Dream Team

The entrance to get to the quad my dorm is in

Today started a little worse than most: the dorm showers ran out of hot water! As I was standing the in the freezing spray, the water on my face a mixture of sub-zero temperature water and tears, it hit me that today was the last day at Brown. I walked back into my room from the bathroom, and looked at the vast mass of clothes and items that were going to have fit in my suitcase later in the day. But for right then, I had to get to class. 

Nick, Tayler, Wing, and I presented our Powerpoint today. (Thanks to Don for getting me the software!) As we found out last night, Mr. Ramsey and Mrs. Kronenberg came into class to watch how it went. As expected, it went pretty well. I felt confident in what I was saying, and we really got to discuss the main differences between China and America's banking systems, and the advantages of both. Though in the end we decided America had the stronger system, I'm proud of my arguments for pro-China. Mr. Coleman was also impressed by our slides, which really made me proud after all of the hard work we put into it. I also enjoyed the rest of the presentations, especially David's. His group's presentation was really graphically pleasing, made on Prezi.com. Additionally, I now know why Greece should stick with the Euro.

I really can't believe that I won't be going back next Monday! As I turned off my Mon-Fri 7:00 AM alarm, I'm hit with a wave of sadness; I won't be going back to Brown University unless I am accepted when I apply. The class has really been amazing though; it's really influenced me towards economics as a very possible major when I go to college. 

The Ratty! 

After saying thank you and goodbye, it was back to my dorm to finish packing. I barely managed to stuff everything back into my suitcase- which incidentally weighs about 59041857 lbs now- then I  made it down to Grad Center D, because I got kicked out of my dorm pretty early. Finally, I returned my key, which made leaving very real to me. Though I don't think I'll believe I'm really gone til I'm back at home in my bed, giving up the key meant losing some of the mature feelings that come with having control over the state of a door- locked or unlocked. 

Out of the heat and into the air conditioning. It may be hard to imagine for those who aren't actually living in the humidity right now, but trying to maneuver a huge suitcase, laptop, and purse is very difficult to do when you feel like you're taking a shower. But we all made it back to the Hotel Providence, and are back in the rooms with the enormous (by comparison) beds. We had a quick break to shower and get ready for the dinner tonight, and for me and Iris, to write our speeches. 

All decked out in our fancy clothes

I got the call last night that I would be speaking tonight, and I honestly hadn't had any sort of time to prepare a written speech. So, I decided to just speak from the heart. On the car ride over, I jotted down a few notes, but during the actual speech, I completely blanked and just went on instinct. At the dinner, I sat next to J Mentrek, a current Dartmouth student who actually works in the admissions office. This dinner had to be one of my favorites, as the rest of my table was made of three Yale students/alums, and an MIT student. I loved having that kind of 'diversity' at one table, because it made for even more interesting conversation, almost a compare and contrast of each school. After two amazing courses that tasted delicious and filled up more room than physically possible in my stomach, I walked over to talk to the Wellesley representative, Joan. Though I only got to talk to her for a few minutes before we started to have to wrap it up, Joan was incredibly honest and thorough in her description of the 'Little Ivies', many of which I had never even heard of.

There are many reasons I love all the ILC dinners, and while the food is a major part of that, the connections are what matter the most. Even if meeting someone can give me no advantage in the college admissions process, I'll still be overjoyed to meet them, simply because they are all awesome people. The stigma I came here with, that nearly all of the people who attend Ivy League schools are stuck-up and snobby, has been proven wrong over and over again. I do meet a lot of wealthy people, but I haven't met a single person who I've disliked. I'm especially leaning toward Dartmouth as my top choice right now, especially because of the people. Everyone I've met from Dartmouth has been so nice, funny, and genuine. I can't wait to get home so I can start working on my application!