Dinner at One Market

Today I woke up anxious but excited. I had my AP Calculus final at school which I was not looking forward to but I was excited my Brown dinner. My mom and I left the house at about five o'clock to ensure that we would make it to the El Cerrito Plaza BART station in time. We picked up a fellow member of the Brown cohort (Gabrielle) and her mom on the way down so we could carpool.

Usually I don't like riding on BART but tonight was fun because I felt like I got to know the rest of my Brown cohort better. I sat with a lot of different girls and my chaperone for the program. It was exciting to finally meet the whole group that was going on the trip with me. The only other time that I had met most of them was during the interview. We talked a lot about our different schools and what we were excited for the summer.

The BART ride to San Francisco

By the time we all got to the city we were really excited for the fancy dinner. The restaurant was nice and the food was delicious. I was especially ready for dinner because I had had a small lunch and was hungry. I loved all of the food but my favorite dish was probably the desert. For dessert we had delicious fresh sorbet.

Although the food was great, by far the best part was talking to the sponsors and Brown alums. I have never visited Brown so it was interesting to hear all about it. All of the Brown alums were so warm and friendly. Before dinner we spent a while all getting to know each other. I spent some time talking to Jonathan Speed about his experience at Brown. He had so much information to offer from what life is like at Brown to how many students go there and the percent of students that major in specific topics. 

After we had mingled we all sat down at our assigned seats and listened to the presentations. First we did introductions so that we could meet the people that we hadn’t had a chance to talk to yet. Thankfully Mahi had volunteered to speak at the dinner so I didn't have to be anxious about speaking and I could just enjoy myself. I really enjoyed listening to all of the presentations. Mahi did an amazing job reflecting all of our feelings about what we want to learn and how thankful and excited we all are to be in the program. Two alums, Alice Piñeiro and Jonathan also gave speeches. It was interesting to hear about how close knit of a community Brown is and about all the support that is offered there. It seemed like all of the alums really had amazing experiences and that the environment at Brown really encourages personal growth and learning. Jonathan also shared a few fun facts that made the dinner more interesting. Who knew that Brown has a Varsity Women's Rugby team?

The 2015 Brown Cohort and Brown alums

I sat at a table with Lauren Brodsky (who is a Brown alum), Esme my fellow cohort member, her mother, my mother, and Don. Lauren had also gone to El Cerrito High so it was beneficial to hear about her experience and what the transformation from El Cerrito High School to Brown was like. She also shared a lot of information about the college life in and around Providence. Don kept us entertained the whole time by sharing all of the ILC gossip.

I ended up having a great evening. Finally meeting all of my cohort members and my chaperone made the whole program feel more real and made me even more excited for my summer at Brown. I also really appreciated hearing from all of the sponsors about their experiences.