A New Haven at Yale

When I woke up this morning, I felt especially excited for the day ahead. Not only were we going to tour Yale University, but we were also meeting up with the Brown Cohort. I am friends with two members of the Brown group, so I couldn’t wait to see them and hear about their experiences thus far. After the alumni dinner with Yale, I was excited to tour the campus and see if Yale students are as amazing as the alumni.

Just as we had done the past two days, we grabbed breakfast at the station and boarded an Amtrak train to take us to our destination. Although the train ride was not as beautiful as yesterday, it was still interesting to observe the outside environment. I am still shocked by the lush landscape that is so different from the golden hills of California.

When we arrived in New Haven, we took a quick taxi ride to meet up with the Brown Cohort. We stopped outside of a beautiful campus gate, which was unfortunately under construction, and saw the familiar faces of our friends from El Cerrito High. We also introduced ourselves to the Yale students who would lead us on a tour.

When we first started walking around campus, I was struck by the size of it all. I had always imagined Yale to be rather small, but the opposite seemed to be the case. There were many buildings on campus, much more than I expected. Some of the buildings were also very alternative in their architecture. There was a building shaped like a whale and the library walls were made of a special kind of marble which allowed light, but not UV rays inside. After walking around campus a while and talking with students about their amazing Yale experiences, we stopped for lunch. 

The food was absolutely delicious. It seemed like a combination of Berkeley’s restaurants Gather and The Cheeseboard. There were delicious meats and cheeses that were paired with wonderfully dressed fresh vegetables. The company was amazing. We sat with a Yale student from New York and spent much of the conversation speaking about differences between the two sides of the country. We also talked about her wonderful Yale experience. She was so friendly and she made it seem like everyone at Yale was as kind as her. If that is the case, I would absolutely love to attend the school.

Before taking to students and alumni of Yale, I had very little interest in attending the school. I expected Yale be a place where competition was a large aspect of social life. Instead, the opposite seems to be the case. Students support one another and love the school they attend. The people aspect of the school is just as important as the academics. 

After lunch we went inside the library. The giant, rectangular sized building held an impressive collection of incredibly old novels. I could imagine that the library alone would be a deciding factor for many students when deciding where to go to college.

The time flew by and before I knew it our tour was over. After a tearful (not really) departure, we went our separate ways and soon we were preparing for another fancy dinner. The dinner was great! This was the first time that we met with students from an array of colleges. It was interesting to notice how each school seems to attract individuals with common characteristics. We dined with two alumni from Vassar and two current students from Columbia and Harvard. It was fascinating to listen to stories about their life at college. For the majority of the dinner I sat next to Molly, a recent alumni of Vassar. It was obvious that she loved Vassar and her answers to my questions were both detailed an informative. It was a pleasure to sit with her. 

Tomorrow we will move out of the hotel and head to Columbia. I can't wait to see what the next three weeks have in store. I am ready to transition into college life and I am so excited to meet new and interesting people.