As spring break quickly approaches, our Marymount Sailors are preparing to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the East Coast. This tour, which takes place from March 22nd to March 28th, will open students’ eyes to a wide variety of colleges in over 5 different states. Some of the colleges the students will visit include Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, and New York University, among many others.

A lot of these schools boast rich student-life and diverse histories. Below are some interesting facts about the universities’ early years.

Georgetown University, founded by John Carroll in 1792, is the oldest Catholic university in the United States. Interesting fact: Georgetown almost closed during the Civil War, when the student body dropped from 313 students to 17 students. During this time, many students left school to fight for both Union and Confederate forces. This is where Georgetown’s school colors come from—blue for the Union army and grey for the Confederate army.

Similarly, the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1749 with Benjamin Franklin as its first president. The university established its first medical school in 1765, and received books from Louis XVI in 1784. Cricket is U-Penn’s first organized sport, with the Penn Glee Club as its first club!

New York University is slightly more modern, founded in 1832. NYU held military training on campus in 1941 at the beginning of the Second World War, which organized faculty and staff for military placement. Very recently, NYU established schools in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai in 2010 and 2013, respectively.

Our Sailors will be traveling with other high school groups from the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.  This experience will provide the students with a good understanding of the East Coast culture and student life, which are no doubt different from the beach vibes here in California.

Likewise, the students will have the opportunity to explore cities like Boston, Cambridge, New York, and Philadelphia during their free time before heading back to the hotels. During this time, the Sailors will be dining, shopping, and socializing with the other teens in these fun cities. All in all, this trip will surely prove to be an eye-opening and all around fun experience!