Loony Fits: Visiting Colleges

Yesterday I came home from Claremont, CA, a small-ish town about forty minutes away from LA. I was there visiting the Claremont colleges: Scripps, Pomona, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, and Claremont McKenna College. I flew down from Oakland Airport (yay OAK!) on Thursday night with my mother-dearest (Celia) and her luuurvely wife, Sally. We arrived at LAX sometime after that, and then drove to Claremont in this tiny little Nissan that both Sally and I thought was amazing, but mother-dearest wanted a big truck so she could drive the biggest car (she's compensating for her height). So we drove down the highway (meaning, they drove, I don't have my license yet).

I don't know anything about the hotels in Claremont, but we stayed at the Double Tree and it was magnificent. Just so you know, in case you plan on heading to Claremont (which you should because it is beautiful and amazing, an awesome college town with little shops and everything is about 10 times cheaper than Marin. Well, almost everything else is).

On Friday I visited Scripps, Pomona, and Pitzer (in that order). Scripps had a beautiful campus and felt like a grown-up version of my high school (San Domenico High School). Scripps is all-girls with no religious affiliation that I am aware of and a strong humanities department. There were squirrels and bunnies and birdies everywhere. It was like a fairy-princess land! I wouldn't be surprised if Scrippsies walked around in poofy dresses and crowns while singing to the little woodland critters.

Pomona was big on athletics, but they still stressed education above everything else. Their campus is much bigger than Scripps, mainly because they have 1,200 students compared to Scripps' 900. Everyone at Pomona seems really nice. Plus, they have these fountains everywhere and according to the guides, people are constantly tossing other people into them... It's all in good fun, so I hear.

Pitzer has a strong love of the environment. They just rebuilt their dorms so that they're certified green buildings, which is awesome. They have a strong science program along with amazing abroad programs. The student body is very politically active. The guide told us that a while back there was an old house that was going to be demolished, so Pitzer students bought the house for $1, picked it up and moved it onto campus property and converted it into a student-run eatery. It's an awesome little cafe, I must say.

After all the tours, I hung out with my friend Callie. She is my San Domenico-ordained big sister who goes to Scripps. She and her amazing roommate, Laura, hosted me Friday and Saturday night in their dorm room. Scripps dorms are so roomy!!! And Callie's building has these doors that pop open when you swipe your Scripps card. It's like magic!!!

((Above: Callie is the blond beauty right thar))

Callie also introduced me to her awesomely silly friends.