Monday, June 6, 2016

Pack Your Bags - We're Going East

It's only a matter of time before we depart from the Bay Area to head East in Providence, Rhode Island. Our orientation today at Pinole Middle School was all about our traveling. We brought along our parents or family so they can also understand what will be going on. It also made them feel safer about releasing us to our chaperones when we make our trip East. Everything is coming up so fast and parents are just as excited about the trips as the students are.

My parents wish they could go East too
There was a lot of traffic on my way to the Orientation. I was getting all anxious in my seat worrying that I'd be late. Fortunately, I got to Pinole Middle School about five minutes before we were supposed to be there. I walked over to the gym with other ILCers and found the large ILC crowd there. We waited in the cold for a while outside, but soon, after helping Don bring luggage bags inside, we all got to enter the gym and take our seats at the bleachers.  It was a big gym and I saw the bags displayed in the center and some loaner items in the corner.
Fiddling with loaner items

All the parents and students continued to wait patiently on the bleachers while Don spoke to the chaperones. Soon, Don and the chaperones shared a few words. Apparently, Don was waiting to meet Bill Clinton in the bad heat, so things were sort of delayed. Each chaperone spoke to all of us about their experience with the ILC and why they are great fits to be our chaperones. They mentioned things such as how they liked college, traveling, working with youth, and giving back to the community. Each cohort has a wonderful chaperone and I'm sure we will all go through a meaningful and fun experience together.


Our amazing chaperones

All of the cohorts spread out through the gym to discuss departure dates and other travel matters. The Brown cohort will be departing from SFO on June 22 at 6:00 AM. That's about two weeks away from now! We'll have to begin packing all our travel essentials and whatnot, which Don covered when everyone went back together in one group. Komal also helped to answer some questions my parents and I had about the dorms and the food at Brown.
Brown!!!
Most matters that Don had discussed were things covered in the tutorial, so the ILCers were hearing a lot of this information about loaner items and item checklists for the second time. Our parents, however, did not know all this information because it had not all been shared by the students. I'm glad that we got to cover this with our parents together so that they have a clear image of what to expect and prepare. Our families have been very proud and supportive of us and I know we are all thankful and will miss them during our trips. It's okay though. They can read our blogs everyday.

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