Going back to Philly, to Philly

So here is the short version of my trip (or at least I'll try to make it that way). I got to Philly around 2 pm, and was dropped outside of 30th Street Station, where at that point I was like "What am I going to do for two hours (since I wasn't able to check in until 4), and how am I going to get around? (I love adventures! :) I walked in the general vicinity to where I thought the Philadelphia Art Museum was, managed to find it after only 15 minutes, and hung out with Rocky and the statues for a little bit. I did do the run up the stairs thing as best as I could, considering I was carrying my laptop bag and duffle bag (and I was by myself which was kinda dorky haha). I walked out behind the Museum where I saw the water works, then walked back to 30th St Station. I had figured out earlier what bus line I should take to the hotel/school, but had forgotten to check the schedule. Luckily I found the bus stop and only had to wait 5 minutes before the bus came along.

I checked into the hotel, ran next door to Target since I had forgotten a belt, and then proceeded to half-study for an hour before I got too tired and went to bed. This was at like 8:30. My computer woke me back up at 3 while it was updating itself (despite the fact I had it in sleep mode!), and I didn't fall back asleep until 4ish, after I had blasted the AC in hopes of freezing myself back to sleep (it worked).

I woke up the next morning intending to do some last minute fact checking just to get my head into intellectual mode, but the hotel wireless decided not to work. Just great. Thankfully my sister was home and could check my email to read the message that told me exactly where I was supposed to be and when. (THANK YOU!!)

Walked to the school, got there 20 minutes early (but wasn't the earliest), and waited for the other interviewees to show up. There were 5 of us (as opposed to the 30+ in the last interview). We went upstairs to get breakfast and then they took us on a tour. The school is very, very nice. Everything is brand new and top notch in terms of technology. The campus is small which I loved (undergrad friends, think of the three dorms on the hill and that's the size), there are lots of trees (something that's actually important to me!); and everyone was SUPER DUPER friendly and nice. Students kept on dropping down and saying hi to us, not to worry, etc. There are also a lot of activities for students outside of class. They have the PA Olympics with other PA programs in the city, are heavily involved in community service, and actually have club sports that participate in the Medical School league in the city! The school is on the outermost part of Philly. You don't actually feel like you are in the city, although it's definitely a suburban area.

The interview went well. No surprises whatsoever, and it was pretty short. Again only like 10 minutes. I stumbled a little bit though out of nervousness but overall I think I connected well and showed that I was well informed.

I got out a lot earlier than expected, so I ran back to the hotel, grabbed my stuff, and got on the first bus back into the city. I managed to get on an earlier bus than planned, which is great, I might actually get home by 9:30 instead of midnight!