17yr old looking for a friend or two searching for college and fun, touring entire US
I'm turning 17 next month. For as long as i can remember i've wanted to see the whole US so i could start traveling the rest of the world knowing i wasn't missing anything back home. Lived in north florida my whole life and I'm sick of it. I love to travel above all else. I'm not religious and am open to all kinds of people/ideals. I am a fan of deep conversation and loud music alike, mostly dance music (deep/acid house, downtempo, whatever), but I listen to everything excluding country/rap.
note: the following wasnt an orginal goal of the trip but if i can find someone equally interested, then this would be awesome: I'm finally finishing high school and looking for the right college (liberal arts, most likely on the West Coast or the North East).
The Trip: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Trip-Draft.jpg
(possible alternate routes)
Totally flexible, I want to plan it out with whoever wants to come. (Also if you know of a similar trip i'd love to sign on, let me know) Heading from the southeast to the southwest, to the northwest, to the midwest, to the north east (and back). Going to spend minimal time in the South, and maximum time on the West Coast. (as i'm looking for the right college i might like to stop and tour a couple if we are in the vicinity) Theme parks are a must, I want to ride as many roller coasters as possible. National parks are of moderate interest. Museums i find completely boring and not a point of interest at all. I'm looking for the general feel of the different regions in our country, especialy that of the big cities.
If this plan is totally ridiculous (too long) then it can be cut in half, say stopping in Denver, or even in Washington. I just really wanted to see as much of the US as possible in one trip.
The Time: 4-8 weeks in the Spring/Summer/Fall of 2007 (if i take a year off before college)
Budget: I'm lovingly sponsored by my parents for my year off before college. Not high, but not homeless, we should probably sleep in the car sometimes, and occasionally in cheap hotels. If we're up for night life we might meet a friend we can spend the night with. Food will be midrange most of the time but we should be able to afford an exotic meal here and there, i'm not a fan of fast food but i can manage it if we figure itll save us some cash.
The Vehicle: I have a 1998 White Buick Le Sabre (it's a tank, and a bitch to park sometimes, but the interior is spacious and comfortable for the long drives, but the AC doesnt work, so we REALLY need another ride). If you've got something better by all means we'll take it instead. (Especially if its fuel efficient.)
Cadidates: Anyone with at least a month of spare time, my age (17-19) with moderate to high intelligence, extremely outgoing, with an expansive sense of humor, and fun to be with (like myself), yet patient (for the damn car ride). If you're the third person and just want to be along for the ride, just have the cash to sponsor our/my workload/gas and your own food.
To anyone who's read this: even if you're not interested in the trip, please give me any thoughts/comments on what i could do to attract more people to it. (are there any other forums i could advertise on? should i use more visuals? is the whole damn trip completely unrealistic? anything you think i could do to improve it let me know! thanks very much in advance!)
One more college to check out....
Brad listed some good colleges in Washington state but I think he left off the best one for a liberal arts education. The Evergreen State College (TESC) is an excellent liberal arts college located in Olympia, WA. It is rated very highly in various publications that rate colleges.
After bouncing around at a few different colleges, I finally finished my degree at TESC. I chose it because it challenged me more than any of the other schools did. It offers opportunities based on what you want to put into it. In other words, the education there is based on a self-directed model. Classes are based on the Socratic Method of teaching with a lot of seminaring...something that is more typical in a graduate school setting. You don't take individual classes but, instead, you take a 16-credit program that combines credits from various disciplines. Within these programs, there is always the opportunity to craft an individual learning experience based on what YOU want to learn rather than what an instructor wants you to learn. And there are no grades. Instead, you get an evaluation that is often 3-4 pages long that tells you your strengths, weaknesses, etc. It is far more illuminating than a simple grade.
Don't worry if you plan on going onto grad school as these evaluations are accepted at most grad schools. If you choose a grad school that doesn't accept the evaluations, there is some kind of process that is gone through to somehow convert the evaluations into a grading system. I'm unclear on this so this is something you will want to check out more fully if you go there.
Anyway, the 1.5 years I spent at TESC completing my degree was one of the best times of my life. I loved it and would be a professional student there if I could afford it. It was a unique, gratifying, educational, and enlightening experience. I can't recommend it highly enough to do it justice. I hope you have time to check it out.
