T-Minus..

Twenty-six hours, twenty-one minutes, fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight seconds, fifty-seven seconds.. Well you get the idea. In approximately said amount of time, the Columbia cohort for the 2012 summer will be landing in New York. The months of preparation have finally led to us to this moment: our departure for the Big Apple. It’s amazing to know we will be on the other side of the coast in just a few hours.

So I’ll let you all in on a little secret. When I was accepted in to the Ivy League Connection, I started packing. My excitement during the time was so vast that packing seemed like the only thing I could do to relieve myself. And boy did it help. It started out with a few articles of clothing, a dress here and a few T-shirts there. As time passed by, I started building up what would go into my suitcase and now I’m just a few items away from completion.

Other than the usual packing, I have also prepared myself for the work I will be leaving behind here in the Bay Area. I’ve communicated with my fellow co-captain for Parliamentary Debate on the agendas for the two meetings I will be missing. I have filled out the necessary forms for Leadership to have Senior BBQ and Senior Shirts as well as created the donation letters for Homecoming this upcoming year. And of course, I’ve completed about fifty percent of my AP American Government summer assignment.

When we arrive at the Big Apple, I know for sure one thing I will not enjoy: the humid, muggy weather. If I think the weather here in Pinole is brutal- a good 90 degrees or so- then I know shaded areas and air conditioned buildings will be my new best friends on the East Coast.

I won’t lie, this is the first time I’ve ever gone this far away from home and my family, but I couldn’t be any more excited. Although I will probably feel homesick at one point, the challenges ahead of me will keep my preoccupied.

As time winds downs, my eagerness grows tenfold. Ready or not Columbia, here we come.