Part 1 of a short series on my road trip through America

From the moment I learnt who Eero Saarinen was, I wanted to see the Gateway Arch in St Louis. The Arch, meant to memorialise America's westward expansion following Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, is a masterpiece in design, architecture and engineering. For Saarinen personally, the Arch was his first major work and represented a new frontier in his life as an architect.

When my dream of an art museum internship fell through, I decided to go on a road trip over my summer break. I knew that St Louis had to be my first stop.

The long drive from Chicago to St Louis capped off a roller coaster of a first year for me at business school. A difficult transition in the Fall quarter (not made easier by the weather) was followed with a great Winter quarter and an even better Spring. Chaos and uncertainty were replaced with familiarity and a close group of amazing friends. I found my footing and began to have the experience I wanted.

So when I walked under the Arch, I wasn't thinking about how my year had been. Instead, like Saarinen with his career and Jefferson with his vision of a trans-continental USA, I stopped to consider the exciting future that lay ahead of me in my second and last year at Kellogg.