Almost There! 30 Days Left!

Finals, last week of school, SAT on Saturday, Ivy League Connection Orientation...  Phew! This week is just full of events! I can't believe that all those events have passed! I still look back at interview on March 2, the dinner at Kuleto's on May 14 and the school board meeting on May 20 thinking that all these events just happened yesterday. Today marked the end of our Ivy League Connection events and now we play the waiting game. 

I arrived at the Pinole Middle School at 5:45 P. M. today and once my mom and I check in, I found my cohort immediately. I was pleased to see that I was not the only one there and I wasn't late! As Mr. Hillyer, our chaperone, says "If you are on time you are late but if you are 30 minutes early then you are on time." At the orientation, we saw the items Don has to loan to students and I was amazed to see how much stuff he owns and lends to students. I admire how much work he is putting into this program and it's a bonus that he can also provide things we need for the trip like luggages, laptops, lamps, etc. Today was the day for questions and all questions were welcomed. It was nice to see some ILC alumni's come back and speak to the cohort they were previously in. 

Penn Group! "We are all in this together"

About 30 minutes into the orientation, every cohort went into a different classroom that had their school flag. In the UPENN group, Mr. Hillyer informed the parents of what we were going to do while we are over in the East Coast. It kind of a shock for the parents learn that we have not booked our plane tickets yet since the summer is usually the busiest time of the year for traveling. Everyone asked questions and Mr. Hillyer was very descriptive every time he answered a question. Chiamaka had to go over to the classroom which housed Vanderbilt's cohort to serve as an alumni. We had two ILC alums (whose name I didn't quite catch) who shared their experience at Penn and assured us that we will have a lot of fun. An hour later, Don came knocking at our door telling us that it was time to back into the Multipurpose room so that he could inform parents when the items will be available to loan out. In the process, some parents asked questions and Don answered them. After the meeting was done, my cohort took a group photo since people were taking pictures with Don and we felt the need to take one too. 

Alums from previous ILC years