June 21: Ithaca, NY

Luckily, today's activities were fueled by much needed hours of rest. We were all invigorated and motivated to start today's itinerary, which began with brunch at Appel Commons between 10:00am and 1:00pm. Us six Herculeans met up in our dorm, Mary Donlan Hall, lobby at 11:15am and made our way to a nice brunch.

After we cleaned our plates and filled our bellies, we made our way to Statler Hall to attend a Crash Course Study Skills session put on by a few RCA's (Residential Community Advisors) and a great speaker named Janet Snoyer, (excuse possible misspellings) who also serves as a reader of medical school applications here at Cornell. During the 3 hour long session, the over 600 students learned how to balance both academia and pleasure, make use of precious sleep hours, and determine what types of students we are and want to be. Due to the long time we spent in our seats, we had 2 small breaks where giant inflatable beach balls were thrown into the audience and thrown around for a good 10 minutes at a time. It was a fun way to keep us all enticed and excited to hear more of the presentation.

After the informative session, the six of us made our way back to Appel Commons for an Activities Fair, where we could sign up for the school's weekly online newspaper, Summer Times or the program's yearbook, along with several other activities, such as sports. We unexpectedly didn't leave the fair empty-handed! Upon our arrival, every student received a free, red Summer College at Cornell hat. This was very generous of our Program Director Abby Eller and the various other program officials. After 30 minutes at the fair, we were picked up by Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Crossley, who brought us all to Madeline's in Ithaca. The dinner was filled with great entrees, conversation, and dessert. It was a great way to spend one of our last days with Mr. Ramsey before his departure to the fellow Ivy League schools.

Overall, it was another great day in Ithaca. The weather has begun to clear and we expect sunshine tomorrow morning! Finally, some weather I will recognize! Tomorrow also marks the day for our first class session. I simply cannot wait. I, along with Julia and Ramiah, have had the extreme advantage of knowing the course reading months in advance. I feel prepared, and I expect that our readiness will pay off. The shock of a college-level class will be dramatically reduced thanks to Mr. Ramsey and his desire to help us out. Tomorrow's lecture with Professor Kramnick begins at 9:00am and I am setting my alarm as we speak. I expect that he will be insightful, witty, and full of charm and humor. I am sure that his bright character will resonate with our class of 70 students from around the world and make for an amazing class setting. I know I will learn a lot from Professor Kramnick and his trusty TA's. There is no doubt in my mind that this will be the most imformative and memorable class I will have for a very long time. A writing seminar with teacher aids will follow our lecture, along with a discussion session following lunch. I cannot wait to learn the intricate details of this Ivy League class. I've only been prepping for months now! I cannot wait to truly apply and increase the knowledge I have attained thus far. Wish me luck!

P.S. By request, I have included a picture of my dorm at Mary Donlan. Please excuse the messiness! My roommate and I are adjusting to not having the reminders of Mom and Dad to keep things clean! The room also includes a desk with a lamp, drawers, and two closets. I will include pictures of these portions of the room another time, but for now, I bid all readers goodnight. School tomorrow morning!