An Annual Tradition

Every year the students who are participating in the Ivy League Connection are recognized at a School Board Meeting. Typically, other things are discussed as well, but this meeting would also be touching on the selling of property to a charter school and comments from those who were pro-charter schools and against them.

Lovonya Dejean Middle School'S Multi-purpose Room where the meeting was held

At the beginning we talked amongst ourselves and to Mike, our chaperone. Diana recited the speech she would be giving to the board to us, and we all loved it. This was the time to show our gratitude to the board and the community for supporting this program, as it's a public-private organization. Mike would also get the chance to give some words about what we'd be doing at Cornell and the extra school visits, which as of right now are potentially Columbia and UPenn. Diana and I both shared that we really wanted to see Columbia.

Don was handing everyone their school flags, and turns out, ours was MIA. We weren't bothered by the absence of our flag though, we knew Diana's speech would be great enough to represent the Cornell cohort.

As the meeting began, they decided to move us up on the schedule, which was great for those who had places to be at soon after the meeting. One by one the cohorts went up and they all shared their amazing speeches of gratitude. Some were so eloquently written that it was no wonder they were chosen as ILCers. When it was our turn to go up, I felt very proud to be there and represent Middle College High School. Afterwards Don shared some inspiring words as well as Arnold Dimas, a former ILCer and recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship.

Arnold talked about how life changing the experience would be and how important it is to take advantage of it and make the best of it. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this, and it's very useful not just what we learn and the connections we make, but how it'll look on applications for other scholarships and colleges.

Once the ILC part of the meeting was done with, we all stood up and went outside for the big group picture. Don had to figure out how to arrange 17 girls, 5 boys, chaperones, and numerous parents. It was rather amusing to say the least, We even took a selfie with the chaperone from UPenn, Mr. Hillyer. Don took about 25 pictures before we were able to stop grinning from ear to ear. Honestly my cheeks were in pain. Everyone dispersed and took pictures with family, chaperones, and friends.

'16 Ivy League Connection - everyone looked great