My Summer

This summer was packed with various activities such as a leadership institute at Georgetown University, an LMFAO concert, beach trips with the family, tennis, multiple fro-yo trips, dreaded SAT prep work, and an internship with U.S. Senator Toomey. Woah...that was a mouthful and did not even cover my whole entire summer! Although I could discuss and post pictures from all of my activities this summer, I decided to focus on the myriad of photos I took at the leadership institute at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. All of the photographs shot below were taken by me (except photos that I am in were taken by nearby friends).

Let the trip begin....

 

When I arrived at Georgetown University, I went to my door room to unpack my millions of bags. I got to meet my roommate, Alina Sinclair. This sounds cliche, but we immediately got along and realized how similar we were. We both were work-out freaks, loved luna bars, had similar clothing styles, and loved the same movies. We would stay up late at night watching Bridesmaids or various other humorous movies. As the week went on, we became closer and closer.

 

 We toured around D.C and got to see the Supreme Court, the Capitol, the White House, and various other D.C. landmarks. Above, I snapped quick shot of the U.S. Capitol Building. I really like the angle in which I shot it in because it emphasizes the dome at the top of the building.

  

As we were touring the various buildings in D.C, this statue of the big lady intrigued us. We asked our Institute Assistant to take a quick pic of us standing in front of the big lady! 

After several days of lectures on how to be better leaders in our schools or communities, it was time to apply what we learned in the classroom to real-life situations. We went on an adventure to the Ropes Course. I was dreading this day all week because I am not generally an adventurous person. They assigned our groups and we had to learn to trust eachother and respect eachother's boundaries in order to be successful in any of the tasks presented to us. My group was working pretty well together and finished the tasks in a short amount of time, until it came to the Mohawk Walk. This activity took some groups 30-40 mins, but my group struggled with this activity. We kept trying and working together, but kept failing. After 2 and a half hours of focus and determination, our guide for the courses told us that we could either stop and just do something new or have exactly one more try to complete the task. After some reluctance, my group decided to try it one more. Although some of us were trembling with fear trying to avoid shaking the ropes, we successfully completed the task. It was the greatest feeling ever. I have never talked to some of the members in my group, but after the successful ending of that challenge, we all had a group huge. Even though we overcame the biggest challenge as a group, my greatest fear was soon to come. I was terrified to do the zip-line because of the extreme height. After some encouragement from my group,  I decided to try the zip-line. Flying down through those trees made me feel free. When I was in the sky, all of my worries faded away. After we had completed all of the activities in one piece, our guide laid various cards with pictures on the ground and asked each of us to choose a picture that we thought represented the day. I glanced at the various cards and then found the perfect one- a butterfly with it wings open. I compared myself to a butterfly who stays in its cocoon where it feels comfortable and minds its own business. But, sooner or later, that butterfly needs to break free from its cocoon and try something new/experience true freedom. Flap your wings now you can't stay,  take those dreams and make them all come true, Butterfly Fly Away!

Welcome to Georgetown Cupcakes! Home of the famous designer D.C. cupcakes! This picture was edited through Instagram. 

 

Day 2 of Cup-caking: After a long day of team building and ropes courses, it was time to go to Georgetown cupcakes! GThese were the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life! I decided to have 3 cupcakes in order to savor this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

 I decided to make a collage of these delicious cupcakes! SO DELICIOUS!! Are you hungry yet?

 Moravian Academy spirit at the MLK Memorial. Kara Chyung and I reuniting in D.C. After I signed up for the program, Kara found an interest in the program as well, so we drove down to D.C. together! If you look closely, you can see the White House in the background!

 

After an amazing week, I met fascinating people, made long-lasting memories, and learned how to be a better leader! This week was absolutely unbelievable and I am glad that I signed up for this program!  I was near tears when I had to stay goodbye to everyone and the beautiful campus, but Alina, my roommate, wisely stated, "Don't cry because it is over. Smile because it happened." That is a quote that will stay with me forever and is currently the caption of my profile picture on Facebook (haha). I miss my roommate, my role model, and my 'sista from another mista', Alina Sinclair.