ECHS Reunion.

Today was entirely devoted to one thing: meeting up with the Brown I cohort and visiting Yale University. An hour and a half Amtrak ride to New Haven, Connecticut and a quick taxi ride took us right to the entrance of Yale and our tour began.

Most building look a little like this at Yale...beautiful right?

Meeting up with the Brown I cohort was awesome! I have two good friends in the program, Duncan and Niels. It was a bit like an El Cerrito High "reunion" and we all caught up on our ILC experiences. They were very jealous that our home base was the city of New York because of all the great opportunities for fun things to do there are. 

The ECHS crew posing for a picture at Yale.

But the real joy of today was Yale and the students we met. We were given a special private tour by five current students. Since there were five of them they were able to talk with all of us easily and were able to provide different perspectives on Yale. The campus...is incredible. The freshmen housing area is huge, with tall brick and stone buildings with beautiful, intricate carvings and exteriors. Every building was more amazing than the next and I spent a lot of time stopping and taking photographs. Unlike California, the East Coast does not have water conservation problems, so the lawns on campus were sprawling and the perfect shade of green. I was easily able to picture myself walking through the archways and towers of Yale's campus. 

The library at Yale is certainly something to note. The whole building is designed to let the books breathe so they do not start to fall apart. Some of the books are hundreds and hundreds of years old so lots of safe guards are in place to protect them. For example if a fire broke out inside, all the oxygen in the room would instantly be taken out. Needless to say, you do not want to be stuck in the library when a fire breaks out. I walked around the library with Niels. We looked at posters from the civil rights movement, World War Two, and the American Revolution. We also saw a rare Gutenberg Bible. The library as a whole was an impressive place rich with history. It was certainly a place I wish I could have spent more time in. 

The amazing library at Yale.

Lunch with the students was incredible also. The ECHS group sat together with a wonderful and lovely student. We talked about everything from life in the Bay Area, big hills, weather, and, of course, Yale. The meal was excellent too, with the fresh ingredients reminding us all of good old Berkeley, California food. The student we talked to was by far one of the friendliest people I had ever met, and she made me feel right at home on the campus.

I learned so much talking with all the students. A few conversations to note were a talk about Yale's history program. Every student I talked to could only say good things about it, particularly a specific Civil War course taught by one of the foremost Civil War historians in the world! I also learned that Yale has a huge arts program with digital photography playing a big role. I have a huge interest in digital photography so that excited me even more. The town of New Haven is not New York City, but the students said there is always lots to do to stay entertained. All the students stressed the fact that Yale is not really a competitive school. The students all support each other and it only gets competitive in certain business, engineering, and graduate programs. Walking through Yale I really felt at home, the schools fits into many of my criteria for college (medium size, interaction with professors, history department is excellent, campus is beautiful). I am so glad we were able to visit Yale today and I hope to apply to Yale this year! 

Margaret being a creeper...

Duncan being a creeper...

In the evening we all went to a lovely Greek restaurant a few blocks from Times Square. There we met with students and alumni from Vassar, Colombia, and Harvard. The food was very good but after our rich and late lunch I was not very hungry. I had some seared tuna, almost raw, and we all shared baklava for dessert. The food was delicious and I think it was an excellent restaurant to finish up the first week. At first I was seated between Jess, a student at Columbia, and Justin, a student at Harvard. I spent a lot of time talking with Justin who told me all about the many opportunities that Harvard has to offer undergraduates. In a few ways he reminded me a lot of myself, he applied to many of the same colleges I am interested in, and views those colleges in similar ways. Talking to him made me wish we could have visited Harvard, I guess I will read the Brown cohorts blogs to see what they thought of it! Talking with Jess was really fun also. She told us all about academics at Columbia. She also gave Margaret and I some very valuable information regarding tickets for Broadway shows. During dessert we all switched seats and I found myself next to Brian, a graduate of Vassar. I had a wonderful talk with Brian about the history department at Vassar, and how Vassar has prepared him for law school. I left the dinner feeling more interested in all the schools, which makes narrowing them down for the college search even more difficult.

Today was the last day of the Hotel Beacon and hurrying around New York. I have learned so much from all these college visits and tours, and I feel so much more prepared for the college application process when I return home. Having these lovely dinners and lunches has made me a more confident speaker, and has made me much more open. I am so glad to be a part of the ILC and I look forward for classes to start on monday!