On Monday, May 15th, Upward Bound Scholars visited Champaign, Illinois to tour the University of Illinois and Japan House. At Japan House, students got the opportunity to walk through the gardens and learn about the how the garden was created to represent specific aspects of Japanese culture and landscape. After walking through the gardens, students watched a traditional Japanese tea ceremony before being able to participate in their own tea ceremony. Each student tried a tradition Japanese sweet and learned how to prepare matcha which is a traditional Japanese green tea. Students learned about the tea ceremony customs and were able to ask questions about Japanese culture. Below are picture from the tea ceremony and garden. More photos of the visit can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...
After their visit to Japan House, Upward Bound Scholars toured part of the University of Illinois. Leo Davenport, who is a former Upward Bound student and TRIO alumni, presented the tour to students. Leo graduated form U of I on Saturday, May 13th with a degree in engineering. He showed them around the quad and the engineering quad at U of I. Students also got the chance to hear from a current U of I student who is studying social sciences. After the tour, students had lunch at Fat Sandwich and enjoyed some frozen yogurt before their return to KCC.
