-College Tour, East Coast College Adventure

East Coast College Adventure

By: Lexie R

In one year I will be embarking on my journey to further my education. Can you believe that? Just thinking about it makes me a bit scared. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to visit colleges before I go, so that I can see first hand what they look like, what they offer, and if they would meet my needs. On Thursday April 14, 2011, 40 Virgin Islands students from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School embarked on a great journey, a twelve-day college tour to the United States.

On the trip, the chaperons expected a lot of things from us. At the top of the list, they expected great behavior and for all the students to participate in activities when they arrived at the colleges. They threatened us by saying, “If you guys don't follow the rules when at the colleges, you won't shop when we get to New York!” So you know what that meant: we all did what was expected from us at all times. On the trip we had a total of eight chaperons.

This particular college tour from Eudora Kean has been going on for four years. This being the fifth year, it was like the anniversary trip for the school. By that I mean this trip was longer, and we visited more colleges than they did ever before. The students from Kean that went on the tour last year said, “It’s a great opportunity, and we sure did love it." Getting that feedback from fellow students reassured me that I was definitely in for the time of my life. Imagine my first time away from my family alone; I was truly excited.

Howard University

On April 15, we visited Howard University and Georgetown University in Washington DC. “Howard University was really laid back, and down to earth college,” said Natalie Dalmida, one of the college tour students. It is a historically black college (HBC) which was interesting to me. It is a popular college that offers many different majors to students.

The campus was beautiful. I have not thought about whether

or not I would like attend a black college, but it is definitely going to be a consideration. My mom went to a historical black college in Tuskegee and attended the University in Alabama, so maybe I might follow in her footsteps.

At Georgetown University the school is filled with lots of school spirit. Georgetown University offers a good study abroad program and a good co-op program. I didn't particularly like this university for some reason which I can’t put into words. I understand that it is really popular, but it was a bit overwhelming for me.

Georgetown University

On April 16 we enjoyed Washington DC. We took a tour of the city which was very cool. I saw the White House, the Washington Monument and many more historical sights. Then we did what I enjoy the most: we went shopping at the different malls. It was pretty awesome, a day full of fun with my friends.

On the 17th of April, we drove to Richmond, Virginia, and on the way to Richmond we stopped at King's Dominion, a theme park filled with a lot of fun and excitement. King’s Dominion is a small theme park, but it had super awesome rides. My favorite ride was the “Intimidator.” This was a 90 degree drop, and boy, my stomach felt like it was coming through my mouth. But guess what, if I had it to do again, I wouldn't change a thing, and neither would the classmates who went with me on the same ride with me.

Virginia State

On April 19, 2011, we went to the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University. The University of Maryland’s campus is huge. It has its own football stadium that can hold up to 7,000 people. On the tour we got to visit the freshmen dorm and the student center.

At the University of Maryland, we ate in the South dining hall, which has a movie theater. The University has excellent Forensics and Nursing programs. This sounds like my kind of school, I will definitely apply here.

After the University of Maryland, we went to John Hopkins University. It was raining very hard, so we didn’t get to tour the whole school, but our tour guide was really energetic. John Hopkins also has a good study abroad program as well as an excellent medical program. If you are interested in becoming a doctor or some kind of specialist, this would be your ideal school.

John Hopkins University

On April 20, 2011, we visited Morgan State University. At Morgan State we went to the Administration Building where we had our information session with two other high schools from in the states. After that, we split up into groups and we had a Trinidadian tour guide. She was really nice although she had a strong accent.

While walking to the dining hall, we bumped into two college girls cussing back and forth with each other. I would have never thought that I would tour a college and see that. “Hey that cuss out was funny; I just want them to actually fight” said Ivanka. I didn’t because I just think that in college you should be a little more mature than that.

Morgan State Dining Hall

Loyola University looked like a high class exclusive private school the first time we drove up. When we toured the campus, we saw the Mr. Michael Harrigan’s daughter and two other V.I students. (Mr. Harrigan is the Deputy Superintendent of Department of Education for the St. Thomas/St. John District.)

They said that Loyola was a good college that focuses on academics first but is strong on the three Division I sports. They are good for baseball, soccer, lacrosse and football. They offer excellent academic scholarships to athletes.

On April 21, 2011, we went to Drexel University and Temple University in Philadelphia. Drexel was more like a city college because it was in the heart of the city. The campus was spread apart in different buildings located all over the city. In the information session, they showed us a slide show about the student life and school spirit. The tour guide said that Drexel has the best engineering program.

When we were touring the school’s campus, our tour guide took us to see the coolest thing about Drexel. They had a whole street filled with frats and sororities. “ Now dats wassup,” said Kordell Robb. Some of the frat houses were actually mansions. It was so cool.

When we left Drexel, we went to Temple University. To me, Temple University is my type of college cause it’s small and the people there are like a close knit family. We ate lunch at Temple first and when we finished our lunch, two tour guides came for us.

Temple University

Temple’s student center looks like a mall it has like five floors with a bowling alley, game room, and a theater. It's a place where you can go an hang out with friends on the weekends. You don’t even have to leave the campus to socialize. Temple University also has my major, forensics, so I will definitely apply there, also.

On April 22, 2011, our coldest day-- 39 degrees in the Big Apple-- we went to the Bodies, the Exhibition http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/newyork/. This show is basically like a museum for you to see the different body parts in the human body. All of the bodies in the museum are real people that died from natural causes.

At the end of the tour you could touch real body parts; like the heart, lungs, kidneys, bones, and much more. To me the body exhibit was cool because when I grow up, I want to be a forensic scientist. “Dead people are the best friends to have in the world cause you can tell dem anything,” said Erika B.

After the body exhibition, we went to the Parsons School of Design where they shoot Project Runway. Parsons School of Design is a very artistic school located in New York City. At Parsons, they offer a lot of majors in art like interior design, fashion, art, architecture and much more. After Parsons we went back to the hotel and went out to Time Square to eat dinner. On that same day later in the night, we went to see The Lion King on Broadway. ”How cool is that” said Natalie Dalmida.

The Lion king was a awesome musical, but in the middle of it when they started to talk, some of us fell asleep. However, it was still a good show and a good experience.

On April 23, 2011, we went out to shop on 34th street. This is the street that is just filled with stores. They gave us lunch money and told us to meet back at the subway station at 8:30 pm. We broke off into groups and went off shopping on our own. After we shopped at 34th street, we caught the subway back to west 57th street where we were staying. We dropped off our bags and then we went down to Time Square to shop some more.

On April 24, 2011, some of us stayed back at the hotel and re-packed our suitcases. When the rest of the students went to Harlem to shop with Ms.Matthias and the other chaperons. "Harlem was cheap to shop; we should have gone there from the start," said Brianna. Later that afternoon we went to McDonalds to eat dinner and got ready for bed because we had to get up for 4:30 in the morning to head to the airport.

On April 25, 2011, the day we had to leave, it was really hard not to leave tears come to some of our eyes.

"The college tour is a great opportunity and it can help us find the right college to further our education" said Kiana B.

" The college tour really brought a lot of us more together, and it was so much fun" said Kordell Robb.

" We miss you, NEW YORK!" said all the students.

I would recommend this trip to all Ivanna Eudora Kean students. It was an excellent opportunity and one that we will never forget. It helped us to see what college life is about and maybe ,who knows, we just might be at one of those colleges. Thanks to the Counseling Department for giving us this opportunity and to our parents for giving us the money.