Hey guys! Just wanted to say thanks for such an a-mazing week! Each staff member, counselor, and EPLer made our week together unforgettable! I feel so lucky to have been able to participate in such a great program! EPL was an incredible experience in which we were given the tools and responsibility to develop our leadership skills. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from and work with such an intelligent and enthusiastic group of people (staff and students alike). Counselors: Thanks for everything! We all love you guys and really appreciate everything you did to make our time at Furman fantastic! It wouldn't have been the same without you!So...I know it's kinda late to do this, but I have to blog about Thursday and Friday because I just did not have time to blog during the end of the week and I don't want to forget any of it! Ok, Thursday was our trip to Columbia (fun!). It started out with an early morning on the bus (the bus by the way was super comfy)! On the way down we watched Mean Girls which was amazing, but I'm not gonna lie, I definitely took the opportunity to powernap when I found three (not two, but three!) empty seats. Once we got into Columbia we went to the SCETV station and took a tour of the freezing studio. Next we headed for a really tall (17th floor!) building to have a sandwich with State Superintendent of Schools Jim Rex. We talked about public education (one of our favorite topics) and he talked to us about leadership ("Be a jumper, not a hooker!")! After lunch we went to the statehouse to meet with Senator Joel Lourie who told an inspiring story about citizens who fought to pass an insurance bill benefiting kids with autism. Afterwards, we had a few minutes to take pictures (Cindy) and then took a tour of the statehouse. After our tour we met with Governor Sanford's Chief of Staff. We had a super fun debate with him over public education and vouchers (props to Shun for bringing that up...lol). Next we met with Mr. Simpkins who is pretty much brilliant and talked about some global issues. After a quick (but helpful) brainstorm session with Dr. Burkett, we had dinner at Yesterday’s (and sang “Happy Birthday” to Caitlin and Ms. G). We watched/sang with/danced to High School Musical (yeah Athena!) on the bus ride back to Furman which was super fun! Friday was definitely fantastic! We spent all morning trying to figure out the details of our projects with Dr. Culclasure, Ms. Berman, and Cat Stevens (timeline and budget!). In the afternoon we had our city council simulation and argued over HOT, sales tax, and low income housing developments. Afterwards, we went to the Greenville Drive game and had a great time dancing and watching the Drive lose to Charleston. It was super fun, however, I think the transportation to and from the game may have been my favorite part (yeah Luis, Athena, Miya, and Cindy)! Once we got back to the campus we had a toga/dance party! It was a-mazing!
It was an incredible week and I can’t wait to see everybody again in March!

just jealous

colin it's okay to admit that you're jealous of the 7 wins that the dogs have gotten against you, but y'all are catching up- a win is an improvement. i think i will also point out that in close to every single movie clip that we watched charleston was featured. did i see greenville? Never! so bam! quick shout out to my business partner jay who in combination with hannah and caitlin rocked our city council simulation. anyways i miss all of y'all, and can't wait til march
ballin
whit

ballin

Uhhh Whit...the Drive beat Charleston the day after the game we went to.

So bam.

Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures I just got off my camera.
I miss y'all!!

Caitlin <3

Apparently everything can be explained by competition....

Oh my god. I miss all of ya'll so much. No one here understands why I started yelling at the TV while watching a congresswoman use competition as an excuse to waste our tax money. (If you didn't see the story, you should look it up... it was about this military plane engine that didn't need to be developed) You guys, whether it is this blog or that facebook group, we need a place to be politically interested together.

-Ms. G

Back In Greensboro...

Hey Guys!

Well, I'm back to my plain life of slicing and preparing bagels, and I already miss EPL and all of you a lot! I wanted to thank everyone for making my week a very enjoyable and memorable experience. I had a wonderful time getting to know all of you; you are all very special in your own way and I'm glad we had the chance to meet and become friends! I was bummed that my scavenger hunt team (who was obviously the superior one) was not able to claim our first-place prize we deserved, but I guess you can't have your way all the time. The nightly dance parties we had were also awesome and were a great way to get to know you guys better. Here are some of the pictures off of my camera! We will definitely keep in touch over the school year because I miss you all a lot and March really is not that far away!

Love, Anna E

PS

I don't know why any of you would ever willingly be in my part of North Carolina, but don't hesitate to visit if you get lost and happen to pass through Greensboro. Remember, we have the country's biggest Harris Teeter!

ballin

Colin you can tell me that when the Drive beat Charleston this season!