Read Pierce student's paper about U.N. Pilgrimage

Jonathan Syed in New York, one of the cities he visited this summer, on a United Nations Pilgrimage Tour, along with 160 other delegates. Jonathan was sponsored by the White Pine Rebekah Lodge.

UN Pilgrimage

By Jonathan Syed, Pierce

  The UN Pilgrimage Tour is a great experience; I am glad that I made the small amount of effort required to be part of this trip. To apply for the opportunity provided by the local Rebekahs Lodge, I had to write a three-five minute speech and take a written test about the United Nations. As the winning applicant, I won an all-expense-paid two-week trip to the East Coast.

  During my trip, in the summer of 2011, I traveled through many exciting places, such as Washington D.C., Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Ottawa and New York City. I joined 160 other delegates from around the country who were also given this opportunity to be a part of the trip of a lifetime.

  Our tour groups showed us around the historical aspects of the visited cities. In Washington D.C., my group and I saw the White House, toured Congress, The House of Representatives, and the Lincoln Memorial. On top of that, we were able to explore the incredible Smithsonian Museums. I enjoyed the Air and Space Museum the most out of all of the Smithsonian Museums.

  At Gettysburg, we viewed all of the sites that were involved in the battle. In Philadelphia, I saw the Liberty Bell and toured Independence Hall, where the Constitution was first signed. While on the long bus ride to Ottawa, our tour guides stopped and showed us around Niagara Falls.

  Finally, in New York City all of the delegates got to walk through Times Square, go to the top of the Rockefeller Center, tour Liberty Island and The Statue of Liberty, and also got to attend the Broadway play, “Sister Act.” I enjoyed that play so much that I would like to attend more Broadway plays in the future.

  Out of all of our stops, New York City was my favorite. There is so much to see there that it was impossible to see it all in the three short days we spent there.

  In addition to all of the great places that I visited, I made friendships that will last a lifetime. It took awhile for everyone to become friends, but when we did, things got a lot more fun. I plan on telling everyone in my area how great the trip was and strongly recommend them to apply for it as well.

  Finally, a big thank-you to our local Rebekah Lodge members for making this opportunity available and selling the many raffle tickets to pay all my expenses. Thank you also to the East Coast Odd Fellows and Rebekah members that made all our meals and dedicated their time to being our groups’ tour leaders. Your efforts were greatly appreciated by all of the delegates.