🇺🇸 U.S. Study Life Flashback 1 | Summiting the Washington Monument

📅 Aug 7, 2025 My chronic procrastination finally met its match - on my very last day before leaving the country, I actually woke up early and secured the first free tickets to summit the Washington Monument! ⛰️ That's right, the "visit the monument" goal I'd been carrying since last year - CHECK! ☀️ Waking up at dawn paid off when I held those morning entry passes. Couldn't help but think: some things just won't happen unless you make them happen now. 🌇 The view from the top made every second worthwhile. The 360-degree panorama framed D.C. like a living model - the White House, Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial... And I actually spotted JHU from up there! 【Spot the alma mater in Picture 8 - no prizes but major bragging rights! 👀】 🚌 The discovery I wish I'd made earlier: After all this time, I finally learned about the near-direct bus from Pentagon to the monument! The Pentagon-DC line would've saved me so many endless walks from the metro... (Why does crucial intel always arrive last-minute?) 🗂️ The day's bonus chapters: ▫️ Paid respects at Arlington Cemetery, where history whispers through the silence ▫️ Got invited by a classmate to their apartment rooftop - scored the most incredible private view of the Pentagon 📌 Finally, behold my year's worth of "geographic trophies" - every place I've walked transformed into refrigerator magnets. These aren't just souvenirs; they're fragments of my journey, a tangible map of memories. #WashingtonDC #WashingtonMonumentSummit #LeavingTheUS #StudyAbroadLife #ProcrastinationNoMore #FridgeMagnetCollector