Swarthmore can seem small or big, depending on where you’re coming from. Personally, my hometown’s population hovers around 15,000, which is larger than Swarthmore. Despite this, my hometown is the largest town for many miles, situated in rural Oregon, which is very different from Swarthmore’s proximity to Philadelphia. I very much appreciate the college’s versatility in that way – if you are city-averse, you never have to worry about venturing into the Philadelphia area (except maybe to fly to and from school), but if you’re a city-slicker at heart, you can spend as much time in Philadelphia as your heart desires. This year the college piloted a program that provides eight SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) rides to every registered Swarthmore student per day, free of charge.
Upon my arrival to Swarthmore last fall, I discovered my love for Philadelphia. The city has so much to offer, from great food at Reading Terminal Market to gorgeous libraries at the University of Pennsylvania, which Swarthmore students have access to through the Quaker Consortium. At the end of the day, Philadelphia really is a college city (being home to UPenn, Drexel University, and Temple University), whether or not Swarthmore itself is one of the colleges in it. While Philadelphia certainly has a piece of my heart, I soon discovered that opportunities for quick and cheap travel go beyond Philadelphia and even the state of Pennsylvania.
During fall break, I took an Amtrak to Washington D.C. with my parents for the first time, which was hugely enjoyable. While I find the Amtrak to be far more comfortable than buses, those are another option and are often very cheap. During the second half of my break, I chose to take a bus from D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland, to visit a high-school friend who attends Johns Hopkins University for a few days. Exploring two major cities within a few days without taking any flights was somewhat mind-boggling to my West Coast self! A few hours, one Amtrak, and one SEPTA ride later, I was back in Swarthmore for the remainder of the fall semester.
A few weeks later, I found myself itching for a trip, and an opportunity presented itself to me. My high school was doing a mini-reunion in New York City, and I immediately searched for Amtrak tickets (buses are an option from Philadelphia to New York, too). After reaching out to a friend at Barnard College of Columbia University for a place to stay, I decided to make the trip over a weekend in early November. I found that this was the perfect time of year to visit, as the Christmas season was starting to creep into the city. Over that weekend, I was able to not only reunite with some high school friends, but also explore New York City in all of its glory, from the Bryant Park Winter Market to the world’s largest Barnes and Noble on Fifth Avenue.
Maybe it’s just the West Coast in me talking, but I had never before experienced such plentiful opportunities for travel on both a small and large scale, and I do not take Swarthmore’s location for granted because of it.
