A few weekends ago, my mentee, Jillian, and I went to the North Market downtown! We also went with another mentor, Braylee, and her mentee, Molly. We had a great time hanging out together and Jillian and I had such a great time getting to know Braylee and Molly better.
We all met at Smith-Steeb hall and then walked to the Cota bus stop. This was my mentee’s first time riding a Cota bus, so we showed her the ins and outs of how it works. We rode all the way down until we reached the market. After we got off of the bus, we walked the rest of the way to the market, which wasn’t far away.
Upon arrival, we did one lap around the market to start, as it is such a big place that is filled with so many cool shops, knick-knacks, and food. After we walked our lap to get an idea of what was there and what we all wanted, we decided on what to get. I ended up getting Belgium waffles that were absolutely delicious. My mentee went to the same place and she got a banana and Nutella filled crepe. Braylee’s mentee, Molly, got a donut that looked great too! We were happy with our treats, to say the least. After getting out treats, we walked around a little bit more before heading upstairs to find a place to eat. We headed into the Hot Chicken Takeover place that was upstairs. Molly had never been to Hot Chicken Takeover so she wanted to try it out. We also ate our treats up there too. After Molly got her Hot Chicken Takeover, we all sat down to eat our food and we shared our treats around the table. I then decided to get some Hot Chicken Takeover as well because the temptation was too great. We all then continued to talk and get to know each other better. We talked about some of the clubs and extracurricular activities that we were all involved in. My mentee, Jillian, talked about her clubs and all she is doing in them currently, as she is very involved on campus. We had so much fun just visiting and hanging out. We also talked to our mentees about how they were enjoying their first semester and what classes they were taking next year as well as what they were looking forward to. After that, we did one more quick look around at the shops on the lower floor before heading to the bus stop. We then hopped on a bus and headed back to campus. Then we got off at Smith-Steeb and went our separate ways. Overall, we had an amazing time hanging out and getting to know each other better. Our mentees also really seemed to enjoy the North Market and going someplace that they have never been.
I would definitely recommend going to the North Market to other people! It is such a super fun and cute place. Definitely a great place to bring people that have never been to Columbus. I am planning on taking my parents to the North Market the next time they are in Columbus! I also want to bring my friends from back home when they come down. I would also love to go back as well. I would love to go back because there are so many cool little shops in the North Market. I aspire to go there more to get more unique gifts and treats for people.
Overall, I learned a lot about Columbus in general and I hope that my mentee did too. I learned that Columbus is full of many little sweet spots that are super fun and ever-changing. We also learned that it is so fun to take the time to go to places like this every once in a while. I also think it encouraged us all to do things like this more often. It is so nice to get off of campus sometimes and be reminded that there are cool places in Columbus outside of campus. I personally love to explore new places and this was a great way to do it. This is also a nice place to go because it is free, unlike other places. There are still many places in Columbus that I would like to go to! I talked with my mentee about this and we are already thinking about ideas for our next explore Columbus! We talked about possibly going to German Village, Franklin Park Conservatory, Cosi, the Columbus Zoo, and much more.