So Much To See, So Little Time

Today was another long day for the Penn Ivy League Connection group. It being our only full day in Washington, D.C. we set out to learn as much about the area as possible before our early departure for Pennsylvania tomorrow.

Our adventures started at Georgetown University where we met with Admissions Councilor Mr. Chamberlain. We talked with him about admissions and financial aid in general, as well as specifically pertaining to Georgetown. He also shared with us some interesting insight into what colleges look for in perspective students. He mentioned that many people automatically jump to the term "well rounded" when describing an ideal candidate, however the question he posed was, "Would you really want to go to a school full of well rounded people?" He admited that a diversity of experiences is helpful when applying to college, but assured us that specificity in focus was not something to shy away from. He was a very interesting speaker and it was an extremely valuable experince having a college admissions officer as a rescource to answer all the questions we had regarding the application process.

After our discussion with Mr. Chamberlain, we watched a very well delivered presentation on what Georgetown University has to offer. After that, we were guided on a campus tour by a very knowledgeable rising junior who attends the universtiy.

The impression I got from the college was that it fostered a very tightly knit community. The freshmen take their core classes together and are required to live on campus for their first two years, there is only one dining hall where everyone goes to eat and socialize. We heard about an amazing number of diverse clubs and groups. The average class size was also quite small, only about twenty-something. However, it seemed as though the college was more focused on social sciences, and of course being in D.C., politics and foreign affairs. As a science and math-oriented student, it was hard for me to imagine fitting in at Georgetown, however, learning about the campus was still an interesting and beneficial experience.

After Georgetown, we walked up to Wisconsin street past all the nifty shops and resturaunts in the college town. We stopped and ate and once again, had delicious food.

After lunch, we visited the Holocaust Museum. I was very greatful for the opportunity to see the exhibit. Coming from a Jewish family, I have been taught that being as educated as possible regarding past atrocities is the best way to honour those who suffered through them and to prevent them from happening again. In this way, the historical exhibits were very moving for me. Having enough information to begin to understand what life may have been like during the war was incredible. We were able to walk through an authentic train car used to transport prisoners to labor camps and get a glimpse of the terror they might have felt. It was a completely unique experience. I think it took us all some time to process because the taxi ride to our next destination was a little quieter than usual.

In an effort to see as much as possible of Washington, D.C., we decided to take an open-top bus tour as our final activity.

Apparently, these buses were not built (and the trees were not trimmed) with people as tall as brian in mind. In fact, some of the branches were so low we were all in danger of a branch to the face at one time or another. It really kept us on our toes.

From the bus, we were able to see all the major monuments: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson as well as some very impressive government buildings such as the Capital Building, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. These buildings were impressive not only in size but also as uniquely artistic architectual masterpieces.

We also passed the Federal Breau of Investigation which, despite its lack of artistic design, was very impressive in its own way.

Finally, with aching feet and rumbling tummies, we sat down to a lovely dinner. Although much less fancy than the previous night's, the people at the resturaunt we chose were very friendly and the food was still great. Plus, we got to sit outside and enjoy the hot weather that still hangs around even at 8:30 PM.

We walked home from dinner, managing to only take out our map once, marking the end of another very evenful day in our nation's capital.

July 1st, both Educational and Entertaining

Today I woke up feeling much less tired, and quite enthusiastic to start our day of touring Washington, D.C. I went downstairs with Alex, and we found Julia and Mr. Miranda already waiting for us at the hotel’s restaurant. We ate a quick breakfast, and then took a cab to Georgetown University. We were early for our appointment, so we decided to stroll around the campus for a bit. One thing that I’ve found about the east coast is that I love the architecture. In California, earthquakes happen all the time, so there are very few large brick buildings. Therefore, I was very impressed by the massive stone and brick buildings on the Georgetown campus.

Before long, it was time for our appointment with Georgetown’s Northern California admissions representative, Bruce Chamberlain. For approximately half an hour, we talked to Mr. Chamberlain, or Bruce as he told us to call him, about Georgetown. Bruce was very direct in pointing out Georgetown’s strengths (a long history, very strong political science programs, location only miles from our nation’s capitol, the fact that almost 90% of students serve in an internship during their time at Georgetown, and much more).

What I really appreciated however was that he seemed very interested that we each find what college we truly want to study at. Instead of emulating the role of a salesman and only presenting Georgetown’s strengths, Bruce was also very open about discussing colleges similar to Georgetown, and why they might be better or worse fits for each of us. Bruce also expressed that he feels that too many applicants blindly attempt to show that they are “well rounded” in their applications instead of displaying a strong passion for one area of learning, which he believes is very important. All in all, I found our conversation very refreshing and enlightening.

After this meeting, we went to the general admissions talk, where the presenter showed an extensive slide show about Georgetown. Something that caught my eye here was that over 50% of Georgetown students study abroad during their four years at Georgetown. I think that studying abroad sounds very interesting, so learning that the majority of Georgetown students study abroad was very appealing. In my opinion, all colleges should require that their students study abroad at some point during their college life so that students can both expose themselves to other cultures and learn to appreciate how privileged they are to live in the U.S.

Also on the theme of the importance of understanding other cultures, after lunch, we visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This most recent school year, I had the privilege of taking a World War II history class at my high school. The course is written and taught by Marsha Hebden, who has taught me and hundreds of other students about World War II and the Holocaust. Although I already have a strong knowledge of World War II history, there was tons to learn, and in particular the propaganda exhibit was very informative. In particular, a question posed at the end of the exhibit will stick with me for a long time. The question was, “What limits should there be on speech, and what are the costs of imposing them?” Of course there is no one answer, but I think it’s an important idea to think about.

After an emotional few hours at the Holocaust Museum, we decided on a change of pace, and we took a fun and touristy ride on a double-decker bus. The weather today was beautiful, and it was enjoyable to sit back and soak in all of the attractions in town.

A Fun Bus Ride (Photo thanks to Alex Elms)

Finally, we headed back to Georgetown (neighborhood, not the university), and after a few minutes of looking at various restaurants, we settled on a place called Mr. Smith’s. Once again, we each enjoyed a delicious meal. I had a large cheeseburger, and there was some killer chocolate cake for desert. Now, I’m all set for our train ride to Philadelphia early tomorrow morning.

A Delicious Dinner (Photo thanks to Alex Elms)

Being Lopsided is OK

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to a pleasant surprise: the alarm worked! One hour and forty-five minutes later I discovered something that was not so pleasant: the snooze button didn’t! Unfortunately Brian and I had overslept. This was ironic considering we had actually woken up when we had originally planned to… However, we were only a little bit late to breakfast and were not actually delaying our departure from the hotel. We left the hotel and hailed a cab around 8:45 and headed for Georgetown University.

The university was a lot closer than expected and we arrived an hour before we were supposed to meet Bruce Chamberlain, the Northern California Admissions Representative for Georgetown. We decided to take a quick stroll after finding the General Admissions Building, which was where we would be meeting Bruce (Mr. Chamberlain was kind enough to allow us to call him by his first name). I realized that I had forgotten a notebook so we walked to the student store, all the while taking in Georgetown’s beautiful campus. We were able to see the campus more extensively on our tour a couple of hours later. We walked back the General Admissions Building and it was about 9:55, five minutes before we were scheduled to meet with Bruce, so we decided to check in early. Thankfully he was willing to speak with us early!

Our meeting with Bruce was excellent. We didn’t get to ask very many questions, but he was so thorough that we didn’t even have to ask any! Bruce began by asking what we were academically interested in. Engineering and physics was the general consensus between the three of us so he told us what Georgetown had to offer in those fields. He told us that the university does not have an engineering college, but does offer excellent opportunities in physics and other math-applied sciences. He also told us about a way to compensate for the lack of an engineering college at Georgetown. There is a path that students can take called the 3-2 Plan. Anyone who decides to do this will spend three years at Georgetown and then two at Columbia University, in New York City. This would give students better access to resources and the opportunity to study at two of the best universities in America. This sounds like a pretty enticing deal and made me pay a little more attention to Georgetown as a possibility for school. However, Georgetown is still primarily a school for business and politics and that is still something that I have to take into consideration as well. Bruce also told us about Georgetown’s generous financial aid packages. The university will meet one-hundred percent of a family’s demonstrated financial need! He told us that a small portion of that will be composed of loans and work-study programs, but the majority is grant money (aka FREE). We concluded our discussion with different aspects of the admissions process. He told us that there are three main focuses when it comes to the application: a student’s coursework in high school, our letters of recommendation, and our application essays. Bruce was generous enough to talk with us for longer than the half an hour that we had agreed upon (as well as let us into and excuse our tardiness to the information session). Meeting with Bruce was certainly one of the highlights of my day.

The information session also had some excellent nuggets of information that piqued my interest. First was that Georgetown is home to one of the top five policy debate teams in the country. I hope to continue debating in college so this is definitely a plus for Georgetown. Georgetown also has a very good student-faculty ratio of 10:1 and ninety-nine percent of classes are taught by faculty, as opposed to TA’s. Fifty percent of Georgetown students get the opportunity to study abroad. Since I hope to study in Japan (THE leading country in green energy technology), this was an excellent factor. I also liked something that both Bruce and the information session covered. In both sessions it was mentioned that the school is not necessarily going to prefer a well-rounded student over someone who is maybe not as diverse. I enjoyed hearing this because I am not a part of many extracurricular activities, but I am deeply involved in the ones that I participate in. We also learned about the school’s mascot, Jack the bulldog, the primary academic strengths of Georgetown (business, politics, and medicine), and several things about how the undergraduates attending Georgetown live. Our first couple of hours spent at Georgetown were well spent and we were given a plethora of helpful information.

Our guided tour was very nice. Our student tour guide, Glenn, was very knowledgeable and masterfully led us around Georgetown’s gorgeous campus. The majority of the campus buildings were made of brick or stone and were very easy on the eyes. The buildings that weren’t had more modern architecture and were all very interesting to look at. However, more appealing than the architecture was the university’s lawns and quad areas. The campus is compact in a lot of areas and has a lot of paved roads and paths, but Georgetown also has excellent wide, open spaces. There are lush, green fields for sports and even areas with miniature forests. Wildlife is abundant and it makes the school feel much farther from Washington, D.C. than it actually is (only about a five to ten minute walk). This concluded our time at Georgetown and I was extremely satisfied with everything I had learned (and also the nice Georgetown hoodie I purchased).

After Georgetown we walked through downtown Washington, D.C. to find some lunch. We eventually stumbled upon a nice restaurant called Clyde’s. We enjoyed a nice lunch and we discussed our favorite parts of Georgetown. I feel like we all walked away more impressed than when we had gone in. And, since I know our readers love food details, we shared some sliders for appetizers and I enjoyed some excellent Tortellini Bolognese (pictures below!)

Following lunch, we decided to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures inside the museum because I would have loved to take away some visual memories of all the history we soaked in. I did not really know too much about the Holocaust other than what I had learned in World History two years ago, but even that was not very much information. Today’s experience changed that. I was inundated with details of the lives of the Jewish people prior to and during the Holocaust. I never thought that I could be so moved by a museum. I knew before of the horrible things that were done to the Jewish population, but this put it into full perspective for me. We learned about German propaganda, the internment camps, and so many other terrible events that led up to the Holocaust. Every detail and exhibit was so captivating that it made me see things differently and realize how fortunate our lives are compared to others who have had so much pain and suffering throughout theirs. After we left, our cab ride was mostly quiet because we were still processing all that we had just seen.

We decided that the mood needed to be lightened after the Holocaust Museum so we did some sightseeing in Washington, D.C. We enjoyed an open top bus tour around the capitol and got to see some of the many sights that the city has to offer. Unfortunately the bus did not stop in the most convenient of locations for snapping photos so I was only able to walk away with a few good shots. The pictures below are the best I took.

In the middle of our tour we realized that we would not be able to make our original reservations at the 1789 Restaurant because our tour would take too long. We had to cancel, but we were still able to enjoy a nice, casual meal at a restaurant called Mr. Smith’s Saloon. It was a nice little pub with a dining patio in the back (this is where we were seated). Although this was not a gourmet restaurant, the food was still excellent! I enjoyed two tender and juicy pork chops as my entrée and finished off with a decadent, rich double Godiva chocolate cake. I have to say that Washington, D.C. has a ton of excellent dining options.

This concluded our evening and we returned to the hotel after dinner. It has been a long, but fun day and we are anxious to see Penn tomorrow. In order to fully appreciate our first view of the campus at which we will be spending a whole month, we’re going to need all the energy we can muster. So with that, I am signing off.

Off to the East

It’s been a long day, but I’m now on the east coast with Alex, Julia, and Mr. Miranda. Our month long trip officially began at 3:15 this morning when the four of us along with Don, Ms. Kronenberg , and our parents gathered in front of El Cerrito High School to wait for our shuttle. Don was kind enough to lend out any items he had that we had forgotten or didn’t own, so I borrowed several different cables to use with my laptop during my stay.

When the shuttle arrived at school, we were all surprised because it wasn’t a shuttle. Perhaps due to a shortage of shuttles, some sort of mix-up, or out of sympathy for us having to wake up so early in the morning, the shuttle company provided us with a limousine to ride to the airport. The trip to the airport was fast and I was very excited that we were finally on our way.

Julia in the airport looking very enthusiastic for how early it was

In the airport, everything went smoothly, and I soon fell asleep and woke to find myself in O’Hare airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We quickly transferred onto our flight for Washington, D.C., and after a short taxi ride with great views of the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial and more, we arrived at our hotel in Georgetown.

The Hotel's Lobby

After a bit of relaxing time, we took a stroll around Georgetown, and we walked by Vice President Joe Biden’s house. Because Vice President Biden was arriving home at that time, we were escorted back a ways down the sidewalk where we watched a large Secret Service escort and Vice President Biden’s car drive through the gates to his house. While I’ve been to Washington, D.C. before, I’ve always found it very exciting to actually see the people who are crafting, reviewing, and enforcing the laws that affect every U.S. citizen’s life.

After a quick stop back at our hotel, we took a taxi and visited the White House. I was particularly moved, although I don’t necessarily agree with their arguments, by the anti-nuclear power and weapons protesters who have continuously protested in front of the White House 24 hours a day since 1981. This form of protest is by far the most moving example of freedom of speech to me, that any citizen who has an issue with the government can openly protest in front of their highest government leaders without fear of any sort of retaliation.

A man protesting in front of the White House

After a few pictures in front of the White House, we walked a few hundred feet to a restaurant called The Lafayette. The service and the food were fantastic, and their steak was by far the best that I have ever had. I enjoyed talking with the others about the various topics that came up, which ranged from our favorite foods to green energy and politics. To top the evening off, I had a delicious piece of Nutella cake, which unfortunately disappeared long before I took a picture of it. After dinner, we took a cab back to our hotel where I’m blogging now, thankful for a smooth day of travelling, and looking forward to the fun and learning ahead.

An amazing meal to end a long day

We Embark

The spirit of adventure was in the air as I pulled up to the high school and piled my bags with my fellow ILCer's luggage. However, as it happened to be 3:00 AM, the spirit of adventure was not unaccompanied by the feeling of utter exhaustion. But when we were driven to the airport not in a shuttle or a van, but in a limousine decked out with flashing lights and a soda bar, the fact that we were all sleep deprived was temporarily forgotten and we sat back and enjoyed our luxurious ride. Of course, exhaustion did set in again in our comparatively less comfortable connecting flights to Washington, D.C.

After a short taxi to our hotel in Georgetown, and some freshening up, we took a stroll around town. I was very impressed with the natural beauty that is able to exist amongst the city life in Washington, D.C. There was an amazing amount of greenery and beautiful park trails between the streets.

After only a few minutes in our nations capital, we managed to catch Vice President Joe Biden driving home flanked by a squad of police officers on motorcycles. It was apparent that in addition to the everyday traffic, the streets of D.C. are often subject to roadblocks to make way for the numerous important officials in need of police escorts. It was fairly exciting to watch.

To end the first day of our long journey, we chose to eat at Lafayette, a restaurant only a block away from the White House that serves absolutely delicious food.



And finally, the weary travelers returned to their hotel rooms. Tomorrow we plan to tour Georgetown University and discover what else D.C. has to offer.

If today is any indication, is seems like this month will be filled to the brim with exiting experiences and great food.

And We're Off!

The long-awaited day has finally arrived – the day I left home for a month to spend a month at the University of Pennsylvania. I left my house at 2:40 AM this morning and departed for El Cerrito High School to meet with my cohort. Despite not getting any sleep that night, I was surprisingly awake, most likely because I could not wait to begin my journey.

My parents and I were the second party to arrive, the first being Don.

We actually arrived at the school earlier than we had anticipated, so our wait in the cold was much longer. My cohorts were not far behind me and soon we were enjoying each other’s company (and taking a few group photos) while we waited for the airport shuttle. The arrival of the shuttle was a pleasant surprise. Airport shuttles have drastically improved since I last saw one. I recall them being similar to vans or busses. This one was a stretch limo. I don’t know how or why this change was made, but I certainly do approve of it. Once we were all finished saying goodbye to our loved ones, we climbed into the oh-so-luxurious shuttle and began our drive to the San Francisco Airport.

Our time actually spent in the terminal was relatively short. We got some coffee from Peet’s and when we got to our gate it was just beginning to board. We actually spent longer in the line at Peet’s than we did in the TSA security line, but that’s a story for another day.

After the usual pre-flight procedures, I plugged my headphones into the armrest and began listening to the “Top Zune Hits” station. I can’t tell you much about what happened after that because I quickly fell asleep. I slept for the majority of the flight, only waking up for about the last hour and fifteen minutes of the flight. I could tell Julia had followed suit because when I glanced over in her direction, she was using her tray table as a pillow rest and sleeping on it. We were all pretty beat and slept for most of the first flight. Our transfer at O’Hare was quick and painless, which is a nice contrast to how I spent my time in O’Hare last year…twenty-three hours of time to be exact. This time, however, we found our gate, grabbed some lunch, and boarded fairly quickly. Our second flight was shorter and I didn’t sleep because I was well awake by that point. Once we landed in Washington DC, our day became much more interesting.

We took a cab to our hotel in Georgetown so we could check in and place our luggage in our rooms. I’m rooming with Brian, Julia is right across the hall from us, and Mr. Miranda is farther down the hall. Once we settled in, we walked up the street to a CVS for a few supplies and took a walk around the border of the US Naval Observatory. This is also the location of one of Vice President Joe Biden’s two houses. It turned out that he would be arriving at the gates about ten minutes after our arrival at the main gates. We decided to wait around and see if we could snap a quick photo of his car. Unfortunately, we were pushed back about thirty feet from the driveway. Needless to say, we were not able to get a photo. We did, however, see his motorcade and his car drive through the gates! It was quite a hectic scene when his car was approaching, so it was worth the wait.

After our walk, we returned to the hotel to rest for about an hour before leaving again for dinner. Brian and I watched some of Inception and got to know a little bit more about each other during that break. We met in the lobby about an hour later in our formal attire and took a cab to the Hay Adams Hotel, which housed the Lafayette Restaurant. We arrived about twenty minutes early so we decided to stroll over to the White House gates. The restaurant is only about a block away, so it was a pretty quick walk. We watched several groups take pictures in front of the gates, with the White House in the background, as well as listened to an anti-nuclear missile protestor who was spreading his beliefs to any passerby that would listen. After a few minutes waiting around that area, we headed back to the restaurant.

Tonight’s dinner was one of the most exquisite experiences I’ve ever had. The Lafayette is a very prestigious restaurant and has been known to serve government officials from time to time. Unfortunately there were no senators or congresspeople to be seen, but it didn’t take away from the experience in the slightest. We were seated in a dining room softly lit by candles with several beautiful pieces of art adorning the walls and soft piano being played in the center of the dining room. The atmosphere was excellent. The food was to die for. I enjoyed a bowl of creamy eggplant soup for an appetizer and lamb loin with mashed potatoes for my entrée. Both dishes were divine. The lamb was cooked to perfection and was flavorful as well as succulent. The dessert was equally amazing. I had a dark chocolate mousse with chocolate gelato. This was, by far, one of the best meals that I have ever eaten. I’m sorry, Don, but I was only able to remember to pull out my camera for my entrée. I will be sure to take photos of my remaining two fine meals though.

Today was a long day, but a great one. My journey is only just beginning and I am already having a terrific time with Brian, Julia, and Mr. Miranda. They are all excellent company and I can feel a sense of cohesion in our group. I look forward to touring Georgetown University tomorrow and with that in mind, I must be off to bed. We will be rising early tomorrow and I will need all my energy. Until then, I’m signing off.

Our luxurious airport shuttle...

O'Hare Airport...with clear skies!!!

Our room at the Holiday Inn
The White House...and huge groups of tourists...

Everybody is reviewing photos...

My dinner. Oh how I wish there was more of it...

And Then There Were Three

The weather was a not quite crisp 53 degrees but it was dark, dark, dark and according to Julia Martien, way too early.  Had we put it to a vote I’m betting the vote would have been unanimous on that one.  There’s just something about arriving at a pick up point at 3:00 AM that’s unnatural.

Nonetheless, our UPENN cohort—chaperone Mario Miranda, Julia Martien and Brian Seegers from El Cerrito HS and Alex Elms from Pinole Valley HS—all arrived before their assigned time to prepare for their trip to the University of Pennsylvania’s Physics Academy.

Detouring through Washington, DC so they could check out Georgetown University (and the sites of our nation’s capital) they will still arrive in the City of Brotherly Love in time to celebrate the 4^th of July in Philadelphia.

Their time in the physics lectures and labs will, most likely, be grueling but they’ll also have Tie-Dye Tuesdays and Wii Wednesdays to help mellow them out.

After weighing their luggage and browsing the bazaar table of loaner items their shuttle to the airport arrived.  We were all a little incredulous when we saw that instead of the normal airport shuttle van we ended up with a long white stretch limo. There were hugs all around, the “children” were admonished to stay away from the limo’s bar and they were off.

Even money said that Julia had her take-along pillow under her head before they were even on the freeway and she was counting sheep before the driver got up to the speed limit.

It was still dark and way too early.