A Day That Shall Live in Informativity

Pinole Middle School, the location of the Orientation Meeting

Today, June 2nd once again saw the entire ILC community gathered together under one roof to participate in one of the most sacred ILC rituals: the orientation. The story of this particular orientation meeting began for me at 5:30 when I began the journey to Pinole Middle School, where the meeting was held. I was a little worried about arriving late, since I am well aware of the harsh penalties that are meted out to tardy ILCers. Fortunately, we arrived with plenty of time to find good seats and wait for the presentation to begin.

Don explained everything that we would need to have packed and how we will be proceeding from here on. Some of the information was review for such seasoned ILC participants as ourselves, but much of it was new to the parents in attendance. From there, the orientation moved to cohort-specific breakout sessions. In the breakout session, Mr Hillyer, our chaperone went over the itinerary for our trip, especially the first week, when we will be visiting various locales in Washington D.C. and New York. (I am so excited to visit the Smithsonian, Columbia University, and the many, many historical monuments that Mr. Hillyer has promised we will get to see. I am significantly less excited about waking up at 3:30 or before in the morning to get on the plane, especially since I will only have been home from Nicaragua for two days before leaving again.)

Don explains how things will work

After the breakout session concluded, we all returned to the main room to go over more procedures and learn about all the equipment we can borrow. It was at this point that it dawned on me that this entire adventure is real. A mere twenty eight days from now, I will be flying to the other side of the country to study at one of the best universities in the country. I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity and I will do my best to represent the school district well.