I guess this is where it really starts. I know I don't leave for another month and a half, but in the back of my mind I'm already in New York.
For those of you reading this blog for the first time, let me explain. I am one of six students in the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) who is attending a course at Columbia University in Harlem this summer. Tomi Balogun, Lucas Lochner Bravo, Adrianne Ramsey and I are taking "Constitutional Law," while Morvarid Mehdizadeh and Aurea Riboroso are taking "American Presidential Powers At Home And Abroad: From George Washington To Barack Obama" (lengthy, I know). This is all part of the Ivy League Connection (ILC), a program that allows high performing high school students in my district to explore their academic possibilities outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. This year, the ILC is sending students to University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and Vanderbilt University.
Yesterday, we attended a tutorial session at Hercules High School. One of the main topics was what we should bring on the trip. This seems self explanatory, but I was surprised by some of the stuff that I didn't know. For example, I've only ever left the state of California to visit relatives. On these trips I always stayed in some one's home or a hotel, where bed materials were all available. For this reason, I was unaware that when staying in a dorm, you should bring your own sheets, because they may not be provided.
The other part of the tutorial was dedicated to teaching us how to blog. I didn't really think this part was important. I mean, when am I ever going to be blogging... All jokes a side, one of our major responsibilities on this trip will be to blog everyday about our experiences. We will describe what has happened, as well as post pictures from our travels and give our opinions on the coursework. Considering that I never know who might read this, I'll try to keep my writing professional, informative, and if I can help it, interesting. I look forward to both my travels and further blogging updates. Thanks for reading.
Lenny,
ReplyDeleteLet me make this clear: when you get to your dorm, you'll find a bare mattress without bed sheets so don't go under the assumption that maybe they will and maybe they won't supply them. This is the real world. And you need to check about a pillow, too. That's not a given.
As I mentioned in the tutorial, part of why we have you all blog is to help you to hone your writing skills--something just about all of you can use some help with. That and the fact that I love to see pretty pictures.
So far I'm very impressed with what I'm seeing on the blogs. Well done, Lenny.