After over a week of crazy adventures in the wonderful city of DC, our group is departing for Westtown tomorrow. We have had many unforgettable experiences here and I have definitely gotten closer with the other students in my group. We have learned a lot about each other and have laughed a lot! From Apples to Apples, to eating out for dinner, to just walking around the city, we have had some really great times. 

One of my favorite things about bonding with this group, is what we all like to call “Tom-isms” which are things that Tom Gauger says that are totally hilarious. I kept a list of all of the funny things he said, which I’m sure if anyone else read they would not understand. It was awesome to become so close with my classmates who I was not that familiar with before.

Since the project was service oriented, we did many different service projects including working in a food bank, serving breakfast to the homeless, sorting vegetables, and helping a blind woman by building a staircase in her house. The most eye opening project we did was on the one day that it snowed. Our original plan fell through because we could not go anywhere, so we grabbed a couple shovels and went out to help out the neighborhood. Rather than doing it for free, we decided to hit two birds with one stone by going door to door asking for donations for socks to give out at Union Station. After shoveling out about a whole two blocks, many people gave us socks and money; we purchased some more socks and headed down to Union Station. When we got there we assumed it would take about 20 minutes to distribute all of the socks, but it turned out that it was harder than we thought. after about an hour and a half, witnessing an arrest, and being called angels but a few people, we had finally given out most of the socks. I walked away with mixed feelings. I was happy I had helped, but I knew that regardless of all the socks we gave away, these people were still going to be sleeping out in the cold.

Apart from service, we have also explored the tourism side of DC by going to museums and monuments. We live right down the street from the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress. On the other side of the Capitol Building is the Mall. As a group we went to the Holocaust Museum, and some of us went the the Art Museum and the Air and Space Museum. A few of us went into Georgetown, some went to Arlington National Cemetery, and some saw the outside of the White House. We also ate at many restaurants around the city including Ben’s Chili Bowl which is a historical establishment, Shake Shack, We the Pizza, and District Taco. (The only thing we were missing was a Wawa.)

After many days of fun and service, we are all quite ready to pack up and take the train back home. It was an experience none of us will forget.