Many people say that the best part of living in northern Virginia is being close to Washington DC.
“DC definitely has a lot of cool places to visit, but Nova also has many cool places of its own too, like Mosaic,” senior Cassandra Quach said.
Being the capital of the country, DC has an abundance of restaurants and activities for everyone to enjoy.
“When I used to live in DC, I always enjoyed going to Potomac Park with my family and playing on the playground while they admired the view,” senior Ishat Hannan said.
The options are endless from creative restaurants to any type of museum imaginable.
However, Nova is a gem on its own.
Nova is a melting pot for various ethnic backgrounds.
“I love the cultural representation that Nova houses,” Hannan said. “It provides us all with the opportunity to both explore and learn more about different cultures through food and activities, as well as truly appreciate the beauty in them.”
There are so many food places where you can try authentic food from each culture.
“Eden Center has a lot of delicious, authentic Vietnamese food,” Quach said.
In more recent times, many more places with unique concepts have opened in Nova.
For example, they have a place with different background sets at Tysons Corner Mall, called Selfie WRLD, where you can take photos.
One hotspot in Nova that every student knows of is Mosaic District.
“I love going to Mosaic with my friends to just hang out and eat,” Hannan said.
Mosaic’s popularity is due to it being the home to many restaurants, a Target, and a fake grass field where people can sit and relax.
“My friends and I wanted to try all the food places at least once there,” Quach said.
Mosaic also sometimes hosts movie nights on the big screen over the field.
“A couple summers ago I attended a screening of The Incredibles,” Quach said. “We didn’t really focus on the movie but it was fun to just go and experience it.”
English teacher Kathleen Mathis has been a resident of the Nova area for quite awhile now.
She attended AHS as a student and currently works at the school.
“When I was in high school, I had two favorite places to eat out,” Mathis said. “One was at Olive Garden and the other was a place called Mozzarella’s. My friends and I would just go there and hang out and snack on appetizers.”
Even after all these years, she still finds things she enjoys doing in Nova.
“My kids and I have gotten into geocaching and we go to many of the parks,” Mathis said. “I try to take them to different events to expose them to different things in the area.”
Regardless whether you’re a student, teacher or anybody else, you can find something to enjoy about Nova.