By Jacqueline Risch
Washington D.C.: The heart of politics, history, and revolution – along with being TPA seniors’ home for a week. Over spring break Tempe Prep’s senior class woke up early on a Thursday morning, boarded an American Airlines flight, and flew straight into the center of the country. There, they each experienced their own taste of freedom.
After dropping their bags off at the hotel, the seniors had the night to tour the monuments and find delicious places to eat. However, Ehsa Murray was just a little worried about the whole ordeal. “I was so excited about the trip, but I was a little nervous since most of us have never taken a trip, let alone a flight, that long together before. I was worried we would all be at each other’s throats!” she laughs. She and her friends ended up seeing the monuments and catering some Bojangles as well. Ehsa says since the order was so large, they had to bring it back into their hotel room. They also couldn’t stop chanting “It’s Bo time, baby!” when someone ate leftovers! Other seniors gazed up in awe of the Washington Monument, danced around in subway cars, and even witnessed a marriage proposal!
Mr. Lambros was a fantastic coordinator. He helped the students tour multiple museums including the Holocaust Museum, the African-American Museum, and the Spy Museum. Katherine Jung describes her feelings while walking through the three-story Holocaust Museum: “It was so incredibly heart-wrenching. There were so many pictures and videos depicting the horror … it was truly unreal. It really gave me a true look at this tragedy aside from reading about it in Humane Letters.” On a lighter note, Katherine really enjoyed the Spy Museum. There, the students got to impersonate a spy and complete different missions in deception, coding, and offense through the museum’s virtual exhibits. She and fellow student Jordan Ehmann even tried to see if they could fit under a model of a hood of a car!
Later in the week the seniors were lucky enough to have a tour of The White House and The Capitol. There they saw some of the famous rooms of The White House including the Red Room and the Blue Room. At the Capitol, they saw the dome and learned about the history of the Capitol along with the daily proceedings there.
Ehsa said that “our tour guide really took the time to explain how the people who were governing at the time the Capitol was being decorated really chose to design it to reflect their ideals and perspectives. As a result, women and people of color found their efforts to be sort of whitewashed, written over, or just plain ignored. America was built on all kinds of people, not just the ones we see on our dollar bills, and I was grateful the tour guide pointed that out to us.”
Other activities the seniors did were walking up and down the National Mall. Each of them explored the Smithsonians there, along with the National Gallery of Art and the United States Botanic Garden. They also traveled up the streets of Georgetown. Katherine exclaims, “I got to try one of the famous Georgetown cupcakes! While they were a little pricey, they tasted amazing.” While also in Georgetown, Ehsa “loved seeing all the little unique shops! Having the ability to travel freely on our own was the best!”
While in D.C. I personally got to experience my 18th birthday. As somewhat of a treat, my roommates all decided they were going to prank me by turning off the lights in the bathroom while I was showering as well as turning my water cold! We all had a good laugh about it, and then stayed up really late eating Domino’s pizza that we called in at the hotel. I’ll surely never forget that night.
Juniors, if you have the opportunity to attend this trip, do it. Ehsa, Katherine, and I can’t express in enough words how impactful and fun this trip was. Especially with the coronavirus crisis, moments like these, like bonding with your classmates, are some of the most vital and cherished moments you will receive in high school. Please don’t take them for granted and enjoy them as much as you can. And to everyone, don’t forget to experience what your years at Tempe Prep have to offer. Every bit of it. The good and the bad. The Class of 2020 wishes all of you luck, and we can’t wait to hear about the impactful things you will all do in the coming years! It’s truly been a great time to be a Knight.