University of Pennsylvania Review

I’ve decided that for each school I visit, I’m going to post a blog describing my experience there and my feelings towards it. I’ll go over different aspects and post plenty of pictures. As you may have guessed from the title, this one is about the University of Pennsylvania. I hope readers enjoy.

First Impression: We met with UPenn students and staff at Distrito, for lunch, before we saw the campus. They told us great things about the school, but it didn’t really register until I was there. UPenn grew on me throughout the day, and by the end of the tour it had definitely peaked my interest.

Pros:

• ·         At about 10,000 undergraduate students, it’s the right size for me. I’ll always be able to meet new people.
• ·         Over 200 clubs and extracurricular activities on campus; it’s really easy to make new ones, too.
• ·         The faculty seems very active in supporting and informing the student body.
• ·         The interiors of buildings are top-of-the-line modern, while the exteriors are old and beautiful.
• ·         The libraries are amazing.
• ·         The professors are talented and approachable.
• ·         Ivy League Financial aid is awesome.
• ·         There’s great alumni support and school pride.
• ·         There are plenty of housing options.
• ·         It’s in the middle of Philly.
• ·         It’s an hour from NYC.
• ·         I have friends who go there.
• ·         There’s good food on and around the campus.
• ·         The campus isn’t too hilly or too flat.
• ·         Greek life is available, but isn’t overwhelming.
• ·         It’s incredibly safe, with one of the best private security forces in the country.
• ·         Philadelphia has the largest urban park in the nation.
• ·         There is a lot of diversity: racially, culturally and economically.
• ·         13% of the students are international.
• ·         Many facilities are open 24/7.
• ·         There are departments to help with… well, everything.
• ·         The sports teams are really good.
• ·         As the oldest university in America, it has plenty of history.
• ·         There are tons of on campus events and performances that are either free or offer student discounts.
• ·         Restaurants in the area shouldn’t be too expensive.
• ·         I have relatives nearby, in New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Washington D.C.
• ·         The school will pay for most activity based events.
• ·         The Ivy League has a partnership among study abroad programs.
• ·         Football games are played at the old Eagles stadium.
• ·         There’s flexibility among majors.
• ·         I love Philly Cheesesteaks.

• ·         I can’t drive, so it’s great that public transport is so prominent. I really like riding trains. 

Cons:

• ·         The weather enters extremes.
• ·         I’ve never extensively experienced Philadelphia, so I don’t know for sure if I’ll enjoy it.
• ·         I’m told that there is a bit of social segregation.
• ·         The staff expects a lot of independence, self-motivation and resourcefulness from their students.
• ·         I’m an outsider to East Coast, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia life. I don’t know if some things that I’m used to are very different there; I may commit social mistakes or be ignorant of pop culture. It’s not a huge problem, but it could make some things very awkward.
• ·         This is true of all East Coast schools, but I don’t know how I’ll do, far from home. Until now, I’ve never spent more than two weeks away from California, and any number of factors could ruin my experience. I can’t know if I’d enjoy living at the school until I actually live at the school. I’ll just have to use this trip as much as I can to find out what kind of environment I thrive in.
• ·         I won’t know my way around the city for quite some time.
• ·         Although I don’t think I want to attend UC Berkeley, I took classes there for three summers in a row, and my big sister goes there. I feel a lot of pride for that school, and it’ll feel weird rooting for any other college team. Ironically, I’m also considering Stanford.

My thoughts: It should be obvious since there over 30 pros and only 8 cons that I like UPenn. Architecture is very important to me on a college campus, and I love the style of Penn buildings. The resources there sound fantastic, and the people seem intelligent and worldly. Not to mention, it’s one of the most prestigious schools in the world. I’ll definitely do some more research on it when I get back home.

Some of My Thoughts on FDR, Vassar and the Ivy League Connection

After waking up at 7 AM, we took the subway down to Penn Station and boarded the Amtrak Adirondack toward Poughkeepsie about an hour later. Even at 8 in the morning, you could already feel the heat, and the weather had told us that today was going to be even hotter than yesterday. By the time we returned to New York, we learned from a local that the temperature had broke 102 degrees, although thankfully, while we were gone.
Poughkeepsie, though, was no better. I personally love the heat and this kind of weather, but it'd be a little easier to walk around college campuses in a little more comfortable weather. The train ride up to Poughkeepsie was beautiful; the Hudson River Valley is teeming with natural beauty and the scenery on the ride up was very enjoyable.

Poughkeepsie Amtrak

 Upon our arrival in Poughkeepsie, we hopped into a taxi that had been waiting for us at the station (every one of our days is strategically planned out so that we get the most of our time) and headed to the home of our 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I personally am a big fan of the majority of what FDR did for our country; his Social Security, G.I. Bill and New Deal programs played an enormous role in rebuilding our nation from the Great Depression, and his proposal of a second Bill of Rights I feel would have been an enormous step toward decreasing much of the suffering of the lower class. Unfortunately, though, FDR passed away before this bill made any progress, although I still applaud him for his intentions. I am not a fan of everything Mr. Roosevelt did, though, I feel he could have acted much sooner during WWII. Of course, war is always a bad thing and should be avoided whenever possible, but I believe that, as Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, "He who accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who perpetuates it." I also vehemently oppose the imprisonment of the Japanese, as it violated numerous parts of the Constitution, and quite simply, was totally immoral. So my thoughts on Roosevelt are mixed, but I can say without doubt that his heart, his intentions, and his desires for the lives of the American people were in the right place. He should be, in my opinion, one of the most well-respected and honored presidents; his determination in a time when both he and the nation had everything working against them pulled the nation back together from an greatest eras of the suffering of the American people.
Anyway, we visited FDR's home, which was a very impressive and beautiful place. Our tour guide was extremely informative, and after the tour, I had an interesting talk with him about President Roosevelt's decision to hide his disability rather than stand tall with what God had given him and try to disprove some society's misled associations of physical disabilities with weakness and mental disabilities. The guide told me that at the time, while it may have been a stand for open-mindedness, the image of disabilities at the time was too string to overcome, and FDR likely would not have been reelected had the public known how much trouble he actually had with polio.

The driveway

FDR's home in Hyde Park

The resting place of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

After visiting the home FDR, we continued on to Vassar College. At Vassar, we received an extremely informative information session; I was especially fond of the nonexistence of a core curriculum and the nonexistence of Greek life, which I feel can sometimes make campus life a little more exclusive. The campus architecture I found to be amazing, although the campus itself as only nice, with nothing particularly special. I also am not a fan of its location, although in a beautiful area of the Hudson River Valley, I may feel a little isolated living on campus for months on end with so few people (2400). I have yet to decide how I feel about Vassar, it had its pros and cons, and I'd say I'm still sort of on the fence. You can see some of Vassar's beautiful architecture below, as well as the gorgeous Hudson River Valley.

After returning to New York and getting dressed for another fancy dinner, we arrived at Le Bernardin at about 8 PM. The restaurant experience was fantastic; the food was once again phenomenal and I ate it all up before thinking of taking any pictures. It was my first time ever trying (or even hearing of) Geoduck, which apparently is some combination of clams and some sauces and vegetables which I was unable to recognize. I also tried lobster for the first time (also loved that) and as my main course, I had the Black Bass in some tasty black sauce which I also could not identify. The dinner itself was extremely delicious, possibly the best I've had on this trip.

Funny side story: This entire trip, I haven't had a sip of anything but water (and milk for breakfast). I've seen sodas and sugary juices and felt the temptations, but I had been able to resist simply because I felt it'd be good to stay hydrated and better for my health to stay away from sugary drinks. I don't know why I decided to do this now, as I've always been conscious about what I eat, but never smart enough to resist the temptations of unhealthy food. Anyway, I had gone about 4 days on only water, and when the waiter tonight asked me if I wanted a drink, I told him just water. He ended up bringing me a Sprite, and I only noticed after taking a few big sips. I joked with Mrs. Kronenberg and Mrs. L that they had set a trap for me to finally end my streak. With a soda finally in front of me, the temptation was too much and I finished the Sprite, and when the waiter asked me for another, I told I was fine. Further proving my trap theory, he brought me another Sprite. When we switched tables, I purposely left the Sprite at the old table, but he kindly made a third attempt to give me a drink I had never even ordered by bringing it to me from the old table. I don't know if I made this funny over text, but it was pretty funny when it happened.

Lastly, we had a big discussion over dinner about how we can improve the process of achieving the Ivy League Connection's main goal: to have each of us students give back to the district everything we learned. We struggled over students' lack of interest in college, or their misled assumptions that they cannot afford it (I'm forgetting the specifics, but Holy Names University in Oakland is currently offering students in our district a FREE education if they have low family income and a GPA of 3.0 or above.). We argued and shared ideas about how to best solve these problems, and I won't go into too much depth about what we found due to the current time and their complexity, but I will write about our solutions more as we apply them and carry them out.

Success is Not a Static Thing, It is an Everlasting March.

So before I start, I just wanted to point out something I have realized while reading all my peers' blogs. I realized that my blogs are more based on my evaluations, my observations, realizations, and what I infer/learn throughout the day that particularity changes me or affects me in some sort of manner. On the other, a lot of other blogs are more of a daily summary activities. So I've made a compromise with myself today, although our daily activities and agenda are numerously mentioned throughout each and every blog submission, I will still continue to include my critical thinking but also try and include a little more detail of our daily activities. This way, my blogs will potentially be more thorough and still include my usual analyses. (Too bad I'm just limited in time due to us coming home late and waking up quite early every morning; busy busy BUSY schedule)

So this morning was another very typical "morning routine." We woke up very early in the morning and stayed up very late as well to finish blogging the night before. Today was probably the hottest day so far on the trip, but I must admit I actually prefer the heat over the cold so I definitely have no room to complain!

Not only did I have really engaging conversations with both my chaperon and Mrs.Kronenberg throughout the day today, but I also had the opportunity to see the Hudson River while enjoying their company. I hadn't personally known Mrs.Kronenberg very well throughout my time back in the bay area, but I'm glad she visited us yesterday and I had the opportunity to get to know her more; she's a very warm and caring individual and I definitely enjoyed speaking to her.

Relaxing with the Roosevelt family.

Now on the other hand, must I say that the train ride where we had our first glance at the glazing waters of the historians lake was not the final time we saw it? Why? Well mainly because it would be absolutely impossible to forget a visit to president Franklin D. Roosevelt's summer headquarter, including his birth bed across from the lake. It was a marvelous site and allowed me to appreciate his personality and determination to a whole new level. The tour guide did a magnificent job describing his life on the daily basis and the relationship amongst the individuals within the household. From the moment walked the pathway and through the door frame to the time I got back on to a van to head to Vassar University, I would take each step as if I were walking in the shoes of a Roosevelt in that era. I imagined sleeping in the beds as a guest, walking the hallways with passion and determination against the slowly destructive polio disease, or simply just being with the honor of having a role in the life of such a tremendous leader within our nation's history. For a minute in my life I felt like some special and important appreciated by the world and my surroundings. Well let me tell you, it was definitely an amazing feelings.

After the tour, we also watched an informative documentary about Roosevelt's life and culture. His passion struck me and ultimately became one of the many strong aspect that resulted in the strong sense of admiration I have towards him. He never gave up and was always highly optimistic, which is also the characteristics of a perfect role model for me. I too portray similar characteristics and particular personality traits, so I was extremely honored to see similarities between myself and an individual of such high reputations.

Sat in a seat in the theater dedicated to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Absolutely beautiful library at Vassar University.

Later we visited Vassar University, the university I conducted a lot of research about while back in Pinole. I was excited to finally attend a tour after hearing and also reading so much about it so I can also see what the college feels like in person. I learned a few interesting things that I actually didn't know about until my visit. For example, Vassar students had a tea gathering where pearls and white gloves were deemed mandatory. Also, a student at Vassar was very interested in philosophy and a man replied to her curiosity towards the subject by saying, "Philosophy is too much for your tiny female brain to handle." Although a male individual saying comments like that towards females was particularly common in that era, I was highly offended. Philosophy is definitely one of my interests and something I enjoy extremely, and my pride towards the female race just simply did not allow me to absorb such a comment. However, I admired the University for proving to individuals of that sort that women can make a difference and introduced equality to another level. Adjectives describing my experience towards Vassar would be simply inspirational and hope-oriented fueled by ambition and passion of various individuals in history.

Before we knew it, it was already dinner time once again, this time at Le Bernardin. Each and every day I walk out of the these restaurants thinking, "This was the best dinner yet," and I end the following night at another restaurant with the same exact mindset. Everything has been so fantastic so far in our trip that it's truly hard to chose the amongst all our daily activities what exactly we enjoyed more than the other due to the fact that they all so amazing that a decision of the sort would be both highly debatable and questionable. Whether it's the individuals we are granted the honor to meet and engage in interesting conversations with, or simply the atmosphere and the taste of the food, each and every dinner so far has been unique and special in it's own way.

Adrianne Ramsey; I love her so much!

This dinner felt almost like a business meeting to me. The conversation was definitely engaging and active, (like always) but this time more than usual. We debated as a group for hours as to how exactly we are going to give back to our community upon return. Of course, you may be thinking, "But you just arrived!" Yes, but community is of utmost importance to us all, and the duty and main purpose of this trip as a whole is to give back to our community in a large and upscale manner. We plan to live up to (and of course beyond) our expectations and give back to our community in a way never done before. For this, we have already began our initial steps in preparation and organized our ideas in a coherent format for analysis. In all, I enjoyed our discussions today, and not to mention, the fact that Mrs.Kronenberg was there to join us.

Meryl Streep, she was literally this close to us.

Above are a few pictures of the food I ordered tonight, I don't quite remember their names but I can tell you they surely were delicious. The meal consisted of 3 courses plus a dessert and drink. The very last photo was simply a compliment from the chef.

The most perfect coincidence occurred today in the restaurant, we sat a table away from Meryl Streep for four consecutive hours! The coincidence here is that we visited Vassar, the college she graduated in the daytime, then saw herself my sundown.

Chance or fate? You tell me.

We Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Another hot day in the Big Apple. Today for the Columbia cohort for the 2012 summer we started our day at 7:30 AM to Penn Station. From there we took the Amtrak to Poughkeepsie, New York to visit Vassar College. Along the ride, we were able to see the Hudson River and the spectacular views. The water looked so inviting on such a hot day.

Roosevelt Mansion

Living Room

FDR's Bedroom

FDR and Wife's Graves

Seat for Roosevelt Documentary
I sat where John F. Kennedy did!

But before visiting Vassar, our group, along with Ms. Kronenberg, had the chance to go see the house of the nation’s president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. First, our group was given a little background information on said president, such as his birth, family members, and estate. From there, the tour group trekked to FDR’s mansion. Inside the mansion we were told about FDR’s paralytic disease, poliomyelitis. Our tour guide disclosed information on the extreme measures FDR took to keep his illness as secret. The tour was enlightening for me because it was a source of inspiration. FDR was a man who did not let his disability keep him from running the nation, albeit keeping it in secrecy. After the information session in the mansion, we were allowed to freely tour the upper half of the mansion, which consists of FDR’s bedroom, Eleanor Roosevelt’s room, guest rooms and so on and so forth. During the tour, I immediately headed for FDR’s room. Seeing the room a president once lived his life in is really more powerful than one would think. There’s a sense of respect one has for the deceased and knowing the circumstances FDR lived in makes his life more meaningful. After touring the mansion, the cohorts toured the rest of the property, from his large lawn in front of the mansion to his garden where he is buried. We then watched an informational video about the effect FDR and his disease had on society.

Vassar College

Our group then headed to Vassar College, a small liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York consisting of about two thousand and four hundred students. Vassar’s stunning architecture really caught my attention; it’s a shame for me because the college does not offer any engineering programs. Although Vassar does not offer engineering, it offers many study abroad programs and internships, which I found very beneficial. Vassar works with students to obtain internships in metropolitan areas to help with their major. Also Vassar’s support team was a plus for me that I will always take into consideration when looking at colleges; Vassar assigns pre-major advisors to students to help them along their journey through the first two years of college and then is able to choose a major advisor to help with students’ majors.

After touring Vassar, our group rode to the train station via van. When we arrived at the station we were informed about the delay for our train and waited about thirty minutes. It seems that our group has bad luck with train timing. We finally boarded the train and made our way back to the hotel to redress for our dinner at Le Bernardin in Midtown West.

Although we arrived early for our reservations, our group was able to pass the time with conversation from “Adrianne-ism” to the 2012 Presidential Election. Once we were seated, we started with small samples from the chef; the platter consisted of Tuna Tartare, Pouched Lobster, and Watermelon Gazpacho. For appetizers, I had the Sea Scallops and Seared Tuna, and as my entrée, I had the Pasta with seasonal vegetables. And finally for dessert, I had the Earl Grey Ice Cream.

Tuna Tartare, Pounched Lobster, and Watermelon Gazpacho

Sea Scallop

Seared Tuna

Pasta with Seasonal Vegetables

Earl Grey Ice Cream

As usual, what makes dinner pleasant is good conversation. Tonight we discussed the ways of giving back to the West Contra Costa Unified School District for giving us the opportunity to attend a university. Through multiple debates and ideas, our group finally came up with a plan; we are going to make a video! With our video, we want to be able to show high school students the benefits of going to college and the financial aid they are able to obtain. Finally after a marvelous dinner, we headed back to the hotel for so much needed rest. Next stop is Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Roosevelt, Vassar, Heat and Streep

Today we took a train from Penn Station to Poughkeepsie. Just like yesterday, it was unbelievably hot. While there, we toured FDR's mansion. It's now well known that he went to great lengths to hide the extent of his polio. His home was a great example of that effort. He installed handrails everywhere, supposedly to help him walk down stairs. In actuality, they supported his impressive upper body weight/strength which he used to lift his lifeless legs to emulate walking. His house was impressive, and the surrounding country side was beautiful. I spent a good 20 minutes enjoying the environment. I also bought a shirt at the gift shop.

This was in the gift shop

After touring FDR's home, we headed out to Vassar College. The first thing I want to point out, is that Vassar has a CASTLE on its grounds. They call it a library, but I know a castle when I see one.
The Vassar info session was very informative. The admissions counselor not only told us what Vassar is looking for in a student, but explained some good techniques on picking the right school.

Tell me this isn't a castle

Despite the heat, the campus tour was lovely. The first thing we saw was Meryl Streep Hall, a small theatre. Streep is a Vassar alumnas, and she donated that building. We saw most of the Vassar dorms and class halls. They tend to be massive brick edifices with a lot of history.

We had to leave the tour early, to catch our train. It ended up running 30 minutes late, so we baked at the station while we could have been at the school. There was no way to have known in advance, but it was very unfortunate.

Despite getting back to the hotel late, we had plenty of time to get ready for arguably our best dinner yet. Tonight we were at Le Bernardin. There was a little confusion about our reservation time, so we had to wait a while to get a table. When we did, we had a pleasant surprise. There is a phenomenon called the Baader-Meinhof effect. This is when you learn something new and then encounter it almost immediately. Today I learned that Meryl Streep went to Vassar, and sitting at the table next to us was none other than Meryl Streep. None of us had a chance to talk to her, but it'll make a nice anecdote.

All of the food was incredible. We were served a four coarse meal of mostly raw or lightly cooked food. This was probably their hot weather menu. Personally, I didn't love my dessert, but all of the previous plates made up for it. At dinner, we had a discussion with Ms. Kronenberg about how we can give back to the school district. The vast majority of students didn't recieve the incredible opportunity that we are enjoying and we've known since day one that it was our responsibility to share our experience with them. After tossing around a lot of different ideas, we seem to have come to the decision that we will give presentations to 8th grade and freshman classrooms on the importance of keeping up grades and the availability of college. This will include a short film, a presentation, possibly a guest speaker (like an alumni of a local school), and a Q and A session. The details haven't been decided yet, but since were the first to have this discussion with Ms. Kronenberg, she has asked us to spearhead this endeavor. Hopefully we can collaborate on ideas with the other cohorts soon, but we understand that everyone is busy.

Octopus

That was basically my day, in a nutshell. I finished the text of the UPenn blog on the train today, but I still have to add the photos. It should be up by tomorrow.