Washington DC

I had a wonderful time in DC this weekend. The weather could not have been more gorgeous! When I landed on Friday it was sunny and 79 degrees. Saturday was a little cooler in the low 60's. I'm not fully certain of the area my hotel was in, but I know I was close to the zoo. The recruiting event was not until 2:00 on Saturday, so I got up early that morning (at least early for me) to do some sight seeing. There was a Metro station not far from the hotel which would take me to the mall area to see the monuments. The Metro is located underground, much like the New York subway. The particular station I went to had the longest escalator I have ever seen! We just kept going down. This escalator will come into play again during my day's events.

I was able to spend about 2 hours at the mall area. I forgot how spread out the monuments are--I definitely got a good walk in. I was able to see the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial (which was not there when I came in 8th grade), the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. I was also able to grab a couple of quick pictures of the White House and the Capitol Building.

By the time I had finished visiting each site, I realized I needed to get back to have time to eat and primp for the recruiter fair. When I got back to the station near my hotel (the gigantic, massive escalator), I realized there was only one up escalator working. There was quite a line waiting to get on. I also noticed there was a broken escalator that people were walking up. I decided to take the healthier option and walk--it's just a few stairs, right? Oh my word. I was half way up when my thighs started to burn and I was getting really tired. By the time I reached the top I was breathing as if I had just finished a five mile run. Never again.

The event went well. I was sitting next to a recruiter from the University of Chicago who I got to know very well. I also saw another recruiter from the University of Illinois that I had met at a previous event. Usually when I go to the events I don't know anyone. It was rather enjoyable to see a face I recognized.

Below are a few pictures I took of the monuments: