July 15, 2016

Today was an early start, which was a little more difficult for the students as we did not return from the "Phantom of the Opera" until after 11 pm DC time.  Bus pick-up was at 7:15 am and we had a new bus driver today, Mr. H.  The traffic to our destination wasn't as congested as previous days so the ride to our first destination was nice.

We arrived at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland just in time for our session and tour.

We were greeted by Mr. Shawn, an Admissions Counselor at Goucher (pictured below in the brown dress shirt), who provided an information and Q&A session.

Our guide for the tour was Sushma Chapagain (pictured below in the purple top and green hat), a rising Junior from Nepal majoring in Sociology.

The students enjoyed the tour of the campus and facilities and were also introduced to Mrs. Lynn Alonso, the receptionist at Goucher's Office of Admissions and self proclaimed "Mother Hen".  The students took a liking to Mrs. Lynn and enjoyed her motherly nature.

Stella Javier will be completing a blog elaborating on our experience at Goucher College.

After Goucher we were bused back to Washington DC to have lunch at Roti Mediterranean Grill.  The students and staff enjoyed the choose-your-options style Mediterranean cuisine.

After lunch we walked the block and a half to the Admissions Office of George Washington University in the heart of Washington DC.

While waiting for our tour guide, the students noticed their was a lot of commotion and noise radiating from the room across from the admissions office.  The waiting area was full, so the students made their way towards the room.  Someone asked what was going on and were told it was a poetry slam and that they were welcomed and encouraged to go in.  Turns out  it was the "Brave New Voices" poetry slam competition.  The students were treated with an impromptu performance!

After prying the students away from the poetry slam competition (which will be going on for the next few days, culminating in the finals at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday) we were greeted by our tour guide Sebastian, a rising sophomore from Long Island, New York who has not yet declared a major, but is interested in women's studies (among other things).

The students were engaged and asked a lot of questions about the very urban campus.  Our tour ended where it began and we were thankful to have experienced this city school.

 George Washington University will be blogged by Stella Javier.

Our next and last stop of the day was the Potomac Mills Outlet Center for dinner, which the students were able to choose where and what they wanted to eat in the food court, and shopping!  The students enjoyed their free time and the amazing value-shopping experience!

Without a doubt, each day is an amazing adventure for these students and the staff, today being no different.  It was a learning experience on college life, visiting two school that are vastly different.  One school has 1,500 students and is in a very rural-type setting right next to a bustling town in Maryland and the other is an urban school with just under 10,000 student in the middle of Washington DC.  Both amazing school with a lot to offer, which Stella will be elaborating on in her university blogs.  The students were also exposed to big city life, having a great lunch in the center of the bustling city and shopping in the biggest outlet center on the East Coast.  Mr. H also gave the students a guided tour while driving through the city from place to place.  We were able to drive right through the capital plaza where we will be spending some time tomorrow.  It was a beautiful sight and the students are excited for the adventure tomorrow!  Yay!