Just Like the Old Days

It was such an extraordinary day for me today. Although getting sleep is something I'm struggling with, it seems as though some type of energy is coming at me letting me not feel as tired as I really am.

Today was a day full of activities. It started off at 6:00 AM when I tried waking up to begin getting ready. My body did not want to leave the cozy bed and if it weren't for Iris I would have never forced my tired body to get up. I felt as if I was back to the summer days where getting sleep seemed to be mission impossible.

I visited Amherst College, it is one of the many small colleges in Amherst, Massachusetts. Their student body is made up of 1,800 students with a great diversity. Something interesting about this college is that the majority percentage of students accepted are male. Another great thing about this college is that it has an open curriculum, making it a great place to explore. Although it is a great college, I did not find it to be the right college for me. Amherst doesn't offer pre-professional programs, such as pre-med, engineering, business, etc. Amherst has a unique saying that goes like this "Amherst is training your mind and not your hands."

After receiving a great info session by, in my opinion, the best tour guide I had ever met, Tito, to take a tour of the college campus. She explained in great detail about the dorm life in Amherst and the great educational programs that they have.  At the end of the tour we went back into the admissions office and there we received another personal info session from Kia, one of the admissions officers. She  told us about her experience in applying to college, being accepted, and dealing with college stress. She gave advice and also gave us a few tips that would really give a great impression to admissions officers when applying to a certain college.

Leaving the beautiful Amherst campus, we headed to the Emily Dickinson Museum. I was excited about this because I was told by the girls and Ms. Kronenberg that the museum was actually the house where Emily once lived. As we were given a tour of the house I learned that she had written nearly 1,800 gem-like poems, only a handful of which were published during her life-time. She usually wrote about nature, which was inspired by her flowers that she loved; love poems that were inspired when Emily fell in love with a married man (who is a mystery until this day); and about death, poems that she wrote based on the Civil War that was going on at that time. Although many people find Emily Dickinson to be very odd or strange, I believe her life was full of mystery and joy based on how she expressed herself in her poems. I admire her for her passion in writing and for the mystery that she gave each and every one of her poems by not giving many of them titles, and letting us, the readers, try to uncover the meaning behind every wondrous poem.

Back at the hotel was such a rush yet a very exciting feeling. I would race to my room to get ready and race back down to get to where I needed to be in time. Dinner was great. Seeing many familiar faces again brought me great joy. I got to catch up with the friends I had made during the summer and even began talking to new people.

The evening began with a delicious dinner at the hotel and continued with the first Latino mayor of Providence, Angel Tavares, giving a humorous yet inspirational speech. He spoke about his experiences growing up and how many people were impressed with the fact that as a Latino he went to Harvard University to pursue his passion of becoming a lawyer. As the evening progressed we received a presentation from three college students who work with a wonderful program called Youth in Action. They deal with letting high school students know that their voice and opinions matter and are needed in society. To wrap up, we ended with a few fun ice breakers and community building activities.

After going through the day, I realize that I am living just like the summer, full of activities, knowledge, experience, and of course I cannot leave out lack of rest. I am living just like the old days.