By kyuyoun0702
I still cannot forget what SAT had brought me - disappointment, destruction of relationships, low self-esteem and anger. Unlike APs that actually test you how much knowledge you have in that area, SAT was just like an IQ test for me. No matter how many SAT words I memorized (which I barely use in my life), and no matter how many practice tests I solved, my score just wasn’t going to show even the smallest sign of improvement. That’s where I decided to attend an SAT prep classes, where I got to meet a precious friend of mine, Brian.
Brian was an unique student in the prep class. What I noticed about him was that he wasn’t like typical high schoolers who were forcefully put into the class by their parents. He had a set worldview, gentleman-like manners and a dream. Even though he left shortly for an internship opportunity, we became close friends, and kept in touch for three years.
When I told him that I was accepted to an exchange program in GWU, Brian was so happy I would be nearby. We were only able to meet once a year because he decided to attend Johns Hopkins University while I decided to stay in Korea. Few weeks after my arrival, he invited me over to Baltimore and I pleasantly took the offer. Ye Tteul, my fellow exchange student from Yonsei University came with me to Baltimore, and we had such an amazing time together.
Our first destination was a restaurant. As soon as we arrived, Brian immediately took us to a restaurant saying “My girlfriend gets aggressive when she is hungry, and I hope you guys are not like that.” (But we unfortunately were…) The restaurant was called Philips, and it was renowned for crab cakes and seafoods. Saying that he was happy to have us as a guest, he didn’t hesitate to pay for the entire meal.
We ordered three signature menus in total. The first one is composed of scallops, crabs and mashed sweet potato. Scallops were so fresh and the sauce was creamy but a little spicy, which made it much more abundant in flavor. I also never knew that crab went along with mashed sweet potato so well. The second one is crab mac and cheese. I didn’t expect much from this menu because I thought the flavor of cheese would dominate over the food, but it didn’t Even though I could taste the cheese and macaroni, the scent and flavor of the crab permeated over the entire dish. The third one was the crab cake. Even though it didn’t quite look as what I expected (I was expecting a legit cake), it tasted fine except it was a little salty. However, it went along very well with the homemade sour cream that came with it.
Next, we visited IT’SUGAR, a shop full of rare sweets. I was so surprised how sweets could get this big! Look at the Nerds, oh not us. The candy!
Our next destination was Johns Hopkins University. While we were on the bus, Brian told us that the street we were passing by was a ‘danger zone.’ I looked outside, shocked, and I noticed some bizarre atmosphere surrounding the town. Brian told us that the campus was safe enough, but it was still scary. (GWU is the best! Hurraaayy)
It was a pleasant weekend and I had so much fun in Baltimore. I hope Brian visits D.C. sometimes soon, and I will be happy to tour him our campus and show him around the beautiful city of Washington.
Oh by the way, my SAT score didn't improve a bit, so attending the prep class was a zero-sum game (because I met Brian!) 🙂