Alyssa Bruce: Serendipity
As we sleepily walked onto the bus filled with excited conversations, it was clear that while no one knew exactly what to expect, we were all anticipating the trip and all the experiences that would happen during it. After a 4 hour ride of watching Netflix and one surgical strike to Sheetz, we had arrived in D.C.
The first tour we embarked on was very intriguing. We had the chance to see actual journalists and other media related careers working first hand. From the view up on the stairs looking through the glass wall, the workers were engaging in their everyday job, which may have seemed normal to them, but to us, who all mostly want to have a career related to what they are doing, it was inspiring. We then continued on to the tiny desk, with it’s shelved lined with albums and souvenirs left by famous singers, such as Adele and Hozier.
As in terms of food, the place that most of us ate at was Union Square, a large, Roman looking building that was decorated for Christmas, with a beautiful tree adorning sparkling ornaments and flags in the center. Near the tree, there was one restaurant that had a Christmas cookie milkshake that tasted like it was made by God himself. However, the best food night could be considered Thursday, when all the NAI students, exhausted, had ordered pizza and eaten it in the comforts of their own hotel room while having conversations about everything and nothing.
On the second day of the trip, we had the opportunity to explore the Newseum, which had many eye opening exhibits, such as a 9/11 tribute, a piece of the Berlin wall, and hundreds of newspaper articles dated far back in history. The museum showed the importance of our first amendment right to report and write the truth for others to see, and also showed that it is something that many countries don’t have the privilege to. Besides exploring the exhibits, we also took classes there that showed us how to distinguish real news from fake news. While all of this was going on, there was an overload of memes being created and shared in the GroupMe app.
On our last day in the city, we toured Capitol building, which was filled with architecture that had beauty that can’t quite be captured in words. We also had a very – extra – tour guide who had all the best jokes, and knew it. Following the tour, we had the chance to skip the wait list for the African American history museum, which was an amazing and eye opening exhibit.
Before we loaded back onto the bus to return home, we were able to sight see some of Washington’s most notable landmarks. We viewed the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. After fitting 8 people in one taxi, the NA Eye newspaper team were back at the hotel for the last time before heading back to NAI, with new experiences and memories from our trip to the city.