Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Sept. 26, 2007, edition 1 / Page 4
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FEATURES September 2i 2007 4 Charleston Journal: The Honors Program at Its Most Silly Amber McKinney Staff Writer Dayl Grrr.. .I'm so tired. 5:30 in the morning seems much earlier than it used to. Okay, Qtarleston's Visitors' Center is offi cially the coolest Visitors' Center ever. It has this really nifty interactive map system where the map is projected on the floor, and when you scroll the mouse on the computer, it moves the pointer on the floor. We didn't stop there for long before we headed off towards a park for lunch. Of course, we didn't really stop at the park. No, we stopped in this semi-scary train station near the harbor because die buses couldn't stop near the park. The people that I was with decided to walk a few blocks to the park, and it was defi nitely worth it. There was a fountain in the park, and after we finished our box limches from BDH, we went wading in the fountain. The dty felt that it was necessary to put up sigr\s warning us that ^ere wasn't a life guard on duty. Perhaps they thought that we would've drowned in the one foot of water that we were splashing in if they hadn't warned us. Oh, yeah, did I mention Hillary Moi^an Contributing Writer I used to ponder what die journey into yotmg aduldiood would be like, but that was also back when I used to pon der who my prom date would end up being. Now I ponder how I'm supposed to pay off all my student loans. I'm still pondering that one. it was hot in Charleston? The foimtain was a great relief from the heat. After we finished wading, it was on to horse-drawn carriage rides. You leam lots of fun trivia tidbits when you go on carriage rides such as why there are bolts and washers on the sides of some houses (an earthquake in the late nineteenth century) and why certain houses were built. The Citadel was next on the list of attractions, and yes. I'm counting it as an attraction. We were there to watch the dress parade, a rather fun event where lots of people (mostly boys) march by in really spiffy uniforms. However, we weren't the only ones there. Ex- Attomey General Alberto Gonzales was ttiere. Yeah, we were shocked too by the attendance of the ex-attomey general, but then again, what else does he have to do nowa days? By the time the dress parade was over, I think everyone on the bus was exhausted—so exhausted that we didn't notice we were missing people from the bus until we had already started moving. Luckily, they were able to catch a ride on the other bus. The Holiday Inn we're staying at is very nice, and they have free coffee and homemade cookies in the lobby. We spent about an hour there before trekking down to Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. You should've seen the people driving by staring at us. You can't blame tihem though; it's not every day you see a line of ninety students plus teachers walking down the street. Bubba Gump's is Forrest Gump- themed (obviously), com plete with signs cheering "Run, Forrest, Run!" and pictures of scenes from the movie. It had a very peppy atmosphere at the restaurant, and the food was pretty good. We met briefly with our mini course professors before heading back to the hotel in small groups. We're a tad less intimidating that way. Day 2 The Holiday Inn has amazing breakfast foods like cheese Danishes, a couple kinds of quiche, cill sorts of fruit, and most of the normal breakfast dishes. After breakfast, everyone split off into mini-course groups, which are basically small classes that focus on one subject. Mine was slave life in Charleston, taught by Dr. Foimtain. We came up with a play (disturbing the peace of the other groups Utat were still in the room in the process) and took a walk down Hasell Street. When the mini-course was over, we headed down to the open street market that we had seen the day before. People sell all sorts of wares there such as scarves, glass trinkets, purses, clothing, knick-knacks, and hand-woven baskets. We noticed on the way to lunch that the Daughters of the Confederacy head quarters is stationed right on top of what used to be slave markets. Our group ate limch at Sticky Fingers, an awesome little barbeque place on Meeting St. We had origi nally planned to eat at a low country-style res taurant, but it was closed for some sort of religious holiday. After limch, some of us headed off to Drayton Hall, a planta tion out in the country while ottiers went back to the hotel or roamed around Charleston in flocks. That night, a few people headed off to a Gershwin musical while others trailed off for dinner in the dty. I spent my time staling Citadel boys and enjoy ing the dty at night. At 10:45, Cathy Rodgers and Kevin Morrison led a big group of us off on a ghost tour. We stopped at St. Philip's Church and listened to a few ghost stories. The mood was ruined a few times by drunken girls Conversations I Have With Myself My irmer self, or self in general, has been neglected in years' past. When you love and care about so many people, it's hard to focus on something as selfish as your self. Then college came aroimd, and every- dung changed. Starting college was the begin ning of a refreshing new era...well, sort of. "Hillary, why are you in college?" my inner self asked me one day. "Well," I said, stumped. "I wMit to fur ther my education." "Yeah, that's what everyone says. I mean why are you here spend ing thousands of dollars to not focus and act, well, kind of stupid?" "Uh, hey!" I've had several wake up calls—some invited, some unexpected. It doesn't matter whether I felt good or bad about them at the time. I now feel good about aU of them. Why wish some- diing hadn't happened? Just grow from it. But don't worry about that, because you will grow from it—whether you like it or not. I love people. I also hate people. When you're and some dude listening to rap music in his car. However, we still learned a few morals such as always put the safety on your gun and don't stand out on a balcony during an electrical storm. We headed back to the hotel afterwards and basically crashed in our rooms. Day 3 I shouldn't have gone to bed at two last night—bad idea. Luckily, the hotel supplies very good, strong coffee. I think I was wired for the rest of the day. Everyone gave presentations for their mini-courses; there were Power Points, skits, and verbal explana tions. It was really great to see what everyone learned while we were in Charleston. Afterwards, Dr. Edwards gave out gifts to the professors who had traveled with us and to the students and staff who had helped plan the trip. It was a very nice gesture. After that, everyone scrambled upstairs l^cause we were running a littie late euid then went out to the buses. We invaded a Ryan's on the way home, and then we were back at Meredidi College. The weekend and Charleston is now behind us, but we have come back with a lot more memories and friendships than before. driving down the high way and some guy cuts you off, nearly causing an acddent, what are you supposed to think? "Raleigh has really safe, effident drivers." No. I know what I think. As soon as my heart rate slows back down, I think, "I hate people." This sort Conversations cont. on pg.6
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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