Tonight marked the next Ivy League Connection milestone: the
annual ILC dinner with Brown alumni. We began the evening by meeting at the El
Cerrito Plaza BART Station and took BART to San Francisco, where we walked to
the restaurant “Town Hall”.
I do admit to being nervous about making a good first
impression on all the sponsors, alumni, and chaperones at the dinner. Fortunately,
I quickly became comfortable when I struck up a conversation with a Brown
alumni sitting next to me at the table, Lauren Brodsky. It was really helpful
to be able to get advice from someone who used to go to El Cerrito High School
(my current high school) but has also experienced life at an Ivy League
College.
During the meal, various people got up to speak, including
Mr. Ramsey, a couple of students, and some of the alumni. I loved hearing my
fellow ILC cohorts giving speeches because it made me proud to be in the same
program as them. It was also very heartwarming to hear from all the adults who
support us and have faith in us.
As for the food, I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing
it was. I got so wrapped up in my conversations with people that I almost
forgot to enjoy the exquisite Andouille sausage Gumbo and grilled chicken. I
was (almost) too full for dessert!
As the evening came to a close, we said our goodbyes (for
now) and walked back to BART. It surprised me how easy it was to have
conversations with other adults. I have never done anything like this before,
so it was a great learning experience, and I really feel that attending this
event made me more comfortable with meeting new people and making connections
with them. I’m so grateful to all the Ivy League Connection sponsors and
supporters, especially Don and Mr. Ramsey, for making this evening possible.
1 comment:
What a great blog, Sonya. You hit on the essence of the event where you moved up a couple of rungs on the ladder and realized maybe for the first time that you can be treated as something other than just a high schooler.
Trust me, Sonya, that the alums are probably talking about their great conversations with each of you, too.
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