On Monday, September 26, Mr. Fenwick and several of our high school seniors, along with Tinker, HPS's official seeing-eye dog-in-training, went on a road trip to visit colleges in the Mercer County area!
First stop was The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Set in quiet Ewing Township, this idyllic campus was busy with both students and construction workers as the college races to complete a number of projects before winter sets in. Walking around the campus on an early fall morning gave us a chance to picture ourselves there next year as college freshmen! We toured different buildings, classrooms, and the dining hall! We had a chance to talk to several students who stopped by our group to say hello to HPS ambassador, Tinker!
Next on our agenda was Ryder University, a private four year college that is literally right around the corner from TCNJ. This visit was a drive-through but it was easy to see that this, too, was a beautiful campus and we could picture ourselves there in the future!
We were all getting hungry by now so a quick stop at Wawa and a picnic in the van was just what we needed as we set out for our next destination, Mercer County Community College (MCCC).
MCCC is also a beautiful campus that is surrounded by parks and trees. Modern buildings are all interconnected by walkways in the sky that allow for students to stay out of the wind and snow once winter sets in. On this lovely day, we found a grassy and shaded quad with lots of students taking time between classes to enjoy the weather.
There was one more stop that we were all looking forward to…a visit to the first college to be established in the United States during colonial times – Princeton University!
This visit seemed destined to be because we pulled into town and there it was…the single best parking space in the whole of Princeton right across the street from campus…and it was empty!!! Thankfully Jenna had some quarters so we fed the meter and were off! Some have likened the Princeton campus to Hogwarts and we could see why - huge stone buildings with Latin carvings, tree-lined walkways giving way to vaulted archways, and, of course, ivy. It grows everywhere!
Walking down the steps of Blair Hall, we were approached by two students who wanted to meet the always-popular Tinker! We spent some time chatting with them, learning about life at Princeton and about how they got in (it wasn’t as hard as we all thought). They even generously gave one of us their email in case we had any more questions. After having their picture taken with Tinker, we said goodbye to our new friends and headed to the campus bookstore where we spent some time shopping. Then it was back to the van and our return trip to HPS.
It was a great trip that gave us all a lot to think about as we begin to plan for our post-HPS lives! – Mr. Fenwick (and Tinker)
