Gathering To Thank Our Supporters

On a hot sunny Wednesday, all Ivy Leaguers, parents, and chaperones gathered at LaVonya DeJean Middle School for the school board meeting. The purpose of the meeting was not only for the school board to know who will be sent east, but for us, ILC members to thank the school board for supporting the ILC and to thank the sponsors whose generous donations made this program possible. While we waited for the meeting to begin, I got to mingle with other Ivy Leaguers while the chaperones talked with each other. Prior to entering the multi-purpose room for the meeting, we were briefed on where we were to sit, and how the meeting would work. I was surprised to learn that no one would have to give a speech about why were we are grateful for the school board for providing us with a unique opportunity to spend three weeks taking a rigorous college course while touring New York City.

Once we were all seated, the school board meeting commenced, led by Mr. Ramsey. Following a short assessment of what has been going on at el Cerrito High School, each chaperone was called up to the podium. One by one, the chaperone called up each member of his or her cohort and announced what school he or she came from. After the cohorts from Drown, Columbia, Yale, and Cornell were introduced, ILC alumni Guadaloupe Morales, Irene Rojas-Carroll, Beulah Agbabiaka, Austin Long, and Yueming Wang came to the podium and talked about how the Ivy League Connection has opened so many doors for them and how it couldn’t have been possible had it not been for the board’s support, and the sponsors generous donations.

At the end, the people who fund the Ivy League Connection, the sponsors, were recognized and given a certificate of appreciation. As the sponsors were called up one by one, I was surprised to see two on the panelists for my interview come forward. I had no clue that our sponsors also were asked to serve on the interview panel. However, as I thought about it I realized that by having the sponsors serve on the panel, the sponsors can see who they making generous donations to.

Finally, all Ivy Leaguers gathered on the side of the room to take a group photo with all the cohorts, chaperones, and parents. When the pictures were done, I talked to a few parents, Don, and Mrs. Lilhanand before leaving. I am truly looking forward to spending three weeks in as Mrs. Lilhanand put it, “the great city of New York!”

The Great Equalizer

Nelson Mandela once wrote, “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of a mine, which a child of a farm worker can become president.”

This is the quote I had scribbled on a scrap of paper as my mother and I rushed out the door to appear at the school board meeting. Nobody had asked me to speak but at Don’s Bloggers Tutorial, he fervently reminded us that Mr. Ramsey often asks people to say a few words at a moment’s notice. If called upon I planned to describe how the ILC acts as the great equalizer Mandela speaks of and what the ILC program means to me.

We arrived at the LaVonya DeJean Middle School Multi Purpose room where all of the students in the program were asked to gather outside while the chaperones chatted and waited for everyone to arrive. Although it had been an exceedingly hot day, I was nonetheless excited because it was the first time I had the opportunity to introduce myself and get to know students from some of the other Ivy League Connection Programs. Despite Taylor Doty being a fellow El Cerrito High School Student, I had never previously had the opportunity to formally meet her because we both have busy class schedules and El Cerrito is such a large campus.

Within seconds, I could tell how she was selected to participate in this prestigious, rigorous program. She had a tremendous presence and a vocabulary far beyond her years. Furthermore, she blows the idea that high school students can’t handle frequent, college length tests out of the water; she has 3 AP tests and the SAT on four consecutive days.

Suddenly, we were briefly told what to expect inside the meeting, and I walked inside with the rest of the Columbia Cohort. When it was our turn to be introduced as a group, I started developing the conclusion of my potential speech in my head.

“Remember to thank the board and the sponsors!” I reminded myself.

Ultimately, I was not asked to give a surprise speech. However, Beulah Agbabiaka, who attended the Presidential Powers Program last year, delivered an eloquent speech that I can only hope to try to make my future speeches resemble. Beulah discussed all of the doors the ILC opened for her and warned us that the class we were taking will be painstakingly challenging, but enormously rewarding as well. Most importantly, she remembered to thank the board and the sponsors; she even thanked her mother for her support.

After all of the groups had been introduced we took a large group photo. I also had some time to personally thank Mr. Ramsey, Mrs. Kronenburg, and a few of the sponsors. Everyone I spoke to and heard from got me more and more excited for the upcoming trip.

On the way out of the Multi Purpose Room doors, I wondered what doors the ILC will open for me down the road.

Locked Doors at ECHS

You'd never think it would take me almost ten minutes to navigate my own school, but it did.

When I went to the meeting our chaperone Mrs. Lilhanand had called last night to go over paperwork at El Cerrito High, I made the mistake of suggesting we go in the back way instead of through the front doors. “Look, the gates are open!” I said, and my dad shrugged and got out of the car. We'd arrived early in good ILC fashion. The gate to the parking lot was no issue, but then the doors to the A building (where the meeting was held) proved to be locked. So were the doors of the hallways connecting to the A building. We spent ten minutes trying every (locked) door we could find, and ended up giving in and circling around to walk through the front doors, which, thankfully, were open. I was more than a little embarrassed to find all the other students, even those from other high schools, already there enjoying pizza.

The meeting itself was pretty standard. Mrs. L went over information about our travel plans, what we would do in the days before the class started, possible weekend excursions with our RAs, got some helpful hints from parent's who's children had been involved with ILC before (Thanks Mrs. Wang!), and filled out paperwork. When my father saw the forms we were filling out and recognized some of them as forms he had had to fill out for our school district during every single year his two children had been enrolled in school, he laughed and asked me why the ILC couldn't have just gotten them from our files at the high school. I laughed and shrugged; its the way of things, filling out identical forms multiple times a year. We gave Mrs. L a copy of our IDs and a copy of our medical insurance card as she'd asked; we all promised to give her a copy of forms we had filled out for Columbia (that I still have to find!); everyone said “See you Wednesday!” and we all left.

Of the students there, I knew Masao from school, I had spoken to Will before, and Eric was my other classmate from the ILC so I had met him at the interviews. It was my first time meeting Beilul and Milani, the other two girls in the Columbia cohort; although I didn't really speak with them much during the night, they both seemed really friendly. I'm looking forward to talking to them at the dinners and functions and such that are required of the Ivy League Connection students, as well as spending time getting to know all of my classmates while we are back East.

The Beginning of Blogs to Come

It was a bright, sunny morning on Saturday, April 30 when about 11 Ivy League Connection students and 3 chaperones convened at the Hercules Public Library for Don’s tutorial. The session covered a wide variety of topics ranging from proper justification of one’s blogposts to tips on public speaking and professional attire.

As he began the tutorial at 10:30 on the dot, Don commended us on our punctuality but admonished our untimely responses to the many ILC emails. Then, wasting no time at all, he dove right into the basic framework that was vital to creating a good blog. This included information on proper formatting and the types of information that are appropriate (and inappropriate) to share on the blog.

Photography was next, as Don provided us with some tips on taking good photographs (including keeping your arms still by leaning on something, which will produce a sharper image). The tutorial concluded with some overview of the responsibilities we have as ILC students preparing for our summer adventures which include blogging every day we spend on the East Coast.

Don made sure we knew that our blogs are not to be travelogues. We are expected to provide our own personal analysis of the events we witness, lectures we attend and activities we participate in – not dwell on unimportant facts. We were given a handout that provided us with examples of two good blogs with great grammar and punctuality, detail and insight. One also had some great pictures. Conversely, we were also given examples of subpar blogposts that featured enough grammatical and punctual errors to make your head spin.

Photos of the group beginning to pack up:

After the meeting had ended, I had a chance to touch bases with Mrs. Lilhanand, the Columbia chaperone, as she met with Masao and I to briefly discuss the trip. The Columbia cohort will also be meeting at El Cerrito High School on Monday to take care of some paperwork.

As the school year begins to come to an end, the tutorial was at the perfect time: right before all the big ILC events and close enough to our departure date for me to begin to get really excited for our upcoming adventures.

Lessons For The Future

At the Hercules Library, members so the 2011 Ivy League Connection met for a mandatory blogging tutorial. I thought the tutorial was helpful because Don covered all the basics of blogging. I learned how to make our blog more interesting by posting videos and pictures. In addition, Don provide examples of bad blogs, one which was 958 words long and had 81 errors, and a great blog, "Bulldog Days" by Austin Long.

After Don demonstrated how to use BlogSpot and Photoshop, Don moved on to helping us prepare to attending prestigious institutions such as Columbia University. We were instructed on what to pack, and what not to pack. I was surprised to learn that some may need to bring their own desk lamps, and extension cords because the outlets were underneath the beds, where it was impossible to plug electronics in.

Overall, the tutorial was very useful. I left the Hercules Library knowing how to blog, and knew more about what I can expect this summer in New York City. However, the part of the tutorial I liked the most was when everyone introduced themselves. It was nice see my peers and to be able to put a face to a name

Thank you Don for organizing this tutorial!

Sorry, Public Transit.

Whenever anyone says, “Practice makes perfect!” the majority of folks reply with, “Well, duh,” and then promptly move on to doing something else. But, the cliché is good advice. So time to get practicing.

Today was the Ivy League Connection’s mandatory Blog Tutorial. I never thought you’d need a tutorial on blogging, but apparently we do. It was an interesting event, mostly because, well, it was out in Hercules. My parents’ first response was, “Just take the bus!” since they’d both be at work or on their way. Right. I take the bus pretty often for someone my age, but an hour and a half is not exactly what I had in mind for a commute. I had to be there at 10 AM (not am or a.m., Mr. Don Gosney, although I have to say that rule makes little sense to me), which would have meant I had to leave the house before 8:30, an unkind thing to do to a teenager on break. So, luckily, I convinced my mother to take me there and hitched a ride with Don and fellow Columbia-bound student Will to get home. No buses for me today!

The information presented to me in the session was largely nothing new. There were some very good reminders (proof-read, proof-read, and proof-read!) and some interesting advice followed by choice anecdotes (Don’t let your professors brain-wash you, kids!), but all in all very little new information. We all got chewed out a bit for our flagging email response times (which, in all fairness, we deserved). Mrs. L, the Columbia chaperone, sat down with, Will, Eric – yet another student in my Columbia cohort, and the only other ILCer studying Constitutional Law – and myself to go over some logistics for our travels to, from, and within New York City. Apparently we are going to have almost no time after reaching our hotel straight off the plane to change for our dinner reservation the same night. There are few things in which I am truly a stereotypical female, but I do take a fair amount of time to get changed and dressed for any event of importance. But, I’ll have to make do. At least Mrs. L is very well organized!

No, there are no photos for this blog post as I didn't take any, but that'll change when things a bit more exciting start happening.