A "Prince" Ton of Fun!

We woke up today to a bit of disappointing news. Being our last day before we moved into the dormitories and began our programs, we had plans to tour one final school, Princeton Univeristy. However, fate seemed to have different plans for us. As it turns out, due to the holiday long weekend, most schools had closed and cancelled all college tours and informational sessions. While a bit upsetting to hear, we were nevertheless going to continue with our plans of seeing Princeton. 

Over the course of this past week, we had utilized, in large part, Amtrack to get to most of our college tours such as NYC for Columbia and NYU. However, today we were going to utilize something different, SEPTA, which stands for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority. This was Pennsylvania's version of the Bay Area's BART system, which is a form of regional rail. The train ride to Trenton, New Jersey was nothing extravagant in terms of scenery, but it did offer an insight as to quality of living of various locations in Pennsylvania. One moment we could go from the bustling city life of Philadelphia, to the more rural and suburban life style that lied a few miles away. After arriving in Trenton, we switched trains and headed over to a stop known as Princeton Junction, which was essentially the gateway to the Princeton University area. From there we boarded a smaller train known as "the dinky" which would take is directly to the edge of the university campus. 

Princeton has an incredible campus

Architecture unlike no other

 

.When we arrived at the campus, the sight we beheld was breathtaking. The architecture with which Princeton based its campus on was absolutely stunning. Out of the various schools we had toured throughout our week, I had yet to see a school fully integrate that form of aesthetics into their school as vividly as Princeton. As Mr. Hillyer had told us from the very beginning, the school shared many qualities in common with Hogwarts from Harry Potter. As we walked through the campus, everything we learned about the logistics of the school was based on the knowledge Mr. Hillyer possessed. There were buildings we did not necessarily know the purpose of but for the most part he was very knowledgeable about the majority of them. In addition, it was also incredible to see exactly how much history and cultural tradition the school possessed. A building called Nassau displayed plaque for every graduating class, spanning from 2014 to as far back as around 1873. The same building is one of the only buildings in the Ivy League schools that actually has ivy growing on it. The way the school pays homage to its history is incredible and I am left amazed as to how much it values how it came to be the Princeton of today

After touring the campus a bit, headed into what could be classified as "University Town" or rather the small college town that existed at the edge of the school's campus. For lunch, we decided to try something unique. We headed into a small shop called Princeton Pizza Pi. The selections of pizza were exquisite and entirely different from traditional pizza. Toppings ranged from macaroni and cheese to buffalo chicken, resulting in various unheard of combinations.

When it was time to go, we essentially retraced our steps. We took "the dinky" once again to get to the main train station and then head back to Philadelphia. At this point many of us were very tired but still possessed a bit of energy for dinner. The venue for the night, Bobby Flay's Burger Palace. I had tried burgers before, but the selection presented at the restaurant was immense. I opted for one of the signature burgers, known as the Crunchburger,which was a normal burger with a variety of chips inside of it. After eating, we called it a night relatively early. The reason for this is that, apart from having been a very exhausting week, we all needed to prepare ourselves to move into the dorms tomorrow. This was a day I had long been awaiting and had immensely looked forward to. Throughout the week I was filled with thoughts of who my roommates would be, what the professor would be like and the many adventures I aspired to have. I possessed so much excitement that I could hardly wait for tomorrow to come. "This is it" as the famous Michael Jackson quote goes. This is the moment that for almost six months now I have looked forward to and have experienced a multitude of different feelings towards. I know that I will have an experience unlike no other and I am determined to make the absolute most of it.