Saturday, May 14, 2011

Start Strong, Finish Stronger!

The 2011 Ivy League Connection year is full under way. Collectively we have attended blogging tutorials, fancy dinners, and School Board meetings. Each one of these events is training us to not only to be successful teenagers, but move into adulthood.
The blogging tutorial held in the Hercules Public Library seemed to be long, but was quite productive. In this approximately two hour session Don discussed with us the do’, don’ts and intricacies to blogging properly. This was a great experience not only because we all learned the proper way to blog, but because for the first time I was able to meet the majority of my cohorts in the ILC. Someone once told me that every experience you have, you should learn or gain something from it. Well from this experience I was able to gain motivation because for the first time in a while I was able to see a group of focused, yet enjoyable group of young people like myself.
My Brown group was fortunate enough to dine at the One Market Restaurant in San Francisco, California. This event allowed me to meet and mingle with my fellow cohorts who will be embarking on the same journey as me in the near future. I was able to meet with their parents, district employees, future Brown students, Brown alumni, and financial supporters of the ILC. The great range of diversity amongst all the attendees helped to make this a great event. I was fortunate to give a speech representing Brown Session I (Macroeconomics and Biochemistry). Ava Burnell also spoke representing Brown Session II (Women in Leadership). Both of us gave good speeches, but I think that her speech might have been a little more riveting.
The School Board Meeting was a wonderful experience because all of the ILC cohorts attended (minus a sick Caroline Umali). We were all dressed very nicely if I may so myself. Our chaperones gave short speeches to let the School Board, and community know some details and general ideas pertaining to our voyages. Future 2011 enrollees of Brown, Yale, Colombia, and Cornell also gave speeches. All of these students were participants in the Ivy League Connection, so you can see the fruits of the ILC’s labor.
So far our 2011 ILC group has impressed me, and we are all doing well. I am sure we will continue to keep this up, and I look forward to commencing our journey.

Oh What a NIght

All too frequently we see our young Ivy League Connection cohorts dressed in the same clothes they dress in when they go to school.  And while their attire may be event appropriate it's still a joy to see them when they get themselves all decked out.  No offense to the gents in their suits and ties but there's something about seeing our young ladies when they get all gussied up.
Of course, if they're anything like me, as soon as they get home they're back into the most casual clothes they can find.  For those few short hours of these dinners, though, they're something to behold.
And, of course, this year's Brown cohort did not disappoint.
Our Brown contingent is always our largest with seven this year attending the Women & Leadership course, three attending the  How a Nation’s Economy works: An Introduction to Macroeconomics   course and two more the Techniques in DNA-Based Biotechnology course.
Dressed in all of our finery we trekked across the Bay to meet our very active Brown alums at One Market where, through the courtesy and generosity of our host Dick Barker ('57), we dined on some very fine food.
What would our dinners be, though, without a few speeches from our old standbys Charles Ramsey and Madeline Kronenberg?  Adding to the standard speeches, though, we heard the rousing oratory of Andrew Gonzales and Alex Burrell.  Although CNN and Fox News weren't available to cover the event, Andrew Gonzales announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States in 2032.  Already I could feel him tugging at my wallet for a little financial assistance with his campaign.
Of special importance to us, though, was the inclusion of ILC alums Guadalupe Morales and Irene Rojas-Carroll who will both matriculate to Brown at the end of the summer.  To suggest that we were beaming with pride would be an understatement.
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