Students and staff from the National Capital Region took a field trip recently to see the National Mall and the famous cherry blossoms. They got to see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as well as the area's beautiful cherry blossom trees.
See more photos and read students' essays about their trip below:
Tahani Aleissa
Last Wednesday we went to visit a nice place in Washington, D.C. It is a group of memorials represents American history. We left the building about 8:45 and used the metro to get to central Washington DC. The weather was very impressive and the sun was bright. I took many beautiful photos.
There is memorial to Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America. He was able to unite the USA again. Also, there is Washington Monument built to commemorate George Washington, the first American president. We enjoyed to the view of cherry trees Blossom they were very beautiful. They have wonderful pink and white flowers. These beautiful trees were received the US gift from Japan.
After most of the student left, I and some of my friends went to M Street and get lunch there. Then we went shopping. Suddenly I saw one of my friends from my country whom I had not seen for a long time and did not know it was here in US. I returned to my house around 4.
I had a good time with my friends in a beautiful spring day. I am very grateful to Virginia Tech for giving me the opportunity to learn a lot about American culture and history. The photo that I took will be a beautiful memory after many years.
Modi Alsraiheed
First of all, we passed by Washington Monument that built as the shape of pencil. It's very high building and when we got closer we found out that the stones which used in construction are not all from the same kind. The second place we visited was called the National World War II Memorial, and it is symbolizing to the states that involved in the war. Each state has a column with its name written in it. Then we moved to the place where Abraham Lincoln the 16th president of United State gave his speech that changes American history. This place called Lincoln Memorial and there are two left and right walls inside this place, two of his famous speeches were written in these walls.
After that, we headed to the festival where the pretty pink Cherry Blossoms Trees found. These trees are a gift from the Japanese to the Americans to present their friendship, they gave them almost 3 thousand trees. We also saw Martin Luther statue, the leader of civil rights movement, and there was some of his quotes. The most beautiful quote I liked was the one that has deep meaning of equality "MAKE A CARRER OF HUMANITY. COMMIT YOURSELF TO THE NOBLE. STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS. YOU WILL MAKE A GREATER PERSON OF YOURSELF, A GREATER NATION OF YOUR COUNTRY, AND A FINER WORLD TO LIVE IN".
At the end of the trip, we spilt into groups and I decided to go with some student and took a boat in the river. We had an amazing trip everything included the places we visit and the weather were just perfect.
Abdulaziz Alfraikh
Seeing the Washington Monument for the first time gives you a great feeling because it is really a masterpiece. Visiting the National mall is not about seeing the nature or well-designed buildings. American people have feelings toward the mall because it remembers them about the people whom they lost in the world war, about their history in general.
While I was there I visited Lincoln Memorial, I saw what I dreamed about for years to visit the statue of the greatest president of the United States. Seeing Lincoln is not the only thing that in my list to check in my trip to National Mall, I couldn’t go there without seeing Martin Luther King’s Memorial, the man “who had a dream”.
After that I saw the “ Wall of Quotes” or that the name that I feel it is the best name to describe it, The professor asked us to find a beautiful quote, and I start searching for a quote that satisfy me. I walked for a while to read as many quotes as I can, each one of them has its deep meaning, suddenly I stopped to see an interesting quote that touched my heart and feelings, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” -Martin Luther King, 1964-.
Mashari Alharbi
We went to the world war II memorial and I was amazed by the freedom wall which has symbolized each 1 hundred American soldiers as a star. After that, we visited Lincoln memorial and it was right behind the WWII memorial, so it was not difficult to get there. The statue that represents the 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln. The statue’s hands implies that he was thinking about the future and the present at the same time. Finally, I really loved the tour and might go there again.
As a part of their program and a part of their responsibility toward their country. Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute prepare cultural and intellectual field trips for their students. Those filed trips introduce the history of the U.S in an enjoyable way away from the class room.
In the last trip student and professors went to the National Mall in a nice day to visit; Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and last but not least the Cherry Blossoms. The professors succeeded in gaining the students interested by creating challenging games. One of the games was finding the spot of Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream speech.
For more student essays, visit Dr. Mulholland's blog.
