Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Studying and Fireworks

Hey there again! My sincere apologies for not updating you on what I did yesterday. I was busy getting my study on. For the second day in a row, Wendy, Yoline and me went to the library to study and read our assignments. I am so proud that I'm starting these group meetings. It has been so helpful. Now I can concentrate more easily and can understand what I'm reading as opposed to when I'm around loudness.
Today, Wednesday, July 2, 2008, and I went to the lecture and then to the session. After ending both classes, we went to the dinner with Professor Gilovich. We had such a nice talk with him. He told us about all the work he has done. He also mentioned going to the University of California, Santa Cruz and then switching to University of California, Santa Barbara, and mentioned liking it there better. I felt awkward because I had never sat down with a professor and eaten dinner with him, but it's an experience that I will never forget, because it can be helpful in building up my social skills towards professional identities. Now I am totally not afraid of talking with an academic personality and feeling nervous. At the end of our dinner I asked Professor Gilovich if he would be willing to give me a letter of recommendation, and he said yes, as long as I passed his class with an A. I said to him, "I'm going to get an A in your class!"
At thye very end, when we had finished dining, I had a healthy salad with tasty fruit and some good orange juice, we headed over to the ice cream and invited him to have an ice cream with us, it was all the brilliant idea of Wendy. He accepted with a smile and we walked out Appel Commons enjoying our ice cream and our talk.
Finally we got to our dorm, and met at Wendy's room to start studying for the quiz we have tomorrow. We wrote down important information that can be useful for tomorrow's quiz. Yoline and I were writing key concepts on index cards and Wendy was using the website and her notes to study too. We helped each other out, and we feel confident, but not overconfident, because overconfidence doesn't mean we are accurate, key information we learned today at our lecture. During our intensive study, we all started sharing ideas in order to help each other out and that way do much better on the next quiz.
We then received a call from Ms. Neal asking us if we wanted to go to the fireworks today, done by the Ithaca College staff. We then agreed to go for a few minutes and return right after they were done. We did so. Now we are at her room again, and continuing with our study.
It has been a long day, and I'm happy to share my experience with you all, as long as it doesn't take time away from studying. Thanks for staying on top of the ILC. Until next time!

Sincerely,

Ana Garibo
Kennedy High '09
The Individual in the Social World
Summer of '08

2 comments:

Charles Ramsey said...

Your confidence is sky hi. You have gotten a lot out of this program. I am glad that the dinner with the professor went so well.

Ana, you are one of the few students that have had a chance to attend both Brown and Cornell. I would really value learning which program you feel is the best for you. Yoline has shared her thoughts and I would really love to hear how you compare both campuses. This gives us insight into the program and allows us to see what both schools have to offer.

We are going to be in Providence next week and I want to share your comments with the staff at Brown University. Now is the time to communicate with us so we can learn from you. We want to hear your thoughts and impressions.

Hope you continue to improve. I do want you to get that "A" so you have a chance to have the letter of recommendation. Notwithstanding that, I just want you to do well so that you will have a ton of confidence when you return to Kennedy High School in the fall.

Keep up the good work, remember you need to get the statement completed because they have a College Fair on Monday. I want you to be ready so that you can advocate for yourself and learn what College Admissions officers have to say about the College Process.

Remember, I have given you a lot of great advice and I want you to continue to use my knowledge as you go through this journey. I hope you were happy that I set up the dinner with your professor. This is something that I did for all of our students, so please understand that this college fair is part of the process and it will allow you to find out more when it ocmes to learning what Admissions officers look for in a student application.

Take care.

Charles T. Ramsey

Madeline Kronenberg said...

Ana,

Great job once again on time management and sharing how it is all working there for you.

Mr. Ramsey is right about the College Fair -- be sure to be ready for it on Monday -- it could really make a difference for you. Be prepared and ask them questions -- you know, about class size, location, program emphasis, etc.

Keep up the good work.