Orientation Day

On behalf of Stacy Chan, I will help her post her blog of the day. She has tried to log onto her account, but it says the email has been disabled. She is trying to work on recovering access to her account.

Jet lag had undoubtedly kicked in for all of us, so we all took advantage of the brunch schedule. Around 11:45 am, all the Hercules Ivy Leaguers met up to walk to the Appel Commons together, where we had an assortment of various items on the menu.

Post-brunch, we all walked down to the Statler Hall to attend the mandatory Crash Course program, which was scheduled for all Summer College students. Hundreds of students gathered under one roof to hear the speaker showcase her presentation on strategies, be it on test-taking ones or ones related to the importance of sleeping and care for the body, mind, and soul. Within the three-hour framework, everyone had an opportunity to loosen up with an amusing exercise, one of which was to toss inflated, large beach balls around. Take a look!

On top of that, we did another exercise entitled Laughing Yoga, where we had to put ourselves face-to-face with an unfamiliar face. Then, we had to stare right through their eyes. The objective was to do our best not to laugh. This exercise may deemed silly, but I was able to meet a new student. Check out the video...(Hear the silly laughter in the background?)

...back to the presentation.

The speaker did an exercise with us to find out what "style" of learner we are. I fell into the category of a balanced diverger. That basically meant I was a reflective learner, but I would absorb information best when I used my five basic senses. Moreover, I was supposed to have creative attributes to my character. This self-learning exercise was interesting in many ways, but time would only tell if this proved to be effective (I'm hesitant whether I am a diverger, but let's see if the results are correct...).

Next, the speaker delved into the importance of taking care of the body by sleeping for a certain number of hours. A tip I learned was to not sleep within four hours before taking a test. Interesting, huh?

After that, we all headed to the activities fair, which was lined up with booths, from the Summer Times one to the Yearbook booth. Since I had been expressing an interest in journalism, I signed myself up for the Summer Times. This chance should be a perfect way to showcase my thoughts on the Ivy League Connection.

Mr. Ramsey treated us all out to dinner at Madeline's, which was located in the heart of downtown Ithaca. Over dinner, we all discussed our expectations of the course we'll take as well as ones on the ILC.

This ILC opportunity has exceeded my expectations to the highest degree. From the care to the strong support system, it is easy for me to say I will thrive within this program. I expect to take away a lengthy list of studying and learning strategies, as well as the criticality of being responsible. Since this is a college-course, this will bring light to what a rigorous curriculum is like. It will also strengthen the importance for adopting strong time-management skills, in terms of balancing school work and activities held in the Mary Donlon residential hall. The Hotel Operations Management course will teach me to present myself well at professional settings and to instill a mentality where focus and discipline are keys to success. But most importantly, this course will teach me to be take on the positions of a leader as well as a teammate. It's important to be open-minded to new and innovative ideas, but it's also of great importance to cooperate and to bring an equal contribution to the table.

Until tomorrow,

Stacy Chan