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Brianna Devlin

Library Congress in Washington DC |by Brianna Devlin

Hudson High School freshmen took on Washington D.C. April 23-27, 2019. Alongside 9 chaperones, they rode a 7 hour bus ride, marking the beginning of the adventure. On the first day of driving they stopped at the 9/11 memorial in Jersey City, New Jersey.

In Baltimore that night, they stopped for dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., a Forest Gump inspired restaurant where they ate and participated in trivia.

“It was gross but we got to hang out with other people,” freshman Allie Davis said.

The journey continued the following morning at the U.S. Capitol Building.

There they learned in-depth about the history of the building dating back to its construction, along with the Library of Congress.

Next was the African American History and Culture. Starting on the bottom floor, with the history of slave trade and slavery at the bottom, it took the students through the evolution of African American rights. The top floor is filled with sports athletes who have made a change.

“It was really interesting,” Davis said, “because you don’t realize how bad it was for them then.”  

Afterward, some students saw the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

“I liked seeing all the diamonds. It was very cool, and I liked seeing the spiders although others didn’t. And I found a lot of the stuff their interesting,” freshman Nick Tinglof said.

Others opted to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

“I thought it was fascinating to see things the way they are before and compare them to how they are now,” freshman Loralyn Diccuca said.

Concluding their first day in D.C., they saw a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. The Orioles won against the Chicago White Sox 4-3.

Freshman Grace Masciarelli said, “It was the best part of the trip. We had more freedom and it was actually fun.”

Starting their second day, the group visited the Newseum, which chronicled the history of the printing press and various landmark cases. HHS is featured on a plaque on the fourth floor for being a first amendment school.

“It was informational and taught me a lot about history and what’s happening today. It was also cool to see Hudson there, too,” Tinglof said.

Following the Newseum, the students went to the Holocaust Museum.

“It was interesting, and I liked the stories at the end,” Masciarelli said. “You actually had to pay attention.”

After the Holocaust Museum, the students visited many memorials, which consisted of the F.D.R. Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, World War ll Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Einstein Statue and the Jefferson Memorial.

“It was really cool to see how they took note of our history as a country to respect everyone and everything who helped us get to where we are today,” freshman Tyler Subilosky said.

On their last day in DC, they went to the Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

“The cemetery was cool. How everything has to be exact and how all 400,000 tombstones are all organized,” freshman Jason Jakobsons said.

That day they also visited the Pentagon Memorial.

“It was really cool to see how much it brought us back together as a country,” Subilosky said, “and to see all the names of the individuals that had went through it.”

Before leaving D.C., the group saw one last museum, the National Air and Space Museum, although parts were under renovation at the time.

“I didn’t like it. It was too busy,” freshman Griffin Majer said.

Returning from D.C., they stopped for dinner at Medieval Times, where they ate with no utensils in an arena while watching jousting, sword fighting, and horses dancing.

“It was extremely different than anything I have ever done. Eating with your hands and the seating arrangement,” Jakobsons said.

The Washington D.C. trip was an exciting time for many freshmen.

Diccuca recounted, “It was a lot of fun.”