One and A Half Day in St. Louis Comes To An End

I think getting back to our hotel rooms at 11PM tonight is exhausting. But regardless of all the walking and eating we did today, overall it was fantastic to go on this one and a half day trip to St. Louis.

Meeting in the lobby at 8AM in the morning to get ready for breakfast was way more pleasing than yesterday's 2:50AM meeting. I knew I was not going to wake up the moment my alarm rang, so I specifically made my alarm go off at ten minutes before 7:30AM. The continental breakfast was agreeable to an extent but one customer might have not thought that way. She purposely came up to me as I was grabbing some eggs to state the fact that the fruits Charles F. Knight Center offers were canned and not fresh. "Is that the best Charles F. Knight can do?" was what she said to me. I'm really unsure whether or not the customer thought I was working there or simply because I looked young and unprofessional. (Just to put it out there; when I was getting breakfast, I was dressed in a Nike t-shirt and some basketball shorts.) I wouldn't blame her though because everyone there getting breakfast was dressed in suits. After the whole commotion (well it was for me since my self-esteem went down), we started our informational tour at 10AM starting from the Admissions Office.

The first hour consisted of a presentation on all the aspects of Washington University. Ranging from financial assistance to social life to study abroad opportunities were all covered in the amazing presentation Admissions Officer Jenny gave to us. She was going in-depth about how coming on this tour gives you sneak peeks you wouldn't get elsewhere. During the middle of the presentation Ethan, who's a current student, gave his personal perspectives on Wash U itself so we were able to see the university not only from an Admissions Officer but also a student's perspective. Not to exclude that Jenny was also a proud graduate from Wash U.

The tour ended at 12:30PM and boy were we hungry. Everyone decided to just dine inside "The Duck". "The Duck" is actually a dining commons located inside the Danforth University Center. 

I wouldn't say that ranked number two zoo in the United States was not appealing to the Cornell cohort, but everyone was tired, especially Katelyn and Natalie. Mr. Chan-Law decided that Katelyn and Natalie stay inside the hotel to draft their blogs and get some workout done while the rest of the cohort walk another thirty minutes in the hot musty heat to the St. Louis Zoo. The pictures itself explain how awesome the zoo is so I'm going to exempt myself from writing another paragraph. Trust me, when you're blogging at 11:30PM and you have to catch a flight in five hours, pictures will do you some good.

Now to the highlight of the day: Dinner with an Admissions Officer and two current students from Washington University . Mr. Chan-Law found this great restaurant in downtown St. Louis, Tony's Restaurant. It is by far the most fanciest restaurant here in the neighborhood. Mr. Chan-Law knew that the best way to let us learn was to divide ourselves within the table and putting our guests in between us for better interactions. Danielle Anderson, Washington University Class of  2010, also an Admissions Officer here at Wash U sat to the left of me while Mr. Chan-Law occupied the right. She is just downright hilarious and comfortable being around inside this serious atmospheric restaurant. Right across from me was a rising senior at Wash U, Akhil. Two spaces to the right of me seated Ellie, a rising junior at Wash U. They were occupied with Sue, Kevin, Carla, and Natalie so Katelyn and I mainly chatted with Danielle. Our discussions ranged from Wash U's admission profiles to sightseeing in St. Louis. Before coming to this dinner, I deprived Wash U from my potential list because of its weather. "It is so much better during the regular school days...", explained Danielle and now Wash U is back onto my list.

Tony's Restaurant is an Italian Restaurant, so the menu basically was unclear to me so I picked my appetizer, entree, and dessert randomly. 

Mussels, Basils, etc soup

Medium rare tenderloin

Coconut shredded chocolate with scoops of rich coconut ice cream

Ending the dinner at 10:30PM, all of us occupied two taxi cabs to escort ourselves back to the hotel. It was a long day, but definitely not as long as yesterday.

Starting from the left: Danielle, Ellie, Kevin, Natalie, Sue, me, Carla, Katelyn, and Akhil

To make my day not only tired but also a little bit sour, the month-long mentoring program I applied to shot me a rejection e-mail. I didn't make it through the final round, but they did say that I am welcomed to state that I am a proud Buck Fellow Finalist. So just a small shout-out, its sad I didn't make it into the final four, but I thank the volunteers that read my essays and interviewed me throughout these months and wish the best of luck for the selected Buck Fellows. Today was not a long day, but it was undeniably a packed day.