Fun Way to Stay Cool in the Summer: GW’s Vern Pool

As you might know, summers in DC can be quite humid and hot, reaching the upper 90s and lows 100s at times. And personally, my perfect temperature is the 70s range, otherwise I get hot. My motto is that if its above 80 degrees and I am outside, I need to be within reach of a pool. Although I do enjoy swimming in cooler temperatures as well (hey, I'm from Wisconsin, I can handle a little cold). My friends often call me crazy because I can comfortably go to the pool and tan when it is only 65 degrees outside (which is what I did over Christmas break in Florida this past December), but that has not been the case this summer in DC. In fact, these last few months, the temperature has rarely dropped below 85 degrees! So, in the beginning of the summer, on the weekends when I had free time (since I intern and have class during the week), I frequently hit up the Mount Vernon campus pool. Unfortunately, since then I haven’t had much free time to go and work on my tan.

The pool is free for GW students and members of the community can pay for a membership. All others must purchase a membership. And let me tell you, every time I've gone, it has been crowded. Everyone has had the same idea as me to escape the summer heat. After all, it is a very nice, quite large pool, supervised by lifeguards, so why wouldn't people al flock towards it? It was a godsend for me since I am used to spending countless summer days around my pool back home.

It was funny, the first time I went this summer, my friends and I all had on our suits, sunglasses, and were carrying our towels and some tourists walking through campus passed us and asked "where's the beach? or even the pool?" Little did they know that all you have to do is take the Vern Shuttle to the other campus and don't forget your towel and sunscreen!

Feel free to email me with any questions! cbgraf@gwmail.gwu,edu

-Christie

12 Worthy Notes

Hi Y'all

University Yard

To create this post I spoke with freshmen, sophomores, juniors and graduating seniors; we discussed what makes the GW experience unique.  Below is the culmination of our best advice for you to consider over the next four years.

1. Explore study spaces, Gelman Library isn't the only or best option.

2. Take classes outside of your school and comfort level.

3. Renting textbooks can be an easy money saver.

4. Utilize all that the Vern has to offer: outdoor pool, great study space, and theatrical performances.

5. Read the Hatchet and GW Today to stay updated on campus life.

6. Student staff members like House Proctors and Colonial Cabinet can be very helpful.

Lesson #007: Finals success is only a Vern Express ride away.

Lesson #007: Finals success is only a Vern Express ride away.

The semester has ended. Summer is on its way. The only thing between you and that trip (or nap) you’ve been looking forward to is something known as “finals time.” As we all know, final exams always have and always will stand between students and absolute relief. “Finals time,” for many, means sleepless nights being replaced by study-filled days in the library and unabating stress. While most students crowd into Gelman Library, I would like to suggest an alternative: the beautiful Mount Vernon Campus.

If you need a place to focus and clear your head, the Mount Vernon Campus (commonly referred to as “The Vern”) is the place to do that. Its picturesque views stand in stark contrast to downtown D.C. and the comfort level is significantly higher than Gelman, from West Hall to Ames Hall and even Eckles Library. 

 

If you’re not “feeling” the indoors, don’t worry. Feel free to grab a spot on the balcony over the softball field, on the field itself, by the soccer field, at the tables in front of West Hall, by the fountain at the quad, or virtually anywhere within the 25-acre campus. On the other hand, rumor has it that Eckles gives free food to students during finals time (while hot chocolate and coffee are always available in the intimate student lounge if you bring your own cup!).

Just a few weeks ago, I began to truly embrace the Vern, where I’m actually writing this blog. The ride from Foggy Bottom to Mount Vernon, and vice versa, can be rather relaxing and, once you get here and get comfortable with your textbooks and study materials, you don’t ever feel like leaving.

While I haven’t lived here in my years at GW, I recognize that the entire Mount Vernon Campus, from pillar to post, is a one of a kind sanctuary. Sure, there are tennis courts, a pool, various exercise facilities, and up-to-date housing and classroom options, however, when you just want to take a break from all of the resources on both GW campuses, I believe that the Vern is the place to sit back and unwind.

Stay spirited,

Matt

mtscott@gwu.edu

My Buddy Alyssa and Housing Options

Here’s a post in GW Today about my good friend Alyssa, a House Scholar (sort of like an RA) on the Mount Vernon Campus.  She’s a pretty impressive person and a great example of the quality of student you’ll find at GW—or, she’s definitely at the higher end of the spectrum, but still! 

The piece also sheds some light on life on the Mount Vernon Campus, which some of you may be considering as a living option for next year.  Take Alyssa’s words to heart and do some research for yourself on the Mount Vernon residence halls and campus life!

An aerial view of the MV Campus

Field hockey (or Lacrosse or something...) on the MV fields

Best of luck with planning for next year!

Shireen

Putting Down the Books to Pick Up Some Pancakes

Servers wore construction hats
instead of hair nets. Cute!!!

This past Monday the GW community continued one of its longest traditions, Midnight Breakfast, to kick off the two weeks of finals for the Fall semester. For its 26th year, GW professors, coaches, administrators and staff have gotten together to serve students a nice evening breakfast before we continue to pull our all-night study sessions. Although studying may not be the most fun thing you do in college, at least at GW we get to it on a full stomach :)

GW Women's
Basketball Coach Bozeman
and President Knapp help
serve students a great breakfast

This year the theme was "Trespassing Welcome" and there were themes all around the renovations going on around campus. There were showcases of the new Aimes Academic Center on the Mount vernon Campus, plans on display about the construction of the Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) near Whole Foods and sadly the closing of the Hippodrome and 5th floor Bowling Alley. President Knapp joined students as the signed a wall of the former Hippodrome before it is constructed into a new office space for student-run organizations. Some friends and I played pool for the last time in the Hippodrome before hitting the books again in Gelman Library.

The beautiful new academic space at the
Mount Vernon campus

As well as eating and looking at the projects at hand, we also had the opportunity to see various groups perform at the Midnight breakfast like Balance, GW Troubadours, Ballroom and Capitol Funk.

As always, let me know if you have any questions about anything and congratulations to all of you who joined the Colonial Community through the Early Decision I program! Your hard work has paid off and I can't wait to see you on campus

Peace, Love and Hippos!

Brandon Moore
brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

National Coming Out Week

So this week is National Coming Out week and GW is taking part in this very important celebration of diversity at our campus. This is a great time when LGBT students (Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer) are able to celebrate their diversity, remember their community and embrace support for even further change. GW's LGBTQ group, Allied in Pride, has sponsored many events this week and has a very sizable LGBTQ population that is taking part in these events.

An aerial view of the Mount Vernon's Hand Chapel

Tonight, I went to an interfaith service with my amazing friend Abby at the Hand Chapel on the Mount Vernon campus. The Hand Chapel is absolutely gorgeous and has a beautiful view into the wooded area that surrounds the rolling hills campus tucked away in the hills of Northwest DC. At this service, about ten students (allies and LGBT students) showed up to listen to a Father from Dignity Washington (group for LGBT Catholic persons) and an Emaan from a very liberal Islamic sect speak about the strength, divine acceptance and equality that the LGBT community was entitled to and possesses. The message presented by both presented a powerful message using water to illustrate that all people, gay straight, white or non-white, depend on this source and through this "recycling" process, we as a people are all one.

I am looking very forward to the rest of the events the week has to offer and will be sure to make it to as many as I can. To give you some insight as into what the rest of National Coming Out weeks involves, here are some of the events:

1. LGBT Study Abroad and International Careers Information Session
2. Glee Night (I mean isn't that just amazing!!!!)
3. Out of the Closet and On to the Screen: The Changing Images of the LGBT Community on Film and Television
4. LGBT Family Friday: Dessert and Mocktails (Since this weekend is Parent's Day weekend here at GW)
5. OUTing to Town (which is a very popular local LGBT bar here in Northeast DC)


As always, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to contact me with any questions and I will give you an answer or find you an answer if I don't know it right off the top of my head. Best of luck to all you Early Decision students and I look forward to continuing to help all of you :)


Peace, Love and Hippos,

Brandon

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

Admissions goes to Florida!

I just got back from a wonderful visit to South Florida for receptions for juniors and admitted students.  For all of you who attended it was great to meet you and here your insightful questions about the university.  (It was also great to get down to a little bit of sun.)

I went with an Admissions Director and an International Affairs Professor and we talked about "our GW's" since we all have a very different perspective of the university.

For the admitted student receptions I kept getting questions about the two campuses, so I thought I would bring it onto the blog as well.

The Foggy Bottom campus, if you haven't visited, is the campus that is a few blocks from the White House, State Department, Kennedy Center, and and definitely more urban than the Mt. Vernon Campus.  Most freshman will be living on the Foggy Bottom campus because only about 700 live on the Vern (as we like to call it).  No matter what campus you live on you can travel between the two with ease.  The Vern Express runs 24 hours a day so if you are studying in the library on Foggy Bottom you can get back home to the Vern easily.  There is also lots of classroom space on the Vern.  The class are usually identical to the sections on the Foggy Bottom campus, but have lower caps on students.  This means you can form relationships with professors, ask questions, and get to know your classmates much faster on the Vern than in a larger lecture on Foggy.

There is dining, studying, activities, and many other things happening on the Vern to make sure it is completely integrated with the other parts of GW.  Many students use it as a stepping stone into a much bigger city than they are used to.  It is nice to be able to have a home-like feeling pulling up to the Vern and walking into your building.  It is much quieter because there are less ambulances/motorcades and a lot more  green space to take advantage of.

Both campuses are great options for all students to look into!  And usually students find a balance between the two campuses.

I hope this helps clear up some questions you may have!  But if you have more please feel free to email me, I love hearing from excited prospective students!

I will leave you with some beautiful pictures I took from my hotel room...

Come to my Wacky Wednesday!!!

Here's some more self-promotion coming your way--sorry!

If you're a current GW student, come to The GLN's Wacky Wednesday tomorrow!  If you're not a GW student (or not yet...!), Wacky Wednesday is a weekly event held on the Mount Vernon campus that allows student orgs to plan their own outreach event to expose newcomers to their organization.  They only take place on Mount Vernon in West Hall, so it's also a way to include Vern kids who may not always care to venture out to Foggy for General Body Meetings throughout the school week.  There's usually fun crafts, food, and various other activities for the group to generate more members.

Keep emailing, I've been getting good ones since I returned from hiatus!  ShireenS@gwmail.gwu.edu

<3 Shireen

Opening Night!

Hello, wide world of GDub! Today was opening night of the 5th Annual Musical Cabaret alla FPP here on the Mount Vernon campus in Pelham theatre. After our hectic hell week doing several runs a night, we were all excited to finally get a full audience. We had, as all student theatre shows do, set up a Pre-Sale table outside the Marvin Center, where you can buy a ticket in advance (normally we allot half of the seats to Pre-Sale). While each show usually gets three days of selling pre-sale, we sold out in the first forty five minutes! Unbelievable.

Tonight, at the theatre, instead of waiting on line to get a ticket, we had to give out numbers because there were just too many people trying to get a seat. I had friends getting numbers as high as 85. We oversold completely, selling even the floor space. The house sat around ninety people.

Backstage, we were thrilled for the success. The Cabaret is always a big money maker, because it has a monstrous cast and no royalty fees to pay. And to be honest, there's no experience quite like doing a show with seventy people. I, let it be known, played a hooker in Skid Row from Little Shop of Horrors. Check out the transformation:

Washington, D.C.

Down on Skid Row

Got an hour this weekend? Come down and see the show! If I play a prostitute, you gotta believe it's pretty entertaining. Friday at 7 and 10; Saturday at 6:30 and 8. Be there at least forty five minutes early and get ready to start pushing ;)

See you around campus,
Gina Michele

Housing at GW Series

I have a pretty unique freshman perspective on housing here at GW as I have lived at both the Mount Vernon Campus (the Vern) and the Foggy Bottom Campus (Foggy) in my first year. I transferred down to Foggy from the Vern right after Thanksgiving break.  I lived in a double in Somers Hall on the Vern before and now live in a double in Mabel Thurston Hall on Foggy. I will explain my experience in both and then give more details as to why I moved.

Mount Vernon

Housing on the Vern is pretty much split into three areas: The new West Hall at the base of campus, Somers Hall on top of the hill, and the Hillside Commons. 

West has a living setup where 4 people have individual rooms with one common area that connects them all and they share one bathroom. In addition, the new dining hall and gym are located in this new facility along with dance studios and a blackbox theatre.

Somers Hall is your typical collegiate dorm. There are primarily double rooms (2 people living in one room) that are connected to another double by a bathroom y’all share. In addition, each floor has a glassed in common room most floors use to study in or chill in.

The Hillside Commons (Clark, Cole, Hensley, and Merriweather Halls) are much smaller, only housing about 25-30 students from the best of my recollection as the other two dorms house about 150 (Somers) and well over that 150 in West Hall.  These smaller dorms are really nice from all of my friends who live in them as they all develop a unique culture because they are in a small dorm and can get very close to one another.

I will continue to post on this talking about Foggy next and giving you my take on the campuses. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me or comment on this.

Peace, Love and Hippos

Brandon

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu

Freshman Dorm Profile: The Vern

I've gotten a whole bunch of emails from new ED1 students asking which dorm they should live in.  My response was to read this post (well, it'll be in 2 parts), because I got too many emails to respond to everyone individually!  Also, the perfect residence hall is in the eye of the beholder, we're all looking for different things.  So here goes! 

ON THE MOUNT VERNON CAMPUS:

Living on the Mount Vernon Campus is a drawback for some, but others love it, and most grow to like and appreciate it.  It's a fairly quick shuttle ride from the Vern to Foggy Bottom, and shuttles depart from each campus every 15 minutes.  The Vern offers a perfect living situation for those who like urban life, but also want a space that isn't as overwhelming and a bit greener than the city.  There's a pool, tennis courts, a gorgeous quad with a fountain, and fields for various sports.

West Hall (The dorm formerly known as Pelham):  Pelham is really cool.  Yeah, I still call it Pelham for the most part.  But it really is cool.  It's the newest residence hall on either campus, and it's bright and shiny and has weird amenities that most schools don't have in their housing options.  For example, there's a brand-new fitness center, private study rooms, and recording studios and rehearsal spaces for anyone feeling artsy.  Rooms are singles and doubles, and there are kitchens and laundry facilities per  house, which I think translates to per floor.  There's also a dining  hall right there!  It's top-notch.

Clark Hall:  I was only in Clark once, but it was really nice from what I saw.  The rooms are doubles, with a bathroom shared between 2 rooms.  There's a kitchen and laundry facilities, and rooms are a good size.  It's located right by the main classroom building on the Vern, Post Hall.

Cole Hall:  I've never been inside, so my information is purely coming from the Living @ GW site (linked below), and what I know from the outside.  Cole is right next to The Vern's Eckles Library, so that's pretty convenient.  Like Clark, rooms are double suites with shared bathrooms between 2 neighbor rooms, and there is a community kitchen and laundry facilities.

Hensley Hall:  I've also only been in Hensley once!  It's a cute dorm, housing less than 40 kids, so everyone living there got pretty close over their freshman year.  Living options include singles and doubles with community bathrooms, as well as doubles with a shared bathroom between 2 rooms.  Hensley is also close to Eckles Library.

Somers Hall:  I've been in Somers a few times, and it's really nice.  It was built in '45 but renovated pretty recently, so it looks brand-spankin' new.  There are singles with private bathrooms and double suites with shared bathrooms between 2 rooms.  There are also study rooms per floor, and kitchens and laundry facilities.  It's also pretty centrally located on the Vern, near Ames dining hall and the Quad, near where the Vern Express stops.

Merriweather Hall:  Do not read beyond this point if you're a dude!  Merriweather is the all-girls option on The Vern.  There's a kitchen and laundry facilities, and only 43 students are housed there!  So it's tiny, but communal!

For more information on housing, check out http://living.gwu.edu/, some houses are "themed"--but that didn't exactly shape my experience.  I'd say there was about one event per semester in my Freshman hall that had anything to do with our theme.  So don't worry about that.

And as always, email me!  ShireenS@gwmail.gwu.edu

Peace and blessings!

<3 Shireen

FALLing in love with the Mount Vernon Campus (The Vern)

So I realize this is kind of a late post since fall is now giving way to winter, but I wanted to take the chance to show you some of the beautiful pictures I captured of the Mount Vernon Campus last weekend. Coming from Texas where trees come in two colors, brown and an occasional green for a short time, the red, crimson, orange, gold, yellow, and brown leaves carpeting the lawn fascinated me. I hope you enjoy.

These are the Hillside Commons- Cole, Merriweather, Clark,  and Hensley.

SQUIRREL! 

Main academic building on the Vern

Come play tennis with me on one of our 8 beautiful courts...Isn't this picture perfect

 Remember that the Mount Vernon Campus facilities are open to all GW students so even if you choose to live on Foggy Bottom, you can still come enjoy the nature from time to time or do that and get Sunday Brunch J It is so nice for these last few days to be able to open the windows and let our dorm fill with the aromas of fall. I truly love these new things called seasons and can’t wait for Winter, but then I’m going to have to learn to wear pants/jeans. YIKES!!!!!

I can’t wait for the holidays and hope all of your applications are getting done. In a few months, your future will be ahead of you as the Cherry Blossoms come to bloom. Hopefully you will consider the dual feel GW offers- the city and suburb feel or a downtown campus and liberal arts college atmosphere

Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments that you may have about my post or anything about GW in general and if I can’t answer your question to my satisfaction, I’ll find out from a friend.

-Brandon M.

brmoore@gwmail.gwu.edu