Red Vines and Photography

Today was the ILC tutorial, or in other words, the day where you get a crash course in being an ILC-er. We covered everything from how to properly upload pictures, to remembering quarters for laundry when we are living across the country.

The Library

Today was also the first time that all of the 2018 Ivy League Connection cohort members were together in one place (and Don of course). Even though I had already met everyone except Shreejal, it was really cool to be able to get to know them a bit better, especially Kayla, Anna, Shreejal, and Hawi, since we go to different schools.

We all met up at the San Pablo library, which I had never been to, and it was both brand new (apparently it was only finished a few months ago) and gorgeous. We arrived at around 12:50, which was really nice because it meant that I had no rush to get out of the house this morning and that we were ready to go inside right when the library opened, after taking a quick group picture. Thankfully, Don had reserved a conference room for us to use in advance, because the library filled up pretty quickly.

Once inside, we set up our laptops and Don passed out thick packets full of in-depth information about virtually all aspects to the ILC. We began by going over basic etiquette around the use of our phones and emails as part of the ILC, as well as best practices for the adult world in general. We moved on to more information about blogging and the specifics around formatting, emphasizing what, when, and how to blog. Don also went over the characteristics of a bad blog, and so in order to avoid falling into the trap of giving a blow-by-blow on exactly what we covered, (something that is part of the “don'ts” section) I will fast forward to what was probably my favorite part of the tutorial: taking pictures.

Everyone 

I love photography, so naturally, I really enjoyed being able to roam around the outside and inside of the library, snapping photos. My mom is letting me use her camera for the ILC, and while it is not comparable to one of Don’s gigantic cameras (with even bigger lenses). I like using it, because, besides taking really nice pictures, it is pretty big and heavy, which makes me feel like a real photographer. I took pictures of everything I could find that looked remotely photo-worthy and ended up with 54 photos in the span of less than ten minutes (I even managed to get a few with the elusive Anna).

One of My Favorites 

We returned inside to eat Red Vines and finish up the tutorial. We went over the packing list as well as the items that Don can loan us for our trip (he is very prepared). Seeing that packing list made the fact that I am going to be spending a month at Vanderbilt this summer with really cool people, and learning about a subject I am very interested in, feel just that much more real.

Overall, I had a great time getting to see all of this year’s cohort and learning more about what the future of the ILC holds. I am so excited for this summer and the rest of the journey.

Tutorial Day

I arrived at our meeting location surprised to find that such a modern and orange building was a library, and by orange I mean orange. The color itself is almost overwhelming, like a five-year-old who was painting a butterfly but decided it was too drab so instead they coated the paper from corner to corner with orange paint. Albeit, paired with modernity, somehow the designers of the building pulled off their ambitious color choice - a relief that they did not venture too far into five-year-old painter mode.

The orange library.

Even though we arrived before the library opened, there were still people waiting patiently out front for the doors to open. It made me happy to see that libraries were not becoming antiquated, although kids these days suggest otherwise. Inside the library, similar to its exterior, was a vibrant and colorful environment. The carpet was blue with dark swirly patterns, reminding me of the ocean, the walls had murals, there were comfy chairs( as Maxime noted), and there was a conference room where we worked for the day- but best of all there were books!!

You can always count on Don Gosney to bring everything but the kitchen sink to a meeting, ergo we had to drag a whole cart full of equipment from his car to the library- his scanner, fold-up-table, and much more. Be that as it may he is an exceptional Red Vines provider- a greatly appreciated snack, perfect for a long meeting.

Once we settled in the conference room Don taught us how to properly format, write, and post our blogs. He stressed the fact that people from all over the world will be reading them, from admission officers at Universities to people in Russia- thus it is important that we be interesting critical thinkers, and use our writing to show not tell. Hopefully, my tangent on the overwhelmingly orange library achieved that.

My bud, Audrey 

Practicing was difficult for me, it took me a little longer than others to properly format my writing as well as download pictures from my camera to mediafire. However the experience did allow me to improve my technology skills- I managed to post this blog,  that shows something.

In the conference room two large windows gave us a lovely view of the parking lot, and soon enough as the dark clouds looked like they wanted to rain, rain began to patter against the glass. Watching it reminded me of how much I love California weather, and how it'll differ greatly from muggy Tennessee. That moment hit me like a ton of bricks, the fact that I’m going to travel across the country to study at a prestigious university for a month had finally materialized. For the past few months. the idea had been floating around, almost as if it was a dream or a figment of my imagination. But it was finally becoming a reality- it’s crazy how things turn out.

Beautiful, foggy California weather