West Virginia, Mountain Mama...Take Me Home

Ha, the joys of the eleventh grade college trip. 41 of DC's finest young men and women and two to four rather incompetent teachers sure makes for a great time. 

Let us begin with the facts shall we? 

5:30 am- i arrive, fresh and clean, at the minnesota ave. metro stop. 

7:30 am- All chaperones have FINALLY arrived. I wave goodbye to city life in search of the bright goodness of the West Virginia, land of promise, land of mountains. I also decided to take attendance. Oddly enough, about 10 of the 41 students on our trip were supposed to be going to Ohio... why are they with me I wonder? Too late for that one. 

8 am- it became clear that the rain in DC was a joke compared to the rain in what must be virginia. Driving at 30 mph through thick fog up the side of a mountain is probably the most excruciating driving experience one can possibly have.

9:45 am- we arrived in Pennsylvania... yeah, Pennsylvania. It's funny, I might expect that the most important thing to tell the bus driver is the state one is visiting, as well as the colleges being toured within that state. Apparently this fact was overlooked. Well done high-school admin. 

Thus, 3 hours, 1 rest stop and 41 overtired 17 year olds later we arrived at Potomac State University in middle 'o nowhere West Virginia. They serve us lunch... we pay... everyone is a little ticked that our free meal now coasts $5.85... ahh those fantastic plans we never made.

Potomac State is an offset of Virginia State University. It is a two year college dedicated to helping students gain the skills they need to succeed in a larger university atmosphere in the future. 

Good idea

Predictably however, at 12:30 in the afternoon one short lecture really did not cut it for the vast majority. I must admit however, I am constantly impressed by the levels of maturity that these kids can show. Even if they were not interested, all 41 students sat quietly and listened actively as a short man in a blue suite discussed the reasons why "Potomac State is the place for you!"

1:00 pm- back on the bus. by this time we have gone through 1 and 1/2 movies (who wants to watch the whole thing when you could just put on a new one!). Little do we know we will not get off the bus until a whopping 7 HOURS later.

Daily Highlights- 

1. Marly and Me is not a movie that eleventh graders from the middle of DC want to finish watching.

2. House Bunny is a completely inappropriate, very funny film with a nice quote: "compassion is like love with its boots on"... 

3. I am Legend has the power to make me jump in my seat. Logically, I am Legend has the power to bring a group of 10 eleventh graders to their knees as they watch me jump around like a caffeinated mouse.

4. Truffle Expresso Mocha's from Starbucks are delicious!

and lastly 

5. I cannot watch more than 5 movies in one day, so don't try me.

all in all, long day. Overall feeling... tired. Major reflection: do not leave kids on a bus for 12 hours unless you want to get angry at them for no good reason while sitting in the Golden Corral.