What We've Been Waiting For

We have finally reached our destination: Cornell University. 

We had agreed to meet at the lobby of the hotel at 8 AM but come crunch time, we were still waiting for a few people. We decided to eat breakfast at the hotel as everyone trickled downstairs.

Once we arrived at Cornell, we checked into our dorms. All seven of us are staying in the Mary Donlon Hall. We received our Student ID cards and room keys, and bid Mr. Ramsey and Ms. Kaplan farewell--for now. 

The 7 ILC Cornellians then met up for lunch at the Appel Commons and had an amazing lunch. Following lunch was the Dean’s Welcome in Bailey Hall. I learned that there are a total of about 890 students that will be here at Cornell for the summer program and 212 of them are international.

Mark and Reneta McCarthy were magnificent. I found them to be incredibly engaging, humorous, and incredibly bright. They told us we will be learning very practical and applicable skills throughout the course. On Monday, we will have a behavioral analysis for them to break us up in groups. There are 82 students in the Hotel Operations and Management course alone. Thus, the professors will be splitting up the class into two groups: Group A (my group!) and Group B. The McCarthy’s recommended that we treat this course has a job for the next three weeks. 

Our class will include guest lectures from faculty, and an information session from the admission office of the Cornell Hotel School of Administration. Mark noted that students enrolled in the hotel school are typically leaders in many campus activities. Our assignment for the weekend is to buy the hotel course packet, which we purchased immediately after Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy finished, and read the Westin Case Study as well as the CHESS participant’s guide.

Cornell is absolutely breathtaking. The view, the buildings, the landscape, are all beautiful.

Following dinner, we did some exploring and then enjoyed the wonderful ice cream that was served because of the Ice Cream Social. Later on, at 9:30 PM, the RCA (Residential Community Advisors) held a (very long) meeting about the dorm rules.

The dorms are great. I thought they had everything I needed and it was definitely nice to unpack all my clothing and settle into my living space. Now, I really do wish I could have commented on the background of my new roommate, and tell you what program she’s in, where she’s from, whether or not we are getting along, but I cannot. Unfortunately, my roommate has yet to arrive at Cornell, but when she does come, I will be sure to update you on what she is like.

To sum it all up, I really enjoyed our first day at Cornell and am looking forward to the next three weeks we have here. It really was what I had been waiting for.