On my way to dinner, I was extremely nervous for my speech.
I've given speeches before and I know I've gained a lot of experience since then,
but the thought of it was still nerve-racking. I tried to run through some key
points to talk about on the car ride to BART. I got to the BART station at
around 4:40 and met with Don, Kendall, Emily, and Emily’s mom shortly after.
Peter Chau, the first student to ever participate in the ILC, also met with us
and talked to us about him and college. He is a PVHS alumni and he went on to
study at Dartmouth College. When the whole group arrived, we rushed up to the
train.
For the majority of the BART ride, us ILCers clumped
together and asked Peter all of the college questions we had. He told us that
personal statements should be started as early as possible, focused on one main
idea, and ready to be drafted several times. I also spoke to Lisa’s dad,
Mr.Romero, about my past experience with the ILC. With constant conversation
going on, the BART ride was over in no time.
Getting out of the BART station, I talked to Mr. Kronenberg
who was also one the interviewers for Columbia. He attended both Dartmouth and
Columbia. After a short walk, the first few taxi groups were able to wave down
a taxi almost instantly. Actually, all of the taxi groups except the last one were
able to make their way over to La Folie with ease. Don, Mr. Blackmon, and I
were stranded for another five or ten minutes before a taxi driver stopped for
us. Don and Mr. Blackmon were talking about politicians and the taxi driver was
really knowledgeable about the politicians too! I felt a little ashamed that I
was going to study America’s presidents without knowing much about the local
politicians. I’ll have to pay attention to the news more often!
By the time we arrived at La Folie, everybody else had
already arrived. I went to find my seat which was near my father, Emily, Mary
and Ilana. I spoke to Mary, one of the ILC sponsors. She’s actually a UC
Berkeley graduate, but she was able to tell me a lot about her college
experiences. Once, she took an Italian class and she liked it so much that she
went to Italy for study abroad! It’s amazing how far one class can take you. I
also spoke to Ilana who is a Columbia alumnus. She majored in environmental sciences
and she told me a bunch of places to visit on and off Columbia’s campus! Both
Mary and Ilana were so nice and we found ourselves talking to each other for
the whole night.
 |
| Ms. Kronenberg giving a closing speech. |
Time went on and the feeling of having to give a speech sank in again. Justin
went first and he spoke about his experience in applying for the ILC. I was relieved to be the second speaker, but
at the same time, Justin’s speech was great and he set a high bar for me to reach.
When I went up to speak, words started to come out a lot easier than I
remembered, but by the end of the speech, I realized that I barely said
anything that I planned to. I just hope that that wasn’t too noticeable! Two Columbia
alumni, Ms. Kronenberg, and Mr. Ramsey also gave speeches. They all spoke so
eloquently.
Our courses started to come out one after another. I had the
asparagus soup, pan seared beef tenderloin, and a chocolate fondant. All of the
food was delicious! Dessert was definitely my favorite because the fondant was
so soft and there was chocolate oozing out of the center. I loved the food, but
being able to eat it with all of the amazing people around me was no doubt the
highlight of my night. Every aspect of the night was perfect. Every event always builds up excitement for the upcoming
trip and this dinner was no exception.
 |
| "The Sunset" Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Fondant |
No comments:
Post a Comment