England or Something: Oh Shenandoah

We arrived in Shenandoah valley around 9pm after a long drive through heavy traffic. The other scholars had arrived earlier in the day and had ordered pizza for dinner. We ate, drank, chatted late into the night. The conversations were incredible; we covered the most diverse range of topics you could imagine. One conversation I had went from the merits of abstract art to determinism vs free will to the double slit experiment illustrating quantum mechanics. The Marshall Scholars are all extremely intelligent, open-minded, and curious--a combination that makes for extremely interesting and balanced conversations, even about contentious topics.

Unfortunately, my sleep deprivation and late nights talking loudly over the enthusiastic conversations going on around me gave me a sore throat. Unbeknownst to me, the soreness would develop into a full-fledged chest cold during the orientation.

During the next three days we played games (Rummikub was a favorite), went on a hike, a wine tasting, and cooked meals together as a group. It was a great time for bonding and definitely changed the tone for the rest of the orientation. Instead of meeting in DC during the much more formal events, we already knew each other and went through as pals.

Be sure to check out the profiles of the scholars--they really are incredible. We all have brief bios here: http://www.marshallscholarship.org/scholars/profiles/2014_scholars/scholar_names_ac