-College Tour 2013

by Yvette Juste and Mekai Valmond

Have you ever been on a journey that you felt will change your future? April 4, 2013 was the first day of our 10-day College Campus Tour. This year’s tour was the first year to have only juniors attending, 28 from Ivanna Eudora Kean and one former student from Kean who now goes to Seventh Day Adventist. The chaperones were Mr. Leayle Robinson, Ms. Rhona Simon, Ms. Monique Matthias, Ms. Simmons and Ms. Johnson.

Our first stop on the trip was Washington D.C. After we arrived, we ate dinner at Noodles & Co. Then we checked into our hotel, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and called it a night.

The next day we visited the Lincoln Memorial. It was huge! It was filled with tourists who were taking pictures of this amazing monument.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln was surrounded by some of his most famous quotes and speeches. Tanisha Esprit said, “I loved the statues and how the writing was. It was just fascinating and very educational.”

Later we visited Georgetown University. Since it was the first college we visited, we were all excited. The campus was beautiful and quiet. Georgetown is the oldest Jesuit (Catholic) university in America.

“Georgetown is a good college, but I don’t think it is the college for me because there isn’t that much going on in terms of student life from what I saw,” Yvette said.

However, Mekai disagreed. “My opinion of this college is that it’s a good place that I would like to go because I like that it doesn't have that much noise and that I could study without getting distracted,” he said.

“ It was a great college. It had my major [medicine] and it had so much to look forward to. You can have fun and still do your work,” Simone Henderson said.

Next on the list was Howard University.

Howard University is a historically black college which was a hospital during the Civil War. Howard has many fraternities like Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Kappa Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Phi Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma, Sigma Gamma Rho and Iota Phi Theta. All nine sororities are known as the “Divine Nine.” Yvette said, “Howard is a college that I was interested in because the campus was lively. It even has local spots like Starbucks.”

Later, we visited the Martin Luther King Memorial. It was filled with different kinds of people from different racial groups visiting this site.

Everyone there was taking a lot of pictures and some people were filled with joy because they got to see that memorial for the first time in their life.

“The quotes on the walls were very inspiring and made me think. It was a glorious site and a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Jeleese Barthelemy, a junior attending the Seventh Day Adventist School.

After the Martin Luther King Memorial, we later had dinner at Old Country Buffet, then went back to the hotel and rested up for the next day.

On our second day, April 6, 2013, the United States Capitol was our first destination. The purpose of the United States Capitol building is to hold the meeting chambers of the Senate (in the north wing of the building) and the House of Representatives (in the south wing).

Inside the Capitol building dome

Before we entered the building, we had to go through security. (That’s not surprising because it was one of the intended targets in the 9/11 attacks, and it is a very important site.) Before we toured the United States Capitol, we watched a movie that showed us the history of Congress and the Capitol. After the movie we toured the building.

“When the tour was over, I learned new things, like the statue on top of the Capitol is ‘Lady Freedom’ that stands 18 feet tall. No statue can be taller than Lady Freedom because nothing can be taller than freedom. The only exception is the Martin Luther King statue at his memorial which is 30 feet tall,” Mekai said.

After the tour we went to lunch at Union Station, a historic train station that has tourist shops and a food court with a wide variety of American and international foods.

“I was so amazed when I walked in and saw this place. It is nothing like what I see everyday,” Yvette said.

After our group sampled cuisine from Chinese food to Taco Bell, we had a little bit of time to look at the stores. Mostly everyone was interested in this store that sold customized tees and jackets.

On April 7, 2013 we took a City Tour of Washington D.C. Since the City Tour of D.C. was the only activity planned for the day, we didn’t have to wake up early. On the tour we learned many new things. One thing we learned about was Pierre L’enfant who designed the layout of the streets of Washington, D.C.

While on the city tour we visited Frederick Douglass National Historic site which included Frederick Douglass’s house in Washington D.C. and a movie based on his life as a slave and how he achieved his freedom.

“I learned a lot of things by being at the site. It was educational and the movie was inspiring. Frederick Douglass made a change in the world, and I would like to as well,” Yvette said. After the movie we went up to Cedar Hill where his house was located. Unfortunately, because of the high admission fee, we couldn’t enter his house. We only looked around on the outside, peeked through the windows, and took pictures of the house.

“I think that we should been able to go inside and see all of the historic artifacts that were in the house, but the Frederick Douglass National Historic site was really and truly an amazing site to see,” said Mekai.

Then we continued the city tour and then returned to the hotel. “The city tour was very educational, but our tour guide should have interacted with us more to make the tour even better,” Yvette said.

On April 8, 2013 we were all packed up and ready to go because we were going to sleep at a different hotel tonight. We were then out of Washington and into College Park, Maryland so we could visit the University of Maryland.

The University of Maryland is the largest university in the state and in the Washington metropolitan area. We would need a bike or a car just to get around. “I think the University of Maryland is too huge for me. It was an interesting college, but I would like to attend a medium-sized college,” Yvette said. It was quiet and not a lot of people were around the campus except for a lot of squirrels.

In 1912, the university caught on fire; it was called the “Great Fire of 1912.” There are cracks from the buildings that were burnt down in the shape of a circle. There is a myth at the University of Maryland that if you step in the middle of the cracks, you will not graduate.

Once again Mekai disagreed. “The University of Maryland is a college that I would really want go to because it is a peaceful and friendly place which will make it easy to make new friends,” he said.

After the tour of the University of Maryland, we departed to Baltimore, Maryland so we could tour Johns Hopkins University. It is ranked the #1 Social Media College by StudentAdvisor.

Johns Hopkins University

Later that day we went to visit Morgan State University. “To me Morgan State University is a college that would be my last choice because it has to much people smoking all over the place, and I don't like the scent of smoke,” Mekai said.

“Morgan State University is not a good college in my opinion. I think this college needs a lot of work done because one of the buildings looked like a creepy hospital on the inside. Also, I don’t like the student life. When we were walking around the campus, some of the Morgan State University students started to diss us. A lot of us were going to tell them something, but we didn’t want to be rude,” Yvette said. We later ate lunch at Morgan State, and it tasted horrible.

We were supposed to eat lunch at Johns Hopkins, but our schedule changed. The food at Johns Hopkins looked so good. It was upsetting that we didn’t eat there.

After finishing the tour of Morgan State University, we ate dinner at Dick’s Last Resort. “That was the best place I ever ate in my life,” Yvette said. The staff intentionally had to act rude and obnoxious. One of the waiters said, “You are at Dick’s, and that is what we are!” When the waiters took our orders, they yelled, “What the hell do you want!” After they took our orders, they threw straws and napkins in the air, so we had to catch them. When we were eating, some of the waiters gave some of the students silly hats. It was so funny!

P.S. “I don’t have an Xbox, but it was funny,” Mekai said.

The next day we departed to Philadelphia to tour Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were adopted and debated. “I liked the tour guide because he was really funny,” said Anthony Angol.

After, we toured Villanova University which is the oldest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. “I really enjoyed touring the college. I loved the campus life and the students interacted with us well. A member of the football team was throwing around a football with the boys. Sadly, I can’t attend because Villanova University doesn’t have my major [visual and performing arts],” Yvette said.

“I feel its a good school that really pushes their students. No one gets left behind. That is the first school that does something like that,” Thaddeus St. Marthe said.

We later visited Cheyney University. It also has the “Divine Nine” and is the nation’s oldest historically black college. “The tour guide was really funny. He said that the campus has deer, but if you want to pet Bambi, that’s on you,” Yvette said.

“I think that it is a good school. Even though there is not much students, they offer a lot to the students,” Tayhira Richards said.

The next day we departed to Princeton, New Jersey, so we could tour Princeton University. It is one of nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution. “I really did enjoy the school. I found out that long time ago, the day before class president elections, the candidate might run naked around campus to get votes. The University has a lot of history,” Yvette said.

Then we went to New Brunswick, New Jersey to visit Rutgers University. It is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey. Rutgers is huge! “I really enjoyed touring Rutgers because it is like a mini city. It has Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and more. Rutgers even has a laundry app so you can check if your clothes are finished without walking back and forth. Also, the buses give free rides to anywhere on campus. I just loved this college,” Yvette said.

The next day we departed to New York City. The first thing on the list for the day was shopping! We shopped on 34th street. “ I liked the shopping on 34th street because every store had a huge sale for unbelievable prices, though I wish we had more time,” Jeleese Barthelemy said.

After shopping we visited the Empire State Building. “I was so amazed when I saw 86 floors on the elevator. The Empire State Building has 103 floors, but you have to pay extra to visit them. Visiting the Empire State Building was on my bucket list, so I’m happy that I achieved that goal,” Yvette said.

“It was a great experience because I never been to New York before. I finally get to see how big and beautiful the Big Apple is,” Antonea Angol said.

Later that day, we went back to the hotel and prepared for the Broadway show SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK. “Everything was so expensive. A bottle of water was $5, and I had to buy it because I was so thirsty. The show was okay, but I did fall asleep at times. At some times of the show it was boring. It was prohibited to take pictures, but Mekai was caught taking pictures numerous times, Yvette said.

“Spider-man wasn’t really my thing, but I enjoyed it. I was amazed with their props. That must have taken them a while to memorize their lines, especially the songs. I also liked the background music and costumes. The lights and how they had the crowd had me shocked,” Sharvelle Nicholas said.

April 12th and 13th we shopped for the whole day around New York City.

April 14th was the last day of college tour. We were getting ready to go back home to the Virgin Islands. Most of us felt that college tour is important because you might find a college you are really interested in, and you find out information about scholarships and more. Also, it encourages students to go to college.

While we were on the plane, Yvette asked Shyheim Etienne, “Why do you think the college tour is important?”

He said, “It helps further our education from early.”

“This trip was awesome because I learned a lot of new things, met new people, and saw new places. I also decided to go and apply for some of these colleges that we visited,” Mekai said.

We later greeted our parents at the airport and College Tour was officially over.