Thursday, July 7, 2011

Change of Plans

This morning began with a drive through the beautiful state of Connecticut. (Actually, first I showered and had breakfast, but that sounds less interesting.) We were on our way to tour Wesleyan University, a small, selective liberal arts and science university located in Middletown, Connecticut.

Originally, we had planned to visit Bowdoin University in Maine. This was not possible because it would have meant 9 hours driving there and back, which would frankly be too draining on our wonderful chaperones. I had been looking forward to seeing Bowdoin because I had heard that the surrounding countryside was beautiful, so I was disappointed that we couldn’t make it. However, I did enjoy myself at Wesleyan today and I am glad that we managed to have a productive day despite the change of plans.

Wesleyan University seemed somewhat different from BU and Dartmouth. Like Brown, Wesleyan has an open curriculum, meaning that outside of one’s major there are no required classes. Wesleyan does suggest that students take a certain number of classes from broad subjects such as science or humanities, but students are free to disregard the recommendation.

Wesleyan focuses very strongly on science and the arts and I feel that since I don’t currently plan to major in either science or the arts, Wesleyan probably isn’t the right fit for me. I am trying to keep in mind that it’s difficult to get a full picture of a university when very few of the students are on campus. If I visited Wesleyan during the school year, I might feel differently.

We at lunch at a nearby restaurant called Luce. The food was tasty and the cool, air-conditioned room was quite the thing after our long tour in the hot sun. We had some very interesting discussions over our meal about the CAHSEE, illegal immigration, and women’s roles. It was a good warm-up for our upcoming class.

Once we got back to Hotel Providence, we had a couple hours to relax before driving to Boston to meet Amy Tan, a Brown alum, at Number 9 Park Restaurant. All seven of us walked to the CVS conveniently located a few blocks from our hotel and made a few small purchases. I spent the rest of my time working out in the small fitness center downstairs. I still had plenty of time afterwards to shower and begin to work on my blog.

Finding Number 9 Park was quite the adventure. We took about a detour through Boston trying to locate the restaurant, viewing northern Boston and the Italian part of town. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we sat down with Amy Tan and discussed her Brown experience. Amy is an ’09 graduate of Brown University and was quite happy to share her insights about campus life and admissions. She was kind and friendly to all of us, and it felt easy to talk with her more casually and openly. I am amazed that everyone who I talk to about Brown has only made me more interested in it and I am eager to experience Brown for myself.

And now, it’s almost one o’clock and I should really be getting to bed. Goodnight everybody!

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