My first day of class at Columbia, did not necessarily begin how I would have imagined it to. The night before our RA, residential advisor, had told my suitemates and me that he wanted everyone to be ready to go by 6:45 in the morning. This was a very early start to everyone's day because our classes did not begin until 10:00. However, he explained that the purpose for this was to ensure we were all in attendance at breakfast. Many of us at the time did not see the point in waking up so early just to go eat breakfast and we all headed of to bed pondering the reasons. Once morning did arrive, it took many of us some time to wake up and get ready for the day. When we were all finally ready, we met in the common, the center of our suite and headed to the dining commons across campus.
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| A view from the top floor of the auditorium where orientation was held |
When we finished eating we proceeded into the a huge auditorium located in one of the buildings to receive our formal orientation. It had two levels and was successful in seating every student in the program, which is about 1,200 or so students, as well as all the professors and some of the RAs. According to the schedule, the orientation had to begin at around 8:00 A.M., however, for unknown reason it did not fully begin until around 9:00. It was a long wait and for some of my suitemates, the hours began catching up to them and slowly they began to doze off. In reality however, some of them had flown in the day before registration and were still suffering from the infamous "jet-lag", and therefore were still having difficulties adjusting their sleep cycles. When it did finally begin, the director of the program spoke. He ran through most of the regulations we would need to abide as well as what to expect from the program. We also were given a folder that contained a list of upcoming activities, school maps, and our class schedules. I noticed that the building that housed my class just across campus from my dormitory.
Once orientation was over we headed out to locate the buildings our classes would be held in. Thanks to the very generous RA's I was quickly able to find the locations of my class. Upon taking the elevator up to the floor of my class, I had no knowledge of what to expect. I was very curious as to who would be in my class other than the other ILCers who were taking the class with me. With each passing floor my anxiety of who I would see at the top began getting to me. Thoughts of possibilities raced through my mind as I neared the top. Upon stepping out of the elevator and into the class I was amazed at what lied before my eyes. The instructor was nothing how I would have imagined him to be. His name was Luke and, to me, seemed very young but still highly knowledgeable. From what he told the class he was graduate student working on becoming a professor. To our surprise he preferred being called Luke rather than Mr. or Professor.
As students slowly began filing in, our instructor Luke began giving us all the introduction to the course. He went over the basics of the curriculum of the class and separation of points for our final evaluation. Next Luke went on to talk about the highlights of the course such as quizzes, a field trip and an essay. As he talked I began to feel overwhelmed at the idea of doing so much in just three weeks. It was a lot to take in. However as class progressed, the overwhelming sensation began to slowly dissipate to the point where I was able to fully confident in my abilities and knew I could succeed during these next few weeks.
When the morning session was finally over, we were given two hours to do whatever we wanted. During this time there was a carnival being put on and many students were eager to attend it. I went for a while, however the heat was blazing and I immediately was forced to head for the dining commons where I took my lunch back to my dorm room. From there I unpacked, my things and enjoyed my lunch. Two hours can really be useful for many things. I used this period to look over some of the recent supreme court decisions that may be talked about during class. After a while of reading and eating, it was once again time to head to class.
The afternoon session had a different vibe compared to the morning session. It was obvious that the class had a bit more life and energy in it as opposed to the morning session where everyone was pretty tired. The plan for class was to go over in depth details about the Bill of Rights and the amendments. I found this lesson very interesting, not only because I very much enjoy Law, but also because it was a major part of American history. This one document lays out every you have as an American citizen. My favorite part of the session came towards the end of class. As a way to make the class more interactive and lively, our instructor divided us all into four groups and had us all speed study vocabulary that we had never been introduced to. Some of these words were trickier than others and some had fine details about them that separated them from other words that could mean the same otherwise. After about ten minutes he began asking, at first, each individual group to provide the definition, from memory, that matched the word he gave. After about three rounds, he stepped up the intensity and made so that we now had to give the word for the definition he provided. I felt that it was really an innovative way to ensure that everyone in the class was participating as well as having a little fun in the process.
After that, our academic day was complete and we were free to do whatever we wanted before curfew. I mainly used this time to first go eat dinner in the dining commons with a couple of new friends and finish up my reading homework for the class. We had to read three sections, however many of the sections were very interesting. I learned a lot from just the reading itself. Each section belonged to either a specific subject such as the Federalists, or a specific court case. I found out that there were many things I had not previously know about some of these topics and was amazed with the scope of new knowledge I was placing in my mind.
At the end of the day, I feel that this was an amazing start to my college experience. In less than a few hours I had learned more about history than I would have thought possible. I really enjoyed the experiences I had today, and as I stared out my window looking at the sunset and awaiting curfew I began to think at everything and everyone who had helped me reach this point. Without the ILC program, its sponsors and my parents I would have never have imagined being able to sit in a college class over a summer and gain such rich and diverse knowledge. Slowly I am becoming a better person myself and am slowly adopting a more outgoing personality rather than my normal shyness. I owe this all to the ILC program that has already shaped my life so much, I can hardly imagine how much more it will by then end of my stay here.
As students slowly began filing in, our instructor Luke began giving us all the introduction to the course. He went over the basics of the curriculum of the class and separation of points for our final evaluation. Next Luke went on to talk about the highlights of the course such as quizzes, a field trip and an essay. As he talked I began to feel overwhelmed at the idea of doing so much in just three weeks. It was a lot to take in. However as class progressed, the overwhelming sensation began to slowly dissipate to the point where I was able to fully confident in my abilities and knew I could succeed during these next few weeks.
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| The carnival under a blazing hot sun |
When the morning session was finally over, we were given two hours to do whatever we wanted. During this time there was a carnival being put on and many students were eager to attend it. I went for a while, however the heat was blazing and I immediately was forced to head for the dining commons where I took my lunch back to my dorm room. From there I unpacked, my things and enjoyed my lunch. Two hours can really be useful for many things. I used this period to look over some of the recent supreme court decisions that may be talked about during class. After a while of reading and eating, it was once again time to head to class.
The afternoon session had a different vibe compared to the morning session. It was obvious that the class had a bit more life and energy in it as opposed to the morning session where everyone was pretty tired. The plan for class was to go over in depth details about the Bill of Rights and the amendments. I found this lesson very interesting, not only because I very much enjoy Law, but also because it was a major part of American history. This one document lays out every you have as an American citizen. My favorite part of the session came towards the end of class. As a way to make the class more interactive and lively, our instructor divided us all into four groups and had us all speed study vocabulary that we had never been introduced to. Some of these words were trickier than others and some had fine details about them that separated them from other words that could mean the same otherwise. After about ten minutes he began asking, at first, each individual group to provide the definition, from memory, that matched the word he gave. After about three rounds, he stepped up the intensity and made so that we now had to give the word for the definition he provided. I felt that it was really an innovative way to ensure that everyone in the class was participating as well as having a little fun in the process.
After that, our academic day was complete and we were free to do whatever we wanted before curfew. I mainly used this time to first go eat dinner in the dining commons with a couple of new friends and finish up my reading homework for the class. We had to read three sections, however many of the sections were very interesting. I learned a lot from just the reading itself. Each section belonged to either a specific subject such as the Federalists, or a specific court case. I found out that there were many things I had not previously know about some of these topics and was amazed with the scope of new knowledge I was placing in my mind.
At the end of the day, I feel that this was an amazing start to my college experience. In less than a few hours I had learned more about history than I would have thought possible. I really enjoyed the experiences I had today, and as I stared out my window looking at the sunset and awaiting curfew I began to think at everything and everyone who had helped me reach this point. Without the ILC program, its sponsors and my parents I would have never have imagined being able to sit in a college class over a summer and gain such rich and diverse knowledge. Slowly I am becoming a better person myself and am slowly adopting a more outgoing personality rather than my normal shyness. I owe this all to the ILC program that has already shaped my life so much, I can hardly imagine how much more it will by then end of my stay here.
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