Day 2 Of Many

Before heading to breakfast at the hotel.

After ending the previous night with a blogging party, all but one of the Penn ILCers woke up at 6:30 AM to head to the fitness center. After working out for about 45 minutes in the gym we headed back to our rooms to get dressed and prepare for the day. We all met in front of the elevators on the fourth floor at approximately 8:30 AM. We then headed down to the second floor to enjoy the Continental style breakfast provided by our wonderful hotel. After enjoying a hearty and satisfying meal we headed to the actual campus.  After exploring the campus on our own and pausing for a few photos, we went into the presentation room.

Pausing for a photo before heading to the information session.

 The hour long presentation given by admissions representative, Elise and student, Jacob was very insightful and informative. We then headed on a campus tour given by Elizabeth Chen, a student. We chose her as our tour guide because she was a Cali person just like all of us. She was also very helpful and informative. On the tour we got to see classrooms and labs as well as more fun and interesting things such as dining options and living quarters. The tour ended around 12:30 and we decided to grab lunch before Clara and I had to leave for our interviews. After I ordered my lunch I hurried off to Holmes Lounge to be on time for my interview. The interview went great! I wasn't nervous at all and that aided in my success. It was just a general conversation about me and my interests. At the end of the interview, the interviewer told me that he saw how ready and excited I was for college and wishes there was a way I could just skip senior year and start taking classes at WashU this summer. I had no idea who my interviewer was until he handed me a business card and I read "Associate Vice Chancellor" under his name. I am very pleased with the outcome of my interview, to say the least.

Once we finished all business on campus we headed to the St. Louis Zoo located in Forest Park which is a few acres larger than Central park in New York. We were all really excited to see the baby elephant we had heard so much about.  Before we left the zoo we also went on a 4-D simulator ride of Disney's "Happy Feet". It was a great way to cool off.

The Asian Elephant exhibit at the St. Louis Zoo.

We dined at a very nice restaurant once again this evening. Tony's is an Italian restaurant located a few blocks away from the arch. We started off with penne pasta, scallops, and shrimp for appetizers. By the taste of the appetizers, I knew the main course was going to be delicious. For dinner I had beef and spinach stuffed ravioli with Tony's salad side. The salad had tomatoes, and salami, and was tossed in a vinaigrette dressing. For dessert I had a caramel ice cream pie which was a graham cracker crust topped with vanilla bean ice cream, meringue, and lots of caramel sauce.

Today was a great day. To end it, we took a stroll in the area where the arch is located. Ian pointed out to us that right across the river was actually an entire different state(Illinois). After attending the campus tour, information session, and having an interview with one of the chancellors I am looking into applying to Washington University. The campus has a lot of greenery that I love. The brick buildings and cobble stone walkways are such a change from California but it's nothing I couldn't get used to.

Seeing the Gateway Arch was definitely a great way to end our last full day in Missouri.

Tomorrow we leave for Chicago where we'll do a few more dinners and tours before heading to UPen for the rest of our stay.