An Inspiring Night

This evening was the School Board Presentation. We were required to be there no later than 6:00 (half an hour before the meeting officially started) but Don had warned us that it might be hard to find parking, so I arrived (with my sister Helen and my mom) at 5:45. Even though I participated in ILC last year, I wasn’t there for the School Board meeting because I was at a science fair in Los Angeles, and so today I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. However, there was nothing to worry about. 

Before the meeting started, I saw John Hillyer, my chaperone from last year at UPenn, and I really enjoyed talking to him again and catching up. Also, this board meeting is the only time when all ILCers are together, so it was great to see everyone who would be participating this year. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with Shanti as well before the meeting started. She went to Vanderbilt last year, and told me about her experiences. I hear that the food is wonderful, which is great to hear. 

During the meeting, we sat for about half an hour as the board members took care of other business, then it was our turn. The cohorts were called up and introduced one by one, and from each cohort the chaperone and a student gave a short speech. Everyone was very eloquent, and showed few signs of the nervousness I know I would have felt, had it been I and not Katherine giving the speech for our cohort. 

After the cohorts were all introduced and spoke to the board, the ILCers, chaperones, and parents went to the gym for Don to take a picture. Or should I say, twenty-four pictures. (Yes, I counted.) However, it didn’t take as long as I had expected—after a bit of shifting around to get everyone to fit (and to make sure that the rows were centered, with the same number of people of both sides), Don took all the pictures right after one another, and we were finished in just a few minutes. 

Finally, I bade farewell to my fellow ILCers and cohort members, and went home, looking forward to the next time I would see the people I’ll be spending a month with this summer.

The full group of ILCers, as well as chaperones and parents.