Pizza Party Meet and Greet

Today was the first time that we got to meet Ms. Sciacca, our chaperone for the trip. It was so much fun, and I can’t wait to spend the summer with her and the other Vanderbilt ILCers. 

A little over a week ago Don put us in touch with Ms. Sciacca in order to set up a meeting dinner, as well as to decide on our itinerary for Nashville and Philadelphia. We had heard nothing but good things about Ms. Sciacca from Don, and I was so excited to finally get to see her in person. 

A creative spelling of my name. 

We quickly found out through the process of choosing a restaurant that Hawi, Ms. Sciacca, and I are all vegetarians, which was a huge relief, because although California is pretty herbivore-friendly, I have a suspicion that Tennessee may not be, and it will be nice to have some allies in the food finding game.

We all decided on Mod Pizza in Pinole as the place to go, because of the convenient location (for the majority) and the simple fact that pizza is a pretty universal crowd pleaser. Mod Pizza as a chain is especially nice because they allow each person to create their own custom pizza, which means no bargaining about toppings or compromising on flavors. 

Cameron Grant, who went to Vanderbilt last year with ILC was also able to join us, which was amazing because not only is Cammie my friend, so any chance to see her is always wonderful, but she has also had first-hand experience with what we will all be doing in a few short months, meaning that she can tell us things that even Don doesn't know. It was so nice to be able to hear from her about how much she enjoyed her time at Vanderbilt and a few insider tips on things that we can look forward to, including movies, bowling, and lots of icecream. 

Cammie Cheezin'

Once everyone had arrived we quickly ordered our pizza and proceeded to talk about everything from the itinerary for Nashville and Philadelphia to our schools and future plans. We bonded over pizza of all different flavors, sharing stories, laughing and planning our summer to come. Ms. Sciacca especially brought so much excitement about our trip, as well as her experience with the ILC in the past which was extremely comforting. 

Overall, I could not be more eager to get on that plane and head to Nashville with such an amazing group of people. When I was uploading the pictures of tonight it hit me just how immensely lucky I am to be able to share such a unique and incredible opportunity with Hawi, Ana, Anna, and Ms. Sciacca, I am certain that we are really going to make the most of it. Ms. Sciacca seemed to fit perfectly into our group as we grow closer together, and it was so great to learn more about her. I know that I have said this in almost all of my blog posts, and I am sure I will say it in more posts to come, but today's meeting made the trip seem just that much more real. I am still not sure that it has really sunk in that in just a little over a month we will all be boarding a plane to fly across the country, but I know I can’t wait. 

Can't wait for Nashville! 

Mod Meet and Greet

These past few weeks in school have been very busy; finals, essays, and AP tests have absorbed much of my time and energy. This Meet and Greet has been something to look forward to after long periods of exhaustion; even coinciding with the beginning of that mysterious transition in the school year where the end is approaching, teachers begin demanding less of their students, and everyone seems to have more spring in their step. I'm proud to say that I can now associate Ivy League Connection and my cohort with the wonderful and liberating feeling of the end of the school year. 

After enjoying our pizza!!

2018 Vanderbilt Cohort joined by Cammie

I could already tell that I would adore our chaperone, Tori Sciacca, not only by hearing the great things Don had said about her but also from her text messages. She has such an enthusiastic, positive, and youthful aura - one that was apparent in her text messages and by her choice of emojis. What made me like her, even more, was in the myriad of emails sent, one was regarding how to address our chaperones, as last year's Chicago cohort did, Tori said we could call her Mom!!! This comment made me, mentally, put my hand to my heart and exclaim,"AWWW", like one may do after witnessing a touching act of kindness. 

The 2018 Vanderbilt cohort decided to meet at Mod pizza in Pinole, extending the invitation to ILCers from last year's trip to Vanderbilt. Thankfully we were joined by Cameron Grant, who provided us with insider knowledge on the trip.  

Audrey was coerced into putting
asparagus onto her pizza.

We spent the evening enjoying pizza and discussing elements of the trip: the heat, the humidity, the hot rain, and being in a permanent state of hotness. We even learned to never underestimate the heat and always seek out airconditioned areas. Maybe I'm overstating how much we discussed the heat, but as an amateur in the realms of extreme weather, I think I reserve the right make  90-degree weather a big deal. Albeit, we discussed fun group activities that are part of the summer program, such as organized outings to the movie theater, games of Quidditch, and chess matches. I even learned that great friendships can be fostered during this experience. Cammie made a friend who she is traveling to Mexico with, in a few weeks!  

From this outing, I have made several realizations as well as a list of goals for myself for the trip. First, that I love my cohort, we are a group of fun, kind, clever, and ambitious women, and I already know that we will enjoy each other's company during the summer. Next, that our chaperone is the coolest, and exceeded my initial expectations - definitely worthy of being referred to as Mom. My ever-growing list of personal goals for the summer—go outside my comfort zone, make new friends! Take advantage of opportunities to sleep, I will be kept busy and exhaustion may overcome. And even in the grueling heat, enjoy myself!!

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

Vanderbilt Cohort

You've read in the newer blogs about the multiple photos taken of the Vanderbilt cohort.  Most of these were taken for their use on their profiles and other uses.  A few might be used in their blogs but most will go unused.

So...here are a few of the headshots just so the world might get to see them.

Looking casual holding up the light post

Cohort, Coffee, and Cameras

On Sunday afternoon Ana, Anna, Hawi, Don and I all met up to learn about blogging and take some photos.

We started by joining Don near the café where we would be doing our blogging, to take some photos. Fortunately for the pictures, and unfortunately for our eyes, the sun seemed to be particularly bright on Sunday and at our first location, on the steps of an old train station, we were all trying our very best not to squint. In the end, all the grimacing was totally worth it, because the warm yellow wall behind us matched perfectly with the colors of our blog and even the Vanderbilt colors. After a few more locations, of which most were thankfully in the shade, it was time to head back to the café for some blogging.

Don suggested Kaleidoscope Coffee for the meeting, which I had never been to before, and as soon as we walked through the doors I was glad he had. The interior was beautiful with exposed brick, cool art on the walls, and even some very comfortable looking giant bean bags in the back. 

So much fun! So much blogging! 

After getting some drinks, and a scone for Ana, we settled down to get to work. The first step was choosing the theme (overall look) of our blog, which was harder than it had seemed to be at first because it had to accommodate all the elements that we wanted. Once we had determined that, we moved onto the fun details that make our blog unique, fonts, colors, sizes, and more, fortunately we did not have any trouble agreeing on the these and decided to go with the Vanderbilt colors as a base. Finally Don added the aforementioned banner picture along a few other details and we were done.

Next it was time to learn about how to do the blogging itself. We covered how to make a blog post and the specifications for each one that I will hopefully be implementing correctly in this first post. Finally Don gave us a crash course in the photo sharing program we will be using it was time to head home.

My favorite part of the day was getting to know Anna and Hawi better, (Ana and I were already friends) and I can't wait to spend the summer with such a amazing group! 

An Afternoon of Tea and Blogging

On Sunday, I hopped out of my car ready to embark on a new journey with the ILC. This four-hour meeting would be the Vanderbilt cohort’s first official get together, encapsulating a fabulous photo shoot, tea at a cool cafe, and blog making. Not to mention, the beginning of new friendships and precious memories. 

We began the outing by meeting by Don’s gray minivan, where after our parents signed a few papers, we buckled into his car and drove off to the destinations of our photoshoot. Despite nature’s inconvenience (blinding sun, wind, butt splinters, and muddy ground) the photo shoot was a fun way to start the day. 

After, we settled in a very cute cafe. It had tables and chairs to one side, and off in the corner was a lounging area with bean bags, a couch, books, and board games. It was the perfect place to spend a few hours creating a blog. I’ve never been tech savvy, but creating a blog was quite simple. We chose the theme, colors, font, photos, and other elements that would be displayed on the blog. 

Although I did enjoy having a photo shoot, drinking earl grey tea, and eating a good scone, by far, the best part of the day was getting to know my cohort members. I can’t wait until the summer!

We Have a Vanderbilt Cohort

First there were 31, then there were 8 and now there are 4.  The Ivy League Connection received 31 valid applications for the Vanderbilt program.  After a review and ranking of the applications, 8 were invited to the interview phase and after a very lengthy set of interviews, our interview panelists made the tough choice to select the 4 who they believe will be the best representatives for the Ivy League Connection, their schools, the District and their community.

Very late in the evening the following four young ladies were invited to return home and pack their bags while they wait for the airport shuttle to take them to Nashville this summer:

Audrey Dowling ~ El Cerrito HS

            Ana Touriel ~ El Cerrito HS

Anna Chang ~ Pinole Valley HS

Hawi Abraham ~ Middle College HS

Going in to the interviews, it was obvious that this group of 8 was going to put the panelists to a test to determine which of them should be sent.  As is often the case, the differences between the applicants are minor.  It’s the little things that make the difference.  If it was all about the academics or an ability to draft an essay, then the interviews wouldn’t be necessary.  From the beginning, though, the ILC knew that there’s more to people than what can be quantified on paper.  The human factor has always been a part of the selection process.

Applicants are asked 10 questions where there are no right or wrong answers.  The panelists want to know how the applicants think and whether they can sell their positions.

This year, the complexity of the questions was expanded with the hope that it would provide the panelists more data from which to determine their own rankings.  Sadly, this only provided the applicants with more to talk about in their responses.  An interview normally takes 12-15 minutes.  With 8 applicants the interviews were expected to take about 2 hours.  By the time last night’s interviews were concluded, it had been three and a half hours!  And still, the panelists had an extremely tough time determine who would earn the 336th through 339th ILC scholarship.

The ILC congratulates all of the applicants and heaps an extra bit of praise for the four young ladies headed to Vanderbilt this summer.