And So It Nears

As the weather continues to fluctuate with the heat of summer threatening to bake us alive, the days seem to be crashing into one another. The first week of May is always one of the busiest times of the year for students, especially juniors who are preparing for AP tests. Just yesterday, I was busy running around like a squirrel on caffeine to complete my agenda. I began the day at 5AM for some AP Chemistry studying (which I will need for tomorrow May 6th.) At 7AM I was out of the house volunteering at a city-wide cleanup in my school; 8AM and I was boarding the bus to Richmond to perform with my band at the Cinco de Mayo parade. The parade started an hour later than planned, and after two hours marching down nearly two miles of street, my mom drove me to the entrance of De Anza High School. I was already late by a few minutes and I sprinted down the hallway chasing "Room 206" signs posted on walls and garbage cans before arriving at the computer lab. 

This mask was staring at me during the tutorial, and emanated a
"the doom is near" aura though I appreciated the aesthetic design.

The moment I entered, Don explained the current situation to me. The computer lab's internet connection was not working as planned, and almost everyone was having trouble connecting his/her laptop to the internet. I quickly found a seat beside two of my classmates, one of which will be joining me at Cornell University this summer, and set about connecting my laptop. After a frustrating period of pulling Ethernet cables and experimenting with passwords, Don exasperatedly told us that if we could not connect our laptops, we would just have to use the school's computers. I was disappointed that I could not use my laptop, but I was relieved to find that the school's computers were relatively fast and well-kept. 

Me and Christian using Anmol as our practice model.

Eventually everything was sorted out and Don began discussing the agenda. He began with an introduction to Blogger and gave a detailed rundown of the tools and quality of the site, as well as the specific format he wanted all the ILCers to follow when posting blogs. He then moved on to review examples of model blogs as well as deficient ones, and told us about his administrator powers. Once he had finished his discussion, the ILCers were instructed to post a three paragraph post on Don's practice blog. I had already worked with Blogger before for my Publications class, but I was thankful for the advice on content and format.  

After the topic of blogging had been covered, Don taught us about photography and how to correctly save and archive the photographs we take. Unfortunately the website we were supposed to archive the pictures  in was blocked, so we snapped a couple photos and posted them on the practice blog. Many of the ILCers had fun taking photographs of their friends and Don, and I was happy to be able to use my camera which I had not used for a while. 

The last quadrant of the tutorial consisted of a discussion of etiquette and what to pack for the trip. After hearing about what lay ahead in the Ivy League Connection, I could not stop smiling. Images of fancy dinners, day excursions with my fellow cohort members, and new people I would meet swarmed my mind for the next hour or so.

 I am so grateful to be a part of this experience, and after taking the first milestone, I look forward with even more vigor to taking the next step on my Ivy League journey.