Georgetown University, Here We Come!

Walking to Breakfast!

Today was a start of a new day and boy was I tired and yet ready! To begin with, we left at 8:30 to eat breakfast and start earlier. Unfortunately, that didn't work out and we ended up eating breakfast around 9:30 because of a lot of  traffic. John commented saying that here cars are a hassle and take longer to travel in and find parking in the walking dominated East while out in California, driving is the dominant mode of transportation. Anyways, we ended up eating at Au Bon Pain and went to to check out some museums. Unsure of which museum to go to, we chose the Smithsonian Museum of American History which turned out to be a good choice for only just 45 minutes!

Google's Garage Piece

Sad Little Remnants From the Twin Towers

The Museum of American History was very cool as it had strange but cool American historical artifacts such as Google's first server and also one of the Ford model cars that was released at the World Fair in New York. Another cool exhibit that we saw was the one about the original flag made by Betsy Ross which was kept in a special vault where they allowed no photos to be taken. The last exhibit that we were able to see in the museum was the war exhibit where it chronicled the touted wars that America fought such as World War 2, but also the humiliating Vietnam war with a helicopter that the Americans considered their war horse in Vietnam. It was actually kind of cool that the museum had remnants from the Twin Towers which triggered the war in Afghanistan. For me, this is really personal because I was born September 11, 1997 and so whenever my birthday comes, it's a bittersweet moment for me.

Gorgeous Little Georgetown University!

Soon, our time at the museum was up and we went to go catch the tour at Georgetown University. I learned so much from our helpful tour guides. The first thing we experienced was a presentation by one of the admission officers there who explained that there were 4 different schools focusing on different areas such as health and public service to a school studying arts and science. Though there was fierce but friendly rivalry from each school, there was a still tight knit community and family of students. One of the current students there, Tamien, a rising sophomore, testified to this as he was able to get comfortable there with close relationships with his professors and close friendships with his roommates and acapella members. What's nice about the school was that the class sizes were so small having roughly 17-26 students per class and so professors can understand better the learning habits and needs of their students. On the tour, Tamien talked about Georgetown and how it was founded by a Catholic bishop who was rejected from every university in the U.S. and so he decided to create a school where people from all backgrounds and religions could be accepted. The atmosphere today still reflects this acceptance of everyone and as Georgetown was based on Catholic principles, Georgetown stresses the moral obligations and ethics that every man or woman have in being a good member of society no matter what major they are in. 

Meeting all the Georgetown Alumni and Students!

Once the tour of Georgetown was done, we went back to the hotel and rested. Soon afterwards, we had to hitch a ride on our bus which arrived late and made us late for the dinner with some Georgetown alumni and current students. However, the dinner went very well and I was able to talk with one of the alumni Kevin Sullivan who recently graduated and got a job at Powell Tate! I really enjoyed conversing with him as he had some very helpful insights into college recommending me to really ask tour guides on the college tours some of the unseen things that people don't fully know happens in college such as how dorm life is there or how well people are able to be involved with activities outside of school. Kevin also reminded me that I shouldn't just focus on the academics of a college, but really choose a college that's able to transform and help a person grow in a holistic manner. Another one of the alumni, Sean, said something similar when Sean shared a quote of one of the Jesuits or religious leaders/counselors from Georgetown who said, "Don't let classes get in the way of your education." This quote really hit me because it really helped me see that colleges shouldn't be just a place to get factual knowledge, but a place to grow as a leader and as a caring person like Georgetown.

Group Photo!

In conclusion, today, I feel like I really learned a lot on how to really evaluate college and even life. The principle of assessing not just one factor but taking into account all factors is really helpful for me in not judging people based on education or looks, but viewing them as people just like myself with strengths and weaknesses. I hope to gain more insight like this tomorrow!