August 1, 2011 – Arising early we see the morning view of Reser Stadium from our hotel. Then it is on to the admin building where a life-size cardboard cutout of Michelle Obama’s basketball coach brother (apparently being menaced by a standing beaver) greets us at the Visitor Center. We are (luckily) split off from the main tour group of thirty or so to get our own special, private wheelchair-accessible tour led by the sparkling Katlyn, who has published two scientific papers and conducted research abroad as an undergrad. Early up is the LEED-Certified (the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design national standard for green building), state-of-the-art engineering building. Then on to student affairs and student union areas, the main campus quad and much more. Then we were handed off to Courtney for the housing/dorm tour. After that we met with economics and computer science advisors. We got lost more than once, but were struck with the friendliness and helpfulness of everybody we encountered. Following more self-guided exploration, we finally hooked up with Rachel and Ivi so we could begin our late afternoon sprint to Ashland.
