StreetSquash Visits Skidmore, Union College, SUNY Albany and more!

This weekend Edgardo and I chaperoned the First College Prep trip of the year. We took 17 sophomores and juniors up to Albany Friday afternoon. The students really enjoyed dinner at Chili’s; Ben battled through a plate of wings that eventually bested him as Issey stepped in to handle the fiery buffalo sauce.
Saturday started dark, gloomy, and early with a 6am wake-up to a torrential downpour. We scurried over to Skidmore for our first tour of the day, with a lot of excitement and chatter about Sasha’s alma mater. We met our two tour guides who were majoring in art and biology respectively so the students split themselves according to academic interest and the tours were off. After a lovely visit we quickly moved onto Union college. We only had one tour guide which made the group slightly more rambunctious, but still interested and forthcoming with questions. Union’s campus was quite beautiful and modern which the students enjoyed. We ended our tour at a dining hall where the students enjoyed a classic college lunch. They had a smoothie bar with ample frozen fruits, juices, and blenders to make your own smoothies – a highlight for many (myself included).
We then left to meet with our StreetSquash alum Tracee Herbert ’16 at U Albany. Tracee was an incredible tour guide. She took us all around the U Albany campus and also recruited StreetSquash alum Briana ’16 and got her to help with the tour. Despite being very friendly and showing us around academic buildings, the gym, and dorm rooms, Tracee was unable to get most of the students to think on topics other than the sub arctic weather. We then had an early dinner at U Albany followed by a race back to Union for a movie in their student center. The students all greatly enjoyed the pairing of Suicide Squad and Chips Ahoy. We then made our way back to the hotel where we had a quiet and uneventful evening.
Sunday morning ran smoothly as we embarked towards Bard. Squash Coordinator Jack, the Bulldog of Bard, met us with his former squash coach and teammate to guide us around campus. The students were extremely interested in the writing focus and the personalized attention that Bard is known for. We then made our way to the squash courts where our students met a number of other Bard squash teammates and had a fantastic time playing. After a last quick brunch it was time to the road again for an overall smooth trip back to HQ.

Highs: The students really enjoyed playing squash with the Bard teammates and had great tour guides and excitement at Skidmore.

Lows: The rain and cold.

Thank you Edgardo for handling all situations with poise and humor!

-Mark, College Access, Success & Alumni Support Fellow

 

 

 

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