Waking up in sunny California is not something a girl from Nashville, Tennessee, gets to do everyday, especially in the month of January. With the sun, palm trees, and ocean breeze, the days seem surreal, and this day particularly felt like we were in a movie. Starting off the morning, we hopped on the bus and headed to a farm. This farm's name was McGrath and had people working there from the Rodale Institute whose headquarters are in Pennsylvania. We learned about the importance of organic farming. Hearing about the thousands of acres made me wonder how much labor went into berry production and the produce we see readily available at our local grocery stores. The people informing us about their farm were extremely kind and humorous. We even got to pick some blackberries off the stem and try them and let me say they were delicious! I had never given much thought about where my food comes from but it was eye opening to see where my strawberries start off from.

After our endeavor at the farm we stopped by a Mexican restaurant to grab some food then headed to the Warner Brother Studios for our studio tour. I was extremely excited for this because some of my favorite movies and TV shows were filmed here like Gilmore Girls, Friends, Pretty Little Liars, LaLaLand, and so much more. Our tour guide, Edwin, was knowledgeable and funny. Riding around the golf cart and seeing these sets was truly surreal.

Most of the sets like the Toby Maguire Spider-Man were just facades of fake towns and buildings with printed brick. We drove past some studios where they are currently filming All-American and Young Sheldon and although we couldn’t see much it was so cool to know the shows we watch on our home TVs were being set up and directed in our vision. We saw Stars Hollow, the Annie set, and the jungle that was used in Jurassic Park. Seeing the iconic Friends and Big Bang Theory sets and items from the Harry Potter, Batman, and Spider-Man movies was probably the highlight of my trip so far.

We ended off our night with some local Armenian food. It was so amazing to learn about this culture and their food. It was truly delicious, and I hope to find more food like this in Nashville! I love being on this trip and being exposed to so many new ideas and cultures, and I hope to learn more about them once we are back in Nashville. This day was super relaxing and insightful and I am so excited for the rest of the sunny days in California and exploring all that Los Angeles has to offer!

- Ashley