A Cold Evening of Photography and Conversation

Last night was the WCCUSD District School Board meeting. The ILC was honored for what the program has achieved, but our achievements were overshadowed on the night by the furious Serra Adult School protesters. Based on what I gathered from the 30 or so minute-long public comments that preceded the recognition of our program, the School Board has decided to move some classes away from the actual campus to accommodate a Mandarin immersion program. A lot of people involved with the Serra programs had shown up, and many felt very passionate about the decision. There was a lot of anger and frustration directed to the Board, so it seemed that they were relieved when it was finally our turn to talk to them.

Ms. Sciacca introducing us.

Relieved as they were, the School Board appreciated the calmer nature of the ILC speeches. First, they gave Don 3 minutes to express what the ILC program has accomplished and how much money the ILC alumni has earned in scholarship money. Then, the chaperones introduced their respective cohorts, and a member from each cohort spoke. Lindsay spoke for us (UChicago cohort), and articulated the unique benefits of the ILC very well. I was standing between Jahnvi and Cecilia, and both were holding an end of the UChicago banner, leaving me not knowing what to do with my hands. I ended up kind of gripping the top bar with my fingertips, but the whole experience of standing with our backs to everyone and semi-holding the flag was pretty awkward to me and I was glad when we finished up.

After the ILC’s part in the meeting had concluded, we all went outside to take photos. First, Don took a couple of individual and family photos. Then, at his instruction, all of the ILCers, parents, and chaperones took formation around a bench that he had erected prior to the meeting. There were only 3 male ILCers, so we got to sit on the ground in front of everyone else. It was really windy and people kept blinking and pushing their hair out of their face (I was guilty of this), so Don had to take many, many photos. 

One of many cohort photos taken on the night.

When the group photos were finished, we (the UChicago cohort) decided to retake the banner photo for our blog site. We went onto an elevated platform about a story off the ground and tried out 3 or so different poses. After a couple shots of each pose were taken, the remaining ILCers joined us and we took some more pictures. Most people went home after these photos, leaving Zunarah, Noor, and I.

Zunarah was a student representative of the School Board, so she didn’t go home until the actual meeting ended. As for Noor and I, our parents were talking to Don, so the three of us hung out for a while until Don and our parents were done talking. Our conversation went all over the place, ranging from ILC-related topics like the application process for our respective summer sessions to more personal subjects such as our opinions of certain classes at our schools. It was fun to chill with them, and the talking helped take my mind off of the temperature.

The District School Board meeting was a decent experience. On the one hand, I had to sit through over half an hour of people expressing their negative emotions, but on the other hand I got to see not only the rest of my cohort and chaperone again, but also members of the other cohorts. The time for us to fly to Chicago is only getting closer, and I can’t wait for it to come.

Always great to see these guys.

Banner Photo Take Three ft. Hair Everywhere

Yesterday night was the District School Board meeting held at Lovonya DeJean Middle School. As with the dinner, my mother accompanied me to this event. It was the first time all of the ILCers gathered together since the tutorial, which was a while ago, so it was wonderful seeing everyone again. I got to DeJean fairly early, so I had a bit of time to talk and catch up with people. 

I chatted with Bianche for a bit during that time. As we waited outside for the last few people to show up, I also met the chaperones for the Brown cohort and the Cornell cohort. They are super nice and friendly people, and I found out that Deven, the chaperone for Cornell, is the music director at Helms. Helms had only recently started their music program, but the program is already thriving and greatly benefiting their students, which is super awesome for them. 

Zunarah speaking for the Brown cohort

Unfortunately, the meeting did not start even once we went inside to claim our seats. We had to sit for almost another half hour, which, truthfully, was quite boring. Thankfully, the chaperone for my cohort, Ms. Sciacca, sat to my left, so at least I got to know her a little better during that half hour while we waited. I found out that finals week was almost as stressful for teachers as for us students, especially since Ms. Sciacca teaches juniors and seniors, and she has to give out F notices. 

Eventually, the board meeting began, but it was to a very slow start. One interesting thing was that Zunarah, part of the Brown cohort, is actually the student representative on the School Board, as part of the leadership program at her school! How cool is that? 

However, before it was our turn to stand in front of the board, we had to wait for the 34 public comments. A vast majority of the comments were about Serra Adult School, and there were many heartfelt, emotional pleas to the School Board, especially those from the students who came to speak. It was kind of uncomfortable for me to listen because so many of these comments were so emotionally powerful, and I didn't know how to feel when the board members cut off the mic when the speakers went overtime. I understand how it could be necessary as they had to try to keep the schedule, but it just didn't feel right to me, treating people like that. 

Then, finally, it was our turn. We lined up in front of the stage, facing the School Board and leaving our backs to the crowd, which I thought was kind of weird. The flags we held faced the School Board as well, and I wished we could've faced the crowd at least for a little bit, if only to spread recognition for our program, since I couldn't really tell if the crowd even cared or knew what we were up there for. 

ILCers, assembled!

Don introduced us and talked about the ILC's mission and this year's success with 25 of its seniors, who received $3.4 million in financial aid combined and are going to prestigious universities like Stanford and UChicago, to name a few. Don then gave the stage to the chaperones and speakers for each cohort. The chaperones introduced the members of the cohort, and basically all of the speakers talked about their experience or expectation for ILC and thanked everyone who made the program possible. Lindsay, the last speaker, did a fabulous job with her speech. Go, Lindsay! 

Afterwards, we went outside and took many pictures. It was extremely windy yesterday night and I was worried that my hair was in my face for all of the shots. Aside from our ILC group photo, Don took pictures of us with our families or fellow ILCers, and it was nice. The Chicago cohort decided to take some more photos with various poses for our banner photo, which we are still not satisfied with yet. Since it got pretty late, it was getting dark, and I don't know how well our shots turned out, especially with my hair flying everywhere in the wind. Hopefully, we'll have something we'll be able to work with. 

This one looks pretty nice

At around eight, I left because the event was over, and I was getting pretty cold and hungry. The night was worth it, however, because I got to see everyone again, especially the other cohorts, since I imagine we won't have many more chances for everyone to gather like this again. I think I got to know some people better during this event, and I look forward to seeing my cohort, the other ILCers ,and the chaperones again soon!

Did I speak? Yes. Do I remember what I said? No.

I got to Livonia De Jean with my mom around 5:50. By the time we got there many ILCers had already arrived, so I began walking around and talking to members of my cohort and to fellow ILCers who go to my  high school. Soon enough Don had us gather to discuss exactly what would be happening, where we were sitting, etc.

And suddenly Don appeared!

We sat down with our banners in the front row, and waited for the meeting to start (in theory the start time was 6:30). 

Jahnvi, Raqeeb, and I ended up using the banner as a lap blanket since we were cold. Once the meeting began it at first it seemed we might be done with our part quickly, as we were mistakenly called before the public comments. Once that error was worked out we heard many (34?) comments, mostly about Serra Adult School, and others about teacher wages. It was actually really interesting to hear all of the opinions on the Serra situation; I don’t yet understand what is legitimately happening to Serra and what the effects will be on the current students, but I want to find out.

After all of the public comments it was our turn to present. Due to time constraints we had to organize our speaking and, as Don put it, “Speak as a Team”. Chaperones introduced the members of cohorts, what classes each person would be taking, and then introduced the speaker. Evan covered the thank you portion, Robson covered how we got here, and spoke of the very, very, very, very long presentations, and the very, very, very, very long emails. Zunarah talked about what it will be like over the summer, and the very selective schools we will be attending.

Finally it was my opportunity to speak, and honestly I don’t remember a word I said. My topic was what we’re going to bring back to our community and how we’re going to share everything we learn with our community.

Then it was time for pictures! Don took the big and hard to coordinate picture first and then we splintered off into smaller group photos. My cohort and I took some pictures that can hopefully replace our current banner photo. And that was that.

Chicago squad photo

My Time at Vanderbilt— A One Year Reflection + Storytime

Sometimes, miracles DO happen. For me, it was getting into ILC as a sophomore and being able to go to Vanderbilt. I knew that ILC changed people, but I had never even imagined what it would do to me. 

Vandy squad departing

Vanderbilt was full of such passionate, confident people that I hadn't met before. The atmosphere was different than what could be found anywhere in our District. In fact, I even thought it was different than what I encountered every time I visited UC Berkeley. This difference made me uncomfortable. I became just as shy as I was a couple of years ago, and it was becoming increasingly hard to be my normal self. I didn't make as many friends as I initially expected.

But I realized it was because I was finding myself in a place that was way outside my comfort zone. The people, the atmosphere, the way things were, nothing was anywhere close to how I had been raised the past 15 years. I just needed to push myself even more, and try to get even more out of my comfort zone so I could get used to the atmosphere. I kept trying to make as many new friends as possible, and holding longer conversations with them. I was determined to try to get as used to this new way as much as I could. Now, it wasn't as if I was mentally torturing myself. Along the way, I was having fun and making lasting bonds. (In fact, one of my friends from Vandy just helped me pick my prom dress, too!)

My cute proctor group

This three weeks stretch of stubborn persistence apparently changed me a lot without me realizing. I knew something was different as soon as I stepped off the plane. Once school started, I was surprising people with things I did, the clothes I wore, the habits I adopted. In fact, I was even surprising myself, "Did I really just say all that out loud in front of the entire class?" or "Was I really just able to talk to him with that much confidence?"

This confidence led me to do something that wasn't supported at all by my school. What was it? Well...I guess it's story time:

The FTC team winning Judges' Award + selfie with judge

I had heard of the many learning opportunities FIRST Robotics provided. One of their competitions was known as First Tech Challenge or FTC. Starting a team costs over $3000 — of which we had $0. A club at our school the previous year had competed in a local robotics competition, and after seeing how much more was possible, I asked to have robotics separated as an independent club. This meant I'd have to start it from the ground up, with some people around me saying it wasn't possible at a school like ours. I almost believed it when the Principal continuously didn't show the active enthusiasm I expected for something as educational and hands-on as robotics. 

I was getting tired of the way things were running. If there was anything I took away from Vanderbilt, it was that pushing yourself could change anything; here, I was going to push the Principal, all the sources I had, all the people I knew, and secure the money we needed. Eventually, I was finally able to obtain a grant (HUGE shout-out to Bio-Rad!) just in time to allow me to register a team and finalize robotics as an active club.

After gathering up a team and competing, all of us realized how much of a disadvantage we had. We had no teachers helping us. We had no teacher wanting to stay with us to build, and we'd get kicked out of our working room all the time. We didn't have great 3D printers to make parts we needed. We didn't have money to buy sturdy parts. We had no support. All we had was each other, Google, YouTube and purely basic robotics parts.

Robot at PiE

A few months later, and we're competing in PiE Robotics, a local robotics competition held at UC Berkeley. All the schools we were competing against had everything we didn't: teachers, support, mentors at school, a reliable place to work, and many resources. Chances of winning were bleak to us, but I pushed myself and everyone, and everyone pushed everyone else.

And then...WE WON FIRST PLACE. My teammates and I cried tears of joy. We had just won a competition against schools that have legacies of robotics, and it felt surreal. 

In this past year, so much had been done: from starting up an FTC team, hosting outreach robotics programs at our local middle school, winning PiE, all the way to the planning of starting and mentoring many competitive elementary robotics teams. It was like living a dream. We were getting called up by the Principal to speak at staff meetings. We were on the map, being compared to years' long programs like MESA and other engineering academies.

Bittersweet end of the trip

And it all started with just trying to push past limits. Looking back, I would have never had the guts to take these initiatives if it wasn't for ILC. I wouldn't have the confidence to shamelessly advertise the club all the time and get students to join. I wouldn't know how to properly talk to adults to get grants and donations. Most of all, I wouldn't have the ability to keep pushing myself even when people close to me were telling me to give up.

I cannot thank Don, ILC's sponsors, and the panelists who allowed me to have this opportunity, enough. I always say this, and I'll say it again: When people say ILC changes lives, they truly mean it. My life had been turned upside down in the best way possible. I was able to finally stand up for myself and others, be braver than I ever was, and know how to take initiatives. It was what I had wanted to be since middle school. Yet, there's still always more room for improvement and here's to another year of ILC to help me transform into the better human being I've dreamt of being. 

Vancago or Vandycago?

Things hadn't been too great that day, but at least I had the dinner to look forward to...or free food in other words. My dad dropped off my mom and I to the BART Station because he had a hunch we might just get lost, which we probably would have in all honesty. 

Once we were there, I first met Cameron and started talking to her. As others started pouring in, we all introduced ourselves and then Don began his instructions. I finally got to meet our chaperone, Tori Schiacca, who I honestly almost mistook as a student. She is the most energetic person I have seen, and I can't wait to talk to her more later. Among that though, I found out that Cameron was taking Adaptive Engineering at Vandy! We immediately started talking, and of course she was the coolest because guess what class she's taking?! 

On the BART, Cecilia, Raqeeb, Cameron and I couldn't find seats so we just stood and talked along the way, bonding over your typical teenage things like prom and AP Exams. Once we got there, we had to wait a little outside the dining hall. I talked to Ryan, Alice, and Evan and we spoke about both schools and the experiences there. Ryan let me know that I would most definitely have the best time at Chicago because I'd be given all the freedom that I've been yearning for. Then, I told Evan about my experiences at Vandy, being careful not to ruin any surprises, but also telling him enough so he could be prepared. It was actually a little harder than I thought. 

Salad they served

When we finally got to sit, I found myself at a table with Cecilia, our moms, Don, Alice, and UChicago alumni Eduardo Moreno. Until Eduardo arrived, Cecilia and I just went around table to table meeting the alumna there. I was very happy to see that Eppa Rixey and Lucas Scholl still remembered me from last year. But I was even happier to see that Eppa was married to Maddie now! Their stories last year of dates in the library were honestly so cute, so congrats to both of them! 

The food arrived while speeches were made, and then we all started talking to each other at the tables. Eduardo's major was philosophy at UChicago and he is currently working as a software developer, which I thought was so admirable. It's not easy to many to be able to take up a job in a field that is vastly different than what their major was. He asked us what we did, and I think I might have given a whole shpeal about robotics, because then I found ourselves talking about coding languages briefly. 

From left to right: Alice, Eduardo, me

Alice and Eduardo talked a little about the things found nearby the UChicago campus. All throughout, I could clearly sense how ecstatic Alice was that she was going there for college, which made me feel VERY happy for her. That in turn made me feel even more excited for the trip. Alongside, Eduardo told us funny stories from his college time. Apparently his dad started freaking out while visiting a class, thinking he was hallucinating. All the other students had learned to ignore the rattling in the walls from radiators after many days of hearing it. Eduardo's poor dad, meanwhile, didn't know this and thought he was the only one who could hear these sounds. 

Pointing to Chicago

After some great conversations, it was time for pictures. We walked out and the cold air hit me. It was so cold to the point that I tried to huddle among people to share warmth. I was finally able to talk to Christopher Dewing and the entire Chicago group talked and joked about how he got his accent and the cold weather. I thought his laugh was one of the best ones I've heard yet; it was one of those extremely contagious ones. After a long photo-shoot with the Chicago cohort, it was time to head back home. My high heels were killing my feet, but it was worth it. The entire dinner was more than worth it, in fact. I was able to meet so many passionate, talented people who took out time in their busy schedules for this dinner, and I couldn't be more thankful. 

The entire Chicago squad

Birth of a New Banner Photo and an Eventful Night

Yesterday night was one productive, eventful night to be remembered. It was the long-await ILC dinner, joint between the Vanderbilt and UChicago groups. As our ILC group gathered at the BART station waiting for the last few people to show up, I met my UChicago chaperone, Ms. Tori Sciacca, for the first time! An English teacher at Richmond High School, Ms. Sciacca gives off the impression of an extremely fun and smart person, and I am so excited to have her chaperoning our trip to Chicago. (I am obviously not biased just because she is an English teacher and I can't wait to talk about literature and books and that good stuff with her, of course not.) Unfortunately, she and I did not have many opportunities to talk afterward, but I did find out that she is friends with my current English teacher, which is super cool. 

Once everyone is gathered, Don handed out Clipper cards to everyone, and we were off to ride the glorious BART. On the BART, Jahnvi, Raqueeb, Cameron, and I formed our own little BART squad, and it was really nice getting to know Cameron (Can I call you Cammie?), who is part of the Vanderbilt cohort. We talked about everything from prom to sports, and we even got Raqueeb to divulge his secrets about how he styles his hair, so all in all, I considered it a success for team bonding. 

A beautiful salad. Simply beautiful.

We got off the BART and walked about five to ten minutes to the restaurant. Once there, everyone squished into this tiny reception area, and there was not really room to move around. I talked to a few parents and made my introduction to Alice Johnson, a senior from El Cerrito who has the participated in the UChicago program last summer and is going to be attending UChicago this fall. I died a little inside after my introduction,  though, because I was so awkward and tripped over my own words. It was quite embarrassing. However, I was given a chance to redeem myself when she was seated to my left at our assigned seating. I took this chance to talk more to Alice throughout the night, and I would like to think that by the end of the dinner, she and I have become friends. 

Eduardo Moreno talking to Jahnvi.

Joining us at our table also was Eduardo Moreno, a UChicago alumni from 2011. Eduardo was a bit of a more reserved person, especially compared to the other UChicago alumni, Christopher Dewing, but he was still very nice and answered all of my and Jahnvi's numerous questions readily. His answers are always insightful and thoughtful, which I appreciated, and, coupled with Alice's frequent inputs as well, I gained a lot of useful information about UChicago from talking with him. I also found out he majored in philosophy, and it was very fun and interesting to get to know him as a person as well.  

The rest of the dinner passed by very quickly. Soon enough, Don gathered all the ILCers and the alumni outside to take photos. The Vanderbilt group went first, so as we (the Chicago cohort) waited, we had the chance to talk with the other Chicago alumni that we hadn't talked to yet. Jahnvi and I talked to Christopher, who is very open and cheerful. He is from New Jersey, and Jahnvi thought his accent was a New Jersey accent, which, as it turned out, was not, but it was a fair guess. 

We took multiple photos and surprisingly, all of them turned out really good. I'm super happy about that because this time I did not ruin the pictures by closing my eyes. I especially loved the group photo we took with the banner because it just looked super professional to me. After those photos, the Chicago cohort also took some extra photos for the banner picture on our blog. We couldn't stop laughing so there were a couple ones where we messed up, but I think we still took some pretty good pictures to work with. 

Look at us! Aren't we cool?

After the dinner, we embarked on the journey home through BART once again. I talked some more with other people, but I was extremely tired by then and was about to fall asleep while standing up inside BART. It was well worth it, however. Over the course of this dinner, I was given the opportunity to meet many people (who came a long way and gave up an entire evening just to come talk to us), and I was able to learn so much from the experiences and insights that they so graciously shared with everyone. 

I Had to Speak, but I Also Got to Eat

Last night was the joint Vanderbilt-UChicago ILC dinner. It was an event that I had been experiencing mixed feelings about prior to attendance.  On the one hand, I was excited to see the rest of my cohort again and talk to both ILC and UChicago alumni about their time at the school, but on the other hand, I had volunteered to speak at the dinner.  Public speaking isn’t typically my strong suit, but I figured that since the whole ILC experience was about trying new things, it would be a good idea to step outside of my comfort zone whenever possible.  That being said, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to speak.  

The BART ride to Town Hall (the restaurant) was pretty smooth and uneventful, except for the fact that I was in constant fear of losing one of either the Clipper card Don gave us or the banners that I had been assigned to carry.  Once we got to the restaurant, we were escorted upstairs.  There was a small reception space between the dining area and restrooms where we (this year’s ILCers) were supposed to mingle with the alumni before dinner.  I talked to Christopher Dewing (UChicago c/o 2014) during this time.  He said that he chose UChicago because he felt that the people there complemented him well, and he told me all about the crazy things he did at his time there, from obscure sports like broom ball to involvement in organizations like the Zombie Readiness Task Force.

Don and Kevin setting up the dining room during the reception.

Trying to remember how to talk during my speech.

After a few minutes, Don let us take our seats. Shortly after the salad was served, Madeline Kronenberg gave a speech.  I wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying because at this point, I realized that I would be speaking right after her.  I had been dreading the speech, and every time there was a pause in her words, I stiffened with tension.  I was so psyched out by the time it was finally my turn to speak that I tripped over my own name while introducing myself.  When I was up there, however, I realized that no one would be heavily critiquing me, so I calmed down a little.  Even so, I still wasn’t 100% comfortable, and I ended up rushing through some of my sentences.  I also forgot to thank my family and fellow cohort members while I was finishing up the speech.  Nonetheless, despite my initial unease and all of the mistakes I made, speaking in front of everyone wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  

My entree, farro with roasted vegetables.

As the night progressed, I realized how subconsciously on-edge I was before my speech because I was so relaxed afterwards.  The food and dessert were both great; I was served farro with roasted vegetables, which was followed by this dish called pot de creme that resembled creme brulee, except without the hard outer layer. Christopher was at my table, and he told us all about his interesting escapades during his time at UChicago.  The ILC alum at the table was Ryan Cutter, who actually got accepted to UChicago and will go there next year.  He told us a lot about his application experience, and about the financial aid that was offered to him by school.  I learned a lot from those two, and it was great to be able to talk to people who have gone through the same journey that I’m about to embark on.

Ryan (left) and Christopher sharing their experiences with us.

Before the dinner, I was uncertain about whether or not I would enjoy myself.  However, the main cause of my uncertainty, the speech, came and went smoothly and I had a lot of fun for the rest of the night learning about UChicago and just talking to other people.  The dinner was a really valuable experience; I learned so much about life at UChicago and what to expect this summer, and I also bonded with the rest of the cohort, including our chaperone.  I’m now even more excited for this July.

Mandatory group photo.  It was great talking to the alumni and hearing about their time at the school.