Tonight we had our second Brown dinner in San Francisco, but this one was different from the first. This reception was for the Brown mentorship program, in which we each have the privilege of being paired up with a Brown mentor. There were only four of us ILCers as opposed to twelve at the last dinner, and the meeting was relatively informal, aside from our formal dress. The main purpose of our meeting was for the students to get to know some Brown alumni.
I was very happy to see Erinn, Adrianne, and Mariko again. We took the El Cerrito Plaza Bart to the City, where we dined at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. There were three large, round tables in our meeting room with many more chairs than we needed. Originally, everyone was scattered around different tables, but after a while, we left an entire table empty and crowded around the mentors to introduce ourselves and stir up interesting conversations. The food, styled in a grab-whatever-you-want fashion, was delicious. Burgers, and French fries, and cupcakes! Oh my!
We were able to mingle with Brown alumni, ask them our burning questions, and listen to the telling of their experiences in Providence. All of the mentors were eager to help us with the college process for any school, not just Brown. Some mentors graduated recently and some a while back, but they were all equally passionate about Brown. I learned many interesting things, from the variety of students we'll meet there to the option of receiving grades versus pass/fail for a course to the extreme weather in Rhode Island. A recurring theme throughout the night was that Brown was “the happiest place on Earth”; sorry Disneyland. And from the smiles on the alumni’s faces and their continuous praises of the school, I can see that Brown is a happy, happy place indeed. Hearing their stories makes me even more eager to leave for the East Coast!
The night ended with, as usual, a group picture by none other than ILC’s personal photographer, Mr. Don Gosney. As the mentors stuck around for their own meeting, our group decided to visit the atrium on the next level of the hotel. And let me tell you, it was beautiful. We took some more pictures and finally left the grand hotel to go home.
Today was a great opportunity to talk with Brown alumni about their personal experiences. Thank you Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Hong for organizing this event.
I’m extremely excited to be assigned a Brown mentor, and I’m even more excited that Brown Session #1 departs in six days! And did I mention it was Erinn’s birthday today? Happy birthday Erinn!
Kathleen,
ReplyDeleteNice blog and nice photos.
We're all so very grateful for the extra effort that our Brown alums take to tell you about how great Brown is. All of our alums are great but the San Francisco chapter of the Brown alums is very proactive in trying to convince the world that the sun rises and sets in Providence.
There must be something about Brown that sets it apart, though, or we'd find people picketing at our events to warn you off.
You might recall meeting Kiana Ward at our dinner and again while we were waiting for our BART train. When Kiana was still attending El Cerrito HS and a part of the ILC, she was 100% dead set on going to UCLA. At the time we were even wondering why she was wasting our time and money by being a part of the ILC if her mind was already made up.
Something happened while she was there, though--maybe it's something in the water. When she returned she decided not only to apply to Brown but also to apply Early Decision--and she got in. She just finished up her sophomore year at Brown and still seems gung ho about the place so maybe that water is really good or really spiked.
While you're back there you might want to keep your eyes peeled to see if you can see what Kiana saw.