Turning Point

The Cornell University Summer College has come to a heartfelt ending with our graduation of the Freedom and Justice and Hotel and Management students. I will admit that these three weeks went by extremely fast but was most enlightening and an experience I will forever cherish as my longest stay on the East Coast. It taught me a lot about being independent and how to approach a college-level course. Being a rising-senior, coming to the Freedom and Justice has let me sample the type of vigor but at the same rewarding education you can get at such a prestigious institution as Cornell. What I loved most was being able to work with my friends and devote ourselves to intellectually sharpening our mind for greater understanding of the material. I felt accomplished in the end, skimming through pages of my notebook, which are full of notes from Kramnick’s lecture, our TA sessions, and my own thoughts. This culmination of thought makes me feel that this philosophy course has taught me to become more open-minded in trying to interpret the ideas of others and come to a consensus. I believe being able to find similarities and differences in thought is the key to many intellectual professions in real life.

Unlike high school, the Cornell program requires more from the student. There is no room to slack off or known as the common pandemic, procrastination, in order to keep with the pace of Freedom and Justice. Fortunately I maintained a work ethic that does allow for flexibility but sufficient appropriation of time to look over the material. A theme of this course aside from dedication to studying is time management. I have to set my alarm clock to wake up early in the morning to catch breakfast, and then arrange with the others meet up so we can all meet up to go to Mallot Hall, where Professor Kramnick would lecture us on the teachings dating back centuries. Regardless of the situation, I have to manage my time wisely or end up messing up my entire day and much needed sleep.

The thing about the East Coast experience is that we also had many opportunities to explore other colleges and places around Ithaca. It gave us a feel of a bigger world that I surely wanted to see outside of my hometown of Pinole. Our chaperone Ms.Kaplan did an outstanding job of getting us visit to diverse attractions such as the Erie Canal to celebrate Fourth of July (which was outstanding and literally heart-pounding as the fireworks shredded the silent skies), Museum of Earth, and Cayuga Lake where we canoed on a beautiful day. She brought this adventurous spirit that I admire and hope to model after when I grow up. I would love to go around different places; experiencing the parts of a community that may have its similarities and differences to our own. With Ms.Kaplan, the Cornell students are all appreciative of what she has done for us and I would like to personally thank her for making my time in Ithaca a pleasurable one.

What stands out to me as well is the human connections come with a college experience such as this. People such as one of our RCAs, Andrew Broenen from Wisconsin, was one of the coolest college students that I ever met which exemplifies the point of human basis. Another would be my roommate Greg from New Jersey, who left me a simple but touching text message on my cell phone as I was absent due to graduation. He left a message on my cell phone saying that he was going to miss me and that I was a great friend of his. Even though I never had the chance to say goodbye, I knew that this would not be that last time I would see of him. I also made two close friends, one from Texas and another from New York. Both of them make me feel happy to know them for they are such good, loving people that I really love them for being so amiable. I believe they deserve to be acknowledged because they were special people outside of own group to me during the course. Jordan Ng, a fine student from Austin, Texas, was the person I played with most of the time with our Frisbee on the great lawn in front of Appel Commons where we went for meals. He was sort of like a younger brother who was well taller than me; sharing the same desire to get out and socializing. He was involved in marching band like myself, where we would talk about our respective bands and listen to music. Lastly, Alison Wong, an art student from New York, who was probably one of the most unique individuals I met at Cornell. She is a kind person who does not shy away from a good game of cards and enjoys watching all types of movies. Among everything, she is a loving, humorous individual who has taught me to become more like her and be considerate of others. In a world that commonly finds itself in trouble, it is always good to meet people who care about others and I can relate to. I know that college will expose me to more people like them and create human connections that come with the ILC.

Before I conclude with my message of thanks to our benefactors, I would like to touch on what distinguishes ILC students from the rest. What makes ILC students special compared to most students who come here is that we all have something to prove. Unlike most kids who come from private schools, I myself and other represent a group of students with the same ambition if not greater than any of the students around this world. We came here to prove that we can succeed, and I without a doubt believed every single one of us stick to that resolution with great determination. We showed not only our peer students that we are capable of learning, but also that we can transcend the expectations of others and create a persona of intellect that deserves great respect. One of the things I pride with other people whom I acknowledge is respect. I would like to say that I have the utmost greatest respect for every single individual in the Cornell Program. These students include Alex Elms, Jacky Lares, Dyana So, Beilul Naizghi, Chris Habash, and Andrew Gonzales. When we come back home, in which I am currently on an United Airlines Boeing 757 heading back to San Francisco, I hope that I can be given the chance to begin telling others to strive for their greater expectations and broaden their horizon. This action that we ILC students take define the program itself, which is the idea of taking the initiative and exercising our abilities in whatever area we desire.

As a conclusion to this year in the ILC, I would like to thank everyone who made the ILC experience for so many high school students like myself possible. I would like to thank Mr.Ramsey, Don, and Ms.Kronenberg for instructing us throughout the entire year of 2010 on the program and on becoming responsible, future college students. They have given us the opportunity to reach our goals and I want to thank them for all they have devoted to helping the young generation in their community. I am also grateful of our sponsors who provided the financial means for the trip, and I assure them that their investment has changed lives and potentially many others. With the person who spent the three weeks enduring a cold to give us a great experience, I would like to commend Ms.Kaplan for doing a job any mother would envy with taking care of our needs no matter what the situation involved. Lastly to end on a more personal level, I would like to thank my mother and father, who always taught me that no matter what in life, do what you love and love others. I promise to my benefactors, parents, and friends that I will keep in mind the human connection, which will lead me to helping others as Mr.Ramsey and others have done for me.

Sincerely, Andrew J. Woo

Another Goodbye, Another Hello

It seems as though we have been here at Cornell for a year now. If the weather had changed more dramatically, I would swear to it. In the past two days, I have reflected on this experience as the witness to these young peoples' growth and maturation.

To begin with, I could not be prouder of these kids if they were my own. They have been models of what all young people should be: adventurous, curious, kind, sincere, playful, persistent, and, most of all, resilient. It is this last quality that is the most impressive.

As I have spoken with other chaperones, resilience is perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned. As you talk to your children, I am sure that they will share tales of effort as well as play. There were, I am certain, also moments of discouragement or loneliness, when all did not go just as they expected. Each of your children overcame these moments to shine. From the 24-hour delay in Chicago to struggles with their group, they demonstrated this resilience in a setting that is ompletely foreign to them.

I think that Beilul speaks for each of your children. When I said to her just after she completed her final project and the course, "You should be proud of yourself," she replied, "I AM proud of myself."

Well, I am very proud of all of them. What an honor this has been! And this is just the beginning of their entry into another world of learning. I can't wait for the next, "Hello, this is ... and I'm in ..."

Thank you once more for your trust and support. They -- and I --- know that you are the reason they are able to thrive here.

A Successful Group

Consists of a/an:

· Controller (Alisha Kumar)

The Idea Generator. She keeps her mind set on the big picture, the final product. She’s strong, and motivated, soft inside but she won’t ever show it. She keeps the group under control and separates facts from feelings.

· Persuader (Jacqueline Lares)

The Idea Promoter. I give away trust. I’m positive, optimistic, intuitive, and I provide energy with a smile. I’m impulsive, yet flexible. I give people hugs when they need them and convince people I know exactly what I’m talking about.

· Stabilizer (Elsa Lee)

The Idea Fulfiller. You can never have too many stabilizers. She avoids conflict, at all costs. She loves prepositions. Around, through, under, behind, anything to avoid problems. Her biggest strength lies in networking.

· Analyzer (Julian Rosow)

Quality Control. He’s the system task, he works with quality, accuracy, and perfection. He’s thorough, comprehensive and complete. He is his work. He’s a perfectionist and everything he does, he does right. He won’t fight unless he can back himself up.

Any team that doesn’t have a controller, persuader, stabilizer, and analyzer is doomed to fail in the long run.

We can now label ourselves as a successful group. I’m so proud of us. I know the first group project, we were slightly dysfunctional and we completely fell apart under pressure, but this time we pulled it off calmly, maturely, and successfully. We watched as surrounding groups got into arguments and continued to work together. There was trust, comfort, communication, and productivity.

The video we watched in class today revealed so much about our group. How we work and why we work that way. Either one of us has the ability to portray any of the four behavioral styles. We are all four styles, but we’re most comfortable with our dominant style. We have more energy when we’re in our comfort zone. If we step out of our comfort zone into another behavioral style, it’s difficult, and draining, but knowing how each one of us works has helped us work with each other. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we have developed the ability to work around them, no problem. We’re all calm, we’re all happy, and most importantly, we’re all so proud of our final project. There were no “I did everything, you didn’t do anything” issues, the work was all really divided incredibly well.

That’s what I wanted to post yesterday. Today I just proved myself right even more. We edited together, we went through a revision together, and we turned in our group report early and on time. After that, I went to the Cornell Store and then I felt like I really needed a relaxing walk. I had to take in my last few steps on the campus. I thought about everything and somehow I started to feel like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

I went inside the chapel, just to check it out. It was really nice. It was relaxing, calming, I really needed to do that before leaving tomorrow. After that I went to the library where I bought myself a Chai Tea and just walked around exploring while the rain outside calmed down. Then I met up with Kelsey and Evan for lunch. We walked around calmly, came back to our dorms and relaxed. I took a nap for a couple of hours before going to dinner with a few people, we had Japanese food in downtown Ithaca. Then we came back and watched the talent show, and then waited downstairs in the common room until they closed it a couple of minutes ago. I’m really tired now, but I want to post a picture of part of our group in progress. The picture is me, Alisha to my left, Elsa in front of me, and the boy with the slightly orange hair is Tucker. He isn’t in our group, but he’s a lovable person who makes my days here at Cornell. Julian wasn’t in this picture because he was behind the lens. He’s a talented visual designer.

I’m going to sleep now, we’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and get ready for our graduation. I thought we were going to check out pretty early, but my roommate Katie didn’t sign us up until 12 PM. At least this gives us a little more time to sleep and get ready for graduation. I also need to call my mom in the morning, she sent me a text message now but I’ll make sure to call her in the morning. I miss her, I miss everyone back home now. I’m going to miss everyone here too, but I’m definitely ready to sleep in my own bed again. California, here we come.

Quite an Accomplishment

Today, July 15, 2010 was our last day of class. I headed off to class a full hour early so that my group could finish working on our final report. We got a lot done in that time frame, and we went back to the classroom one last time for our final lecture. The lecture was very inspirational. We were told “Success is a state of mind, It’s knowing where you are going, and enjoying where you are.” Immediately after all the groups rushed back to the computer lab to finish the reports. My group finished the report, had it checked by Mark and submitted with 20 minutes to spare.

Upon submitting our project, I left Statler Hall and walked to Trilliams with Mrs. Kaplan where we met up with the Freedom and Justice students who had just finished their Final. After a discussion about their  Final, Mrs. Kaplan treated us to Cornell’s famous ice cream.

Trilliams:

One item on my checklist of things to do at Cornell was to visit the Uris Library which is commonly known as the “Harry Potter Library”. I was very excited to see it, and surely enough, I was blown away! The library is absolutely beautiful and it seems like such a wonderful place to study.

The Uris Library:

After our trip to the library, Andrew G., Alex and I went to the Cornell Store to buy souvenirs. We met up with Chris, finished our purchases and then Andrew, Chris and I walked back to the dorms. Upon entering my dorm room, it looked different. I then realized that half of the room was empty because my roommate had left a few hours ago.

A large chunk of the afternoon was spent thinking of something to do. After much indecision and a lot of waiting, Alex, Chris and I finally made it to the Ithaca Mall. It was the first time I had ever been to the Ithaca mall, or anywhere off campus besides our trips with Ms. Kaplan. Our plan was to grab something to eat, and watch a movie. We ate at Friendly’s and hung out at Borders. Soon, Andrew W., Andrew G., and a few of their friends joined us for the movie. We decided to watch Inception, and it was very interesting. After three weeks of class, a good movie break is just what I needed.

We arrived back at the dorms at about 9:45 PM and went to check out the Talent Show. The star of the show, by no contest, was Dyana. Her performance of Mariah Carey's “Bye Bye” was simply amazing!

As I was writing this blog, I came to an odd realization: I, as a rising high school junior, have just completed my first college course at an Ivy League university. I am very proud of this accomplishment, and I am also very thankful for the ILC for making this opportunity possible for me.

Tonight, I must finish packing because my check out time is 8:20 AM, and the graduation for the Cornell Summer College Hotel Operations and Management course begins at 10 AM. Immediately following our graduation, the Cornell Summer College Freedom and Justice graduation begins at 11 AM. The graduations are each an hour long, so Ms. Kaplan will have the opportunity to see both.

Finally, I must conclude by stating that after all we have been through: stuck for 24 hours in an airport, 3 weeks of intense classes, adjusting to college life, and many more, I find it very strange that in less than 24 hours the ILC Cornell ambassadors will be back home in California ready to share our experiences with our peers.

Not Ready to Leave Just Yet

Day 23/ The Penultimate Day

I never knew I could hurt like this

And everyday life goes on like

"I wish I could talk to you for awhile"

Miss you but I try not to cry

...

But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say bye bye.

-Mariah Carey, "Bye Bye"

And thus, I will remember my last evening at Cornell as myself echoing these very lyrics into the various hallways and classrooms of the beautiful Cornell University Campus at the Talent Show. To Cornell and everyone that I've gotten to know these past three weeks: thank you for making this summer one of the most memorable and favorite of my life so far.

Currently, I'm having trouble finding the right words to say at the moment. For one, I'm preoccupied with both blogging and studying, and for another, I'm just too distracted by the very fact that this is my last night at Cornell. This is it; this day is finally closing in on me. This is my last night officially as resident of the Donlon Lounge. However, before I get ahead of myself, let me start off with this very early, very second-to-last morning here at Cornell University.

I woke up early this morning to get in some extra studying time. I also planned to eat breakfast earlier so I could also head out to class as soon as I finished. However, despite getting to class an hour earlier than testing began, I was disappointed to see that the two seats I wanted were already taken. This wasn't too much of a setback since ultimately, I got a seat at a table that had a desk, and not in one of those sitting chairs with the removable side tables. For me, comfort during a test is vital; I guess you can say it's one of my many pet peeves.

The final exam was a modest measurement of how much we've learned in the past three . The material, I thought, were a lot harder than that of the pre. lim. However, that is not to say the test was extremely hard. It's difficult to say how tough these "Freedom and Justice" tests are because it test you, not only on the material, but on how well you can apply that information to scenarios and/or make connections between different thinkers. Personally, I thought the test was actually kind of fun. It was surprising to see that, if I had one more short answer question to answer, I would have had to use three booklets for this test (most people only used one.)

After the final exam, everyone quickly got out of Mallot Building and frantically started getting together with one another to discuss the test. I was waiting for a friend of mine as well as helping several of my peers take photos with the professor and the TA, that by the time I left the classroom, nearly everyone had left to Trillium.

Instead of going to Trillium first, I led my friends, Kelsey and Clara to the Synapsis Cafe to buy a lunch to-go. We used out ID cards for the last time there to get some drinks to compliment our sandwiches. While I sat with my two friends, the table next to ours was that of Ms. Kaplan and the other ILC kids. All of us later got ice cream at Trillium Express. Thank you Ms. Kaplan!

On our way back I knew I had to stop by the Uris Library one last time to take the photos that I promised to get. The Andrews, Ms. Kaplan, and Beilul had never seen the famous "Hogwarts Library" so Alex and I also brought them to see it. And since pictures are worth more than a thousand words, here are my thousand words and more:

On my way back to good 'ol Donlon, I encountered the departure of two friends. The first was Munera, one of my lovely friends from Qater. She lived in Balch the past three weeks so I didn't get to see her as much as I see my fellow Donlon peers, but we had dinner together several times. The next departure was by my dorm neighbor, Roya. She is from Switzerland and she took the same class as me. I gave her a long hug before she left.

Right before I left for the mall with the Andrews, I spent some time practicing my piece for the talent show and hanging out with my really good friend, Clara, who was leaving that very late afternoon at 3pm. We took several photos with one another and had a short and sweet chat before a van pulled up on the parking lot and she went inside. I will definitely miss Clara, whom I had a lot in common with; we plan to be pen pals and meet up again two years from now when I return to Hong Kong over the summer.

I was very glad that I had a chance to go to the mall today. A lot of people have been telling me that there wasn't much to look forward to, but personally, I thought: "But it's a mall? What isn't there to look forward to?" We rode on Bus 30 that took us directly to it. This bus made me very nostalgic of Pinole because the interior design of the bus was the exact same replica of the West Cat bus back home. The only exception? It was a lot cleaner and quieter.

I spent most of the time by myself at the mall. I bought a large cup of lemonade and walked around. The first store I went to was a little animal shelter. I spent a decent amount of time looking at the adorable kittens in their cages. Of course I wanted to take them home with me, but we all know that is a bit impossible both plane-wise and parental consent-wise.

I spent the majority of my time at the Borders bookstore. I simply love bookstores and can spend hours and hours just looking at every detail of these interesting shops. From my stay there, I was able to purchase a blank sketchbook and a memoir on sale. It felt good to leave the store knowing I bought something from the East coast that didn't have the word "Cornell" on it.

I decided to have dinner at the mall as well. I ventured into what you may call a food court and ordered from the Chinese fast food stand. I found an empty table amongst the crowd of hungry mall shoppers and started eating and reading my newly-purchased book. Then, something occurred that hit me with surprise.

Little did I know, I was sitting as an audience to some sort of singing competition for Ithaca's radio station. There was a little stage set up, a panel of three judges, and participants of all ages coming up and taking a 30 second jab at the mic. I couldn't help but smile every time one of the judges would remind the crowd that there was still time to sign up for a spot and audition, because in the back of mind, I thought of the talent show I was involved in later that very evening. I'll admit, the act of signing up was tempting, but based on both timing and the fact that this was obviously an ongoing competition that I wasn't going to be around for, I quickly dismissed the idea. Instead, I stuck around and listened to some of the singers' performance while I munched away at my noodles and vegetables.

By the time I got back, it was a blur. My remaining time was devoted to getting myself ready for the talent show. I slipped in some additional practices, got into a dress, and quickly left for the multipurpose room at the RPCC Building.

In general it was a great experience. I was very honored to be placed as the closing act of the entire two-hour show.

Now it is quite late. I'm exhausted and also plan to wake up extremely early tomorrow. Until later my fine-feathered friends. Adieu!

I Can't Believe We're At The End Of The Road!

Our final hours at Cornell University approach, and each second counts. 

The emotions ran high this morning. I didn’t have to be at class until 9:30 AM, so in order to eat and get there on time I decided to wake up at around 8:00. My plan failed because instead of waking up at 8:00, I woke up at 6:45! I tried my best to lie back down and fall asleep, but it just didn’t work out for me. Since today was our Final Exam, I just decided to study for a while. Anyway, I studied for about an hour, and then proceeded to get dressed. We all walked down together for our last meal at Appel dining hall. We left our last breakfast at Appel together behind us, and proceeded to our last walk to our lecture hall.

All of these events were very ceremonial, and we had to live in the present and not focus on the fact that tomorrow we will all be leaving. Some of the close friends we met here, we might never personally see again. Good thing though for advanced technology, that allows us to stay connected with friends globally. I just really had a great experience here at Cornell, and couldn’t express more of how I have matured. But I will save this talk for the reflection blog.

The Final was not as difficult as I thought it would be, and in fact it was fairly easy, I’m very confident on my performance of the test. From our Final Exam, we walked to Trillium Dining, for the last very time. Many of our peers were leaving in a matter of hours, hence the emotions were very tender. There were lots of sad faces, tears, but also joy because the “big load” of the Final had finally been lifted off our backs, and we no longer had to worry about anymore work. 

From Trillium we all headed to Ulis library, which is a marvelous sight. I strongly suggest that any future Cornellian’s or people who just visit Cornell, check this library out. Its antique design, and serene atmosphere is the perfect combination for a library.

From there we headed back to our dorms, and went to the mall. We ate and looked at books, and shopped around for a while. After that we watched the movie “Inception.” This was a really good movie, and we all enjoyed watching it together even more. That was our last bus ride on the T Cat (Ithaca’s bus system), and our last visit to the Ithaca Mall. Not to advertise for the movie, but I do suggest you all see it, it was a wonderful, intriguing movie. That’s all I can basically express in words, but the pictures should do justice. Hopefully you all can see what life is like a little, at Cornell University.

Final Task?

This is REALLY it. Today was the last day of work, in more than one way. I was extremely disappointed that I fell asleep last night at around 1:00 AM. I was in the process of editing the entire report, which was about 10 pages long, excluding the business letter, cover page, appendices, and data. I woke up, with all my instructions and the rubric crumpled on my bed, and my laptop on the floor (don’t worry, I placed it there.

I had time to get to class, so I made sure I arrived around 40 minutes before office hours, which was the top priority, from 9:00 PM to 12:00 PM. Veronica was already there working on the report, and after finishing the charts and graphs and appendices, we looked at my corrections, most of which made me happy I did decide to stay up and fix the report. If I learned one thing about the reports and assignments here in SHA (School of Hotel Administration) was that it’s VERY IMPORTANT THAT EVERYTHING LOOKS PROFESSIONAL AND NEAT. This includes making everything as clear and succinct as possible and making sure the grammar and punctuation are accurate.

Since the graduation ceremony is tomorrow at 10:00 AM, I will sure my secret from this week. It was on Wednesday, during one of our breaks, that Mark called me, Taylor, Brian, and Group 7B over to talk to him. I had no idea what I had done; I thought that this was in regards to my apology letter for dosing off in class last Friday. He told us that during the ceremony on Saturday that Reneta will begin speaking, and instead of speaking the entire time, she will hand over the stage to the students in the class. Mark asked us if we would be comfortable with speaking on behalf of the class during graduation. I was in disbelief. Why would Mark choose me to speak with 6 other people out of 80 students who all knew practically everything about the hotel industry and probably aced all their tests?

Nonetheless, I didn’t hesitate to agree, along with everyone else. Up until today, I was nervous about this because we planned on having a rundown of the presentation after class. As I said before, I had no time to finish my report, so I certainly didn’t practice. My TA, Margot, however, assured me that Mark understands we probably didn’t prepare and that he would help us.

Anyways, back to the report for a second. Those three hours were filled with stress, yelling, pressure, and anxiety. Not just my group, but everyone else as well. Throughout office hours, we were divided in four different labs, with all groups rushing back and forth from their rooms to the printers to check up on their reports. I have some great pictures and videos to show this. Toward the end, Reneta and Mark wanted all the groups, regardless if they were finished, to print out their reports and quickly go over it with them to make sure they were doing it correctly. Eventually, we handed in our reports, Reneta looked over it, and gave us that long-expected OK. We were so relieved, but I was still a little worried.

The 7 of us and Mark headed to the Alice Statler Auditorium, a really big auditorium with a huge stage and a projector. I think that’s the same place where we had our crash course in the beginning of the program. Taylor was the first student to speak. She had a little intro already written, which I really liked. Like me, she wasn’t completely ready, which was OK. She talked with Reneta afterward about her part. She then introduced Group 7B, who were actually the other Best Western group during Company Presentations, as I am part of Group 7A. They practiced as well, and after Brian talked, he handed over the PowerPoint clicker to me.

I had no idea what to say. I told Mark, and he was very kind to go over it for me again, as I took notes, which I really want to review as soon as possible, as it’s already 11:45 PM. However, I don’t want to stress about it too much, because as Mark said, this is supposed to come from the heart. I realized how grateful I was. Mark and Reneta clearly saw something in us, and I want to make them proud.

We did many things today, which I don’t want to go in great detail over, but a quick rundown:
• After the rehearsal, me, Beilul, Andrew Woo and Gonzales went back to the dorm, where we sat down and finally relaxed…. Work was over!

• We then headed down to the Ithaca mall for the first time (for me and Beilul)

• We ate a WONDERFUL meal at “Friendly’s”

• We saw the movie, “Inception” at its premiere! I WISH I wouldn’t have slept a little in the beginning because the last 2/3 was so epic.

• We headed back to Donlon, where Dyana, along with many others performed in the Talent Show! Dyana was clearly the most talented. She is such a great singer.

• I shall now work on my speech. Enjoy the pictures!