Our visit to Johnson & Wales University – Providence Campus

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Last week I did something a little different, I went on a tour of the Johnson & Wales University campus in Providence, Rhode Island. I was asked by the college if I would be interested in taking a tour and sharing my experience with all of you. It actually worked out fantastically and their timing couldn’t have been better. My friend’s daughter is a senior in high school and was interested in the school’s Political Science and Equestrian Programs so I spent the day with Ashley, touring the Providence campus.

It was a bit surreal as I remember like it was yesterday, going to see Ashley when she came home from the hospital as a newborn.

With the blink of an eye, I found myself at a college with her. Kinda scary how fast time goes by.

The campus is located in downtown Providence, RI.

 Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with approximately 16,000 graduate, undergraduate and online students at its 4 campuses in Providence, RI; North Miami, Fla.; Denver, Colo.; and Charlotte, NC. That was actually news to me, I only thought they had one campus! 

When we arrived, we headed to the Admissions Center to check in.

I couldn’t help but have flashbacks when I was in college. It was like I was in a time warp! -ha.

Those were the good ol’ days ;).

Everyone was SO nice and accommodating. Our tour guide, Anthony, was a sophomore on campus and was amazing. He was so knowledgeable, funny and a pleasure to spend a couple hours with.

The grounds on the campus are gorgeous. Everything is cobblestone or brick walkways lined with gorgeous trees and flowers. In the heart of Providence, the school is surrounded by theatres, restaurants and shopping.

The entire campus is full of historic brick buildings that have been refurbished and restored. Many of the dorm rooms have their own private bathroom and overlook the beautiful grounds.

One thing I was really impressed with was the hands-on teaching approach. The school integrates arts and sciences and industry-focused education with work experience and leadership opportunities, inspiring students to achieve professional success and lifelong

personal growth. I personally think that is how everyone should learn.

The university offers degree programs in arts and sciences, business, culinary arts, education, nutrition, hospitality, physician assistant studies, engineering and design.

This is one of the seating areas off of one of the cafeteria’s. All of the food on campus is prepared by the students who are in the Culinary program. So as you can imagine, the food is amazing!

There is an on campus juice bar called Red Mango which Ashley loved.

AND an on campus Starbucks which I was impressed with. -ha

As I mentioned earlier, the buildings on campus are large historical buildings and this one below happens to be where many classes are held. I can’t say enough about the vast variety of opportunities with regard to class offerings and especially class sizes. There are no huge lecture halls filled with hundreds of kids and most importantly, the class size average is kept between 20 and 30 students.

The ability to also have an internship tacked on to every major is also super important. University wide they have 3,635 students intern at 1,890 internship sites in all 50 states and in 32 countries. For Providence, they had 2,243 students intern at 1,194 internship sites in 42 states and 20 countries. Not too shabby!

Another feature that I was impressed with was the fact that our guide stressed the importance of the relationship with your academic advisor.

When I went to college, I never saw my advisor. Our tour guide said the school was big on advisor involvement and he said he was in touch with his advisor all the time. Even if it was just a quick check in. I love that!

The beautiful Chapel is also conveniently located right in the center of the campus.

After the full tour of the campus, we headed to the off-site Equestrian Center out in the country, about 20 minutes from campus.

Ashley competes on the hunter jumper circuit all over the country and is interested in the Equestrian program at the school. What a beautiful facility!

The riding rings, barn and equipment are state of the art and honestly, I wanted to join the program!-ha.

Can I be a kid again?

The stable has about 30 horses that are owned by the University.

I grew up riding and showing horses all over the country too so this was an awesome experience for me, to tour a school with an Equestrian Program.

All in all, I decided that I wanted to go to school here and rewind 20 years. -ha. Just kidding. The school was amazing. The staff and students were amazing and the overall experience couldn’t have been better. If you are looking for a warm, inviting, top tier education with enormous opportunity, then Johnson & Wales University is for you. The Providence location is the best of both worlds. You have the city life at your fingertips with the warm home environment at the campus. You can find more information on the University Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube pages.  You can take a virtual tour of the Providence campus here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnson & Wales University. The opinions and text are all mine.