Tutorial Time: One-On-One with Don

Don Gosney is amazing; I had to throw that out there. 

The Ivy League Connection tutorial is a mandatory event and because of my schedule I am unable to attend any of the offered dates and times. I was originally scheduled for the May 4th tutorial from 9 AM-12 PM but this day and time conflicted with a speech competition. As a result, Don, being the amazing person that he is, managed to fit a one-on-one tutorial session with me into his busy schedule.

Tutorial time: April 28th, 11 AM-2 PM; Don came to my house. In my opinion the tutorial overall went from okay, to bad, to worse, to progressively better. The first three of those observations happened within the first half hour.

Don arrives at my home, gets situated, and his first task for me is to log onto his blogspot. My laptop decides not to cooperate. Once it turns on, it will not open Internet Explorer. Then Google Chrome is really slow and won't load the pages I need. Luckily, my mom decides to bring me the iPad with its attachable keyboard for me to work on while she does what she can with my laptop. Don and I can finally move on.

Today, I learned how to blog, that I need and want Photoshop Elements to fix pictures for the blog, the responsibilities associated with the Ivy League Connection, what to pack for the trip, and much much more.

At the dinner on May 13th, I will need to do a lot of mingling --  especially with adults. When going to New York my luggage can only weigh 42 pounds. And, among other things, I was made clear of Don's three rules: check your email every day, be on time, and follow directions.

Working hard with Don.

Now I can practice my blogging skills leading up to my cohort's departure in June, know what I need to pack and what is expected of me, and look to my future with the ILC with confidence.

Thank you again Don!

Beginning of an Adventure

This past Sunday, April 21^st, I finally got to meet my Columbia cohorts! Unfortunately our group was incomplete because one of our cohort members was out of town.

It was gorgeous at the Arlington Park in El Cerrito; you could not have asked for a better day. After much planning Ms. L decided to host a potluck in order for all of the cohorts to mingle and get to know each other and for parents to ask questions. We had plenty of food including bagels, pasta, and more pasta. I brought some of my Mom’s yummy couscous salad.

All in all, we had a productive and successful day. After some mingling and eating we got down to business. Ms. L gathered cohorts and parents together in a circle and began discussing our upcoming adventure. The topics ranged from what we will do the moment we arrive in New York to dorm food. To quote Ms. L “We will hit the ground running.” This actually sounds a little funny because we are flying to New York; that is if you take the phrase literally.

We will begin our mid-summer adventure by visiting several university campuses and dining with admissions officers. Then classes begin! All three of the different courses (mine being an Introduction to Business, Finance, and Economics) will be every week day from 10-12 and 2-4.

An assignment Ms. L gave us is to create a list of the top 10 places we want to go in Manhattan. Only ten! I’m going to have to do some serious research and see what museums and shows I want to see the most.

Sadly, I could only attend the first hour of our potluck meeting. This experience was a great sign of what is to come this summer.



Getting Acquainted

Our first official Columbia cohort 'meeting' kicked off this Sunday in the ever-lovely Arlington Park right here at home. A combination of blue skies, warm weather and just the right amount of shade set the stage for a perfect potluck setting. 

While we all got to catch up with old friends from school, or extracurriculars, and (finally!) make new friends with the rest of the cohort, we enjoyed a buffet of various dishes brought from home - it was pasta, salads and pasta salads galore! Unfortunately, one member of our cohort was not able to make it, but I'll be excited to see her again next time around!

Our chaperone, Ms L, got straight down to business informing us all about the basics. We'll have to hit the ground running from the very beginning, waking up early everyday in order to incorporate our busy schedules. She told us all about the various dress-code requirements, based on events we'll be attending and daily situations. We also learned for the first time today about how dorm-life would look for us. Everyone will be staying right on campus, girls living in suites and boys in rooms off a main hallway. I'm really excited about this living arrangement, as for me, it means living with several people, and according to Ms. L, there's a good chance the people I'll be meeting and possibly living with will be from foreign countries. 

Our class schedules will be 10-12 and 2-4 weekdays, allowing us to stay focused and simultaneously giving us time to study, research, and of course, blog. I can't wait to meet other members of my class at Columbia, and finally get to taste college life while experiencing a truly prestigious and rigorous education.

Aside from school-life, we've all been massively privileged with any and all assortments of weekend activities. Living in Manhattan for a few weeks has got to have its perks. With so many different opportunities to visit national sites, museums, plays, sports and landmarks, it gets harder and harder to wait until our plane takes off. Ms. L has informed us about regulations regarding going anywhere, and such regulations are agreeable and thoughtful. Ms. L definitely cares about our safety, and we'll all have plenty of freedom as well. 

Ms. L wrapped up by giving us all a little assignment - to think about ten things we're most excited about come June, when we get to Manhattan. Living in a big city like NYC means that this assignment will likely be a breeze - narrowing it down to ten things means that my To-Do List will have to be an Absolutely MUST-Do List.

Mix and Mingle!

A beautiful sunny day in the park

Today was our first official meet and greet for our cohort at the beautful Arlington Park in El Cerrito. It was a nice, calm and relaxing day for our cohort, their families and our chaperone Ms. L to get together and get aquainted with everyone. While, sadly, one of our cohort, was unable to attend due to a prior commitment, the rest were able to get a better sense of who it is we will be spending a full month with during our trip.

It was nice to finally get to meet the entire cohort instead of just knowing them through their emails. While I did know a few from the interview session, it was still nice to have the majority of the group together and be able to meet the rest in a more casual setting. Everyone was really nice and very friendly. I look forward to embarking on my great adventure to Columbia with them all and sharing many great experiences.

After enjoying a delicious array of different types of pasta that everyone brought, Ms. L began to give us some details on the trip. She explained the schedule and how the first week would be really intense from the start, with college tours in the morning and dinners in the evening. Ms. L then proceeded to give us her own personal rules for the trip. She is a very strict person when it comes down to knowing where and when we are going somewhere. In a way it gives me a sense of comfort knowing that the person who will be in charge of us for a full month really cares a lot about all of us.

The Cohort in all its glory

We then proceeded to discus the details about the life on campus. We talked roughly over the amount of time we would be spending in class. Beginnig at 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM, then from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Ms. L explained how almost about 30% of the students who would be attending the summer program at Columbia were international students from all over. I became very excited at the thought of being able to get to meet new people from entirely different countries and to learn a bit more of the culture behind them. Apart from students there would also be a college-age person who would be in charge of us during our stay in the dorm rooms. There would also be many excursions during our free time hosted by the dorm’s Resident Assistant.  It was also made very clear that the school libraries would play a huge role during our time at Columbia and that we would be doing a lot of research and writitng. From my own experiences on the debate team I understand that reaseach can take a lot of time to do properly so I can already relate to the amount of time we will probably spend in the libraries. Already the same excitement I felt when I was admitted into the ILC began surging within me and it almost began to feel like a fantasy to be given this opportunity.

Then we touched upon what what our first cohort assignment would be, Ms. L described how each of us would need to create a list of our top ten locations to visit. At that moment, my mind began racing with the endless possibilities of what to visit. Being Manhattan the adventure can be endless with there being so much to see. One condition that was imposed upon us however, was that at least one of the locations had to be a museum of some kind. Ms. L said that this would not be too hard, since there is a museum for practically any subject a person is interested in. At that moment the thought that my dream of visiting the "Big Apple" was finally coming true and that the places that I would see on TV I would actually have a chance to visit. 

Awesome Anticipation

Today, for the first time, the Columbia cohort came together for a delicious potluck. It was a beautiful day to be outside and the park was buzzing with activity. There were at least five birthday parties and hoards of small children were out enjoying the wonderful weather. Fortunately Ms. L arrived early and was able to save a spot in the shade with a great outlook of the rest of the park.

While waiting for others to arrive, the group conversed casually about life at school and everyone expressed their excitement for the summer ahead. At this point in time, I’m trying to avoid thinking too much about summer because I become too excited!

Once everyone arrived at the potluck, we began to eat. There was a fantastic variety of food and every dish was delicious. We each formally introduced ourselves and Ms. L spoke to us about her expectations. I soon learned that Ms. L is an experienced chaperone with fair, clear, and strict regulations for us. I believe that she will be an excellent leader and help us optimize both the amount of fun we have and the amount of learning we get done in New York. As my dad put it, “she’s on the ball.” I am truly grateful to have her as my chaperone.

I have a feeling that over the summer many more pictures like this will be taken!

Ms. L outlined a rough schedule of our daily lives during the program. She told us about our busy first week where we will tour several schools, go out to fancy dinners, and explore as much of New York as possible. I realize that this will be thoroughly exhausting, but it I know I will value every minute of it. She then told us about what to expect on a daily basis when we are at Columbia. She expects that will spend a lot of time in the library, which I find really exciting because I love college libraries. Every time I enter one I feel as surrounded by productivity and gain feeling of motivation that I didn’t have before I arrived.

We also gained a better understanding of our living situation at Columbia. The girls are in suites with either a double or a single room. The boys do not have a suite style living situation, but can also either have a double or a single room. I really hope to have a roommate. I want my experience at Columbia to be as much like college life as possible. Living with a roommate is something that has always really intrigued me and I hope to have the opportunity this summer.

I left the potluck today with a much better understanding of what to expect this summer and a better idea of whom I would be spending the summer with. As I am typing this blog, my mind is racing with excitement. I can’t wait to immerse myself in the vibrant culture of New York City and the rigorous academics at Columbia.

Meet and Greet!

Today we had our first official get together with our Columbia cohort, their families, and our chaperone Ms. L. Sadly one member of our cohort, Anmol, could not make it so we all look forward to meeting her at the next event! We had a potluck lunch in Arlington Park on a beautiful sunny day. 

Beautiful sunny day for a potluck!

Even though I already knew two of the other members of my cohort (because I go to school with them and know them from my high school’s debate team), it was nice to get to know everyone together. They are all so nice and friendly. I am excited to spend a month in New York with each one of them. 

After eating some of the tasty food that everyone brought, Ms. L explained to us all a little bit about how the program would unfold. She explained the schedule for our program, and talked to us about a few of her own personal rules. Being in the vast Manhattan Island, Ms. L is very strict about knowing where we are and when we are going somewhere. It is comforting knowing that the person who is taking us to Columbia really cares about us too.

We also discussed life on campus, both in and out of the dorms in Columbia. Ms. L told us that last year many of the dorm rooms had views looking out onto the beautiful main quad of the University. I crossed my fingers in the hope that I will get one of those rooms! We also learned that almost 30% of all the students who will be attending the summer program will be from other countries. It will be an incredible opportunity to study alongside teenagers from across America and from around the world! Ms. L told us that we would be spending a lot of time in the many school libraries conducting research and completing our course assignments. Even though this sounds like lots of work I feel up to the challenge. Education in my high school is not very research-oriented, so I think this course will prepare me well for the research style of education found in most universities today.

Listening to Ms. L talk, I felt a new excitement for the summer. She explained that our first assignment (coming to the blog in the next few weeks) is to write our list of top ten places we want to go to or activities we wish to participate in while in New York. I am so glad that she is taking our own thoughts into consideration as she plans some of our weekend activities.  I think it will be hard to narrow the list to just ten things as there are so many things to see and do in New York!

As we discussed some of the activities that past Columbians have participated in, I realized that I am actually going to New York over the summer! Suddenly all those museums, Times Square, and great food that I saw in the photographs from past Ivy League Connection Columbia blogs, seemed closer and more real than ever. I am counting the days until school ends and I can pack my bag to leave for this incredible opportunity, not only to learn about a subject matter I am deeply interested in, but also  to explore one of the greatest cities in America.

On Saturday April 13th the ILC held the first two of four tutorial sessions where our new ILCers gathered to learn how their blog sites work, how to use the tools on Blogger and what we’re looking for in their blogs. We’ve established some formatting protocols that we want our ILCers to follow so their blogs are pleasing to the eye and there’s some conformity to their blogs. We also show them examples of “good” blogs and examples of “bad” blogs so they can learn from the examples set by previous ILCers on what makes a successful blog and what will put their readers to sleep. We had seven ILCers and two chaperones in our morning session and then eight ILCers in our afternoon session. While everyone was prepared to participate in the hands-on sessions where they could post some practice blogs and get some direct instruction on what they were doing right and what they’re doing wrong, it didn’t work out that way. In fact, it was a big bust. Unfortunately, since we were using a District computer lab and needed to access the District’s Internet service, we were flummoxed due to some firewalls put in place to ensure that District staff and students don’t accidently go to inappropriate sites. How they might see our blog sites as inappropriate is beyond me but there were no District staffers available on this Saturday to provide us with access. Oh well… As frustrating as this was, it didn’t stop us from proceeding with the numerous other items to be discussed. We discussed some of the things the ILC expects from our ILCers, we explained about how to behave, rules they need to follow while back east, what to pack, what kind of loaner items will be available for their use, a few laundry tips, instructions on how to take better photos, what to do with those photos and whether Evil Don should come to the homes of our ILCers. It would have been very easy to allow these barriers to have shut us down but everyone worked very hard to find ways to proceed. This is the kind of thinking we like to see. And for the record, the next two tutorials will be at a venue where we will be able to do what the tutorial is set up to do.

On Saturday April 13^th the ILC held the first two of four tutorial sessions where our new ILCers gathered to learn how their blog sites work, how to use the tools on Blogger and what we’re looking for in their blogs.

We’ve established some formatting protocols that we want our ILCers to follow so their blogs are pleasing to the eye and there’s some conformity to their blogs.

We also show them examples of “good” blogs and examples of “bad” blogs so they can learn from the examples set by previous ILCers on what makes a successful blog and what will put their readers to sleep.

We had seven ILCers and two chaperones in our morning session and then eight ILCers in our afternoon session.

While everyone was prepared to participate in the hands-on sessions where they could post some practice blogs and get some direct instruction on what they were doing right and what they’re doing wrong, it didn’t work out that way.  In fact, it was a big bust.

Unfortunately, since we were using a District computer lab and needed to access the District’s Internet service, we were flummoxed due to some firewalls put in place to ensure that District staff and students don’t accidently go to inappropriate sites.  How they might see our blog sites as inappropriate is beyond me but there were no District staffers available on this Saturday to provide us with access.

Oh well…

As frustrating as this was, it didn’t stop us from proceeding with the numerous other items to be discussed.

We discussed some of the things the ILC expects from our ILCers, we explained about how to behave, rules they need to follow while back east, what to pack, what kind of loaner items will be available for their use, a few laundry tips, instructions on how to take better photos, what to do with those photos and whether Evil Don should come to the homes of our ILCers.

It would have been very easy to allow these barriers to have shut us down but everyone worked very hard to find ways to proceed.  This is the kind of thinking we like to see.

And for the record, the next two tutorials will be at a venue where we will be able to do what the tutorial is set up to do.

First Preparations!

This afternoon eight ILCers met in the computer room at Hercules High to attend a blogging tutorial where we learned about not only blogging format, but also more about the what to bring to the East Coast and what is expected of us when we arrive. I must admit, having attended the Women and Leadership program at Brown University last year, I was unsure if I would learn anything new. I left the tutorial, however, with much new information and renewed excitement for the summer ahead.

Once we arrived at Hercules High, Don gave each of us a packet overviewing everything he would talk about during the tutorial. I’m sure this packet will come in handy later on in case I forget anything I learned today.

First, Don went over the basic formatting used when posting a blog. Thankfully, I remembered most of the formatting guidelines so, even though I was unable to practice blogging at the tutorial because of unavoidable technical problems, I am confident that I know how to correctly format a blog.

Don next spoke to us about adding photos to the blogs. I found his advice on photo editing very helpful. Before today, I never really understood how to use Photoshop. Now I feel like I have a better understanding of the application. Hopefully soon I’ll have the time to explore Photoshop more thoroughly and gain a better understanding of how to effectively edit a picture.

After each of us gained a thorough understanding of what was expected of our blogs, Don spoke to us about loaner items. While Don was discussing each item, I was reminded about what an amazing program Ivy League Connections is. The leaders of The Ivy League Connection invest so much of their own time and money in order to make the program a success. Don makes sure that every student is prepared for the summer by offering to loan each student in the program materials they need to succeed. Much of his own time and money is spent obtaining these items and then delivering them to the houses of dozens of ILCers. I feel so lucky to be part of a program where the people in charge truly care about the success of the students. 

The blogging tutorial today marked the beginning of major preparations for the summer. I’m so honored to be a part of Ivy League Connections and I cannot wait for summer to begin. 

And so it Begins!

Today was the first day of The Ivy League Connection preparation. My day started especially well because I found out that Columbia accepted me into their summer program! It is nice to know that the application phase of The Ivy League Connection is over with, it sure was a nerve racking phase! Today eight of us, all from different cohorts, met in the afternoon at Hercules High School to discuss how the blogging system works and to discuss a few things we would need to bring with us during the program.

Hercules High School on this beautiful afternoon.

We learned everything we needed to know about adding new posts, formatting those posts, adding photographs, adding links, even adding videos. We also spent some time learning how to format pictures correctly. I have never been a part of a blog before, so this was a very new experience for me. I really enjoyed the photo manipulation process with Photoshop because I am an avid photographer. Whenever I go on family vacations I am always the designated photographer. I have never had good photo editing software so now that I have Photoshop I am very excited to start uploading and editing my photographs. 

The second thing we did was discuss a few miscellaneous items that could be important to us during the program. These ranged from small travel irons and pillows to surge protectors and card readers. We received a list of things that we were recommended to bring. It was a huge list with 20+ items. I hope I have enough room to pack all my clothes too! 

I still do not understand what half these buttons do!

Though it was a long afternoon with lots of technical difficulties (half the group could not access the blog due to school district restrictions), I found this session to be incredibly informative and crucial to the The Ivy League Connection process. I was excited to return home and start writing my first blog. The first thing I did when I got home was try and figure out how to use Photoshop. I watched a multitude of online videos and tutorials because there are so many buttons all over the screen in the Photoshop menu! I think for  the most part I understand the basics now, and I hope I correctly formatted my first photo uploads to the blog.

I am so honored and thrilled to be a part of The Ivy League Connection program. I look forward to our next event which is dinner in San Francisco with Columbia alumni and our sponsors, then the school board meeting. I also look forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences with all of you through this blog.