Monday, August 8, 2011

Welcome to Lasell, and Boston!

It looks like the countdown shows less than a month until first year students move-in to Lasell! But wait, classes don’t start for another four days after that, so what’s going on in the meantime?

Well, starting on the 3rd, there will be an array of trips, adventures and experiences for first year students to take part in. No matter what your interests, you’ll undoubtedly find activities or outings for you that are being offered during Lasell Laser Welcome Weekend program.

There’s a free tour of Boston’s North End and Fanueil Hall, but be sure you bring some money for lunch at one of the countless eateries in the North End. If you’re looking for a history lesson and shopping excursion in one, you’ll definitely want to think about the faculty-led tour of Boston Common (the nation’s oldest park) and Newbury Street, home to a wide variety of shopping destinations.

Baseball fans will be interested in the tour of Fenway Park ($5), offering first year students the chance to site on famed Green Monster, visit the press box, learn why the grandstand seats (you know, the wooden ones) are so uncomfortable and find out what Manny Ramirez was really doing when he would duck into the scoreboard.

If you’re interested in touring the city, but aren’t so interested in all that walking, check out the Boston Trolley tour or the Duck Tour, both of which take you around to the city’s must-see sights, but only one will give you a view from the (dirty) water.

Fashion majors can get an early intro to their careers with a trip to the American Textile History Museum ($5)in Lowell, MA. Students who take this trip will get a glimpse into what was once the epicenter of the New England textile industry as well as the use of textiles in cars, aero-space and other industries in the museum’s primary exhibit: ‘Textile Revolution: An Exploration Through Space and Time.’

That’s not the only museum available during welcome weekend. Students will also have the opportunity to attend the Museum of Fine Arts (free) or the Kennedy library ($5), home to a wide-ranging celebration of President John F. Kennedy’s life, legacy and presidency. Also available is a trip to Boston’s Museum of Science ($10), home to thrilling natural artifacts and the OmniMax theater, a fully enveloping motion-picture experience.

Those are just some of the trips and activities that first-year students will have the opportunity to be a part of. Registration for these trips will begin soon and advanced sign up is required. So, which trips do you think you’ll attend? Have you already done some of them? If so, what’d you think?