to be Emory's additional mascot, and no one knows who is inside the costume because the faculty chooses the individual. This skeleton is able to dismiss students from their classes if, they right a beautiful poem commemorating the skeleton, or if enough students from the same class request to leave the class. I found it interesting to learn that the skeleton is surrounded by body guards... because of an event that happened a long time ago.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed touring Emory University, but the heat was making more fatigued than usual. If the location was cooler, I will be more interested in applying for early admission.  

Hot and sweaty after the tour, we went back to the cool hotel to pack up and leave for the airport. We arrived at the airport at around 1:50 PM, but boarded the plane at 3 o’clock. This time, we used the train to our advantage to reach the C gate. The plane had a slight delay before lifting off on our two hour plane ride. We landed at 5:20 PM to Georgetown., and headed toward the baggage claim. Luckily, the airport was not as large in comparison to Atlanta’s airport. The current weather was 82 degrees Fahrenheit, a lot cooler than “Hotlanta,” with some light showers. I was experienced with Georgia’s hot weather, so the weather was not bad. When the shuttle arrived, we entered the van to go to our hotel. The traffic was backed up, but the scenery from the airport to Holiday Inn was spectacular.  Georgetown has old buildings with a modern vibe.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, we were enjoying our surroundings. An employee told us that the hotel offered ice tea, water, and ice cream. Ice cream?! I was confused and shocked to see ice cream as complimentary. Once we finished enjoying our treat, we went to our rooms, and at 7:15 PM gathered at the lobby for dinner.

Old Europe's Sausage Combo

Pork Liver Salad

Dinner tonight was at Old Europe, a German restaurant. When we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by music. The accordion and the guitar harmonized together, and I enjoyed the ambiance of the experience. There were ships hanging from the ceiling, and portraits on the wall that decorated the restaurant. The vibe of Old Europe made me feel as if I was in another world, since there were employees and customers dressed up. Coincidentally, this was our first time trying German food, and I’m glad that we took the opportunity to go to this restaurant, instead of Asian food. When we were seated, we looked at the menu to see what the restaurant offered. We were all confused about what to eat and what to order. I personally asked the waitress what I should offer, and she suggested Old Europe’s Sausage Combo. I enjoyed eating the sausages that were delicious. The sausages were juicy, crispy, and cooked to perfection. Luckily, my plate was not as large in comparison to the others. After yesterday’s bison burger experience, I didn’t want to eat a hefty dinner that would weigh me down. It was nice to have musicians play and sing when we were eating. The whole experience was a memory that I will not forget.

When we finished our meal, we walked back to the hotel; but it then became a fast walk to a run. It was sprinkling, so we decided to run as quickly as we can back to our rooms. I liked how the progression from a walk to run began. We walked out of the restaurant, but once we crossed the street we picked up the pace. The six of us began to go in a fast pace, but Mr. Chan-Law was falling behind. We waited for him, and then he began to chant commands at us, similarly to boot camp. Furthermore, we scared a stranger who questioned our actions. I found it funny to see her reaction as she said in confusion, “What is going on?” Once we finally reached our hotel, semi-drenched, we quickly went up to our rooms to shower and change.

As the day comes to an end, I would like to reflect on what happened today. It has only been two days since we arrived at the East Coast. The days have been filled with travels and new experiences that I am happy to have with me. I enjoyed Emory University because their dedication on community service and the idea of giving back is something I respect as an ILCer. I can’t wait to tour more colleges and see what they offer to their students. 

From Atlanta to D.C.

Following an amazing first day where the Cornell cohort and I traveled from our homes and got a taste of Atlanta  (as well as being able to watch my Golden State Warriors winning their first NBA Championship since 1975), we were able to see what Emory University had to offer, as well as fly into our nation's capital, Washington D.C.

I woke up at 7 o'clock on the dot this morning to the fine symphony of an iPhone alarm.  Stephen and I had the same alarm tone, both set to 7 o'clock, but the time in which they went off was a second off from one another, so my exit from dreamland and entry into the real world was greeted with two loud and annoying alarm tones buzzing into my ear.  I freaked out when I heard the alarm, causing me to jump out of bed and quickly shut off both alarms.  I was wide awake, but Stephen, however, was not. To my surprise, he was still sound asleep, which I found hilarious considering the loud nature of the alarms.  We both went to sleep around 12:45 because the game ended late, but it was worth it.  Now awake, but a little groggy, I proceeded with my daily morning routine, which consisted of showering, brushing my teeth, putting my contacts in, and putting my clothes on.  Following this routine, I re-packed all the items in preparation of our departure.  Around this time, Julie knocked on my door to get us for the free breakfast.  The meal was standard for a free buffet-style continental breakfast, consisting of pancakes, eggs, cereal, muffins and toast with orange juice and coffee offered as the drinks.  After finishing up breakfast at around 8:20, we relaxed in the lobby until the shuttle picked us and took us to Emory University.

Emory's Barnes & Noble

We arrived at Emory University's Barnes and Noble, which stood high and tall.  We entered the building, the first aspect that I noticed was the incredibly large Starbucks on my right, which looked like a restaurant rather than a coffee shop.  We were later informed on our tour that Emory's Starbucks is the largest collegiate Starbucks in the country, which I found amusing because that implied these students needed buckets of coffee to keep themselves going.  We took stairs up into the main hall, where we checked in and received a booklet that provided a minor breakdown of the school, as well as an area in the back to take notes.  The first  pages were dedicated to facts about the class while the last couple pages were dedicated to advice from the admission offices, a list of majors and minors, the neighboring sibling of Emory, Oxford College, and student life.  I read through the booklet while waiting in the lobby and it got me excited for the tour ahead.

At around 9:00, we were greeted by Timothy Fields, who brought us into a presentation room filled with chairs and a large screen used with projectors.  I noticed he was wearing a thick, tan suit, which shocked me considering that it was about 90 degrees outside and humid like a sauna.  I had barely been outside for more than a couple minutes and I was already burning up, so I don't know how he fared with those clothes.  Granted, he wasn't giving out any tours outside, but a suit is a suit.  Once we were all seated, Fields greeted everyone in attendance and showed us a 10 minute video about the college.  Just like the booklet, the video went over basic topics about the school.  The video was incredibly informative, covering admissions, campus life, majors and minors, the difference between Emory and Oxford, scholarships, extracurriculars, and financial aide.  It featured a lot of students, all of whom seemed very happy that they chose Emory University to be their college.  What really caught my attention was that the students all had a tremendous amount of pride in their school and were more than happy to be there, a key point that I personally thought would be a point to consider when choosing a college.  Their optimism wasn't fake either, as they all had a genuine appreciation for their college.  Following the video, Fields delivered an hour long presentation, going further in depth to the topics that the video covered and answering questions from the audience.

Dooley the Unofficial Mascot

After Fields wrapped up his presentation, four student tour guides of different grades made their way into the rooms and introduced themselves.  Kari Burdzinski, a rising junior who spent all three years at Emory, was a tour guide for the hour.  She did an excellent job of navigating us throughout the campus while being able to walk backwards about 90% of the time, a testament to how well she knew her campus.  Burdzinski would navigate us from building to building, then go into either the history of the building, or a general description of the building.  Along the tour, Burdzinski took us to various libraries, lecture halls, dorms, as well as the Duck, the name of Emory's large and beautiful cafeteria, as well as their physical education center, which displayed their various NCAA trophies and pictures of memorable students of years past.  She also introduced us to the school's unofficial mascot, known as Dooley.  This mascot came about when a student working for the newspaper wrote a piece from the view-point of a skeleton in a biology classroom, which became a hit and prompted the school to pick up the mascot.  Every year, a senior is selected to put on a skeleton suit and play the part of Dooley during Dooley Week.  Due to an occurrence a couple years ago where Dooley was kidnapped by Georgia Tech students kidnapped a student playing Dooley and broke his/her ribs, Dooley is now surrounded by bodyguards.  This is just the type of class spirt personified at Emory that really caught my attention.

Part of Emory's beautiful campus

Just like in the video, she was another student that really loved the school she attended and it was easy to see because of the way she talked about Emory.  She originally hailed from Los Angeles, California and found out about Emory on a thirteen school, six day college tour when she was in high school.  Emory was the last school on her list, and right before she entered the campus, she said it got to a point where the previous twelve colleges all looked the same.   She said that Emory was different from the rest and the school captured her heart, persuading her to attend for college.  Because of this constant emphasis on school spirt, Emory seemed like a great college and a great place to go.  I love how the student body is relatively small and really connected, as well as the student's school spirit and the campus itself, which, is beautiful.  The only aspect of Emory that I did not like was the weather, but I'd like to say that's because I'm not accustomed to the heat of the East.

Washington National Airport

After we concluded the tour at 11:00 in the morning, went back to our hotel, gathered our luggage, and headed out to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to travel to Washington D.C. for our Georgetown visit.  Just like yesterday, we checked in our luggage, went through security, settled down, then grabbed a bite to eat before departing.  At 3:00, we boarded the plane and by 3:50, we were up in the air.  Almost immediately upon sitting down, I was knocked out.  At one point in the flight, I woke up incredibly disoriented and asked Julie how long until we landed.  She told me we were 15 minutes out and I was incredibly confused and groggy.  At around 5:20 in the afternoon, the plane landed, and we went through the standard airplane procedure of getting our luggage and catching a shuttle to the Holiday Inn in Washington D.C. at around 6:45.

Old English Schnitzel

We settled into our rooms and were able to chill until 8:00 in the evening.  When everyone headed down to the lobby, Mr. Chan-Law presented us with a decision: German or Vietnamese food.  I wanted to stay basic with Vietnamese food, but everyone wanted to broaden our culinary horizons and get German food.  We settled on this place called Old Europe and I regret ever wanting to choose Vietnamese.  Right when we walked in the restaurant, we were greeted with polka music and a lively atmosphere.  I had no idea what to get so I turned to Chan-Law's Yelp app, prompting me to choose the Old English Schnitzel.  The table ordered liver and tar tar as appetizers.  I never had either before, so I was a little scared when taking the first bite, but they both turned out to be delicious.  After the appetizers arrived, we waited about 40 minutes for our entries and it was worth the wait.  The schnitzel was incredibly rich, while my sides, sauerkraut and home fried potatoes, provided a nice touch to the meal.  I walked away stuffed and happy that I decided to try something new.

Tomorrow, we head to Georgetown University, as well as our dinner with the Georgetown students and alums.  I cannot wait.

An Introduction to 90 Degree Heat

Poke. Poke again. Slowly my eye lids lifted and blurry but still visible, I saw Justice standing by the side of my bed. 7:02 A.M. I slept through my alarm. However, I doubt I could have slept through the two phone alarms going off at full volume for long. Still sleepy, we laid in our beds for a few more minutes knowing that we did not have to meet up until 7:45.

By 7:30, both of us were hastily getting ready, but interrupted by Julie's wake up call. 7:40 rolled around and both Julie and Shanti knocked on our door. Together the entire cohort arrived at the continental breakfast and met up with Chan-Law. I picked around the breakfast table and ended up with two sausages and two pancakes. Both were very delicious.

Eventually, the Holiday Inn shuttle van arrived to take us to Emory University. The moment we stepped onto the campus, we were amazed by the beauty and cleanliness of the campus. After walking 3 flights of stairs we arrived at the beginning of the campus tour.

The tour began with a hour long speech given by Timothy Fields. His speech was very interesting and Fields described Emory's atmosphere as being different and welcoming. Emory University is very diverse, with students enrolled from all 50 states and 100+ countries. The idea of having Oxford as another option to attend for your Freshman and Sophomore year interested me the most. Also, when Fields brought up the Business school, I paid very close attention, because that is what I plan on majoring in when I attend college. I learned that Emory's business school has no minors and they focus on their students to go into the work force right after school.

Lecture given by Timothy Fields

After Timothy Field's magnificent speech, we were split into 4 different tour groups. My cohort and I ended up with Kari Burdzinski as our amazing tour guide. Kari, an upcoming junior, attends Emory University, but did not attend Oxford for her Freshman and Sophomore year. She walked us around the entire campus and introduced us to historic buildings, such as the Duck. The Duck is a building within a building and it is used as a dining hall and theater.

The building inside the Duck

Kari walked us around for about an hour and dismissed us. Being in the 90 degree heat got to the cohort, so we ended up chilling inside until the shuttle picked us up. Thanks to Chan-Law, we were able to check out of the hotel at noon instead of 11 A.M. The airport shuttle came by the hotel to pick us up shortly after checking out.

"You know the drill," said Chan-Law, as we exited the shuttle. Quickly, with experience now, we checked-in our bags, went through security, and finished lunch with 30 minutes to spare before our flight began boarding. At this point, everyone scrambled around to find a plug to charge whatever needed charge.

The flight boarded and took off on time. This trip, I sat in the window seat, Helen sat in the middle, and Thao sat in the aisle seat. We landed at 5:20 and found our shuttle in no time. The airport taxi dropped us directly in front of our hotel, Holiday Inn.

After settling in, the cohort met downstairs in the lobby at 7:15. After raiding the free ice cream for the second time, we all decided to try something new and dine at a 4 star German restaurant named Old Europe. The atmosphere of the restaurant was amazing, with live German music and dances being performed. The food was different as well. As a group we ordered the tar tar and the pork liver. After a long wait, our food eventually arrived. I ordered the Old Europe Schnitzel. Overall, the food and atmosphere were terrific.

German musicians and dancers entertaining the restaurant 

Running back to the hotel room while the rain poured on us was the best part of the night. The weather changed from hot in Atlanta, to very humid, but cold in Washington D.C. Tomorrow, we will all adjust to the bipolar weather and won't be in shorts and t-shirts in the rain. Day 2 has officially ended, however it feels like we have already been here for a month.