I have to admit that I was about five minutes late to the orientation this evening, due to some less-than-perfect planning on the part of my mom and I. I felt quite bad about this, as I was the only one who arrived after 6:30, and I held up the start of the meeting by a few minutes. As a result of my lateness, the meeting began with a quick discussion by Mr. Ramsey on the importance of punctuality.
After this and a few other opening remarks, the chaperones were briefly introduced to the parents. Then, Don took over the microphone and went through a couple of the papers that were handed out at the beginning of the meeting regarding what to pack. I will definitely be consulting multiple packing lists as I pack my suitcase for Brown, as I do not want to forget anything vital.
Once Don had finished, all the different schools split into groups, and the chaperones talked about what the general schedule will be for us students while we are on the East Coast. Jackie had made a couple of itineraries for us, and she went over what we would be doing in the first week of the trip. I am looking forward to touring colleges such as Wellesley, Brandeis, and Harvard while we are on the East Coast, and comparing and contrasting them with each other and with my own interests regarding college.
After we had gone over everything we needed to in our individual cohorts, Don and Mr. Ramsey directed our attention back up front for the closing remarks on the meeting. The orientation and the dinner last night have made me realize, yet again, what an amazing opportunity this is. As the date of departure approaches, I am getting more and more excited for the trip. I think I can safely say that I will not be late to any ILC-related events in the future, as everything from here on out will be an amazing experience that I will not want to miss.
Molly,
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that you had to learn this lesson in the way you did. We had 102 people waiting so you can imagine the impact this had on the group. In the paperwork that Penn sent to their students and parents, they even list tardiness as one of the issues that can terminate a student's participation in their academies. They take things seriously in that program.
At the very least, perhaps this will be a life-lesson for you. This is one of the reasons we harp on punctuality so much. From the first presentation and at almost every gathering we try to drive this home so our ILCers will understand how important this can be in their futures.