My sister, Jennifer, was part of the first Ivy League
Connection cohort in which they went to Dartmouth College. After seeing how the
ILC impacted her life, I knew I had be part of the ILC. I remember where this
journey began. It was before Don even had his informational session at the El
Cerrito High Performing Arts Theater. I emailed him asking for more information
regarding the application for the ILC. Day after day I would pester him to go
into deeper detail about the application process until Don finally told me that
I will understand it better once he gives the information session.
There is a famous saying that goes: “third time’s the
charm.” This phrase could not have been better suited for my situation. I had
received interview opportunities for three different programs: Macroeconomics
at Brown, Constitutional Law at Columbia, and Freedom & Justice at Cornell.
Since I didn’t find any luck with the first two, Freedom & Justice turned
out to be the charmer. Once Alex’s, Eric’s, and my name were called as the ones
chosen to attend this program, I knew it was going to be fun.
Once everything was running smoothly, we had a taste of what
was to come, literally. Through dinners with Cornell alumni and ILC alumni, I
gained a lot of insight of life at Cornell. Such dinners made me ever so excited
to leave at that very moment and fly out to Cornell. Furthermore, our fancy
dinner at Prospect in San Francisco was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of
the restaurants we would eat at in Philadelphia.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front El Cerrito High
School freezing along with the others in the Cornell cohort. It was time, we
got into our charter bus and headed towards the airport to embark on what was
to be a priceless journey. When the airplane took off, it was time to leave all
our dependency and comfort of home behind (although our first week of living
was far more luxurious than any of us could have imagined). Honestly, I was
ecstatic about leaving home and being independent.
At the airport, we drew cards to see who would room with
whom in the hotel in Philadelphia. As you may already know from previous blogs,
I got Eric Wang from Hercules High. I’m not going to lie, I initially wanted to
room with someone from El Cerrito or get the single room (Alex got that one).
However, rooming with Eric Wang was the best experience I ever had. Every
night, we would stay up late blogging, playing computer games (mainly golf),
watching movies, and laughing endlessly during our conversations. We ended up
being the best of buddies.
Our first week in Philadelphia was filled with campus visits
and fancy dinners. I can’t say I’m not going to miss those dinners, but
everything in moderation, I guess. As for the campus visits, we went to
University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, and Princeton. Out of all three, UPenn
appealed to me the most. From these tours, I realized that I prefer a large
campus over a small one. Throughout the first week, we all became close friends and
it was sad seeing us go our separate ways once classes started at Cornell.
The experience I had at Cornell is one in which words cannot
describe. It is one of those experiences where you have to tell others “you had
to be there!” Cornell seemed to have further cast a charm on me. For the first
time ever, I enjoyed waking up early in the morning. I enjoyed going to class
and listening to an hour and a half lectures. I enjoyed studying. I enjoyed
writing my paper. If this is what college is like, then I am extremely sad that
I still have one more year to go before that. Of course, Cornell had its flaws,
not in a sense that Cornell did anything wrong, but more because of personal
taste. I guess this problem comes with every college: the dining hall. The
first week, we all thoroughly enjoyed the food there and would go for seconds,
even up to fifths. However, towards the end of the program, we could barely eat
one plate of food before looking at it with queasy stomachs. Throughout the
three weeks at Cornell, never once did I miss home. Cornell became my home.
Over the course of the three weeks, we made some incredible
and unforgettable friends. We were heartbroken when our time together ended and
we went our separate ways. You see, these aren’t the friends in which you will
see next week when you decide to hang out at the mall. Most of these friends we
may never see in person for the rest of our lives. Nevertheless, these friends
will be the ones we will never forget.
I will truly miss my time at Cornell. Everything from our
discussion sessions to our billiards games in Robert Purcell Community Center.
Throughout this experience, I have grown as a person, individually and
academically. I have become more outspoken and outgoing. More importantly, I
have learned proper social protocol from all the dinners with the admission
officers of the different colleges. As for the academics, I feel that my
writing skills have improved. The most important skill I have acquired over
these three weeks at Cornell has to be time management. Never in my life have I
managed my time well enough that I don’t feel stressed.
There are many people that I would like to thank for making
this opportunity possible for me. Firstly, I would like to thank my family who
would pester me endlessly about how I am wasting my time and thereby giving me
motivation. To our chaperone, Mr. Chan-Law; your easy-going, yet authoritative,
personality made it very easy to connect with you and made the trip very
enjoyable. I would like to give my cohort a big thank you. We shared many
memorable moments and laughs (especially those times when we would yell
profanities when we almost forgot to blog). You all were a huge factor in
making this trip from good to extraordinary. Finally, I would like to thank a
million times over to everyone affiliated with the ILC, from the alumni to the
sponsors. You all have kept the ILC running and reputable. I would like to
especially thank Don Gosney, Mr. Charles Ramsey, and Mrs. Madeline Kronenberg
who all have been the backbone of the ILC. No matter how many times I say thank
you, I can never do it justice. The opportunity the ILC has given me is
priceless. As for now, goodbye Cornell, may our paths cross sometime in the future.
It has finally come to an end, but at the same time, this is
the beginning. The ILC has opened my eyes to the many possibilities outside of
California. As for now, I will be leaving for a service trip to Nicaragua this
coming Wednesday. I believe that the ILC has in some way helped me prepare for
this trip as well as in my future college career. I can’t believe I’m saying
this, but I will dearly miss blogging every night in the comfort of my 95
degree dorm room. To keep this going, I will be blogging during my trip in
Nicaragua. Should you feel so inclined, you can follow me on my new blog:
cknicaragua.blogspot.com.
Thank you ILC!
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| Me and My TA, Gaurav |
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| Me and Professor Kramnick |
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