Last week, half of the Junior class took a road trip around Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee to tour colleges in those areas. Everyone arrived at SMP for 5:45 and were stoked for the “best trip at Ascension”. Junior classes before us always enjoyed this trip and were sure to tell the class below them how much fun they were going to have while on it. They sure weren’t wrong. 

The first college we visited was Tulane in New Orleans. Sadly, we did not get to tour, but we did get to eat their yummy breakfast! Next, we walked to Loyola and had an information session with the Head of Admissions. While in the session, Grace Werner and the Head of Admissions realized they were 2nd cousins… small world! We then traveled 5 hours to Oxford. The students were dropped off in Oxford Square for dinner where they got to choose from burgers, Thai, tacos, pizzas, and more. 

The next morning, we toured Ole Miss, which was overall the favorite college of the trip. One of the favorite things about Ole Miss were the robots that delivered food to students around campus! Andre Perron said, “taking pictures at Ole Miss was so fun because it was a beautiful day and the campus was gorgeous”. Next, we traveled to Rhodes College in Memphis. The class agreed that if Ascension was to be a college, it would definitely be Rhodes because of the small classes and the family-like environment.  That night we ate in Downtown Memphis. Grace Werner said, “Going eat and walk around with our friends in Downtown Memphis was really fun!! The food was so good and getting to watch the street entertainers was so cool. I also enjoyed going to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks. The street was all lit up and it was a great place for all of us to take pictures”. That night, we stayed at the Graceland hotel. The class all sat in the lobby together while the live band was playing. Everyone was dancing and having a good time. Our curfew that night was 10, but the students soon found out that the “Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar” was opening at that time. After talking to Mrs. Fournet, she pushed back curfew to 10:15, so we could all enjoy some good PB&J’s. 

We woke up the next morning and went to the University of Memphis. Unfortunately, it was raining, which meant we couldn’t tour, but we did get an information session with the direct of admissions. Next, we traveled to Mississippi State. It was still raining, but we all decided to tour anyways, even if that meant getting soaking wet. After we left, we went to our hotel that was connected to the mall. There were so many places to eat at and lots of stores to pass time until curfew. The next day, we traveled to Millsaps for breakfast and a tour. While we were eating breakfast, the class got a surprise visit from alumni Hannah Mattke (‘19). After Millsaps, we traveled to Southern Miss. Amelia Morgan said, “Southern Miss was so cool because the students there had just started school that day, so we really got to see the atmosphere! They also have great scholarship opportunities”. 

After the last tour, the class headed home and reflected on all of the funny memories from the week. The bus ride back consisted of  many TikTok’s, of course. This trip reminded everyone how old we actually are and that next year will be our last year together, and we definitely will make the most of it!