Friday, July 17, 2009

Goodbye

Hello!

It is about 1:30 AM here at Columbia and I am still packing. It's very hard for me to believe that it's already been 3 weeks. It sounds cliche, but it really does feel like we've arrived just yesterday and now we're leaving! I must say that I've learned a lot from being in the Ivy League Connection and coming to Columbia University.

The ILC has really boosted me on my college search. I came in knowing that I would go to college, but had no idea what I would do. I'm leaving with a new goal of going to an Engineering school. Since I was able to find my focus in life, I'm able to narrow down my college search. I feel that the ILC helped me find my future.

The ILC also taught me to expand my horizons. I'm sure I mentioned it before, but I never thought of looking outside California for college before joining the ILC. When we get back home, I want to be able to show others that there are many more colleges than what it just inside California. We shouldn't limit ourselves so easily based on geography. I hope that I can help spread the message that it's good to think outside our comfort zone and explore other options.

I don't want to sound overly cheesy, but I've also become better as a person. I was put against many new situations that I've never had to face before (a roommate, an uncooperative group member, etc.) and each time I was able to push past it and learn to live with it or deal with it in a productive way.

Our last day was a gallery style presentation of our group projects. Columbia students (mostly from the Chem department) would walk around and look at the boards. We would explain our project and answer any questions that they had. At first, it was a little difficult for me to try to explain what we did because I hadn't put it into words yet. But the more I explained our project, the better more I felt I understood it. Although I was nervous at first, I felt more comfortable as time passed.

My group's project

This is also very similar to when we first started class. At the time, I didn't know the professor or the mentors so I was sometimes too shy to speak. However, as the class progress, I got to know my professor and mentors better and by the end of the class, I felt very comfortable around them. I think this is true for most classes. Since I'm a rising senior, I know most of the teachers in my school. Most of the time, I've already met my teachers before the class starts. It was refreshing to meet a completely new professor without any prior knowledge of what type of person he was other than that he teaches chemistry.

Me with Prof. Avila

Thanks for all the support from everybody! Especially Mr. Ramsey, Mrs. Kronenberg, Mr. Don Gosney, and our chaperon Mrs. Lilhanand who worked hard to plan everything and all the paperwork, etc. to allow us to go all the way to New York. Also, a thanks to all the sponsors who helped pay for everything! I would probably still be lost about colleges without you.

Julie

1 comment:

Madeline Kronenberg said...

Julie,

Thanks for the wonderful post and the picture of your professor.

You've done a wonderful job takning us all on the journey with you and we are all looking forward to your next steps.

Congratulations on all your accompishments this summer and for being such a good friend and mentor to everyone in the ILC group.

Welcome home and please be sure to keep us in the loop on your ultimate college choices.

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