What's Bonding Time without Pizza?

Today, the Cornell cohort took one step closer to this summer's big trip. All six members got together at Extreme Pizza in Hercules to meet our chaperone, Mr. Chan-Law, for the first time. When I arrived at 5:57 with a few minutes to spare, the aroma of pizza soon captivated me. With Italian being my favorite cuisine, anything with a hint of oregano or mozzarella lures me; pizza definitely was no exception.

The kitchen and counter of Extreme Pizza. 

Can you smell the pizza? 

Instead of searching all over the walls for a nice logo, all I had to
 do was look down since I was standing right on top of one. 

A true delight! 

While we waited for other  members of the cohort to arrive, Jun talked to me, Mr. Chan-Law, and Natalie about her unique high school experience as her method  of schooling deviates from the  traditional high school setting. 

As  soon as everyone arrived, we began to order dinner. I went for  the "Drag It Thru the Garden" pizza slice. Perhaps, it was the  name that attracted me more than the pizza. With a perfect blend of various veggies ranging from  artichokes to vine ripe tomatoes, the pizza was a true delight -- especially after a tiresome testing day at school followed by a victorious badminton match. To wash this all down, coconut water provided the perfect side.

Captivating Name =  Clever Marketing Tactic

As we ate our scrumptious meals, Mr. Chan-Law discussed his past experiences with ILC and as he mentioned places like Niagara Falls, Baseball Hall of Fame, Chicago, and St. Louis, all of our eyes lit up with true excitement. He gave us a brief itinerary that was subject to change. This itinerary mentioned St. Louis, Chicago, and Ithaca.  To end this meeting, we took the infamous "selfie" sans Katelyn and Mr. Chan-Law since Katelyn had to leave early and since Mr. Chan-Law was busy communicating with a parent.

Our first "selfie" with a partial cohort

Altogether, this "Chaperone Meet-and-Greet Event" was a great way to bond with my other cohort members before the fancy dinners, school meetings, and eventually, the big trip. Since it was informal, we were all more casual and relaxed. And because of this friendly atmosphere, we were being ourselves and really enjoying spending time together. Since the summer is not too far away, I really believe communication is key and that the cohort should know each other well as we'll be spending a good portion of our summer together. Additionally, this chaperone meet-and-greet helps us prepare for the trip as it builds up the excitement and expectations that definitely will be worth the month and a half wait. 

Until then, stay tuned because the best is yet to come. 

Time for Pizza!

Not wanting to be late, I left San Pablo around 5:30 PM to make time for my mom to drive me there and find the place. Turns out I was the first to arrive...and last to leave.

By 6:10 PM everyone was present and thus the introductions started. Our chaperone, Mr. Chan-Law introduced himself first, and slowly everyone got to know each other (well...names). I got to meet Subhiksha, Kevin, and Natalie for the first time. They’re going to attend the Freedom and Justice program at Cornell while the rest attend Hotel Management.

Mr. Chan-Law kept the conversation moving, trying his best to not make the meeting awkward. He talked briefly about the travel dates and lodging accommodations during the first week of the trip while we waited hungrily for the food to come. 

Natalie's saucy salad came first, and by the time everybody's share came, we took a break from talking and started discussing about AP classes and SAT tests. I couldn't share my stories about crazy, wild, hardcore AP classes since my school doesn't offer a single AP class. While Carla and Subhiksha were talking about AP Literature, there goes Katelyn and Natalie talking about AP Language, and I'm just there munching on my Hawaiian Pineapple Indee Pizza.

During the meeting, Mr. Chan-Law talked about our itinerary. We would first be stopping at St. Louis in Missouri to visit Washington University, then advancing towards Chicago to explore the campus of either UChicago or Northwestern. Because there aren't any direct flights to Ithaca, we will most likely transfer from Philadelphia. Mr. Chan-Law also added some sneak-peek information we didn't get from Don's tutorial. He was telling us the dorm rooms arrangement are lottery based, so when we go check in, that's when our fate of hoping to get a better dorm lies. I'm definitely going to cross my fingers when I approach the service counter.

Near 7:15 PM, everyone was either finished with their pizzas or simply just too full. Before leaving, we just had to take a mega-selfie:

Katelyn left just before we snapped this selfie

I had a fun time hanging out with my cohort members and getting to know Mr. Chan-Law. Looking forward to the next meet-up!

And Then There Was Pizza

Today the Cornell cohort came together for the first time when five of my peers and I ate dinner at Extreme Pizza in Hercules. I arrived at a few minutes before six, the second student there, and had the door opened by Mr. Chan-Law, who immediately introduced himself and Jun. We chatted about Middle College and AP courses until within a few minutes the other students arrived. The restaurant's business was slow; in fact, for a few minutes we were the only people there. Everyone ordered pizza except yours truly - I tried a salad. 

Although the walnuts, bacon, and feta cheese were lovely, the large pieces of onion were off-putting. 

Once the food was served, talk shifted to the trip. Mr. Chan-Law offered tentative dates for our departure and return home. I was excited to learn that we will be seeing both St. Louis and Chicago before settling in at Cornell. Noting that pizza in Hercules is not generally considered to be quality cuisine, our chaperone informed us that he knows the best restaurants in Ithaca, and that we will be very happy eating out there. He added, however, that the daily food for Cornell students can be monotonous. 

Within our cohort, there are four students from Hercules High. Although this made our conversation feel unbalanced initially, I know that as we spend more time together that issue will disappear. I look forward to spending time with everyone as we move towards our summer at Cornell. 

Meeting, Greeting & Eating

Today the Cornell cohort came together for the Chaperone Meet and Greet. Our chaperone, Mr. Chan-Law, generously treated us all to dinner at Extreme Pizza. When we first arrived we all seemed a little awkward--except for Mr. Chan-Law, who was very enthusiastic. However, by the time we finished up our meals and our discussions, we were much more comfortable with each other. It was the first of what I'd like to call "Cornellian bonding".

Big thank you to Mr. ChanLaw for
buying me this delicious pizza

Mr. Chan-Law began breaking down our entire ILC itinerary. He told us that we will be leaving, though not for sure, on June 16th, five days before our official classes start. On those days we will travel to two different cities: St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. There, we will take college tours, go sightseeing and, best of all, stay in fancy hotels. Although none of this information is set in stone, it is all very exciting.

Even more exciting to me, however, is the prospect of visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame as a previous cohort did two years ago. An avid baseball fan, getting to see all the memorabilia there would be the icing on the cake of an already amazing summer. I may have to do some convincing though, so we shall see how that goes...

Mr. Chan-Law had a lot of insight on what we should expect this summer (dorms with no air-conditioning, weekend trips, rigorous courses and the opportunity to meet students just like us from around the world). All in all, I enjoyed hanging out with my fellow ILCers and our awesome chaperone.

I just remembered that I forgot to ask about renting bikes during our trip...I guess I'll have to wait until our next "Cornellian bonding". I can't wait!

Extreme Pizza with our Extreme Cohort

"Not So Sweet" iced tea

This blog post title is pretty cheesy (punny, right?), since today the Cornell cohort got together at Extreme Pizza in Hercules to get to know one another, and our chaperone Mr. ChanLaw. At 6:00 we all gathered at the pizza place and after a few minutes of awkward conversation, we began to order. Being a Plain Jane, I ordered a plain cheese pizza and a bottle of peach iced tea to go with it. While the cheese pizza was delicious and gooey, the iced tea was less than desirable due to its watered-down taste.

During our dinner, the seven of us discussed what Cornell would be like. Mr. ChanLaw told us all about what the food is like, how dorm life is and some of the different activities we could do. While I wasn't so excited about the lack of air conditioning in the dorms, I was pleased to hear that there is a study room nearby that has a nice big air conditioning system in it.

Our yummy food! Sandwiches, salads and pizza. 

We then talked about what we were going to do before actually arriving to Ithaca. Four days before getting to Cornell, we are most likely going to stop in Saint Louis, Missouri to check out different universities and sightsee. After 2 days, we are going to fly to Chicago to do the same, perhaps visit Chicago University or Northwestern. From there we will go to Ithaca and start classes that Monday.

During this meeting I had a lot of fun being able to hang out with the rest of my cohort and Mr. ChanLaw who are all really cool. At the end of our meeting, we all gathered for a group picture and upon arriving home I realized that the quality of iPhone front cameras are not very good (step it up Apple!). But overall I had enjoyed spending time with my cohort and I can already tell we are going to have a great summer at Cornell!

Group picture sans Katelyn 

This Is the Beginning

Today we had a tutorial at De Anza High School. Although my carpool was among the last to arrive, everyone was early. As a result, no one had to meet Guantanamo Don or even Evil Don.

The tutorial went smoothly and we stayed on schedule. Although Don’s talk was heavily punctuated with warnings, threats, and anecdotes about students from past years who had flouted the rules, everyone in the classroom seemed anxious to please and unwilling to jeopardize their scholarships.

The ILCers behaved much better than the weather did this morning. 

We learned all about blog content, presentation, and images. Don stressed that we are representatives of our high schools, the school district, and the Ivy League Connection, and that our blogs are read in dozens of countries around the world. I hope my posts will live up to the program’s expectations.

After we spent time creating posts on Don’s Practice Blog, the talk turned to the more mundane: laptop locks, laundry, travel, and packing. I learned to my dismay that one of my predecessors at Cornell had a dorm pillow crawling with all sorts of nasty things, so I’ll be sure to pack a pillow shield. In fact, I may pack two.

Laundry and pillow worries aside, I am excited to be starting my ILC journey. It’s nice to be treated as a capable adult (until, Don warns me in my head, it is necessary to be treated as a child), and I look forward to upcoming events. 

Our Journey Starts Here

 It struck me just then when I entered De Anza that this was the first event I took part of as an official ILC member. The gratitude towards everyone who helped me get this far swept through my mind as I stood by the door.

I am going to take Hotel Management: Tactics For Profitability course during the summer at Cornell, renowned to be the best hotel management university in the world.

This exhilarating journey comes with rules and regulations, and of course, we must obey each and every one of them. Don made use of this tutorial to enforce that all guidelines must be followed or your scholarship will be revoked. We've discussed about posting everyday from getting on the plane till getting off the plane. It made me realize that blogging is a fundamental part of becoming a responsible ILCer that shares their experiences to people of interest. We then made our first post on Don's Practice Blog. Afterwards, Don told us about the necessities required and what's reasonable and unreasonable to bring to the East Coast and back.

My favorite part of this tutorial session was when we got to "tour" De Anza and take pictures of the newly constructed building. I've never been inside De Anza before, so I was pretty excited. To be honest, I was pretty satisfied when my pictures I took came out nice. 

One of the architectural designs in De Anza High School

Overall, I've learned a lot of useful material that can really benefit me while travelling to the East Coast. One of them was tricks here and there to enhance our photos to look better, "... but it really depends on your personal preference,..." says Don.

I won't lie, I'm literally jumping up and down my bed thinking that June isn't far ahead and soon I'll be boarding a plane towards New York. This tutorial was really helpful and I anticipate the next meeting to be as inspiring as this.