Information & Itinerary

The beginning of the end, also known as the first day of the last week of school. This week has just started and I can already tell that it's going to be a very trying time for me. Restraint and self-control are the two most important things right now and I'm starting to doubt whether I'm strong enough to keep those in high regard all throughout this week. This conflict could not have come at a worse time as today I had my final meeting with the entire program before we actually set out for our individual programs.

Pinole Middle School 

Despite the fact that I had been dreading this meeting for quite sometime it turned out to be a very relaxing process. When my mom and I first arrived, a little before 6 PM, everyone who had arrived before us were sitting on the benches provided for us talking quietly. As I walked across the room I felt right at home, a feeling that had evaded me until now. I sat next to a few of my fellow El Cerrito High School cohorts and chatted a bit before Don started the meeting. Once Don got up there and started talking the room immediately fell silent and we all held our breath after a few late cohorts walked in the room. Don gave them a calm death stare as they looked around for a place to sit. Though the death stare must have been intense for those people nothing drastic happened as we were all led to believe.

Don went over many important points about packing, etiquette, and just general information that was mainly meant for the parents who hadn't heard it already (as all the cohorts had heard this information numerous times over). After that we were sent into our individual cohorts to discuss important details and the impressively complicated itinerary for our school visits and other events. It seems that there will be much to do and that there won't be a moment where we won't have something to do. At least for the first few days of the trip we will be constantly on the move, taking the Amtrak twice a day, for four days just to make sure that we can see all the schools that we want to. If that isn't dedication to academia than I don't know what is.

Brown-I cohort hard at work

Once we finished the discussion and forced our parents to sign multiple parents we were again subjected to a speech that we had heard before, but our parents hadn't. Granted it was helpful to hear a second time over it was no less exciting than the time before. Loaner items were the subject and I can say with confident authority that the ILC program "has us covered." Of course that was never really a doubt as the fact that we needn't care for anything has been stressed from the very beginning.

This isn't even the half of it...

At the end of the speech we were dismissed but many of us stayed around awhile to either take pictures (maybe just me), or take a look at the plethora of items that the ILC was willing to lend us. After that we left and were back at home before 9. Quick, easy, and simple, but now I have to bid you all adieu because I have a final that I should probably study for tomorrow.

Beautiful end to a long day...

Jusqu'a la prochaine fois...