Orientation

On Monday evening we all arrived at Pinole Middle School before 6:00 to sign ourselves in and get settled so that we could start promptly. There was a flurry of anxious movements when Don announced that we weren't supposed to fill out all of the forms on the clipboards, just the top one (oops... and here I thought we were just trying to preempt Don's instructions), but it was fine in the end.

My family paying rapt attention as the chaperones talk about their programs

First the chaperones and some ILC alumni introduced themselves to everyone, and then after just a short speech by Don we went to our "breakout sessions" with our individual cohorts, to discuss our itineraries and any questions. Unfortunately, it turned out that the Vanderbilt alumni had left right after introducing herself! Don instead got two current ILCers who had gone to Vanderbilt last year (Shanti and Chiamaka) to answer any questions we had about the Vanderbilt program. From what they said, it sounds really fun and a great opportunity, but also exhausting!

Arnold, me, Katherine, and Hummd as we wait for the other cohorts to finish

After the individual sessions for the cohorts, we all returned to the main room and after a short wait for all the cohorts to finish Don explained about loaner items--like giant suitcases that you don't want to have to buy yourself for just one summer trip. I will definitely be borrowing one of those. It was over surprisingly quickly, considering how long the previous events have been.

Now we just have to the meet-and-greet brunch left, which will be this Sunday, and then we'll be off to see the wizard--er, I mean Texas, Georgia, and finally Tennessee--on July 8.