Deep Dish-n-Talks

I have been thinking about the deep dish pizza ever since I woke up this morning. I glanced at my clock and looked to see that it is five minutes past my routined wake-up time. I crawl out of bed and thus began my get-ready custom: brush, wash, and change. As I descend down the newly vacuumed staircase, I grin. There was a plate full of cooked eggs and "zai". Zai (if this is how you englishize it) is a type of grinded meat found in most Vietnamese sandwiches stores. I grabbed toasts from the toaster and settled down to make my deluxe morning sandwich. I was going to make three sandwiches: two for the morning, and one for the afternoon, but I realized that we have our dinnereon tonight at 6PM so I ended up with two fully condensed sandwiches. I started to browse the Internet hoping for someone to invent a new language or fly to Planet X. Sadly, today's headline did not catch my interest. I went outside to the roaring '97 Avalon outside in our backyard which my mom adjusting her driver's seat. I asked my mom, "You remember that I have a meet-n-greet tonight at 6 right?" She responded, "Don't worry, you've already reminded me enough times this week to let me forget. I'll meet you in house at 5PM.

Today's class seemed to drag to an infinity number of hours as our teacher talked about Aristotle to Confucious to Epicurus. I had not realized that self-realization happens with seven adjustments that come along the way in Western culture. Also we talked about self-cultivation and how it differs in Asian culture than of Western culture. I'm surprised to say that Confucious rarely talks about life after death or whatnot and focuses on the present time. I carried this thought throughout class.

As Justeen's mom pull up on to my driveway, I say hello as Justeen climbs out of the car. We watched a few minutes of TV before my mom said it was time to go to Zachary's Chicago Pizza at Berkeley. We arrived there in scheduled time and met up with Elexis and Rudy. As we entered the restaurant, the smell of tomato sauce activated my adrenaline and almost instantaneously my eyes fired up. I was hungry and ready to eat. Mr. Hillyer talked about our itinerary in more detail than yesterday and I listened closely as I might have left out on yesterday's presentation. We have finalized to visit Rice University and Vanderbilt University over the summer before heading off to University of Pennsylvania.

Chicken special with Root Beer. Yummmmm

Whenever I order something new, my motto is to go weird. Mr. Hillyer decided to get a thin crust jalapeno, pesto, and salami pizza as an appetizer before our 40-50min baked deep dish came out. Both pizzas turned out to be amazing scrumptious and my tummy never felt so glad and full.  The meeting gradually came to an end when most of the pizza got devoured by us. Rudy was the first to be picked up and Joanne walked to her car as we exited out of Zachary's. The remaining cohort went to Pegasus books right next to Zachary's and browsed. There were a group of people tuned in for Jazz Stories Night in the bookstore and I couldn't help but take a picture of this heartwarming atmosphere. 

A community within a community

Now that all the ground work has been done, I wait for July 1st to come so we can fly and learn because that's what all the prep work was for.

Penn Pizza Party

Today was sort of a rough day for me, starting from the moment I woke up. School is ending in a couple of days and I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety pertaining to finals. Somehow, I was able to push all of my problems to the back of my head in order to get myself excited for my Penn dinner. I was nervous about being late because Mr. Hillyer already stated that it was a pet peeve of his. I think I arrived around 5:57 or 5:58 depending on whose clock you were looking at. As I walked into Zachary's, I heard Mr. Hillyer before I saw him. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and almost bumped into a waitress carrying two pizzas. Feeling incredibly embarrassed and awkward, I sat down quickly. I accidentally stepped on Rudy's foot as I sat down, but he didn't seem to notice because he was talking to Elexis. 

Everyone was all smiles and laughs as we talked throughout the evening. Mike Vroom, who was with us at the orientation yesterday, joined us again today for our meet and greet. He gave us even more advice on Penn such as always securing our laptops. Mr. Hillyer also provided more information about how not to act like a tourist, the beauty of train stations, and favorite food places. 

books are my favorite companions

After enjoying our wonderful deep dish pizza, we headed out and took a short walk around the Berkeley neighborhood. Rudy was the first to leave so he didn't join us on our short trip to the book store. There was a cute little jazz night happening at the book store. The music was great and I was able to look at some new titles that I might want to read this summer. After the book store, we walked over to a DVD store. Jun, Justeen, Mike, Mr. Hillyer, and I were all geeking out over some films we recognized and talked about other movies that we didn't like. I found it kind of funny that they didn't appreciate Moonrise Kingdom as much as I did but I guess you win some, you lose some. My mom ran a bit late picking me up but it was nice to have a conversation with Mr. Hillyer. 

I'm on the edge of my seat (figuratively) for this summer. It couldn't come soon enough. I can honestly say that we are going to have an amazing time and we're never going to want to leave when that day comes. 

Before We Go....Let's Eat and Fellowship!

Zachary's Pizza the best Chicago pizza in the area! The dinner today was set up to serve as a gathering for all of to get to know one another and discuss events that will happen on the trip. We were joined by Mike today from '13 ILC at Penn. The only thing I was looking forward to today was the dinner; everything else that I did in school didn't make the day better. Can't go wrong with (good) food on a bad day! 

As we were waiting for our food, Mr. Hillyer shortly informed us of what was going to happen on the trip. We are eagerly waiting for our plane tickets and other info but it will come to us soon. Our alum who joined us, Mike, gave short testimony about his experience there and the events he went to. It sounded really awesome and everyone seemed very excited. The first dish that came was a thin crusted pesto-salami-jalepeno pizza; not sure what the name of it was. I was a bit skeptical about it and thought that it wouldn't taste good but when I tried it, it was delicious. I was already half full when the second dish came and it was a sausage, pepperoni, salami, bacon, tomato pizza called Carne. You can never go wrong with bacon. Another deep-dish pizza came after which had chicken, tomato and basil however I did not try it because I was full from eating a slice of the Carne. 

Carne Deep Dish Pizza with an Italian Soda 

As we were eating, Mike said that each week, a program called Summer Bridge would provide us tickets to go see one movie for the week but the movie would have to be decided by the people on our floors. I am extremely excited about this because I know that there are a lot of good movies coming out in the summer. He also informed us that the physics lab is very cold like the dorms and advised us to bring a sweatshirt just in case. Mr. Hillyer and him talked to us a lot about the weather and how it can rain one minute and be sunny the next. They also said that the rain over there is like taking a warm shower except you are outside and it feels really nice. Jun and I gave each other looks because we have experienced weather like this as both of us have been in China; which is also very hot and humid. 

After everyone was done eating, Mr. Hillyer asked for the check and paid with his newly activated credit card hoping that it would work and it worked! We all got lollipops, which is a bonus for kids our age, and everyone took one. Now it's off to play the waiting game again! 29 more days to go! 

Informal Informational Orientation

THE FUTURE OF WEST CONTRA COSTA!!!!!!!!

Today, was the orientation for the trips to the several destinations the cohorts will be going. As any orientation it was informative and well deserved. I not only learned more about what I should bring,borrow and expect but I also learned a lot more about my cohort members. For instance, I learned that my cohort members are funny,very kind and friendly. I figured they were but they have continued to be the same way they were the first time I met them. The only exception is we have all become more talkative, since the interview.

As I was saying about the orientation information, it was well deserved and informative. One of the many things I learned was how early our flight maybe (in some cases we might have to be there for six in the morning). Along with that I learned how much of a stickler for earliness Don is. Also, I found out that John our cohort chaperon is a morning person. Well, to be totally honest I'm not a morning person, but this program will help me to become further equipped with the tools of adult-hood. And a major part of adult-hood is waking up early and managing my own sleep schedule according to John. Although, it isn't something I am used to I am ready to develop a new definition of early and late, because my definition of early is twelve noon on the weekend during the school year but during summer it is probably around one in the evening. From that alone you probably don't even want to know my definition of late.

John discusses the seriousness of punctuality.

At the moment when Don and John where talking about the timing, I was feeling so worried because I know myself. But, I was not going to let that worry me because I had to remind myself that waking up at "crazy times"  was all apart of the experience and opportunity.

In exactly one month, my cohort and I will be on our way to the "Lone-Star State" also known as Texas. To be exact we will be heading to Rice University in Houston, Texas. After that we will be on our way to the " Country Music Capital of the World", Nashville, Tennessee. There we will be visiting Vanderbilt University. Finally, we will be reaching our final destination Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; where we will be attending the University of Pennsylvania.

I believe that I speak for my whole cohort when I say that we can't wait to go to Penn and have the ability to receive and share our wonderful experience( through our blogs) with you all. We are counting down the days right now. I can't wait, I'm so excited.

"Informally Informed"

Our Dream Will Come True Faster Than I Imagined!

Today was like a roller coaster ride with many ups and downs. My alarm went off,” Last week of school! This week will be great no matter what!” I said to myself first thing this morning. Without knowing how shaky my day would be. I got up and worked on school work, since this week is the last week of this school year I set myself a goal to finish strong. Thus my morning started calm and collected I had everything planned out; I would go to school, go to first period and turn in missing assignments for my ITA class and then go to continue with my AP Art Portfolio breath pieces and come home to continue working on school work and get ready early for the evening. It rained so I got a ride to school from my best friend Kenneth, since we always bike to school together. We went to first period and we had a lot of food to eat the whole period. It was a great way to start my morning.

John in Action

Time passed slowly and it was a very relaxing class. The bell rang to dismiss us to lunch, I was full from all the food so I went straight into art class to do art and have a great final day in art class this school year. I love art so I was in a great mood. I thought it would only get better and so time flew and the dismissal bell rang. I went to check in with my AP Spanish and chemistry teachers to make sure I had everything taken care of for the last class. With a smile on my face I skated to the gas station where my mom would pick me up. she told me I had to go pick up my baby sister while she ran some errands I reminded her we had to be at the meeting at 6 and she told me to not worry and so I went to pick up my sister and came home around 3:10 pm I know that time flies and so I called my mom to remind her what time we had to leave. I was getting worried so I decided to watch educational YouTube videos on how to build your own free wind energy station. It was interesting and I thought about it and imagined myself doing it during summer and fell asleep in no time. It was horrible because when I woke up it was 5:25 pm.  

I found myself in a race against time I felt a little mad at myself but I realized I had no time to be mad because I had to be at the orientation in less than half an hour. I dashed to the bathroom and took the shortest shower by far this year. I got dressed and with 20 minutes sparing I got on the car and drove with my mom to Pinole high school. I tried to go as fast as possible while doing so safely and legally. The freeway was filled with cars and the traffic was moving slow. “Oh no!” I thought to myself but I had not given up hope. I  When I got there I was frustrated because I realized I was at the wrong place and it was 6:02 pm. I was late and I remembered the email said “Pinole middle school, NOT HIGH SCHOOL!” I was mad at myself and hurried to what I thought was Pinole middle school. It felt like the longest drive ever. John called me to ask about where I was and to give me a word about being prepared and punctual something I had failed at today. Feeling devastated I ended up at De Anza high school thinking it was Pinole middle school. I had been there with Don before so it was a familiar place and so I thought that was where we would have the orientation. In the stress and chaos of running late I had forgotten that that was a high school and not a middle school.

'15 ILC Penn Group

Any hope I had left escaped upon the realization of this mistake I had made. I was frustrated and mad at myself. I promised myself I would prepare more in the future and read every part of the emails sent to me by Don and the ILC. We finally made it to the orientation and I hurried in. I talked to Don and apologized for being late. Don accepted my apology and asked where I went after Pinole; I told him De Anza it was very embarrassing because I should have known better. He guided me into the room where I Penn was and I went and sat down as quietly as I could. I was the last person there. I came in and I was given the rough draft schedule for the summer at Penn. John talked to us about the things we would do and how we were going to go about them. He warned us it would be hot. I like wearing shorts so I was excited about it. He also talked about how wonderful the city was and safe and fun Penn was. The rough draft schedule started on July 1^st this made me excited because we are one month away! We went off to the packing review Don would give us and I apologized to John for being late. Don did a great job explaining all the things we would need for the summer and what we could borrow from the ILC. It was awesome and it made me happy. Especially since I had such a horrible commute and almost gave up on finding it. Thank you John for helping me get to Pinole middle school and I am sorry for being late. Thank you for your kind words upon my late arrival Don, it helped me relax when I was so tense and stressed. This was a good lesson to learn, I won’t let this mistake happen again. Once again sorry to John and Don and to all my peers for my late arrival.

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 

Orientation Imitation

Today was the final ILC milestone before we depart to our respective schools. I don't think that there is a single word in the English language that can accurately describe how excited I am to be going to UPenn this summer. I'll start with "ecstatic," even though it's a monumental understatement. I was a bit scared for today because Don made it very clear to all of the ILC cohort members that we were expected to bring a parent, unfortunately both my parents had to work today and were unable to attend; luckily Don allowed my sister to take the place of my parents which I appreciated very much. 

The ILC members of Hercules high school continued our tradition of celebrating Don during the Orientation because...why not? Don does so much for the Ivy League Connections, there is so many little details that he handles that we might not even notice and this was our own way of thanking him, and showing him that he is appreciated. We all channeled our inner Don by wearing aloha t-shirts.

Imitation is the best form of flattery

Midway through the orientation, we broke out into our cohorts and we discussed a "rough-draft" itinerary for our trip in July. This is Mr. Hillyer's fourth time chaperoning the Penn group so he's pretty much a pro at this. He told us that the week before our classes start is going to be the most hectic; he and I similar in a way that we both like a little bit of controlled chaos in the mix. I'm mostly excited to party like it's 1776 on 4th of July!! We were lucky enough to have Alex Elms and Michael Vroom join us during our break out session. They are ILC alumna who went to Penn during the summer of '11 and '13. They told us a little bit about their time in Penn and the different activities that Penn makes available for anyone who wants it. I'm determined to go to a live baseball game if that's an option this summer. 

Penn group >

During our little break out, I was pulled away to give some tips to the Vanderbilt Cohort. I have to admit that I got a bit too nostalgic while talking about my adventures in Vandy, but it was fantastic to be able to reminisce all the memories and relive the stories as I told them. I think the Vanderbilt cohort is a great group of people and they are going to have an amazing time. Being able to talk about my memories inspired me to make new ones this summer with the amazing group of people that I've been blessed to be with.

After our break out, we all met again in the cafeteria and discussed loaner items. Seeing all the items on display perpetuated my excitement for this summer. Our flight to Houston leaves 30 days from today. The countdown begins...NOW

The Countdown Begins

As I lay in my bed enjoying my summer, I began thinking about how time is going by so quickly. When my semester had ended, I thought that this would be the longest summer I would have to endure because my trip to the East coast seemed like a faraway dream, but time is moving faster than I had expected. 

Tonight was the night of our final ILC event, which was hard to believe. Since I was afraid of coming late, I actually came at 30 minutes early, and once I arrived at Pinole Middle School, I began walking towards the multipurpose room. I signed in and sat down at one of the tables near the front of the room. One by one, the room started to become filled with the ILC participants, as well as their parents. It was amazing to see how many people were actually in the room.

A few of the loaner items

Since I came earlier than everyone, I had some time to look at a few items that Don had laid out on a separate table. There were several things that ranged from blankets, to portable fans, and I honestly wondered if all of those items would actually fit in my suitcase. I didn't even know how big my suitcase should be, but luckily Don had also put out several suitcases as examples.

The meeting itself was very informative, because I was clueless as to how I should even prepare for this trip. Once Don finished with the introductions of everything, each cohort then went to different rooms, and our chaperones further discussed the details of our trips. For the PENN cohort, our chaperone, Mr. Hillyer, as well as several ILC alumni enthusiastically spoke about their past experiences when they traveled to the East coast, which made me even more excited for what's to come. I just keep on imagining myself inside the dorms or the classrooms, as I hear more stories about others’ experiences.

The wonderful chaperones

On July 1st, I would actually be getting on an airplane to our first stop in Texas. Afterwards, we would be heading over to Pennsylvania to visit Vanderbilt, as well enjoy the 4^th of July in Philadelphia. In theory, everything seems so structured and organized, but I’m just hoping that my first few days won’t be too hectic, seeing that we have so many places to visit with so little time.

After learning about the details of where we would be traveling to and what to expect once we arrive, everyone joined up again in the multipurpose room, where Don talked about what exactly we should be bringing. I'm actually really thankful that the ILC is able to loan so many items to students, and it really is helpful for everyone. 

I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity that I have been given, and I will definitely not waste it. Knowing that I get to attend a course at UPENN in a month is something that I never even thought I would be doing. After having this meeting, I can finally know what to expect, and how to prepare for everything. At last, the countdown of the days until I takeoff begins. 

The lovely UPENN cohort

Prep Work: Done

Today is June 1st, which also means that exactly one month later I, along with the rest of the UPenn cohort, will be hopping on the plane to Houston, Texas.

School has been out for me since the 20th of last month, but I decided to not waste a perfectly unplanned month before the UPenn summer study so I signed up for a philosophy class at my neighboring community college. What Contra Costa College does best is that they offer a summer intersession course and the philosophy class happens to be one of them; this suits my needs perfectly. The intense three week philosophy course will be a warm-up to the upcoming Social Justice Academy.

After getting out of my philosophy class at 1PM, I positioned myself an enclosed space in the San Pablo library, immersed into a new series I had found recently; the Lorien Legacies. I realized that by the time my phone rang at 5PM, I had already finished three-fourths of the first book. I decided to check out the sequel so I'll have an extra in case I finish the first book before tomorrow. My mom called promptly at 5:15PM and I headed out to the parking lot to search for my mom's whereabouts. It took me a few minutes but eventually I found the '97 Avalon camouflaged in the rows of cars.

At 6PM, the ILC orientation officially started with Don giving a speech with his aloha trademark shirt with khaki shorts. Most of the ILCers are already familiar with the information but a refresher does not hurt. Our parents, on the other hand, is probably updating not only their cell phones but also their notepads while Don is giving us the brief itineraries for participating schools. After about a good half hour, we then got split into classrooms with our cohort members. Mr. Hillyer was amazing as he started right away by assuring our parents that we'd be in safe hands. Immediately my mom's shoulders soften. Everyone asked questions related to our trip and I think after the group talk we all felt more prepared for what's to come. Chiamaka stepped out as she was part of the Vanderbilt cohort last year so she went across the hallway and shared her experience with the current Vanderbilt cohort.

We gathered once again back to the main multipurpose room and that's when we got to see Don's Items. Don understands that not everybody has traveled before so he had his whole display of items to take on loan. I window-shopped for a bit and realized that I should probably borrow some of Don's Twin XL bedsheets!

Our cohort has agreed to meet tomorrow for our pre-trip dinnereon at Zachary's Deep Dish Pizza. I can't wait until we discuss more specifics and boy, am I excited!

From left to right: Rudy, Chiamaka, Mr. Hillyer, Elexis, Justeen, Myself, and Joanne

Nerve wrecking School board Meeting

One Nerve Wrecking Moment, Success!

Wednesday morning, it was a regular morning like any other, but there was something I was forgetting. Something important that I had been waiting for, I couldn’t recall what it had been. I got ready for school and checked my calendar, that’s when it hit me! I had totally forgotten about the board meeting. I reminded my mother immediately and she told me she couldn’t go because she had to take care of my two younger sisters. School once again flew by because I was really nervous and exited to go to the board meeting and give my speech. I had no speech written out but I had been thinking about the moment when I went up in front of the board and the people present to talk about all the wonderful things of the ILC and Penn University.

Gentlemen's Club ILC 2015!

It was 2:30pm and the last bell rang, I walked home exited for later on that evening, we were supposed to meet at Lovonya Middle School at 5:50pm. I was relaxed because I live very close to Lovonya and my mother was supposed to give me a ride. When I got home around 3:10pm I was even more exited! I ate dinner and waited 30 minutes to take a shower and get ready. I put on my suit and tie and I was ready. I reminded my mom about the board meeting and she told me I would have to drive myself because she was busy taking care of my two younger sisters. I kept calm and told her that it was okay. She then asked me to run an errand after she took a phone call from my uncle and I said I would and so I made a quick stop to the store that wasn’t so quick because by the time I had gotten back home it was about to be 6 pm.

Gentlemen's Club 2015

I rushed into the house to leave the things she needed, gave her a kiss on the cheek and left to the board meeting. John called to check on me when I had gotten on the wrong parking lot and I told him I was there but I hadn’t parked the car yet. I was worried and rushing to get to the right parking lot. In the excitement the position door where we were supposed to go into had slipped out of my mind but I quickly remembered because of the three people that were talking outside the door. I hurried in and the sight of my peers relieved my worries and stress. I noticed Elexis was missing. I got worried but my peers told me she was running late like me and she would be there soon. We were called to a quick meeting with my peer Penn summer students by our chaperon John and we talked about what we would do once we got called. He also mentioned my speech. I got worried and nervous because I didn’t get to putting my thoughts into words. With the guidance of my chaperon I had an outline to my speech before we went to sit down with our group.

Our Wonderful ILC Sponsors

We were the second to last group that was called and each passing group was amazing and had a nice presentation, it made me proud because I realized I was very privileged to have those bright young people as my peers. But it also made me scared because all the speeches were awesome and I was afraid I wouldn’t compare. Finally we were up, my heart dropped but with the help John had given me I know I wasn’t going to fail. We went up, unrolled our Penn flag to represent and John introduced us and our program and my speech. Oh so soon It came, a nerve wrecking moment scared and nervous I went up and gave the speech, I talked about the three things me and my peers were looking forward to this summer. They were the various cultures and people we would meet, our exposure to new colleges we wouldn’t have had the chance to visit and learn about if it wasn’t for the ILC and finally the reflection blogs we would be writing every day. Somehow I got through the speech and I thanked our sponsors and everyone who made it possible for us to have this amazing opportunity this summer.

ILC Class of 2015!!!

We ended with a group picture of the whole ILC students and parents, the guys, we were outnumbered by far and so we decided to take a group picture together, the gentlemen’s club as we called it was created. It was an amazing experience and AWESOME! I went home and did homework for a long time; I have been finally finishing up. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS POSSIBLE FOR US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!