Old Rag Mountain

Hey everybody!

Last week before the heat wave hit all of us here in DC, I took a Wednesday off and escaped to the wilderness for a bit. A friend and I traveled about 2 and a half hours south of the city to go hiking at Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley. We arrived at 10 am and were happy to find only a few parked cars. I've hiked a couple times before but had no idea what to expect from Old Rag. I very quickly realized however, that our day was not going to be a walk in the park.

Old Rag Mountain is pretty distinct because it stands away from the other mountain chains in the Blue Ridge. After hiking up a steady incline and switchbacking for a solid 90 minutes, we reached the base of the rock scramble. From this point on there were boulders to climb over, crevasses to squeeze through and absolutely stunning views of the Shenandoah. On the left we looked over a valley with smaller hills, farmlands and houses. To the right was an endless chain of green mountains and a skyline that seemed to blend into all that was below it. At 3,291 ft we had climbed to the summit of Old Rag and took a hard earned break.

The entire loop is about 7 miles and was super challenging but so rewarding. It was an incredible way to spend a day away from the craziness that is DC and to just hang out in nature. If you like exploring and adventure, I would highly recommend this day hike. You could even turn it into a weekend of camping if you bring your tents! Just remember to have lots of water and some way to snap a few pictures of the scenery.  

Keep enjoying the summer, and go play outside! 

Alexa 

Dinner Extravaganza

This evening the GWU Admissions Office was kind enough to invite all staff members and student employees to dinner at Carmine's Italian Restaurant in Chinatown! Over 100 people attended the dinner that was full of tasty food and fun conversation. It was great to get together with everyone we've worked with and relax for a bit, particularly with our final exams fast approaching.

The walk home however, was the true surprise. My roommate and I decided to skip the metro and walk the 20 minutes or so back to campus because of how beautiful the weather is tonight. On the way home we ran into quite a few things and I snapped some pictures to record the journey!

In this one, I tried to catch the CAPITOL in my hand! 

Typical GW territory.

Fun night Bike Tour in front of the White House (with blinking lights)! 

Our Hippo:) 

We even passed a group of people celebrating after their Thursday night kickball league. Check out their link http://www.dckickball.org/ !! After a great walk, we made it back to campus and passed our forever loving unofficial mascot, the GDub HIPPO!

For all you future hippos, feel free to email me with any questions! alexab@gwmail.gwu.edu

Alexa

Great Falls!

Hi Colonials! Hope everyone took advantage of the absolutely beautiful weather this weekend. I spent my Sunday hiking in Great Falls National Park. It's about an hour north of GW and is a great escape from the city. Even though I am from Maryland, today was my first time hiking at Great Falls. 

We woke up in the morning, hopped in a friend's car and headed to the Park. On the way we bought the necessities, which in included a surplus of trail mix and Gatorade. Once we started on the trail, I was surprised to see just how big the Potomac River actually is. Yes, a portion of the river runs through DC along the Georgetown waterfront, but in Great Falls there are so many jagged rocks and natural beauty. Most of the trails run along the river and have spectacular views of the waterfalls once you hike up a bit. We had the most fun going off on the smaller paths that lead to the edge of the cliffs with the best lookout points.

As a future Gdub student, I hope that you take advantage of not only DC's amazing scenery, but all the cool places right outside the city! Until the next adventure...

Alexa  :)

Greetings from DC!

Hi Colonials! My name is Alexa Woods and I am a junior in the Elliott School of International Affairs, doubling majoring with economics. Before GW, I had lived all 18 years of my life on a farm in southern Maryland. Despite its proximity, moving to DC was a huge contrast and I clearly remember the thought: wow, I am going to live in the city, a few blocks from the White House with the National Mall as a backyard. And frankly, three years later I have to admit, it doesn’t get much better than this. 

As a city, people label Washington by its tourist sites and impressive history, yet there is so much more to discover. Freshman year you may want to stay in your bubble or only venture places with a big group of friends. I challenge you now however, to take a walk to Dupont Circle on Sunday afternoon and buy fresh vegetables at the farmer’s market, or get to know the music scene on U Street one weekend. Start taking advantage of this city now because before you know it, you are just about a senior and are left wondering where college went! 

In terms of on-campus activities, I am a sister of Delta Phi Epsilon which is a professional foreign service sorority. My fellow blog writer and roommate Marisa Westbrook is also a sister! :) We basically mesh professional and social events, hosting various speakers throughout the year on topics related to foreign policy. Additionally, I spent the past summer and fall semester abroad through the GW Latin America program. I took a language intensive 6 week spanish course in San José, Costa Rica beginning June 1st and then traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina in mid-July. I was directly enrolled at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella and took all of my classes in Spanish, alongside Argentine and other international students. Although having lectures in spanish was super beneficial to improving my language skills, I’d have to say that traveling was the best thing I did while abroad. I jumped at every opportunity to leave the city and travel through the diverse landscape of Argentina, crossing the border of the Andes Mountains in Chile, or the backpacking down the coast of neighboring Uruguay. Studying abroad is most definitely something to look forward to at GW, as so many students study around the world each semester. 

I personally chose to attend GW because of the opportunity to participate in the Women’s Leadership Program as a freshman. It is a first year living and learning community in which you take two classes each semester with the same group of women engaged in a common subject, while also living in the same residence hall. With the focus of US and International Politics in my specific cohort, each week we had symposiums that allowed us to meet powerful and inspiring women in the professional field. I also had the opportunity to form a strong relationship with my professors, while being taught to research and write from an analytical perspective. 

Yes, I could have gone to my state school and probably would have been really happy; but not for a minute do I regret my decision to attend GW. I have met so many incredible people and have been able to adventure in one of the best cities in the world. Good luck with all of your upcoming decisions and I hope to see you on-campus in the fall!