The Orientation: The Last Full ILC Meeting

It is simply overwhelming to think that students from a district in which many people do not seem to have much high expectations from can attend such selective and productive summer programs at absolutely zero cost except for spending money back East. It is truly honorable to be one of the fortunate 41 students to be able to attend such a summer program and the orientation brought to let on just how much matter I may have to bring and I am already beginning to worry about the ideal weight in which I should aim for when I pack my luggage before and after I leave. This is all probably due to Don's thorough explanation of all the loaner items he is willing to lend out (quite a bit of stuff to haul, set up, and then later pack up). Thus, I can finally see this trip inching nearer as it really struck me hard that this is not too far around the corner!

Later, the meetings by cohort really led to increased bonding and understanding. Despite Alana stating that she is nervous, I am truly positive that she will do an excellent job making sure that we are all safe and that we get the most out of this experience. My dad and many other parents reassured her as we know that we have faith in her and based on how much logistics she has been trying to plan in the last couple of days, her work ethic and her dedication make me rest assured and I do not see any major tragic flaw or problem which should occur (although I don't want to jinx it, I personally am not really into obsolete and spontaneous superstitions). The itinerary is definitely a bit more defined in which I appreciate and one main component I seem to be worried about is that of coordinating wearing semiformal attire whilst doing quite a bit of walking and activities which involve long days for the first week before the course at Brown. Nevertheless, it will surely suppress my illusion of not feeling like I am doing enough, despite others calling me "insane" because of my stubbornness. Hopefully we can take the Acela, which is the only (but barely) high speed train in the US and that experience is truly one someone would only find on the East Coast unless one leaves the States. Basing on the progress of other high-speed rail projects around the country, taking the Acela at least once is something which definitely should be included in the experience (although taking the Shinkansen made me hungry for more of the action as well as being an avid engineering nut!)

The final portion was pretty remarkable on how not many questions or concerns were being raised and the theoretical reason for that is still something I am debating about; my main hypothesis is that in which people were trying to wrap up the meeting as soon as possible. Although I may have an unconventional viewpoint, it is a bit sad not seeing all of the other ILC members before their respective attendances two to three time zones away or maybe ever again. I hereby wish all of them the best at their courses and what they will do later on; although I believe that many of them should be fine anyways with the amount of time and dedication that they have put into this program. I am purposely trying to work on decreasing the wordiness of my writing in general so I will conclude the blog here. Please comment if this style of writing (mainly in terms of word economy and brevity) is more effective and still holds the same amount of content and meaning as some of my previous blogs.