I was Peer Pressured

My second day in Chicago began with the sound of Jahvi's phone alarm ringing incessantly, waking me instantly. It was quite earlier than I expected, as I didn't set my own alarm to ring until almost one hour later. However, I couldn't fall asleep again, so I set about packing my things back in my suitcases in preparation for room service. Somehow, even with us three girls waking up extra early, we were still ten minutes late meeting Raqeeb and Ms. Sciacca downstairs. Luckily, we had enough time. We grabbed a light breakfast at a nice, homey cafe, where we sat outside to eat in the midst of company of many little birds that were not scared of people. Afterwards, we set off to our Northwestern site visit. 

The L

We took the L on the way to Northwestern, which was quite a worthwhile experience. Riding the L was a very pleasant experience, as the L was not crowded at that time in the morning, and we all found seats. You could really see the city on the L, and it was very enriching being able to view everything from the tall glass buildings and fancy hotels to the slightly run-down brick building with graffiti. 

Our short walk to Northwestern was very pleasant as well; there were many pretty houses along the way. Once we were on the campus, we asked several really nice people for directions to the Segal Visitor Center. Everyone was really easy to talk to, and we got to the center in no time. There were a surprising number of people there already. Even so, thanks to Ms. Sciacca, we were able to sit in the second row in front for the presentation, which was given by a Northwestern student and an admissions officer. 

The Rock 

I was surprised by the diversity of the people that came to the tour. There were people all the way from Columbia and China that came for the site visit, which reminded me just how serious everyone was. The presentation went by, and the actual tour began. We chose to go with Jordan, a recent Northwestern alumni, who majored in physics, minored in theater, and mastered in mechanical engineering. I really liked her personality. She was very open and cheery and I absolutely loved her confidence and humor. She gave the tour life and keep it informative yet fun. We learned about studying abroad programs and how Northwestern allows students to carry over their financial aid abroad. Jordan also talked about the numerous unique internship opportunities available at Northwestern. 

Jordan (on the left)

The campus

Once the tour was over, we grabbed lunch at Giordano's. The pizza we had was extremely filling; I was stuffed after just one slice. With our bellies full, we made our way to the Chicago Art Institute. Over lunch, our cohort had decided that we just didn't have enough time left today to spend at the art institute to do it justice, since it closes early, at 5 PM. However, the tickets were only good for seven days, so we took the L to the Chicago Art Institute to see if they could change our tickets. Fortunately, the people were really nice, and Chicago Art Institute is now scheduled for next Saturday.

From there, we walked to the nearby Millennium Park. We took a nice, brief stroll around and took some really pretty group pictures. But soon enough, we were tired, so we took Lyft and got some food for our dinner at Whole Foods before we returned to the hotel. We had some cohort bonding at the hotel, where I was peer pressured into going into the pool and then peer pressured again into going into the hot tub. I loved the coolness of the pool water and almost boiled alive in the hot tub, but overall, it was a great day. I look forward to moving into our dorms at UChicago tomorrow!

Taken from Millienium Park