A Great 3-Day Weekend!

FRIDAY

Oh what a day! After a 3-hour train ride, I couldn't believe I was back in the Big Apple. Although I was able to go last year, I still felt there was so much more left to see! It was great to see Ms. Kronenberg and Ms. Lilhanand again and Jackie and Gabe. I also had fun meeting the other ILC students in Columbia and Yohanna (who was visiting colleges on the east coast). Our first stop was Columbia.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd like Columbia as much as I did just because of the hustle and bustle of New York City. But I loved it! Dennis was able to give us a little tour of the campus. We saw the library, the dorms, and the graduation site. We even saw the Schermerhorn building--where Thomas Hunt Morgan performed the first genetics experiments on fruit flies. I thought the campus was beautiful and really enjoyed the environment. But I wished we could've stayed longer to explore a bit more!

The group stopped by Barnard College (another one of the seven sisters) for a while. Unfortunately, we could not stay very long, but I found out that if one is a student at Barnard, she can attend classes at Columbia. Another back door (like with MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley)! I couldn't picture myself attending this college since it didn't seem to be the right fit. But who knows, with a little more research, this could be another possibility for me!

We then took a ferry to view the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Once we got on the island, we took an audio tour of the museum. It was amazing to actually visit particularly because it was part of the first topic taught in my US History class. I never imagined being able to be on the island where so many immigrants landed. I thought it was especially interesting to hear the personal stories of people who arrived there as immigrants.

Our last stop was Ground Zero. This was a special moment for everyone since we got to see this site that symbolizes a day that will never be forgotten. We could all remember exactly what was going on in our lives on September 11, 2001. I never imagined I would be at this site.

SATURDAY

Today, we went to Newport! I had such a great time seeing a different side of Rhode Island. I spent most of the day walking around the plaza and Thames St. looking at the little souvenir shops with Meuy and Cynthia while Gina, Joseph, and Karen visited the beach.

After coming back to the dorms from Newport, we had dinner at VW. Then we headed down to watch the Waterfire show, a great Providence tradition. I thought the show was amazing (even though Gina said it was a lot better last year).

My day ended with a fantastic fireworks show.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!