This past weekend I had to go to Princeton, New Jersey with the family I work for. The children's grandparents live in Princeton and they had a wedding to attend, so I was to look after the boys Saturday night. At first I wasn't overly joyous about the idea of this, now that my entire weekend would be spent in Princeton (where and what was this place anywayyyy?!). However, of course I got in the car and off we went. After hitting some considerable traffic, 2 hours later we arrived in Princeton and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.
As we pulled into the driveway I realised that the boys were not over exaggerating what they said their grandparents house was huge, in a forest and has frogs. Because this house certainly had more than just frogs. They boys even had an electric car the size of a buggy that they can drive around!!
This house was absolutely incredible, to me this house was just like the traditional American houses I had watched numerous times on the television and yet here I was about to spend the weekend in one.
It didn't take me long to realise that the outside was just the start, the inside was really something else. Three storey, 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom, 2 dinning rooms, 2 lounge rooms, 1 large playroom/television room, 3 garages and a large outdoor deck.
I sat in this white chair (above) and I took in my surroundings. My inside voice said "Rachel how can we figure out how to make this happen and be ours one day in our life". I have to start some serious planning because I just don't think a teachers wage is going to cut it.
(After putting the kids to sleep and the house was quiet and dark I had the thought that this staircase closely resembled Paranormal activity 4, I went straight to my room! Haha).
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| A was able to use this machine while the boys played Wii in front of me. |
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| Reading some American history on the deck. |
Sunday morning, after having some banana pancakes (made by host-Mum) I decided to go for a run to explore a little. Turns out that air-conditiong is great but also a big trickster. As soon as I opened the front door I realised how stinking hot it was. Anyway off I went, head phones in and Nikes on (got to make sure I keep that American food off my hips).
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Princeton is absolutely beautiful. It amazes me that only 2.5 hours from here is Manhattan in one direction, Atlantic city an hour away, the Jersey Shore and Philadelphia in the other direction. All these places in such close proximity yet the feel and look is completely different. In many ways Princeton reminded me of a cross between the Blue Mountains (Katoomba) and Tasmania. I actually took out my head phones at one stage just to listen to the trees and nothingness. It's not so often you hear nothingness these days.
After my run I came home, had a shower and went into town by myself to have lunch and find what I had been looking for (that University)....
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| Princeton. |
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| Lunch, yummmm. |
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| The Olive. |
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| Princeton. |
Welcome to Princeton University.
For "the Education of Youth in the Learned Languages and in the Liberal Arts and Sciences," the Province of New Jersey granted a charter — in the name of King George II — to the College of New Jersey.
Dated Oct. 22, 1746, it specified that "any Person of any religious Denomination whatsoever" might attend. The College's enrollment totaled 10 young men, who met for classes in the Reverend Jonathan Dickinson's parlor in Elizabeth, N.J. In 1756 the College moved to its new quarters, Nassau Hall, in Princeton.
The Ivy League is an athletic conference composed of sports teams from eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group. The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. The term Ivy League also has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.
The Ivies are all in the Northeast region of the United States. Each school receives millions of dollars in research grants and other subsidies from federal and state government. Ivy League university financial endowments range from Brown's $2.2 billion to Harvard's $32 billion, the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world.
I have seen this University in films, in books and on television so many times and now I am actually here (I was personally verrrry excited).
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| Princeton University log. |
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| The front gates. |
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| IVY CLASS 1887 |
This building has a plaque of every graduating class. 1700s to present.
Famous Princeton Graduates
Education which begun over 260 years ago. I am blown away with some of the people that have walked through its gates.
James Madison (the 4th president of the United States), Class of 1771.
Woodrow Wilson (the 28th president of the United States), Class of 1879.
F Scott Fitzgerald attended Princeton in 1913, but dropped out in 1917 to train for World War I. His first novel, "This Side of Paradise," was about Princeton itself; it was a best-seller and sold out at Princeton bookstores on its day of publication in 1920.
James "Jimmy" Stewart was an American film actor and the first movie star to enter the service during World War II.
Paul Volcker is an American economist and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, serving under presidents Carter and Reagan from 1979 to 1987.
Donald Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford and George W. Bush.
Eric Schmidt is currently the executive chairman of Google.
In September 2011, Meg Whitman was named CEO of Hewlett-Packard after serving on the company's board for eight months. Whitman studied economics at Princeton University before obtaining an M.B.A from Harvard University in 1979. This year, the former eBay executive was ranked #938 on Forbes' Billionaires List, with a net worth of $1.3 billion.
David E. Kelley is an Emmy-award-winning television writer and producer whose successful creations include L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, and Boston Legal.
David Duchovny is a television and film actor, best known for his Golden-Globe-winning role as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on the network series The X-Files and now in one of my favourite shows, Caliafornication.
First Lady Michelle Obama was actually discouraged from applying to Princeton by her high school advisors. In 1985, she graduated with a B.A. in sociology and minor in African American studies.
Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.
General David H. Petraeus is the the current director of the CIA and former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
And last but not not least....
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955) first visited Princeton in 1921, the year before he received the Nobel Prize -- to deliver five Stafford Little lectures on the theory of relativity and to accept an honorary degree. He returned again in 1933 as a life member of the newly founded Institute for Advanced Study and lived here for the remaining twenty-two years of his life.
This University (along with many others) costs a nice healthy sum of roughly $40,000 a year, this is only the fees, this doesn't include text books, living expenses, travel expenses etc. Americans here are shocked when I tell them that 5 years of University at Sydney University costs roughly $25, 000 as a teacher. I looked up doing a 12 month graduate Masters program for 12 months at Columbia and it would set me back a nice $41, 000 roughly. Give or take.
70 miles of shelving and more than 7 million volumes in Firestone Library. The original quadrangle — Nassau Hall, the president’s house and two flanking halls — has grown into a 500-acre main campus with more than 180 buildings.
This Chapel was absolutely magnificent. The campus is enormous and I had no map, I was worried I would miss something amazing but luckily I kept walking and up ahead I saw the chapel.
My friend questioned whether I 'literally' nearly cried when I was here and the answer is OF COURSE I DID! I was completely and totally overwhelmed with the idea that I was standing in a building that so many people had before. And not just people, incredibly, talented people. I think if anyone had been with me I wouldn't have been able to speak to them. I just stood and looked and looked and looked (and tried to keep breathing).
The walls are covered with inscriptions from hundreds of years ago.
And I just sat and took it all in.
Above is a large canvas I found after going through a door I probably shouldn't have (taking after my Poppa Souter) but I knew I would find something within and I did :)
Beautiful gardens.
I found a seat.
Above the message reads:
"May you pause at this benchmark of our passages and passions: Sense our spark, renew your own good energies, as you, like us, depart. Dawn McGuire '76"
Ahead is an enormous sports stadium, I couldn't get in but you can almost see how big it is.
Words cannot even describe how beautiful this all is.
Had the best day exploring this enormous University with so much history. Next stop Harvard, Yale and Columbia. I really want to study at one of these institutions... maybe one day huh?
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| Waiting with my Starbucks. |
After a long weekend, everyone is a little tired.
Thanks Princeton xx
