I went to Washington, D.C. in June 2009 with two of my best friends from high school. We were all about 16 at the time and very excited to be taking this trip across the country on our own! We managed to navigate the Chicago O'Hare airport by ourselves and arrive in D.C., where we were met by the Close Up Program Coordinators. The Close Up Program was an opportunity for students from around the country to come to our nation's capital and see it "closer up" than the average tourist. We met our senators and representative, went to a play at the Kennedy Center, had different discussions and debates at different monuments and memorials, and learned so much about history and the government while we were there!