Orientation Preparation

The orientation at Pinole Middle School was our last event together as ILCers before departure day. I knew that there would be a lot of traffic while getting there considering it was the time of the day that people are heading home from work. For this reason, I urged my parents to get out of the house and head for Pinole at least an hour before we were expected to arrive. Despite having done this, we were late by five minutes or so. The second I turned on my phone and saw 5:45, my heart dropped. We were supposed to be at the location ready to work by then, but had instead just gotten off the freeway ramp. I called Don on the spot, told him about my situation, and we managed to arrive soon afterward. 

My mother and I were some of the last few people to arrive. We made our way towards the end of the room where there were still some empty seats available. The first person to speak was Madeline Kronenberg. Ms. Kronenberg talked to us about her experiences with the ILC program as well as the experiences that we will surely be gaining from here on out. Her comments regarding the ups and downs of this trip were enlightening and extremely genuine. Hearing someone say out loud that there will indeed be lowlights to the trip and it will all be okay, regardless, was refreshing and it emphasized for me the importance of honesty with oneself and others especially during the upcoming month. 

After Ms. Kronenberg left, Don spoke briefly about how proud he was of each and every one of us for having earned this opportunity. He made a clear distinction between being granted something versus working hard to gain it. Right then and there it struck me that every single person present in that room was one of those people. Don, the parents, our chaperones, us; we dedicated ourselves to this cause and have many reasons to be proud of the changes that it will bring about. I enjoyed the talk; it definitely put things in perspective for me.

  

Deven telling us all a little bit more about himself.

Next, it was time for our chaperones to head to the front of the room and further introduce themselves. They did exactly that and when it was over, we broke off into separate groups based purely on cohort. The Cornell group is a fairly small one; there were only seven of us including parents. I had the chance to greet Noor’s mom, which was nice because it was my first time speaking with her since elementary school.

Together, we discussed places to go and things to eat while on our adventures in Chicago, Evanston, and Ithaca. The travel plans seemed to be a recurring topic, especially the fact that we would be meeting at El Cerrito High School at 3:30 AM on departure day. Yes, you read the time right, no need to be alarmed. I will absolutely be taking Don’s advice and forcing myself to sleep at least 2 hours earlier than normal the week before, even if it will pain me to do so.

Shuxin Zhou sharing her experience at Cornell with us.

Former ILCer Shuxin Zhou approached us soon afterwards. Shuxin had previously taken the Individual in the Social World course at Cornell and was familiar with the campus, environment, and student culture. She was very open and honest about her time spent at Cornell and shared many bits of information with us. We spoke about what to pack, the weather in Ithaca, and joining clubs. 

I found it especially helpful that Shuxin told us about what to expect when it came to smaller, rustic dorms and awfully long walks to class. She also encouraged us to visit the study spaces on campus and take time out in the day to actually get to know and interact with people of all backgrounds, places, and walks of life. I know that she talked about regretting not being as open to making connections as she wanted to, but through Shuxin I have truly grasped the significance of stepping outside of my comfort zone and developing friendships while I’m at Cornell, and I am thankful for that.

The rest of the time was spent heeding Don and making sure that we process all of the information that he had about loaner items. As I’ve mentioned before, the Cornell cohort will be the first group to leave in less than a month from now. I did not under any circumstance want to be the kid stuck figuring out what to pack and where to get essential items two days before we left. Because of this, I made sure to take notes on everything that was provided from lamps to laundry bags. 

When the time came for everyone to leave, my mom took a picture of me with a nice black suitcase that was simple and exactly my style so that Don would know which one I wanted to take with me. Surprisingly, the picture turned out to be as lovely as my time spent listening to others and gaining a great deal of valuable knowledge.

Everyone listening intently.