BILLERICA, MA - I am staying over at my roommate’s, Nikolay, house here in Billerica for this weekend. Hard to believe but 3 weeks of the Summer Transportation Institute Program at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA are over. Just one week left and I’ll be back home. These last three weeks have been real fun and exciting in many ways. We’ve been down to Boston many times now for field trips and I have stayed at homes in both Northern Massachusetts and Southern Massachusetts. I kind of look at my 4-week stay here in Massachusetts as a learning experience and a vacation.
During the weekdays, I stay at our dorm room at Merrimack. We were supposed to stay at Santagati Hall, which is nice with carpet floors, but we were moved to Monican centre. My roommates are Nikolay, Jim, and Nathan, all from around the area. In our rooms, we have a common room and 2 other rooms and a restroom. I room with Nikolay and we each have a dresser, closet, and a twin sized bed in our room. There is no A/C so in order to combat the heat and humidity, Nikolay brought a fan the second week. That provided a lot of relief sleeping.
There are 22 of us total, ranging from sophomores to seniors in high school. We have 3 wonderful counselors who attend Merrimack College. Most of the 22 participants of the STI program are from Massachusetts. I hold the honor of farthest traveled as I flew to Boston by myself from L.A. 2 people are from New York, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from Virginia, and everyone else is from around the state of Massachusetts. We have gone to many field trips so far. We’ve been to a team-building Ropes Course in New Hampshire, Massport Tour, Boston Harbor Tour, Volpe Center in Cambridge, Chelsea Street Project, shopping at Fanueil Hall (Quincy Market) and Northshore Mall, Cape Cod Coast Guard Air Station, the beach at Cape Cod, tour of HNTB Boston office, tour of the Zipper lane on Interstate 93, and tour of the Traffic Operations Center. We have run into Boston traffic just about every single time we head into Boston. It is horrible. In addition, representatives from different companies have come in and spoken to us about their profession and what they do. We have had transportation planners, designers, visualizers, civil engineers, inspectors, and much more people come in and talk to us. It is very informative. Also, Merrimack faculty staff has come in and talked to us about college admissions, writing great resumes, good study habits, and making great presentation.
The July Fourth weekend, I stayed in the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, located in Northern Massachusetts. We went up to Canopie Lake Park in Salem, N.H., which is the Knotts Berry Farm of the New England region. The rides were fun. Saw the firework show of Danvers which was impressive and also went to two beaches on the Fourth of July. We went around 6PM and I stepped foot into the Atlantic Ocean. How fitting, on July 4th, “from sea to shining sea” for me. Saw another firework show on the Fourth.
Last weekend, I stayed at a friend’s house in Norfolk, Massachusetts, which is located in Southern Massachusetts. We went to go see a professional MLS soccer game between the New England Galaxy and coincidently, the Los Angeles Galaxy at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. NE won 2-0 as L.A. rested Landon Donovan. It was a great experience as I got to walk in the place where the Patriots play. My friend had season tickets so they obtained a ticket for me. Went to the Museum of Science in Boston also. The exhibits were quite fascinating.
One more week left and I’ll be home next Friday, the 23rd. This last week, we are going to a few places and then wrapping things up. O man has it been fun and I’m enjoying it a lot here in Massachusetts.
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