National Don Day + the ILC Orientation

In order:(Thao, Chiamaka, Shanti, Me) Just Celebrating ND Day

A stupendous idea occurred to Thao, a fellow ILCer, while at school. The notion we should all dress up in aloha t-shirts and shorts to mimic Don's casual attire in the ILC orientation and thus, National Don Day was officially established on the second day of June of this year. Another thing to note of National Don Day is that its supposed to be on the same day as the ILC orientation day, so you know when to expect it for next year.

Moving on to the orientation at Pinole Middle School, it was a great two hours and something minutes utilized to go over itineraries, loaner items, time for parents to get to know each other and as well as for the parents to receive an overview on just about most things that constitutes the ILC. The facility was organized well ahead of time, with the multipurpose room being parted into different sections for different cohorts and as well as other rooms to accommodate the rest. Don once again went over some of the various stories of some ILCers, mainly the mistakes that we are expected not to commit in our participation within the ILC. Which included not having your parents follow you around in a restaurant in New York, don't trust the "sanitized" pillows at Cornell, and REMEMBER to respect you chaperone. After, Ms. Kronenberg also gave some input into the some of the stories and basic information of the ILC. Mr. Ray was also mentioned and acknowledged by Don for helping with the continuation of the ILC with the paperwork he helps fill out on a regular basis. Mr. Ramsey was also supposed to be there, but couldn't make it because of an earlier compromise, I believe they said it was a graduation.

Don Giving his Rant on Loaner Items

After the introduction we all broke into our separate cohorts, headed by our respective chaperones, where they explained to us our itineraries in much detail. Mr. Chan-Law explained to my cohort the hotels we are going to be staying at, the restaurants he hand-picked and how we are going to celebrate Carla's birthday when we are at Cornell. On an interesting note, he mentioned how I'm going to have a hotel room all to myself on the college visit days since I'm the only male and I do not mind my own personal space one bit. I also heard that in the Drake Hotel in Chicago, one of the girls has to sleep on the pull-out couch bed and to decide who does it, they will draw straws or something of the like--I thought that was funny. Mr. Chan-Law also explained how the food at Cornell is going to be buffet style for the most part and I do not mind that, so long as the food is adequate and not remotely comparable to school food.

It really seems as if everything is really not that far from now. After all it really isn't, and is just about two weeks from now. I noticed that the only event left that I have to blog about right now (before the preparation day for departure blog) is that of the Hercules City Council Meeting which I'm sure is going to take place not too long from now, but then again I have heard no word of it so far. Either way, by the time school ends I'm looking forward to knocking out the readings for the Freedom and Justice course, which include the books: Princeton Readings in Political Thought by Mitchell Cohen and Nicole Fermon, Editors and The Republic Plato (translated by Robin Waterfield). Apart from reading, I'm also going to start exercising intensely again, like I did in the beginning of the school year and getting a membership at a fitness center at Cornell doesn't sound like such a bad idea now that it has recently been mentioned to me in a forwarded email.