One Day Closer to Brown

Due to that fact that I ended school at 5:00 PM today, I rushed to get ready for the School Board Meeting. I arrived at Lovonya Dejean Middle School thirty minutes before the time that Don gave us in the email because if Don says “be there ready to go to work at 6:00 PM,” it really means that you should be there a couple of minutes before 6:00 PM.

When I arrived, my cohorts and I tried to find seats near each other as we waited for our chaperone, Jenny, to arrive. I recognized many familiar faces on the School Board and in the audience. 

After people mingled inside the cafeteria, the meeting finally started and the Ivy League Connection was the first topic on the agenda. The way the meeting was run reminded me of a city council meeting, but much bigger. The cameras, the men and women dressed in fancy clothes, and the awards presented to every ILCer made me realize that it is an honor and a reward to be accepted to a program like the Ivy League Connection. Congrats to everyone who made it this far because it was not a fast nor an easy process.

After each chaperone talked about their opinions and expectations for the program, one speaker from each group was asked to give a speech about what they expect from the ILC. Cynthia Ramirez represented Brown Session Two with an inspirational and powerful speech that wasn’t practiced or rehearsed at all. I won’t be able to make such a great speech as Cynthia at the Brown Dinner in SF tomorrow, but I will try to make my speech as memorable as hers.   

Our sponsors, the ones who give the ILC money, came and took a bow as their names were being called out. I want to thank them because we wouldn’t afford to go to an Ivy League school for free this summer without their support. 

I also want to applaud Don for doing so much for the Ivy League Connection, yet he is hardly ever awarded or recognized. Taking pictures with a heavy camera, making sure that everyone writes a blog, checking to see if anyone is absent, and providing ILCers with all the help that they need is definitely a big job for just one man. Thank you, Don, for all that you have done.

Although I haven’t gone to Brown University yet, I feel a little more confident, inspired, and changed every time I meet with my cohorts. The change is already happening. I can feel it.

Jenny introduced our group to the School Board.