when it rains, it pours
First off, I would just like to say that, yes, that is a quote from Morton Salt. It's a metaphor. For things that may or may not involve salt. Yeah.
So yeah, I'm back. And more knowledgeable and magnificent through visiting colleges. (And with a really cute pair of shoes that I'll go on about later!!!) Naturally there'll be a critique of said colleges over
First off, there was Duke. Duke is very awe-inspiring, and their chapel is gorgeous, even though there are dead people in it (kind of creepy). However, it is also crazy expensive. And more prestigious than livable, like some fabulous chair at Buckingham Palace that looks amazing but is crazy uncomfortable. Also insane hills. And apparently too many shady places that people can pop out of in a violent fashion (my grandma's train of thought, not mine). And graffiti under some overpasses and in a little tunnel thing that appeared to have no real purpose other than general creepiness. Also, it's in Durham. Ever since I was little, my great-uncle John has told me that (well, this is the nice version, but you get the idea; he's usually more specific) all the bad stuff in the world was in Durham. NOT WHERE I WANT TO GO FOR COLLEGE, THANKYOUVERYMUCH. So Duke is off the List.
Next we have Elon. Elon looks like my school only bigger: lots of brick buildings, green grass, pretty trees. Very good academics, and they seem to put effort towards helping the students. Also, their a capella groups KICK ASS. In a very pretty musical fashion, instead of what you'd expect from the idea of kicking ass. Totally livable campus, easy to find housing really close to the campus for the two years it's possible to live off campus, only snows a little once a year, a program where if you spend 140 hours in their spanish center you get a free round-trip ticket to any spanish-speaking country of your choice, blahdy blah, good things. On the List.
Finally, Davidson. HORRIBLE first impression. We had to drive past many fields of corn, and I am a firm believer that corn fields do not lead to good things. They lead to horrible death and evil little children with no fashion sense. As a high school student and future college student, horror movies have taught me that I am a prime target for BAD THINGS, and as such, I intend to stay away from things such as cabins, corn fields, and hoop earrings, unless said hoop earrings are really cute or part of a costume. Also, tons of winding roads. We got a little lost and were seriously considering leaving before the tour, but I didn't like the idea of missing an appointment with a college so we went. And thank goodness for that! We walked two miles without my feet hurting, which is much better than Duke. This was also the first college to let us see the dorms. They were small, but they arranged things in such a manner to show that if you did things right, there was more space and beds you could climb up to! That sounds kind of fun to me. Again, it only snows a little. We ended up running into a biology teacher on the tour, and she seemed really enthusiastic about her subject and hinted that Duke sucked. I would totally love having her as a teacher, and apparently she reminded my grandma of me. Go figure. Another few nifty things: they let freshmen use kickass equipment, like this thing with lasers that cut into teensy things; nifty rooms that you can rent for music practice, totally soundproof, personally that sounds like a fun thing; honor code that you sign at the beginning of the year, my school has a similar thing and I like the idea; very active fine arts department including some nifty a capella groups that I would totally try out for; right by Main Street where there is a Ben and Jerry's where you can use your student card; there's also a nifty Chinese food place on Main Street where you can use your student card; teachers make an effort to help students; a special room for all-nighters in the library; free laundry service, where you can do your own laundry or have them do it for you all for free (as our tour guide said, "you can get away with not learning how to do your own laundry for another four years"); a maximum of 40 students per class and usually less than that. Probably some more things that I'm forgetting. It basically kicks ass. I like it. Good things. On the List.
So what do I get to do now that I'm home? I'm glad you asked. See, I get to spend Friday making appointments with more colleges and catching up on what's been going on while I was gone before leaving again on Monday morning for a week in Massachusetts to visit more colleges. Like I said, when it rains, it pours. After that, there should be some time before I leave again, with only two more trips: Louisiana and some colleges in Florida.
Also, I have a question for those of you who have seen the second National Treasure movie: Am I seriously the only one who was like "Well, duh" when they got to the UBER SECRET part about how England helped the confederates during the Civil War? Because I was a bit disappointed when they got to that; why else would England have paid us a $15 million apology for it? As a nerd, I am saddened by this.
Now on to the important part: the amazing shoes I got on this trip. They look like this:
Only they're all lace. I nearly didn't get them, but I figure I can wear them to the concerts for Chorus. They are full of happy. ^_^
Still no work done, although I did have an idea for a book, sort of a play on Walk Across America. I would tell you more, but I don't want to ruin the shock of me working with this sort of book, seeing as it will deal with normal everyday people. I usually dislike books like that, since there's nothing there to hold my interest. But this book will have a few weird characters there to spice it up.
That is all.
-GC