The Class of 2012 Junior College Visit Trip is off to a great start. Our first day was pretty busy--we'll write more about the details soon, but for now, here's the rough outline:
We departed New Heights Academy Charter School at 7:45 AM and headed straight to Rutgers University for an nformation session with Jessica Wilson at 9 AM. Once there, we saw the beautiful new Visitors Center, watched a video about Rutgers, and had the opportunity to ask Ms. Wilson questions about life at Rutgers. After the info session, two great Student Ambassadors from Rutgers joined us on our buses and took us on a tour of Rutgers's five (yes, five!) different campuses. We learned some history about the school, saw a dorm room, and even found out that Rutgers has a farm on campus!
The bus tours were great, but they were a little longer than expected. We were a bit behind schedule so we had to eat quickly at the Busch Dining Hall at Rutgers. This was the first taste the group had of the all-you-can-eat buffet style that's common at colleges. We're happy to report that no one abused the ice cream machine :)
Once we left Rutgers, we were on the road to Haverford College, right outside of Philadelphia. At Haverford we divided into four groups and immediately headed out on (cold!) tours of their small but lovely campus. Haverford is the complete opposite of Rutgers--it's small and private; Rutgers is HUGE and public. The contrast was obvious!
After our guides at Haverford generously answered our every question even though they were in finals, we headed into West Philadelphia to the University of Pennsylvania, the only Ivy League school on the tour list. We added our names to the Penn mailing list, got maps and brochures from the admissions office, and then split off into our chaperone groups to do a scavenger hunt of campus. Students did an excellent job of asking questions and exploring campus independently. They interviewed students, talked with security guards, and visited many of Penn's 12 different schools.
Congratulations to Ms. Plump's group on finishing the scavenger hunt first. So what was the prize? They were at the head of the line for DINNER at Drexel University's Handschummacher Dining Hall. All the groups were happy to get warm food and take a rest after running around the campuses. It was a very chilly night in Philly. We warmed up, filled up, and then left Drexel to walk the block back to Penn for the night's final event: a mens basketball game at The Palestra between Penn and Villanova. More about that experience later!
After the game, we got back on our buses and drove through Center City and around Philadelphia's beautiful City Hall on our way to our hotel, the Holiday Inn Historic Philadelphia. All of the New Heights students were very well behaved during our check-in process--so much so that the hotel staff complimented the group on their politeness! It was already past 10 PM when we arrived, so students got squared away in their rooms quickly before curfew at 10:30 PM. Chaperones did room checks and taped the doors of all the NHACS kids, and now Night Supervisors Tori and Maisha are on patrol while everyone else catches some shut-eye. It's another busy day tomorrow!
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