[one_half]Sagar Solanki – Staff Writer

The Student Activities Council (SAC) hosted a trip to Washington D.C. last weekend.

Along with various events on campus like the Carnival and the Haunted House, SAC also plans and organizes out-of-campus activities like trips to the New York Auto Show, Broadway shows, and a big out-of-state trip at least once per year. They are an active community that makes sure that NJIT students have every opportunity to get together, see the world, and have fun.

This year, their big trip was to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. While the trip was only for the weekend, the $85 fee included the trip, lodging, transportation, a meal on the way to Washington, and a free T-shirt. 

The timing of this trip was impeccable, as the warm weather gave all of the travelers the best conditions for exploring the city, from the Smithsonian Zoo to the museums at the National Mall. However, what makes the trip even more exciting is all of the festivals occurring in D.C. at this time, including the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and the Japanese Tree Festival. These celebrations honor the American and Japanese cultures, and represent a close bond forged between the two countries dating back to 1912. 

There were a lot of fun things to do in D.C. like riding the electric scooters to get around the city quick enough, and they are especially fun and very safe for a reasonable price using an app. 

It was also amusing to learn that everything in the city is in reference to the Capitol building. For example, we stayed in a hotel that had the address of 333 E St SW, which means that the street is on the South West of the Capital building. 

The Botanical Garden, which also happens to be about a block away from the Capital, is also worth checking out. There were a lot of good views to take selfies and groupies for all your social media needs. 

[one_half]Regee Lozada – Business Manager

The SAC Washington D.C. trip was super busy; there were so many things to do in a span of 3 days. The ones that I had enjoyed the most were the National Zoo, the Air and Space Museum, and the Botanical Gardens. Since all of the museums were free it was perfect for us students. Since we went during the Cherry Blossom festival, the entire city was packed full of people. There were a lot of things to see at the Cherry Blossom festival, I had taken so many photos of the parade. I took pictures of most of the floats—three were filled with beauty pageant winners, numerous high school bands, vintage cars, and giant inflatables. I barely got any sleep during the trip, but it was filled with time with friends and memories made.

Photo by Sagar Solanki | NJIT SAC