Brown, Here I Come!

I woke up this morning around 7 AM, filled with apprehension. Today, I would present my very short speech to the Latino Alumni Association and my fellow Brownies at the brunch at the Maddock Alumni Center. I must confess I wasn’t exactly filled with joy. I was never the most confident public speaker, especially since I have not had any real practice (before joining the ILC) in quite some time. I knew that I was speaking to a room of enthusiastic, highly intellectual Brown alumni, which only added to my stress load.

After an interesting morning in which six girls attempted to all shower, dress, and pack in the same suite, all before meeting in the lobby at 10:30, we departed for the brunch. We hiked up the hill in our semi-formal brunch clothing. The Brown I students, now experts about the campus, located the Alumni Center and we all filed inside. We all shook hands with the alumni and settled in for brunch.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, we moved into another room for the short speeches. Adrianne gave an interesting speech about the suffrage movement and how it related to our Women and Leadership class, and I spoke briefly about my feelings towards Brown, the W&L class, and the ILC. I was somewhat nervous while I was speaking and I was concerned afterwards that my speech had been too short, I was glad that I had not made any big mistakes. To close out the session, chemistry Professor Jason Sello orated about perseverance and audacity.

Now that we had consumed what might be our last ILC meal, we returned to our hotel to check out. Brown II had to bid Brown I farewell. We headed off to check into new dorms as the Brown I students left for the airport. Ms. Larson, Ms. Williams, and Mr. Ramsey dropped us off at campus, avoiding the confusion produced by the Iron Triathlon, an event that was held today in Providence.

We got our room assignments and realized that, as Kiana Ward had told us, we were all lodged in Harkness Hall, a lovely dorm located right off of Thayer Street. When I opened my door, I was surprised to realize that I had a single room. I have mixed feelings about this. Initially I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to share a room with a complete stranger for two weeks, but as I thought about it I became very disappointed that I would not be able to make friends with a roommate and have that important experience.

At our dorm floor bonding meeting, I learned that Harkness Hall houses all of the female participants of the Leadership Institute, which includes all of the leadership classes offered by Summer@Brown. Our dorm meeting concluded with a large group orientation, held in a lecture hall near the VW dining facility. We then went to dinner at the VW. I had pasta and squash, a simple but filling meal.

After dinner, I wandered around Thayer Street for a little while with Cynthia, Josie, Alex (Ava), Rebecca, and a couple new friends. I attended the ice cream social held in the quad outside Harkness, and signed up for a trip to Newport on Saturday.

We had a floor meeting after the ice cream social. Our wonderful RA, Tiffany, helped lay out the rules and schedules of Summer@Brown. She is from Oakland, California! Tiffany is very friendly and helpful and I think I will really enjoy having her as my RA. I unpacked my suitcases, made my bed, and checked in with Tiffany to ensure that I am in before curfew.

I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I’ll sign off. Goodnight!

(I apologize for the lack of pictures. They are not uploading very cooperatively so I'll try again tomorrow.)