New Haven: A Whole New Perspective On Life

Like yesterday, we once again had a full nights sleep which was really amazing. Waking well-rested and with eager minds, we quickly departed for Penn Station once again. The overall purpose of the day was to make our way to New Haven, Connecticut and meet up with the Brown Cohort in order to tour the highly prestigious school, Yale University.

When we all finally arrived in New Haven, I was blown away at how different it was compared to New York. There was no over population of cars or people and the city had a peaceful sensation. Even though it has a relatively large population, the city resembled a small community. We met up with the Brown Cohort and our tour guides at the rally point and from there the true adventure began. 

The entrance to New Haven at Union Station 

                       A Hogwarts like dining hall at Yale

As we made our way through the campus as our very informative  tour guides discussed details about the functions each buildings. We learned that the school is divided into twelve  different residential colleges, similar to those in the Harry Potter books. Each college had its own building and were basically small communities. Our guides also touched upon Greek life ( Fraternities and Sororities) and the numerous "secret" societies within the school. Greek life was said to not play a huge role in the university as opposed to other schools around the country. Also it was mentioned that some of the gentry of America and other major role models who attended Yale belonged to some of the secret societies and that some of these societies were more secretive than others. Further through our tour we were able to see buildings that had a older and more historic architectural designs to them. The designs for each of the buildings were amazing and completely unlike any thing on the West Coast. As it was summer, many of the buildings were undergoing renovation so the was much scaffolding and construction work everywhere, however that did not take away from the beauty of the campus. Through what I saw I really began to feel attracted to the school. Not only did it have a beautiful campus and lush history but also offered an environment that really was exactly what I was looking for.

 

Look at the  amazing design style of the school

After a while of touring, we at last reached a restaurant know as, Caseus, which according to Ms. L was very well-known for its variety of cheese. When we all sat down and I had the pleasure of being seated across two gentleman who were really helpful in my pursuit to better understand Yale. Their names were Gary Sulioti and Nicholas Defiesta. Both of them had so much knowledge of the mechanics of the school and we discussed numerous subjects during our lunch. For example we began a discussion over the style of life on campus. Their responses were both very informative and described the school as just the right size to enjoy both a city life as well as a small community feel. This comment made really think a bit more in depth of the type of location I would want to attend college at, and New Haven definitely fit my criteria. It did not have the speed and commotion of large cities but also was not so small that everyone knew each other. To a greater extent we also discussed details about the curriculum of the school and how that operates. According to both students, there are supposedly over a thousand different classes to choose from and you are at liberty to elect to take whichever. There is also a program that is modeled after Columbia's core curriculum, in which you take certain classes for a year but really improve your well-roundedness. Even with a liberty to choose whichever class you want, there are some that are required by the actual school, however the requirements are broad and you are allowed to take any class that fulfills that requirement for credit. The conversation continued, but more and more the school really began to become a greater interest to me. Not only did it offer an environment that really suited my likings, but also provided a curriculum that was still very liberal when it comes to class choice.


The most secure and largest college
library I have ever seen.

Once we had all finished lunch, we proceeded out to continue the tour of the campus. We passed by many amazing buildings, however the one that was most prominent was the library. There were no windows and the walls were made of a special type of marble that allowed natural light to enter while keeping out UV rays. According to the tour guides, the complex housed many old books and manuscripts which was the reason for the tight security and unique design of the building. I was completely amazed at the amount of literature that lied before me. Centuries of knowledge and work all in on single, secure location makes this library sound like the Library of Congress. Overall however I do believe that access to information really makes the school unique in its own way because not many other schools in the country contain such a lush variety of works to gain knowledge from.

After a trip to the local college store and a taxi trip to Union Station, we were on our way back to the lights and excitement of New York City. However, our adventure did not end there since we still had a dinner to attend. We all quickly got dressed into a more formal attire and gathered in the lobby to await Ms. L. When she did finally come down, she presented us with some unfortunate news. Originally, the invited guests were two alumni from Vassar and two current students from Columbia, however both of the students became ill and had to unfortunately cancel. However, they did provide a back up in their absence; one was a student at Columbia and the other a student at Harvard.

It took a short subway ride and a few blocks of walking to reach the restaurant, and the anxiety of meeting members of three different and prestigious schools began getting to me. I have to admit I was very excited to be able to gain the perspective of three different schools and how they each functioned differently from each other. I felt that this would help paint a clearer image in my mind on the basics of each school. I was especially excited to learn more about Harvard because it was the one school we had not visited out of the three and the one that is considered to be the educating center of so many great minds in history.

When were all ready, we took our seats and began our lovely dinner. To my luck, I had the pleasure of being seated right next to the student from Harvard, Justin Katiraei. He was a completely different image from what I expected the average Harvard student to be. Positively speaking he was more relaxed and comical, but he still had an amazing amount of knowledge. The image this gentleman presented in my mind gave me much more courage about being able to attend a school such as the  juggernaut that Harvard University is considered to be. Justin was however, very intelligent and was an economics major and a minor in computer science. I was able to ask him questions I had always had about Harvard such as the environment that is present at the campus and the level of difficulty of the classes. His responses depicted a very divided community, in which the student body is separated into specific groups based on criteria such as majors and perspectives on subjects. This really seemed to contrast with many of the other schools we had toured during our trip; many of these others schools promoted unity and the building of close communities on campus. Also he described that one of the best parts about Harvard is the vast amount of resources that are available to it. Being such a prestigious school as it is the level of education and the level of influence you have will be significantly greater.

After a while we switched around and I sat down next to the Columbia student, Jessica Chi. She was very sociable and comical, just like her Harvard friend Justin. From her I gained knowledge of how Columbia operates. While I will be attending class their starting Monday, it was nice to actually hear about the experiences of an actual college student. She seemed very passionate about the school. Every detail she spoke about the school, whether it was the campus events or the dorm life, clearly promoted the greatness of the school.

As for the two alumni from Vassar, I had the opportunity to effectively talk to one of them, Molly Turpin,  for a while. She told some of the basics on her experience while she was a the school which I found really interesting. It was also evident that she really enjoyed her experiences there and even more the education she received. Furthermore  it really surprised how different the schools all were though, for example the curriculum and the experiences mentioned by Ms. Chi completely different from those Ms. Turpin had at Vassar.

Overall it was a great and exciting day. However it was also the last day we would be spending in the hotel rooms because as of tomorrow it would be focused primarily on settling into our dorms and doing well in our respective classes. I personally am very eager to move into the dorms and be able to soak in the college experience. I will, though, miss all the campus tours of the different schools. I found out so much from visiting these schools , for example no two schools are the same. Every school has its own uniqueness to it and  stands out to specific people. One environment may please one person while the other completely dislikes it and requires the opposite. Both sides of the spectrum were able to be seen during theses campus visits, the more liberal ideology that Sarah Lawrence presented or the more core focused work that Columbia has, as well as everything in between. I will also miss the dinners and being able to meet so many life changing and inspiring people that really wish to see all of us succeed. It is not everyday you are able to sit down to a fancy dinner and eat with the gentry of society. It is even more rare to be able to talk to so many admissions officers and alumni who can provide not only an administrator perspective, but also someone who has gone through the entire system before.

Tomorrow will mark a new beginning on this trip and therefore will be a large experience for all of us. I personally am very excited. I have waited for a moment such as this to impress prestigious schools and to prove that it does not matter where you come from, that as long as you have the merit and dedication  you can be admitted into any school.