Monday, July 13, 2009

Bard and Dinner

Our day started out extremely early yesterday (which is why this post is late).
We rode the subway to Penn Station, where we took the train to Rhinecliff. Mrs. Lilhanand was very surprised that there weren't any taxis to take us to to Bard college, so we had to make two trips to get us all. While half four of us were waiting in front of the admissions building of Bard, Katie, a senior at Bard and our wonderful tour guide started telling us all about what Bard has to offer.

Her tour was fabulous, and it made me more excited about the school itself. The scenery at Bard was wonderful and most of the buildings looked relatively new.
Katie told us how you get to know the faculty and the students at Bard because it is small. She told us that before the school year starts, the freshmen all get to know each other through two of the graduation requirement classes. The third requirement is declaring a major, and getting three faculty members to approve, and the fourth requirement is the senior project. She told us that the average class size is about fifteen people, which blew my mind.

Overall, I think I really enjoyed Bard, and I am thinking about if I should apply. I think a tour guide made it really enjoyable because we got to hear the passion behind a student, as opposed to Vassar.

After Katie and her friend dropped us off at the train station, we took the one hour and forty minute train ride back to the city. After a quick nap, we all got ready to head out for our dinner. We went on the subway to 59th street and Columbus Circle. All of us were looking pretty spiffy.

Dinner was REALLY good. The food was great, the conversation was great, and it helps that you like the people you're eating with too. I just want to say thank you to all the sponsors for everything. I'm having a really good time, and I really can't believe that we have a little less than a week left.

2 comments:

Charles Tillman Ramsey said...

Great team photo at Dinner. I love the way each of you have supported each other. I can tell that everyone is working hard and everyone is taking full advantage of the trip to Columbia.

It also helps that you have a great Chaperone in Ms. Lilhanand to work with you and the others. I appreciate your excellent writing and your thoughtful prose. Cristina, I am glad that you are blossoming at Columbia. This trip to the East Coast has served you well.

If you like Bard and UPENN go for it! These are fantastic schools that offer a lot. Each school is very different, but it gives you choices. I do see that you are very much exploring but that having this time to explore has opened your mind to all the possibilities that exist out in the larger school community.

Yes, the time is coming to a close, but this just means that more doors will open. Now is your time to let us know what you have learned about yourself and how you plan to return to Pinole Valley High School a more confident and assured person. I want the best for you and I need to remind you that you earned your way into the Ivy League Connection. Nothing was given to you. You had what it took to make the final cut.

This was a hard fought competition and your application shone bright. So stand up with pride knowing that you are representing our district and doing it with distinction.

Take care.

Charles T. Ramsey, Esq.
School Board Member
West Contra Costa
Unified School District

Don Gosney said...

Cristina,

I think we all tend to think that the rest of the world is similar to where we’re from and we don’t even think to check on whether a community has more than one taxi. Not having to sit around and wait I can afford to write that I found it amusing.

I looked at your first photo, Cristina and thought about calling Child Protective Service to rat on Mr. Ramsey and Ms. Kronenberg for torturing you poor students but then I looked at the third photo and saw that maybe you’re not so tortured after all. [By the way, seeing you all dressed in something other than your normal street clothes is a nice distraction. You all clean up real well.]

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