Orientation at Pinole Middle School

Gabrielle Looking Excited
for The Trip

      Today I was excited for the ILC orientation because it was an opportunity for me to spend more time with my fellow ILC members and learn more about my upcoming trip to Brown. After arriving home from school at four I decided to try and finish all of my Physics final prep work because I wasn't sure how long the orientation and blogging would take. Luckily I didn't have to dress up for this event so I was able to quickly grab a bite to eat and leave the house at 5:15. I was a bit anxious about arriving on time because there was lots of traffic on the freeway but everything worked out and I arrived at Pinole Middle School at 5:45. 

      As soon as we arrived we made our way to the sign in tables outside of the multipurpose room. I found the Brown clipboard, checked off my name, and updated my information. My mom and I then headed into the room and found a seat to wait for the meeting to begin. More and more people continued to trickle in and luckily everyone had arrived on time so we could begin at six. The chaperones had all gotten there early so they had gone over the plan for the orientation. 

Tiffani Sharing Info With Us 

      First all of the chaperones went to the front of the room and introduced themselves. It was very fun and informative to hear them talk about their past experiences traveling with ILC. I had only ever met my chaperone, Tiffani, so I enjoyed being introduced to the rest of them. Just hearing them talk about all the fun locations that they had visited in the past made me so much more excited for my trip. 

     Next we broke up into our smaller cohorts so that we could talk about or specific trips. Since the Brown cohort is the biggest we got to stay in the multipurpose room while all the other groups went to classrooms to talk in their small groups. All of us crowded around one lunch table so we could hear Tiffani as she explained our itinerary and gave us some more details about the trip. She also passed around a group picture and some signature sheets so that we could all give Don the mandatory information that he needed. Adrian Ramsey, and ILC alum, also came to share her experience with us. We had gone to El Cerrito High School and participated in the Mock Trial team together so it was really fun to see her again. She gave us lots of information on how the class works, what the dorms are like, and other fun activities she participated in while she was at Brown. Hearing from Adrian gave me a different perspective on the program and made me even more excited for the class. 

     While we were broken up in our cohorts we also talked about the site visits that we would be going on. We are going to stay after for an extra three days so that we can visit Harvard, Yale, and Wellesley. These trips are really great because they will allow for me to see other colleges while I am on the east coast. 

Don's Beautifully Organized Loner Items

     After we were done meeting with our cohorts we all gathered together in the multipurpose room. This was when Don told us all the information about what to pack and loner items. He had organized the loner items all around the room. All of the small items were neatly ordered and labeled on a table in the front of the room. The larger luggage items were all displayed on the stage surrounding Don. We also went over some important information about what to expect on departure day and some of the basic rules and expectations of the program. Nobody had any questions so we were able to finish around 7:30. I left the meeting even more excited about my summer at Brown then before. Spending time with my cohort and learning all of the details has made the whole experience seem more real.