My First Ever Board Meeting

The night began with me trying my best to finish my homework so I wouldn't have to worry about it when I got home, and then staring at two dresses which looked exactly the same for about 20 minutes before I actually started getting ready. After waiting around for my dad to finish getting dressed, we took off 30 minutes early to get to DeJean Middle School. I had never been there and even though I used Google Maps to find out it was close by, me being me, I wanted to be there early. My dad and I were met with no parking and lots of friendly protestors sporting colorful hand-painted signs. I saw Amelia walking inside, and was really hoping I wasn't the last one to arrive. 

When we walked inside the multi-purpose room Don was in the front row, I'm guessing doing some last minute adjustments. I introduced him to my dad before we saw Robson and his mother arrive. Our parents got to talking when we took the opportunity to slip outside into the courtyard where we were greeted by all the other early birds. I saw Javaria and went to greet her, as well as her mother and some of the other ILCers. We were chatting for a bit before our chaperone Deven came over and introduced himself. It was our first time meeting in person, and he was really funny and nice! We continued to talk with Evan and Amelia before being briefed by Don and walking back inside. 

The meeting itself started later than expected. While waiting, the Cornell cohort was discussing where to go for our meet and greet dinner, and I found out we all share a love for seafood! (minus Javaria) and settled on Indian food and boba in downtown Berkeley after school since it was easy as well as aesthetically pleasing. Finally it begun, I had never been to a board meeting but I recognized some teachers from the district. We sat patiently listening to the public comment from the protestors on the significant impact of the adult school in the community and its people, before I heard 'Ivy League Connection' in the microphone. 

We were all very focused. 

We all stood up on either sides of the podium holding our school flags with pride, as Don came and talked a little bit about what the Ivy League Connection is exactly before our chaperones introduced us, our school, and what we were going to study over the summer. Next up was student speakers, Robson was using sign language to tell me how he wasn't ready but  spoke very well representing our cohort and the ILCers with grace. Don closed by giving thanks before we made our way back outside, with our parents.

Photo shoot time -- my favorite part of all the events. I was sitting on a bench in the middle because I am "height impaired" and was thinking of how to pose while the rest of the ILCers squished in with the chaperones. Don was positioning us so we all looked good as well as our parents. He was snapping so many pictures I lost count and didn't think I could keep my eyes open any longer from looking into the flash for so long. Then he was really nice and offered to take any other pictures we wanted. I took one with my dad and my cohort of course, as well as all the other students from El Cerrito High School. Then we took some random ones just for fun. Raqeeb's mom also wanted a picture of us since we went to Fairmont together and I thought that was really nice to have for memories.

All the ILCers from El Cerrito High School!

Slowly, the ILCers started to leave, some of them even had finals the next morning! Myself, Zunarah, and Raqeeb were left talking while our parents were chatting with Don, we were probably outside in the wind for an hour, but it was fun getting to talk more about school and classes we were taking, as well as sharing our excitement for what this summer would bring. We were exchanging contact info when my dad finally asked if we were ready to go because he was cold. We said our goodbyes, but I knew it was a more of a, "See you soon!" because this was only just the beginning.