Summering in Walla Walla

When the academic school year ends, most people go home for the summer. For someone like me—an international student who can’t afford a plane ticket—you end up staying in Walla Walla and that’s not a bad thing!

There is so much to do under the Walla Walla sun! During summer breaks, I had so much fun in this town—doing things I never did during the academic year. My advice is if you’re not actively leaving campus you will never experience all that Walla Walla has to offer.

Each summer, I always found a group of friends who ended up staying in town. We would bike all around town—even the 3 miles from campus to Bennington Lake. Oh gosh, there was one time when we walked from campus to Walmart. We were walking in the heat for 3 hours (admittedly that’s because we got lost)! It was a fun experience but not exactly one I would want to repeat—a once in a lifetime experience, if you will.

My friends and I would also walk in nearby parks. There are quite a few within walking distance to campus. Sometimes we ran into professors’ walking their dogs. We often found a nice spot to sit in the grass and had cute little picnics. The grass in Walla Walla is so green—oddly comforting. Can you tell I’m an environmental studies major?

On days when the sun was sizzling hot, we went downtown for iced coffees, lemonades, and of course food! Coffee Perk, Starbucks, Stone Soup, Yamas Greek Eatery, Pasta Factory, Sweet Basil were some of the most notable places. I especially loved getting ice cream at Bright’s Candies. Did you know they recently ranked the best candy shop in the US?!

If we wanted to stay on campus, we would get together in the lounge in Stanton Hall. We would use the big screen to play “Just Dance” or we’d play ping pong. It was so fun! We also played volleyball on the outdoor sand court outside of Cleve (aka Cleveland Commons).

Exploring your college town is a rite of passage. Walla Walla sure is a town so nice. I can see why they named it twice!

Bertine Rose Lakjohn ’23 is a recent grad from the Marshall Islands who majored in Environmental Studies – Sociology. She hopes that the next time she visits Whitman, she’ll see that the Penrose Cafe is back!