On Monday, March 25th, 2019, my mentee Sydni and I explored Columbus, Ohio together again!  We took a quick trip to Kafe Kerouac, which neither of us had been to before this day.  This cafe is just north of campus, and it is located at 2250 North High Street.  Sydni and I met at the cafe after a long day of classes to catch up and take a break from school together.   I decided to bring Sydni to Kafe Kerouac because neither of us had been there before, and I was excited to tackle a differnt kind of experience with her!  This casual exploration was a really fun opportunity to get to know even more about Sydni – while also trying something new!

Sydni and I took our time looking over the menu.  With fun coffee drinks named after authors like Dr. Seuss, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Dickens, it was a hard choice to make!  After some deep consideration, I ordered an iced James Joyce (which includes irish cream and cinnamon!) and Sydni ordered a Strawberry Smoothie.  Her smoothie even came in a cute Mickey Mouse glass!  We both appreciated the friendly atmosphere of the cafe, although it was difficult to find a seat.  This cafe is clearly a popular spot for people to study, relax, and play games.  Glancing around the cafe, we were amazed at how many books and games the cafe had to offer.  The variety was incredible – they had books from all genres and board games I had never heard of before.  After taking it all in, we decided to sit outside to drink our cold beverages, because it was a nice day after all the rain had ceased.  I took a picture of Sydni outside before she tried her smoothie!

While enjoying the weather, Sydni and I discussed our plans for the summer and next school year!  Sydni hopes to travel during the summer, possibly making a road trip to visit her friend from OSU that lives in Connecticut!  She also has hopes of traveling to Florida over the summer.  Because I will still be on campus for summer semester, I made sure Sydni knew that she can always travel back to Columbus if she would like to explore more with me this summer!  As the conversation progressed, we reflected on how quickly the school year has passed by.  With approximately one month left, Sydni and I are sad that our mentor/mentee commitment is coming to an end.  Nevertheless, I encouraged Sydni to enjoy her second year of ACES because I know she will be an amazing Mentor for a future first year ACE.  I also wished Sydni the best of luck in her pursuit of becoming a member of the ACES Leadership Council – she truly is following my footsteps!  Sydni is excited to continue living on South Campus again next school year, and I am excited for her too because I will be staying on south as well!

If in the future other people would like to explore Columbus in this same experience of a trip to Kafe Kerouac, I would suggest taking the number 2 COTA bus, especially if they are leaving from Smith-Steeb Hall since it is pretty far north.  This would be somewhat of a long walk from south campus, plus you can never trust the weather in Ohio.  I think this is a great opportunity to explore north of Ohio State’s campus in contrast to the Short North, which is south of campus.  I would also recommend checking the Kafe Kerouac online website for special events and activities before going!  I think it would be super fun to go back on the night of a Slam Poetry reading because it would expose people to diverse perspectives and new ideas.  The cafe also offers live music and songwriters workshops on certain days, among many other wonderful opportunities.  This exploration is great for people who want a calm place to talk and/or play board games together, which would make it an amazing spot for ACES to explore in the future!  Lastly, I would also recommend going before the hours get too late because this cafe turns into a bar at night.

All in all, this trip to Kafe Kerouac was a memorable experience with my mentee Sydni, and it was the perfect way to wrap up the year with her.  I will miss seeing her at all of the ACES community meetings and events, but I know she will continue the legacy of her proud mentor’s favorite organization as she begins her second year at The Ohio State University.