A Beautiful Day

Our first time on the Amtrak!

Today we visited our first Ivy League school. We woke up extra early for our train ride to Pennsylvania. It was my first time on a train, and I must say it is way better than a plane ride. The Amtrak station looked very similar to an airport with many shopping stores and a food court. Once we got on the train, it was very spacious and it was cool to be able to go through other different states. I am thankful we arrived there safely, and the weather was great! It was not too hot, but it was still a nice sunny day at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A beautiful day at Philadelphia!

 After the information session at University of Pennsylvania, you can say the school is kind of a mixture of Duke and Georgetown University. You enroll into one of the four colleges like Georgetown, but the school encourages exposure to different other classes that may help you in the real world outside of college. This freedom resembles how liberal Duke is.

The one thing that I liked about the University of Pennsylvania was their School of Nursing program. Although it is the smallest school on their campus, at the beginning of sophomore year, students begin a clinical rotation and get plenty of work experience working in a hospital.

We had an exceptional tour guide. David, a rising senior at University of Pennsylvania was very engaging with the students and parents, always paused for at least 15 seconds to ask if there were any questions, intelligently discussed many aspects of the school, and as a comedian, threw in a little jokes here and there. This Ivy League is very beautiful and is intertwined within the city. The actual city of Philadelphia is not the safest city to be in, but David assured us the college makes sure their students feel safe. Having 116 police officials, you can ask for guidance to go from one place to another if you feel scared.

Relaxing with some good laughs on the UPenn lawn.

 Without a doubt, University of Pennsylvania is an outstanding school. I didn’t fall in love with the school and I don’t think it is a school for me. There’s a different school for everyone, and I just couldn’t picture myself attending this school. I would prefer a college in the outskirts of the city, rather than in the heart of it.

After the tour, I received a voicemail from a man at the Vanderbilt Summer Academy asking if I wanted to take Pharmacology instead of Lived Religion, because there was an opening spot. I didn’t hesitate to call back and accept it, because it was originally my first choice. I am even more excited now that I am taking this class with Yessenia Reyna!

After the amazing tour, we stopped at a food truck to grab Philadelphia’s famous cheese steaks. We also met up with Cameron Fulton, another ILC ambassador from Pinole Valley currently studying Social Justice at the University of Pennsylvania. It was nice to have a quick talk with him and hear that he’s having fun.

We then took the train back to Washington D.C., and explored the city a little more. We visited the Lincoln Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. They were both spectacular, and we couldn’t leave without documenting our rare visit.  The views were absolutely beautiful and we even witnessed a proposal right in front of the Lincoln Memorial building. That was one very lucky woman.

 Our last night here at D.C. was spent at a Japanese restaurant. Because sushi is my favorite food, it wasn’t hard choosing my meal. It was very filling, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

This past week has been quite overwhelming, but very memorable. I have already turned a few shades darker, and my cohort tells me I’m golden brown now. From taxi rides to long walks, every moment I spent here was totally worth it!