Wine Anyone?

Day one began earlier then I would have liked, but turned into a wonderful day. With overweight luggage in tow our first flight was very smooth without any turbulence. The second was bumpier but went off without a hitch, landing us safely in Philadelphia. After waiting for the Lady Liberty to pick us up from the airport, we headed to the hotel where I (being the only girl) got my own room.

With only a short meal between flights we got ready to go to dinner. We took the subway through the city to reach a wonderful restaurant. I was surprised as how much like Muni the subway was. The subway was much dirtier then BART but much quieter, traveling only underground.

Once we reached the restaurant I was in awe of the amazing decor. The room was beautiful, done up the way one would expect the set of a period piece movie would be. Fittingly, we were all dressed nicely and ready for an amazing feast.

First the adults ordered drinks. Mickey, our waiter, brought Mr. Ramsey’s first and then reached over my head to hand Ms. Kronenberg hers. However, the drink never made it there. Instead the contents of the wine glass were spilled on both Mr. Miranda and me. From that moment on my hair and dress smelled of alcohol. Soon after a woman by the name of Molly assured me that she would dry clean my dress and offered to assist me with anything else I wanted. It turns out getting spilled on makes people want to be very helpful.

Wine spillage aside meal was absolutely delicious.

After an epic meal we piled into two cabs. Exhausted from the day of travel the subway seemed like too much work. There is no better way to see the city than from a cab. The muni-like subway was a wonderful experience, but the underground view could not compare with the city lights out the car window. I like Philly already and I haven’t been here more then six hours.

I look foreward to explorations of both UPenn and Princeton tomorrow. I anticipate loving at least one of the two amazing instructions I will have the privilege of seeing.

I can’t wait for the trip to really take off. With trains and tours it’s sure to be an amazing ride.

First Day! (Philly)

Today was the first day of the ILC trip. 

It all started out meeting at El Cerrito High at 4:30 AM in the freezing cold. But the plane rides generally went well -- thankfully no delays like the Cornell group. There was an interesting thing about the plane ride though. On the way to Chicago, we saw a person that looked just like Jason Sudeikis from SNL. We arrived in Philly around 4:30 local time which was about on schedule. 

One thing instantly noticeable different in the East Coast than the West Coast is the weather. Philadelphia seems to actually have seasons in contrast to the Bay Area. Dinner at a steakhouse called Butcher and Singer where the waiter accidentally spilled some wine on Mr. Miranda and Marisol and the waiter looked shaky the rest of the night. Other than that the food was exceptional.

Tomorrow will be tours at UPenn and Princeton. I have attended tours for these two schools before but that was six years ago when college looked way far off so I didn't pay much attention to the tours back then. But six years later new questions have been thought of for the tour guides and the admissions people in general. I am also looking forward to see the campuses. At night there will be a formal dinner the ILC people will have with the Northern California admissions officer of UPenn.

Today Was a Baked Alaska

I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited and nervous about leaving. Tonight I won't have any trouble sleeping at all.

I woke up at 3 o'clock and met up with with everyone at 4:30 AM at El Cerrito High School. Don Gosney had a small boutique set up for us, so he could give us items that we would need like laundry bags and security cables. I felt like I was in a James Bond movie, the part where he's being equipped for his next mission.

"Would you like the 25 foot cable, or the 14?"

"I'll take the 14."

We boarded our first plane without incident. I looked over across the aisle and my jaw dropped. Jason Sudeikis, or one of his twin brothers, was sitting in coach with us. For those of you who don't know him, Jason Sudeikis is a player in Saturday Night Live and guest star on the TV show 30 Rock, which I watch religiously.

I didn't have the nerve to ask if it was really him or not, but when we disembarked the plane at Chicago (where he happened to study improv at one time in his life) I made eye contact.

I looked at him, he looked at me, and I gave him a knowing nod.

From Chicago to Philadelphia we shared a flight with an anonymous pageant contestant. She was having trouble loading her garment bag into the overhead compartment so a flight attendant came over to help her.

"What's the occasion? Wedding?"

"No, I'm in a pageant. I'm Miss California."

I did a Google search to see if I could find her. I couldn't. Maybe she was lying.

I sat between Brandon and Marisol, which was a great idea. We laughed all the way to Philadelphia which made the time go faster.

I love Philadelphia. I love the way it looks and the way it feels. Everyone likes to complain about the humidity but I don't really mind. My favorite rap artists, Asher Roth, Black Thought, and Brother Question all come from Philadelphia, so I asked Mr. Ramsey if there was much of a rap scene in Philly.

"I don't know."

He does.

We checked into our hotel, rested a bit, then went to have dinner at Butcher & Singer. Since I placed the reservation, it was under my name. Mr. Ramsey joked throughout dinner, "Wow, Connor. You have excellent taste in restaurants."

Yes I did. I had a crab cake as an appetizer and salmon as my entree. They were both delicious, but what topped the whole experience was the Baked Alaska. Mrs. Kronenberg saw it on the menu and said that we had to get it.

They brought it to the table, and I realized it was the most beautiful piece of dessert I had ever seen. I wanted to take a picture, but by the time my camera was out we had already eaten most of it. It was delicious, and I now know that if I ever need anything from anyone, all I have to do is make them a Baked Alaska and they will forever be in my debt.

Today was a Baked Alaska in many ways. It was beautiful, filling, and over too fast. Most importantly, though, it was provided by the Ivy League Connection. They made this first step of my three week journey possible, and already I feel like I'm indebted to them. I plan to work my tail off once we start our class at Yale so I can show them that their work is worthwhile.

That is the magic of a Baked Alaska.

Our Yalies Depart

It was dark outside.  It was also chilly with a wind that helped the chill slice right through us. But then again it was 4:30 in the morning so why should we expect anything different?

Our Yale Ivy Scholars—Marisol Clemens, Brandon Amargo, Henry Hung and Connor Miller—gathered at El Cerrito High School with their chaperone Mario Miranda to board the airport shuttle that will begin their journey to New Haven, Connecticut where they will spend the next several days visiting Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Dartmouth University.

Accompanying them on this initial phase of the journey were ILC administrators Madeline Kronenberg and Charles Ramsey.

Before boarding the airport shuttle, our scholars went through the Gosney Bazaar where they could pick from baskets of umbrellas, laundry bags, computer cables, laptop security cables, Ethernet cables and even alarm clocks—all just to make sure they had what they needed to survive the next three weeks at Yale.

Fond farewells were said with the obligatory hugs from the parents and then the requisite group photo was taken before they headed east to seek knowledge that will turn them from mere high school students into future pillars of our community.

Studying Grand Strategy under Dr. Dr. Minh Luong, they will cram a full year’s study into just fourteen days.  Attending class from dawn to well past dusk, they will then be allowed to return to their dorm rooms to read a few hundred pages, prepare their Marshall Brief and study some more—and some more—and some more.

Our four Ivy Scholars will depart well prepared for this course having already read the 3,749 pages of material that will be studied and discussed.  Books about the Peloponnesian War, Homeland Security, Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese and Greeks, Genghis Khan as well as the inimitable Cyrus the Great will ready our adventurous students for this course.  (The book on Cyrus the Great has been said to be one of the best books ever written and one of our Yalies has already vowed to read it to his future children as bedtime reading.)

Students from previous years have written about this program. They write that our Yalies will be swamped with their studies and be given instruction from some of the greatest minds in their respective fields. From across the nation, though, previous Ivy Scholars have lamented that they would give anything for just another hour’s sleep.  I’m sure that when our Yalies return they may likely add to that chorus.

We wish our Yalies well.

Bulldog Pursuit

This fall, our daughter Yohanna is set to embark on a rigorous collegiate “bulldog” pursuit in gothic spires at Yale.

There’s absolutely no doubt that the ILC paved the way. It came to fruition because she did her part as an enthusiastic WCCUSD student since kindergarten, but her ILC Yale experience in her junior year stoked her will and intellectual curiosity to brave new and challenging frontiers. A good education is the most important gift children can have as they take the steps into adulthood. Needless to say, parents are the natural advocates for children to attain that. Luckily, our district has the ILC that nurtures and supports motivated students’ educational aspirations. The ILC consists of the benevolence of the esteemed sponsors, support of the WCCUSD staff and the unceasing labors of Charles Ramsey, Madeline Kronenberg and Don Gosney.

 Stationary Engineers Local 39 Scholarship Awards Dinner

The ILC participants are fortunate students put to the test and awarded full ride summer courses to experience academic rigor, and as a result aspire an Ivy League education to be with the best and the brightest. The required activities (often scrumptious), accouterments, and experiences teach them ethics in the professional world and in being mindful that no one makes it on his/her own. They carry with them the pride and hopes of their family and community.

The ILC opens excellent academic opportunities for eager students, such as to be on equal footing with the more affluent communities in vying for spots at prestigious universities. With the ILC creating a college landscape is such a blessing to our school district. Encouraging students in our high schools to be the best they can be, will send ripples of successes. If allowed to flourish, those ripples become waves which powerfully help to transform and build a brighter future for the community.

We are in awe that from our little known community, our daughter will be a smidgen part of something big and special as Yale. Thank you to everyone involved in her journey and for your confidence in her. We are forever grateful for the amazing opportunity.

Our heartfelt wishes for the continued success of ILC,

Eric and Youra Pepa

Connections in Unlikely Places

This week I have been lucky enough to be given an opportunity to attend Girls State, a government simulation for girls all over California. Although this program has no correlation to the Ivy Scholars program the ideals are very similar.

The Girls of Girls State

Yesterday we had a speaker by the name of Michelle Jackman attend the opening ceremony. She shared with us her wisdom about life, which she had broken down into five steps and titled The High 5. The amazing thing was that Jackman’s process for success lined up exactly with those of Never Eat Alone author Keith Ferrazzi. [One of the required reading of the YISP] Both pushed the ideas of communicating with those around you, getting acknowledged for the work you’ve been doing, and getting along with your coworkers. Both views have changed the way I will tackle the challenges to come. Thanks to their push I have sent out emails to the people I know in my immediate family and in my network of close friends that have attended colleges I am interested in. Although that will not do the work for me, their information may hone my research in a manor that I didn’t expect.

Of all the books I’ve read so far, Never Eat Alone has had the most direct influence on me. Although Cyrus the Great was a marvelous story, I felt the authenticity was lost knowing that the author had chosen to change the original tense to first person. However, I was still captivated by the progressive views of a leader from so long ago.

I look foreword to continuing my reading and finding more connections to it here at Girls State and the world around me.

Assigned Reading

The assigned reading for Yale has proved excellent so far. I was worried that the books would be dry and boring, but the two I've read so far have proved me wrong.

I finished reading "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, which Yohanna recommended. I wanted to dwell on passages to reread them over and over again, but I needed to keep my reading moving as well. There was a lot of excellent advice on leadership and war that I want to apply in Marching Band at Pinole Valley High.

This is the best part about all of this reading. I can really relate to the text and use the information in real life, which is why I'm so excited about this program. Grand Strategy, whether it be in the classroom or in the Oval Office, is something that will be useful throughout my life.

Now I'm reading Cyrus the Great, which I can safely say is one of the best books I have ever read. It's easy to read, entertaining, and filled with excellent advice. I love how it's written. Cyrus narrates his campaign against the Assyrians like he's telling a group of children around a campfire.

I'm two-thirds through the book, and I already plan to read this book again. If I ever have children, this will be their bedtime story. There's so much to learn from it, I'm sure my children will become better people if they grow up with this story.

Or, they'll end up conquering countries and such.

I plan on finishing Cyrus this weekend, and then I'm going to start reading "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Or maybe "Genghis Khan", because Yohanna recommended that one as well. However, Mr. Gosney also recommended the history of the Peloponnesian War.

Whatever is next on the list, I look forward to reading everything.