An Inspirational and Motivating Experience

Lovonya Dejean Middle School

Today marked another great leap on the road to Columbia University. At Lovonya Dejean Middle School, all thirty-eight member of the ILC 2013 group, gathered to attend a School Board meeting and receive recognition for all our great achievements as well as those of the ILC program. Aside from that everyone also got a chance to meet some of the other ILCers who were going to participate in other programs this summer.

Once everyone had arrived everyone split up into their cohorts. At this point, Ms. L, gave all of us in the Columbia cohort a brief description of how the event would go on as well as a summary of a few important details Don had e-mailed us all about earlier. After a few minutes the meeting began and everyone took their seats.

After the School Board had voted on a few proposals and issues, the recognition of the ILC program and all of its members finally arrived. Every cohort was called up individually in alphabetical order, making the Columbia cohort third, since the Brown cohort is divided into two separate cohorts. As my cohort and I, along with our outstanding chaperone Ms. L, made our way to the center where the podium was situated I could tell that everyone there was proud of all of us for our achievements. The speaker for our cohort, Simon Cohen, did an amazing job of summarizing the key values of the ILC program and the appreciation we all had for everyone that made the program possible. After all the cohorts went up and their respective speakers spoke (all of which did a fantastic job), we proceeded to thanking the people who made the program all possible: Mrs. Kronenberg, Mr. Ramsey, Don, and all the funders who provided the means for all of us to be able to head East for the summer.

Following that, there were four guest speakers, all alumni of the ILC program who graduated from Pinole Valley High School,  spoke about their experiences. Most of their speeches discussed how the ILC program benefited them and made them strive to become better. They all agreed on the wondrous benefits the program would give us such as a sense of what a college life and education are like as well as the opportunities that lie  beyond the Bay Area. I found each of their stories to be an inspiration to me. Through their words the thought of always trying to succeed and giving everything my best came to my mind. The idea that in reality, it did not matter where you came from or who you were, but rather the amount of effort you place in achieving greater success. These thoughts still echo through my mind at this very moment.

Another highlight of the evening was the motivating and passionate speech that Mr. Ramsey generously gave. A lot similar to the speech he gave at our dinner, May 13, the focus was centered around selflessness and giving back to the community. He painted a very vivid image in my mind of how I am represented as a torch and that the ILC program is the spark that lets me illuminate the way for others. He talked about how the entire basis of the ILC program was to give back to others and help them aspire to attend college, even maybe outside the Universities of California system. Another key element of his speech that really made my mind open was that we all had to be proud of where we came from, the West Contra Costa Unified School District. A saying that I have always been told but am now finally beginning to comprehend is "never forget where you came from". This saying was told to me by my soccer coach after reaching the varsity level but am now beginning to realize that the deeper meaning is that regardless of where you end up in life and no matter how successful you become, you should always be proud of where of your heritage.

Upon conclusion of Mr. Ramsey's speech, we were all released to take a group photo including all the cohorts, chaperones and parents. It turned out to be an incredibly large photo, which led to the taking of many photos by Don in order to ensure that the final product would be the best it could be.

The night was very inspiring and motivating to me. Not only did it get me even more excited to attend my class at Columbia during the summer.

In the end, I found the entire experience to be very inspirational and motivating. Not only did it get me even more excited to attend my class at Columbia University this summer, but also opened my eyes to an entirely new ideology. Always be proud of where you came but never forget where that is; a saying I have begun to value immensely.

The Columbia Cohort and Chaperone with certificates (minus one who was unable to be found at the time)