Watch Out For Those Sprinklers

After yet another lovely breakfast here at the hotel, we headed off to Northwestern University. Compared to the 100 degree weather of the day before, it was a rather cool morning in Evanston. Northwestern University isn't in the city, it is actually about two miles from Chicago. Upon arriving at the university we located to admissions building, and checked in the ILC group of eight.

The information session was pretty brief, and to the point. Immediately after it had ended we started our tour. Our tour guide was Kristina, a rising senior at NU. All throughout the campus they had the sprinklers turned on. Whenever we would walk past one we would quickly move away from it, nobody wanted to get wet. That is really ironic, because towards the end of our tour it actually started raining. Oh, and did I mention there was also thunder? The thunder and the rain sure did make the sprinklers seem like harmless butterflies. Maybe the sprinklers' persistance to get us wet was actually a harbinger of the storm that was yet to arrive! Thanks to that storm, when we made it back to the admissions building we were all soaking wet. After a much needed lunch in one of the university's dining halls, we left the campus for some sight seeing.

We took "The L" to our destination. It may not sound familiar to some and it really did not ring a bell when I heard it, and that's because in California we call it "Bart". After a couple of minutes and a few stops later, we left The L and walked on over to Millenium Park. We had been told by numerous people to go take a look at what they call "The Bean". So pur first stop was the famous bean. It's a sculpture that is covered in mirrors, and it is in the shape of a bean

Taking a picture of our reflection.

The Bean.

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After spending some time at The Bean and relaxing in the ampitheater, we made our way over to Crowne Plaza Fountain. By this time there was no evidence whatsoever of the earlier storm. The sun was back up high in the air, embracing us in its rays. This gave us girls the idea of getting wet in the fountain. The water was very refreshing, I was immediately cooled down. They boys on the other hand, refused to join us. Once we were done playing with the water, we made the journey back to our hotel.

At 6:45 PM we all met in the lobby. Mastro's Steakhouse was the restaurant for tonight. I had heard of this restaurant once before this trip. It was on a TV show where they were eating at the restaurant, so I was really eager to see it in person! We had a large reservation for seventeen people, which were divided into two circular tables. Sitting at my table was Aaron, Andrew, Shevan, and Jonathan who were our guests for the night. Ian, Alysa, Clara, and Cameron were seated with us as well. Aaron is an admissions officer while, Andrew, Shevan, and Jonathan are students. I tried talking to everybody at least once, but I always ended up back with Jonathan. I really enjoyed talking to Jonathan, he cleared up a lot of questions I had about Northwestern. He also gave me advice on picking out colleges, such as what things I should be taking into consideration and the things I should be aware of.  

I ordered the filet accompanied with two sides that were for the table, lobster mashed potatoes and asparagus. I was primarily going to order the herbal crusted chicken, but then I thought to myself, "I'm in a steakhouse, why am I gonna order chicken? I should order a steak, since this is a steakhouse." I am glad I chose the steak, becuase every bite was better than the one before. The desset, eventhough I can't even pronounce or remember it's name, was just as good as my steak was!

Tonight is our last night here in Chicago. Leaving Chicago means no more college visits. I really enjoyed visiting WashU, NU, and UChicago! I am so fortunate that I got the oportunity to be able to tour all of those amazing schools, and meet so many wonderful people! As for now, UPenn is waiting and I couldn't possible be more excited than I am now. Philadelphia here we come!