WashU Adventures

On our agenda today was a visit to Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). I was very excited for this because I could see the university from our hotel and it looks like a huge castle to me. To get to the admissions office where we were meeting up before out tour, we went through an opening in a huge building that looked like something out of a 15th century movie.

Washington University in St. Louis

I really liked how the buildings on the outside looked old and rustic but when we went inside, it was completely modernized and equipped with state of the art technology. We visited one of the newer buildings and inside of it was a touch screen TV which you could use as a professor directory, a map, and you could also use it to schedule any appointment with a professor. I found this very unique and extremely useful because I'm a person who tends to get lost very quickly.

I really like that WashU gives you the opportunity to study abroad and the opportunity to take whatever class you want even if it doesn't have to do with your major. I feel like the flexibility of the course offerings allows you to try whatever it is that you might be interested in so you can see if you really like it and the freedom of not being restricted to only one field of study really gives students a chance to meet and get to know one another.What really struck me about the WashU community was that everybody seemed really happy to be there and they all seemed to want to help you. Our tour guide, Simona, and our guest at the info session, Ellie, were both students at WashU and both of them only proved my guess. Ellie even shared a story about how a students at WashU was kind enough to walk her to the admissions office when she came there for a tour a few years ago.

St. Louis Art Museum

After a quick lunch on campus, we walked to the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Zoo and we decided to pick up a quick snack afterwards.  My favorite place we visited was the museum because I was blown away by how many artifacts that the museum held and personally, I’d rather look at art than go to the zoo. My favorite part of the museum was seeing all the art from the Renaissance period from different places of Europe like Italy and Britain. The museum also featured a lot of sculptures and statues that just blew my mind away from how they looked so intricate even though most of them are older than my parents. We ended our afternoon by going to Fitz’s to try some of their famous root beer floats and we were not disappointed. I had the s’mores root beer float and it was dripping with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, and marshmallows. Definitely one of the best deserts I've had in a long time.

S'mores Root Beer

Later that evening, we had our alumni dinner at Atlas. I didn't know what to expect from it and I was pretty nervous. We had dinner with admissions interns Courtney, Nicole, and Avery.  Jenny who is an admissions director came along with us also. Courtney and Jenny sat closest to me so I decided to take a chance and I dove straight into talking to both of them. Courtney was extremely nice and didn't mind answering all the questions that I had whether it was about what her experience at WashU was like or what type of activities she liked to do. Courtney is on her school’s crew team and due to a shoulder injury, she had to switch positions and become the coxswain. Avery, Nicole, and I all shared that we play an instrument and for most of us, it is a pretty big part of our lives. Nicole is currently a music minor and she described to me all that WashU’s music department had to offer. I know that music is something I want to continue doing in college and from Nicole’s description, I could see myself enjoying the music program at WashU. Looking back at it, I shouldn't have been so worked up about meeting all these people because in the end, everything was easier than I expected.

After talking to everybody at the dinner, I realized that people at WashU are all actually really nice and are willing to help you with anything you need. The three students who joined us for our dinner are all examples of that and I can say right now that I've never met people that nice and that willing to open up to people they have never met before. I listened to them talk about all of the admissions interns that they worked with and it seemed like they've known each other for a really long time and were best friends. I was shocked to find out they only just met each other a few weeks ago. I can only conclude that WashU is a very close community of students and teachers who are all very generous towards everybody around them and I know for a fact that one day, I want to be a part of a college community that has this type of chemistry. 

Jimmy, Alexa, Victoria, Courtney, Oyin, Avery, Nicole, and Dani

Washington University, St. Louis

Today we visited and took a tour of Washington University, St. Louis. The first thing I noticed, before even starting the tour, was the architecture I saw on the campus. The majority of the buildings were made out of brick, and there were plants and trees everywhere. It seemed as though the campus was going through a transition though, because a lot of construction was taking place, and buildings were being renovated. We began our tour, and as it turned out, our tour guide was from California as well. We went around the campus and into some buildings, mostly the recently built ones. One was a study hall, that was just built in 2008, which had touchscreen TVs and digital maps. We were told that many classrooms had iPads outside of the room that could be used for directions or to find out more information. I found the amount of technology they had in their buildings interesting because it seemed to contrast with the old fashioned architecture that dominated the campus. 

Many universities require that all freshman take a core curriculum of classes before they get to choose their own schedule, but our tour guide, Simona, explained that at WU, there was only one class that all freshman were required to take, a basic writing class. Learning more about how to write is absolutely crucial for students entering college, because you end up doing so much of it in college. This is true no matter what discipline you choose to study, making it such a logical choice for a core class for all freshmen students.

Another fact I picked up on because I think it is such an important factor in the college experience, is that only about 3% of classes at WU are large lecture classes with more than 300 students. The majority of the classes are seminar style classes, with lots of group discussion. I think I would find these types of classes more helpful to me because they keep you engaged and actively participating in what you are learning, and give you an opportunity to learn about a subject from the varying perspectives of your peers. 

Entrance to Brookings Hall Quad

After the tour was over, we went to a quick one hour information session. An admissions officer, Easton, who graduated just two years ago, presented. Occasionally, a current student of WU named Ellie would step in to describe her experiences or her plans for the future. She was from Berkeley, California. Unfortunately, she was busy after the information session so we couldn't talk, but we did get her contact information, so hopefully I will eventually find out more about her experience.

A Painting by Picasso

Image of a Mug Shot by Andy Warhol

Our tour and information session ended early, so we still had time to spend exploring St. Louis. A great thing about St. Louis, is there are so many free cultural attractions, including the art museum and zoo we visited. Both were quite amazing, but the art museum especially, with exhibits ranging from French impressionism to American pop art.

Later in the evening, after taking a quick break at our hotels to recharge, we went to dinner at a restaurant called Atlas. We arrived a few minutes before the admissions officer, Jenny, and the Washington University students, Courtney, Nicole, and Avery. They were all admissions office interns, and were very close with each other. Before long, we were all deep in conversation with one another. I talked to Jenny about what I did outside of school, what our school district was like, how each of our schools were different from each other and so on. She told me about what it was like for her to live in the St. Louis area, and how it would be different from living in the Bay Area. Soon our food arrived. I shared an appetizer of gnocchi with pine nuts and sun roasted tomatoes, and then got an entree of duck, quinoa, and roasted asparagus. It was all delicious and very filling. Soon, dinner was over and we spent some minutes outside the restaurant chatting and saying our last goodbyes, while we observed fireflies and listened to the cicadas. 

Tomorrow we will be having yet another early morning to catch a six o'clock flight to Washington D.C. We hope to explore the city and visit the White House. 

First Stop St. Louis

The Chicago cohort

Waking up at 2 AM was a big struggle for me because I went to bed around 11 PM, so I just had three hours of sleep. When I was finished getting ready to leave to ECHS I checked one last time to verify that I had all of my stuff packed.  I thought I had everything but at the airport when Alie asked me if she could take a picture of me with my cohort while we were eating breakfast she couldn’t turn the camera on so I grabbed it and checked and I then remembered that I had left my memory card in my brother’s laptop (sorry Don, no pretty pictures for today; but Alie has a memory card that she can let me borrow for the trip that’s why she’s the best chaperone).  

When I arrived at ECHS Don was already there like a pro with his desk and with my cohort and chaperone.  He weighed my luggage to see if it was under 50 lbs.  

After Don finished weighing all of the luggage he gave us instructions about the trip and told us what our responsibilities were. On top of that he gave us some tips for the dinners that we are going to have this whole week with the alumni of each university we will visit.  After he finished talking, we went to take pictures and then we said goodbye to our parents and headed out to San Francisco International Airport.  

I was glad this day arrived because I was ready to get on the plane for my first time.  I didn't like it! This is probably because it was my first time but what I really did like about the airplane is the moment when it takes off because it feels like you are on a roller coaster and you feel that adrenaline in your body. Another thing I like is the clouds because they look like snow and it seems like you can walk on them. After I finished admiring the sky I fell asleep on the airplane - not the best sleep, but at least I got to rest for a little bit.  When we arrived at Phoenix we were speed walking to catch the other plane to St. Louis. When we got there we found out that they were changing a tire and we waited about 20 minutes until we could get on the plane. 

Chicago cohort at the luggage claim

The flight from Phoenix to St. Louis took about 3 hours.  When we arrived we went to go get our luggage but it took a long time for the luggage to come out.  When we got all of our luggage we went to get a shuttle bus to drop us off at our hotel.  

When I stepped out of the airport doors to get on the shuttle bus the hot air slapped my face and I felt like I was in a sauna - but worse. I have never experienced hot weather like this ever before.  Just in the time standing waiting for the driver of the shuttle bus to finish putting the luggage in the back I started sweating - that’s how hot it was.

When we arrived to the hotel we checked in at the front desk and we got our rooms. The girls needed to share rooms but luckily I got a whole room by myself and it felt good because at home I share a room with my two brothers. I didn't get to enjoy my room because Alie gave us 15 minutes to put our stuff in our room and go get a snack so we could head out to the Memorial Arch Park.  We went walking to catch the metro link train to take us all the way to the park. After we got there we needed to walk to the park but it was about two blocks away.  

The Getaway Arch

The Arch is so beautiful and it is so incredible and shocking that it was man made because is very huge and high.  My cohorts and I took some pictures of the Arch and we took a group picture, too. After that we went inside the museum to learn a little bit about St. Louis’ history and the history of the western expansion.  One fun fact I found out was that after Mexico won their independence from Spain the Santa Fe Trail was established for trading goods and the St. Louis economy depended much on the Santa Fe Trail trade.  Then Alie assigned us to share facts we learned with the rest of the group so we could share information and so we can be more comfortable talking to each other.

We got out of the museum and we needed to choose if we wanted to come back to the hotel and change or go straight to Anthonino’s Tarvena restaurant that she had made a reservation at already. We all decided to go eat so we would have time to blog and get to rest for tomorrow’s tour of Washington University, because it is at 8 in the morning. The restaurant food was good; my order was a grilled chicken sandwich. We talked more and got to know each other more and I am starting to feel more comfortable around them.

The Ravioli Appetizer

Flying, the Gateway Arch, and Fried Ravioli

So much has happened today. I don’t know how I’m going to describe it all in one blog.

The day started at 2 AM. I double-checked my luggage, then woke up my family and drove to El Cerrito High School. There, Don talked to us about things we might need and things we’ll be expected to do. Finally, we finished at around 4AM and went onto the airport shuttle.

Once we arrived at SFO, we grabbed breakfast and took a plane to Phoenix. I have to admit, I really enjoy plane rides (even the ones with turbulence and people in front of you backing their chairs on you). After we arrived in Phoenix, we rushed over to another gate, where our plane took us to St. Louis. 

Waiting at the baggage claim at St. Louis.

An interesting thing that happened today was when Alie, our chaperone, found out the man she had been sitting by was a Washington University alumnus. He recommended great places to see near campus, and though we were all pretty tired by that point, the promise of seeing the St. Louis Gateway Arch, Basilica of St. Louis, and Old Courthouse was enough to wake us up and keep moving.

The Gateway Arch

We took the Metro to the Arch. It’s so impressive! I was in awe over its massiveness. Because we didn’t have a lot of time, we didn’t go up into the Arch. Instead, we looked around the museum, saw the Basilica of St. Louis (though we couldn’t go in—it was closed for renovations), and saw the Old Courthouse (we didn’t go in there either—it was closed).

Old Courthouse

A horse hard at work.

Though that was kind of a triple whammy of disappointments, the museum was really cool (both literally and figuratively). There were multiple talking mannequins that I felt were at once impressive and creepy, and therefore had to take a picture of them. We were also able to go to Anthonino's Taverna, where we tried the fried ravioli that was on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It was so delicious! The outside was a crispy shell, while the inside was a creamy, steaming filling that oozed out once you cut it open. My pasta con ricotta (ricotta tossed with pasta topped with almonds) was also tasty, though the combination of bread and fried ravioli was so filling I could only finish half my pasta.

My enormous mountain of food!

Afterwards, we took a cab back to the Charles F. Knight Conference Center where I scrubbed sweat and airport germs off, and am now uploading pictures and finishing up this day’s blog.

I can’t wait for tomorrow! We’ll take our first college tour at Washington University and have a fancy dinner with Washington University alums. I can’t wait!

Some first impressions:

1.) It is so humid!! It’s like I’m in the Philippines! We’re definitely blessed with great weather in the Bay Area.

2.) Green trees and lawns paired with brick buildings make for some great scenery.

3.) Thunder is scary, as is lightning. We heard multiple claps of thunder and saw bright streaks of lightning dancing across the sky while at Anthonino’s Taverna, though the temperature outside was still warm. 

A Day in St. Louis

After what felt like the quickest plane ride, we landed in Phoenix, Arizona and we caught a flight from there to St. Louis, Missouri. The plane ride felt like it was short because I was asleep for three out of the four hours that we were in the air. The journey was fun for me mostly because it has been about three years since I've last been on a plane and I was excited to be back in the air again. Our only hiccup was when we landed in Phoenix, Arizona and we had to switch planes. We had about 30 minutes before the next plane was going to take off so we all let out our inner speed walker and bolted for the next gate. Luckily, our plane had a flat tire and our flight got delayed. After this, it was a smooth ride to the city of St. Louis.

Getting out of the airport I realized something very very quickly, it is extremely hot and humid in St. Louis. I took a deep breath in hoping that would help me organize myself a little bit better but it only made me a little more uncomfortable since I breathed in really stuffy air. The weather over here reminded me of how it is back home in Nigeria, keeping this in mind, I figured that I could handle the heat and humidity so I decided to suck it up and put on a happy face.

After being shuttled to our hotel, we got our room keys and went up to freshen up a little bit before we went out and about. Later, my lovely roommate and I Alexa made our way over to the snack room to meet up with the rest of our cohort. Once we were all accounted for, we made our way down to the train and rode it to the Gateway Arch. This arch is the tallest man made monument in the United States standing at 630 feet and was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the U.S.. Under the Arch and down a tunnel, you can make your way into a museum built under the Arch. Around it too were other touristy type things to do but the museum was my favorite because of the way that it was organized and the way that they paid attention to detail. 

As our day began to wind down, we decided to go out to Anthonino's Taverna and we had what I feel was the best pasta I've ever eaten in my entire life. 

The Gateway Arch

We were all pretty tired so we decided to call it a day and head back to our rooms and get ready for tomorrow. 

In the morning, we have our tour of Washington University and an info session after that. I'm really excited for this because we only got to see a glimpse of the university and I would really like to walk around more and explore the school. Later tomorrow night, we have our dinner with an alumni and some students who are currently attending Washington University. It will be interesting to see how all of their experiences at the university differ and to see what they personally got out of attending Washington University. As I will be going into my senior year next year I am eager to listen to whatever advice they have and any tips they are willing to give on applying to college next year. 

St. Louis - Day 1

Today was the first day of of our trip, and it was a very long one too. My day started at two in the morning and is still going. Much of our day was spent traveling, whether by taxi, metro, plane, or shuttle. We still, though, managed to spend some time learning about and wandering around St. Louis, Missouri.

The Chicago Cohort at Baggage Claim

 Once we got to St. Louis, we took a shuttle to our hotel, which conveniently is right beside the campus of Washington University, which we will be touring tomorrow. Tonight, I am rooming with Oyin, although eventually I will be rooming with Dani and Victoria as well so everyone will get to know each other better. After we checked into our hotel, we quickly changed into cooler clothing and headed out to see St. Louis. 

One thing about being on the east coast in the summer is how different the weather is than in California. In the Bay Area, summers are pretty tame because of the lack of seasons, but on the east coast, summers are hot, humid, and unpredictable. Thunder storms can happen at any moment.

The Gateway Arch

 Once we were more appropriately dressed for the weather, we took the metro, which I saw as a simpler version of BART, to the downtown to see the Gateway Arch. I had never heard of the arch before coming to St. Louis, but seeing it was amazing. At 630 feet and the tallest man made structure in the world, I could barely look at the whole arch without being blinded by the sun. We learned that the arch was built to symbolize the westward expansion of the United States. One question our whole cohort still hopes to find out by the end of the trip is exactly how such a huge monument was constructed. Of course, we took many photos under the arch, and then we entered a museum which had exhibits about the westward expansion. The group split up and each of us brought back a fun fact or observation, which was helpful because the museum had so much information to take in, one person would not have been able to take it all in in such a short amount of time. This was also helpful because it showed us what caught our attention and what part of this history we were interested in. 

We had never really gotten a chance to rest, so we were all exhausted at this point, and about ready for dinner. We had a reservation at a Italian/Greek restaurant, which we soon found out was in a small Italian district. As we drove to the restaurant in the taxi, Italian flags could be seen hanging everywhere, and even the fire hydrants were painted red, white, and green. We arrived early for our reservation, but it worked out well, because we just sat in the patio of the restaurant and looked at the menu. As it turns out, Aly had seen this restaurant on a food network, and we decided to order one of the appetizers that was featured on the show. We eventually were moved inside to the actual restaurant, and just on time too, because we could start to hear thunder rumbling in the distance. The meal was delicious. We started out with the featured appetizer, toasted ravioli, and then I ordered and zucchini pasta with eggplant, goat cheese, and marinara sauce. We were all full before we knew it and decided to head back home. 

The Toasted Ravioli Appetizer

It was a very long day, but we managed to accomplish more than I thought we would be able to. I am looking forward to tomorrow, when my cohort and I will tour Washington's campus, as well as have a nice dinner with alumni and admissions officers.

The Amazing First Day

Today was an interesting day where Oyin, Dani, Jimmy, Alexa, and I were getting ready to leave on our way to Chicago. Getting on the shuttle that was supposed to take us to the airport was actually cool because it was big enough to have space and not be cramped up in there. After arriving at the airport, we got our bags and hurried to get on the plane to Phoenix. After getting off that plane, we had to switch to another plane to St. Louis.

As we arrived in St. Louis, we had to go and get our belongings and arrange for another shuttle to pick us up and take us to the hotel. After the shuttle came we took our things outside and was surprised by the weather change from when we were in the Bay Area to when we walked outside in St. Louis. It was terrifyingly hot and stuffy when we walked out. Me having a big jacket on from when it was cold to that moment of heat was not good at all. The heat could almost be compared to a sauna but just a little less heat.

So after all of the stressful stuff, we checked into the hotel and got our room keys. We finally went to our assigned rooms and freshened up a little before we went back out to explore. We all met at the pantry room where there was snacks and drinks. Finishing up on getting snacks, we left and got on the metro to go see The Gateway Arch. It was awesome to look at seeing that it was so high. So we looked up The Gateway Arch and found that it is 630 feet tall. That is amazing how high it was and we all wondered how it was made. After admiring The Gateway Arch, we went to the museum and Alie had us find a fact or something we liked about something in the museum.

My dinner (Americano Burger w/ bacon)

Lastly, we walked around and found us a cab to go to a restaurant to eat at. We ended up going to a place where they had Italian food. Surprised by the thunder without any rain, we went inside and sat at a table for six. After being filled with food, we were all tired and ready to go. So we called a cab to take us back to the hotel after we ate. Finally getting to the hotel, I went to my room, took a good shower, blogged and getting ready to go to bed.