From the AT to DC

We arrived in DC to my Aunt Adele who greatly welcomed us and appreciated our company. First things first we HAD to shower especially after muddy Trail Days. I was able to share our adventures with my aunt. She sympathized with my feelings about Rowan and told me they reminded her of her own college experience, where she felt like she didn’t belong.  Her son had the same issues and ended up transferring to finally feel a good fit. It gave me hope in my search for the “perfect school”.

 

AT to DC

It was weird going from hippies to the most political/patriotic/controversial place in the US. Let alone just the pure culture shock of being in the deserted wilderness of the AT to a fast paced highly populated city of DC. My aunt dropped us off at the Metro which was so impressive not like the subways of New York City at all. It was beautiful architecturally speaking.

The first day we hit:

·      The National Museum of Natural History – really cool, see the pictures

·      The National Sculpture Garden

·      National Archives – to see the constitution, bill of rights, etc.

·      National Gallery of Art

·      Holocaust Museum – only saw the Nazi propaganda exhibit* because it was police appreciation (ironically after getting a speeding ticket) week and they got first dibs.

·      Did a walk around to see the:

o   Thomas Jefferson Memorial

o   Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

o   Korean War Veterans Memorial

o   Lincoln Memorial

o   Vietnam Veterans memorial

o   WWII memorial

o   Washington Monument

·      Then it STORMED & we returned to Adele’s

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Roosevelt Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vet Monument

WWII monument

You can see the impending storm in the distance

*After going to the art museum and thinking about how long it had been since I even picked up a pencil to draw and seeing the mass amount of talent the great masters. It was frustrating thinking I had no time to do what I love the most, draw. Being surrounded by so much inspiration it made me feel like I was making a mistake by not minoring in art and doing what my heart really wants to do even though I may not be the best. I know I enjoy exercising the artistic part of my brain.

Followed by seeing the Nazi propaganda exhibit made me want to re-evaluate my marketing minor. Just seeing the disturbing amount of power that marketing can have on a large group of people, convince them killing mass amounts of “certain” people is appropriate is beyond unethical to me.  WHAT AM I DOING? Where do I want to go with this? Marketing can be so dangerous and corrupt! And the sad part is that it is all around us in inhabited places. In the mountains I finally escaped the ever pressing consumerism that surrounds us day to day that we have grown accustom too and what we don’t even notice anymore. I just sat on the metro on the ride back really analyzing the ad’s thinking about why they picked the people they did to represent their product. Every word was picked meticulously to perfectly place a thought in your head, to release a feeling impulse. And the funny thing is that you don’t even realize it. You think your accustom to it.

After seeing all the monuments and staying with my aunt I began to encounter this feeling of finding my roots. I am an American and it brings out this pride inside of you to experience your history and what your country has been though and the people that have influenced.

Talking to my aunt about her live and our family made me realize how much LIFE I have to live STILL. This is just a small chapter in my life and what ever happens in this chapter is up to me but I need to realize there are many many more chapters to go after this one.

Day 2:: We didn’t think there would be a Day 2 but after Day 1 we were craving more of what DC had in store for us:

·      National Geographic Museum – had award winning photos from around the world and a special presidents exhibit.

Awesome picture

President's are people too

Love this one of 911 it's on the TV while bush is walking away

·      Defenders of Wildlife – check out internships

·      National Portrait Gallery – pleasantly surprised

·      Holocaust Museum – saw the whole thing

·      STORMED once again

I still can't believe I saw a real Shepard Fairey!

East Coast!

Chuck Close he's the man

The architecture was AMAZING

Designed so incredibly well

Going to the National Geographic Museum was so inspiring especially because I thought I got some killer shots on the AT. I was beginning to realize I really like photo and there is so much you can do with it. I would love a job that shipped me around the world to take pictures of wildlife and capture that “perfect picture.” Yet when do our dreams stop and reality sets in?

But to be the photographer behind such an iconic image that everyone thinks of when they think of an event, person or place must be a pretty awesome feeling. And I’d love for that to be me.

Going to the Defenders of Wildlife and inquiring about a marketing internship there really turned me back on to marketing. Marketing isn’t something horrible; it can do some great things in this world. Who will speak for the ones who don’t even have a say? I want to look into marketing for non-profits now, finally something I can see myself doing.

I think I fell in love with DC from what I saw it was so much better than NYC and Philly. What sold me wasn’t only the scenery but the FREE museums, it blew my mind they were all (for the most part) FREE. I kept thinking if I lived there I would be in them every weekend and definitely be an art and/or art history major just spending time in them sketching on the weekends.  Seeing how the masters did it and observing their perception in their piece of work, understanding and seeing what their eyes once saw.

That night we head back to the good ole Dirty Jersey. This trip was intense. Extremely intense. Going from wondering where you were sleeping and if you were going to get a shower any time soon to a house where running water was just a few steps away and just a turn of a faucet. It makes you appreciate the small things a home has to offer.

Ironically we ended up taking 295 North back home. 295 North, the road that I take every time I leave rowan for 40 miles to home. Heather and I reminisce about the friends we have made and the events the past two years have given us. Then I thought, will I ever be taking this road again after next semester?

295 North