College Visits by Carly Piniaha

Ever since 7th grade my father has taken me to go see universities. It became something that we always did together. The first ever school I toured was Princeton. I think the reason he showed me this school first was to let me see where I could go if I work hard. That's all parents really want for their kids, to work hard, be successful and yes of course be happy.
The weekend of our college visit came and we had decided on seeing Georgetown University because I love the area (and love pretty campuses). As soon as we got to the college I noticed a difference between it and other "elite" colleges. I saw many cheerful people that seemed so happy to be where they were. It continued as we went on the tour, our tour guide was time and time again stopped by her friends just for a quick hello. Some may have found this annoying but I found it to be one of the best college environments I've seen so far. Granted, yes I usually only see very competitive colleges. But Georgetown is just as competitive as the ivys yet they seem ten times happier than the other colleges with this title.
My visit at Georgetown taught me that pushing yourself academically doesn't mean you can't be happy. In high school I constantly see students that stretch themselves too thin, and trust me they look anything but happy. I never want to lose myself due to academic stress and Georgetown shows that this is possible. The classes offered there may be just as difficult as Harvard but there is no cut throat atmosphere or glazed over eyes with too much stress. Georgetown is a school I would not only love to go to but would be beyond proud.