Lessons Learned

Today we visited Georgetown University, a private college that was found by John Carroll. This university thus has an emphasis on religious tolerance and cultural diversity. After attending the info section about the university, I’ve learned much about its admission process, undergraduate major availability, university environment, and alumni networks. I am inspired by the university's spirit of volunteering. Georgetown University encourages its students to get involved with the local community and to engage with social justice issues abroad with the global community. I really like the cultural diversity that Georgetown University promotes. Georgetown University is definitely one of the most welcoming colleges for students from different backgrounds. I also attended a tour that explained stories behind major memorials and monuments in Washington DC. As I was walking along the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial, a wall that was purposely constructed with black polish granite to allow viewers to see the reflections of themselves, and major monuments in D.C. This site is to commemorate those soldiers who were part of the Vietnam War. I felt very sorrow seeing the names of soldiers who scarified their young lives. Since it was night time when we visited the memorial, we did not get to see the reflective quality of the black polish granite stone, which was supposed to allow us to see the reflections of ourselves, the Washington monument and the White House. However, I saw many pieces of memorial items that people left at the wall, which were there to commemorate those who died for the nation. I also got to see the World War II memorial. The panels that depicted the moments of soldiers in battles and efforts being made in the home front. These panels allow us to better remember the World War II. It is a site to commemorate the death and a lesson for the living to appreciate the peace we enjoy now. I really think that these memorials are what make D.C. special. The history and story behind each monument offer meaningful lessons for us to take away.
-Sandy Jiang