From ILC Alum Austin Long

Hi!



My name is Austin Long. I am a Pinole Valley High School graduate, and I'm currently a sophomore at Yale University, prospectively majoring in Chemistry! 



I'd first like to apologize to Mr. Ramsey for my extremely long delay in sending this. Being home for the holidays and spending time with family and friends has a habit of making me absentminded, and I'm sorry for my forgetfulness. Thanks to the ILC and the WCCUSD School Board, your work keeps our students competitive in higher education and in the workforce, and you often don't receive enough credit for all that you do for us, so thank you!



Contrary to popular belief, college is cool! Especially here at Yale University. Yale is an amazing place. I know everyone says this about their own college, but Yale truly is a paragon of education. We have unparalleled faculty, resources, classes, and opportunities.



Last semester I took four classes, Chinese (Level 5), Introductory Physics, Multivariable Calculus, and a class on Science and Public Policy. I had a relatively light course load because I had to focus on finishing a couple prerequisites for my upper level chemistry classes next year. Of all my classes, the class I enjoyed the most was my Science and Public Policy class, not just because of the content, but because we had a large number of renowned professors and experts in their fields come to our class to share their experiences and knowledge with us!



Like in high school, I really enjoy extracurricular activities, so I've been trying to be as involved as possible here at Yale. In the clubs I spend most of my time at, I am treasurer of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association, Co-Chair of the Asian American Student Association's Political Action and Education Committee, and the External Relations Director of the Yale Global China Connections Chapter. In addition, I also work at a local high school as a Public School Intern, where I help tutor students and link the school with Yale resources. By doing so many activities, I feel that I've really broadened my skill set, and I'm learning to multitask better and more efficiently.



I think the best thing about college though is the immense wealth of opportunities that it provides you with. Last summer I was able to study Mandarin in Beijing, China entirely on Yale's dime, and next week I will be able to attend the 2013 Presidential Inauguration of President Barack Obama because of Yale. 



This next semester, I'm taking quite a few more courses than last semester, because I'm working attempting a double major of Chemistry and Political Science, but the feasibility of that remains to be seen. 



Good luck to all the high school seniors as you go through college interviews and to all the others as you apply for ILC! I wish you all the best, and I hope that if you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me at austin.long@yale.edu!



Happy New Years!



Best wishes,



Austin Long


(510) 260-7730


austin.long@yale.edu

From ILC Alum Cynthia Fong

Hey everybody!

It's been two and a half years since I've graduated and it's very difficult to put into words the transformation that has happened. Since freshmen year, I've been challenged to all types of limits (socially, academically, emotionally, etc.). But this past semester, I would say, has been the most rewarding.

The first 4 semesters of college, I took it upon myself to "get the most" out of my education. Please don't get me wrong: DO get the most out of your education! But I was going about it the wrong way, substituting quality for quantity. I was overcommitted in extracurriculars, overcommitted in school and trying to have something of a social life at the same time.

This past semester, I took a lighter course load and I cut back on the extracurriculars. This semester was about learning how to find a good balance, learning how to rest, and learning to love learning. I was running on ambition instead of passion, but this semester, I realized that I do love learning and I do love contributing to some academic field.

I've officially declared a double concentration (or major) and I am rethinking a premed track. Public health and ethnic studies go hand in hand with my interests in structural determinants of health inequalities, specifically internationally. This semester, I took three classes: Survey Methods in Healthcare Research, Global Burden of Disease,  and Introduction to Ethnic Studies. I made a real connection with one of the public health professors and we're going to be working on some research together. I'm also researching grad school and fellowships.

It's been an amazing semester and I'm ready to get back into the grind. Though my course load will be back to normal, I'll be taking the lessons I've learned into this semester. I'm looking forward to the learning and the new experiences! If anybody is interested in anything at Brown University, or would just like to chat about colleges, please feel free to reach out!

Best,

Cynthia Fong

Class of 2014

From ILC Alum Cristina Pelayo

I’m back in Philadelphia to start the spring semester of my junior year. It still sounds strange to say I’m a junior, soon to be senior, after this semester.

This past fall semester passed by quite quickly. I took five classes this semester, but I decided to stack most of them. I wanted to be efficient with my time, and it was great, but sometimes I found myself getting too much information in class and not paying attention during the classes toward the end. The only upside was that I did have one day completely free to finish up readings or other homework. Unfortunately when midterm season came, I usually had two or three around the same time, which was not fun. Although I felt like I would have done better if I only had one at a time, I did improve my study habits by studying a lot earlier for them than was what I was used to.

This past semester, I decided to take a seminar to fulfill the research requirement for my history major. Past classes usually gave me a topic or time period that I had to write a paper on, but this time, my professor was really open to anything. It was really interesting to not have to form arguments, but rather explore different ones that I encountered in my research and compile them. I enjoyed having this project to work on throughout the semester, and my professor was incredibly encouraging and helpful, as it was my first time writing such a long paper, as well as researching in Spanish. I loved the research aspect of the course, although when it came time to write the final paper, it was hard to put into several pages what I’d discovered. Luckily (and this rarely happens) the day before the paper was due, my professor gave us a week-long extension, but unfortunately this would mean that I would have to work on the paper while I was home and everyone else was enjoying their vacations. I definitely wish I’d worked harder and sooner on it, but overall everything somehow turned out okay.

If anyone has any questions about Penn or college in general, feel free to email me! Thanks!

Best,

Cristina

From ILC Alum Lucina Parada

Dear Ivy League Connection students, alumni, parents, sponsors, and directors,

I have written to you in the past couple years chronicling my path through college. Last time I wrote, I was facing the start of my senior year in college and today, I write to you as I am eight days away from starting the final semester of my undergraduate career at UC Berkeley. It has been a long, arduous journey full of sleepless nights and major caffeine dependency but it will all be worth it when I hear my name being called as I walk across the stage at graduation.

I find myself answering a variety of questions after people find out I’ll be graduating this May. People always ask me, “What are you going to do after you graduate?”  It’s a question I’ve been hearing since my junior year, when I’d respond I was considering getting my Masters or pursuing a law degree after getting a job, without knowing it’s what I really wanted to do. Today, I’ve grown more confident in my answer and I tell them I would ideally like to work full-time in a law office so I can save money and put it towards paying off my student loans before I pursue a post graduate degree. As for my long-term goals, I would like to end up working in the law/public policy realm of immigration, as it is an issue near and dear to my heart. While I can proudly tell people of my goals and ambitions for the post-grad life, I know life can take me down a completely different path. It’s a scary thought yet I look forward to what truly lies ahead for me.

The follow up question I usually get is, “are you happy with your time at Berkeley?” It’s a thought provoking question that makes me reflect upon my three and a half years at Berkeley. I picture myself sitting in my Astronomy C12 lecture as a Berkeley student and I distinctly remember how excited I was to be starting my undergraduate career. As I walk down memory lane, I picture myself in the library slaving away at an Ethnic Studies 21AC paper, soaking up the sun on Memorial Glade on a bright day in October, marching down Market Street with Cal Band in the 2010 Giants World Series Victory Parade (which I still refer to as the best day of my life), and staying out until three in the morning with friends. The memories keep rushing into my mind as I see myself marching at AT&T Park in the fall of 2011, feeling on top of the world upon completing a thirty-page paper for a Junior Seminar in the Political Science department, traveling to Ohio State University for a football game this past September, and dancing my heart out to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce in front of 70,000 fellow Cal fans at my last home game in November.

After that quick stroll down memory lane, I proudly answer that I couldn’t be any happier with my time at Berkeley. Being at Berkeley as a Political Science student and a Cal Band member has filled me up with such joy that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I can only hope that every single one of you currently reading this testimonial will strive to find that same joy I’ve experienced, whether you’re studying at UPenn or UCLA or you’re a college senior waiting to hear back from the schools you’ve applied to. To end, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from a movie: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Warm regards,

Lucina Parada

B.A. Political Science, 2013

University of California, Berkeley

From ILC Alum Matt Arciniega

Hello All,

My name is Matt Arciniega. I attended the Yale Ivy Scholars Program in '09 and am now studying at Columbia University. In the past, I've stressed the importance of getting off campus and finding internship opportunities that help you understand the working world and take a break from your studies. I'm now here to reaffirm that advice--in fact, I've appreciated off campus internships so much I've decided to take a semester off and work for a few different non-profit groups.

Many people will tell you, "you just have to go abroad," or graduate in four years, but there is definitely something to be said for halting your studies and taking a path less-traveled. This is one of the only times in your life you do not need to have a steady job with benefits and the ability to pay the bills--get out there and do something! It will be amazingly helpful for learning about and understanding different career paths. I very much enjoyed all the hard work I was putting into school and I know my degree will help me get where I want to go in life, but I don't know where I want to go in life! Like choosing colleges, you can't truly understand anything about an industry or career unless you spend some time living it. That is the premise of the Ivy League Connection, and I think it is just as applicable when it comes to the job search.

Other quick updates, I am halfway through my junior year as a political science major (which I recommend for anyone interested in advocacy work) and I am hoping to work in education policy and eventually go to grad school. If any of you are interested in Columbia, political science, education or taking a semester off, please don't hesitate to contact me.

All the best,

Matt Arciniega

From ILC Alum Alex Elms

Greetings current ILCers! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Alex Elms. I attended Pinole Valley High and I am currently a proud freshman Quaker at the University of Pennsylvania.
 
My first semester at Penn was certainly a whirlwind.  My courses were General Chemistry, Intro to Mechanics (which included a lab component), Calculus I, and Beginning Japanese. If you have an interest in mechanical engineering (my current major), this is probably what your first semester is going to look like (minus the Japanese). Despite these being general requirement classes, they were quite challenging. This will likely be a significant shock to you as you enter college; things may not always come as easily to you as they did back in high school. With this in mind, I must advise that you choose your classes wisely. When you’re selecting courses, don’t bite off more than you can chew. I ran into this problem early in the semester. Foreign language, especially a non-romance language, takes A LOT of time out of your schedule, and sometimes it’s time that you can’t sacrifice because of other coursework. I soon found out that I couldn’t devote enough time to Japanese, as I needed to in order to keep up with the class, so I had to drop the course. If you find yourself in a similar situation, just remember that it is better to perform well in your classes and drop one course, as opposed to keeping a class you can’t allot enough time to and having it affect your other courses as well.
 
I held off on joining extracurriculars for my first semester at Penn. I decided it would be more beneficial for me to get the hang of my day-to-day lifestyle and my work schedule before giving myself a number of commitments to adhere to. However, I strongly encourage you to research organizations or clubs that you may be interested in so that you already have an idea for the future. For instance, I am considering joining student organizations such as student journalism or the debate team next fall semester. If you don’t find a club that suits you, or you have an interest that isn’t being represented, don’t be afraid to start something yourself.
 
You’ve probably heard this a lot already from just about every college admissions rep, student alumnus, and teacher already, but you should really keep an open mind about where you’re going during and after college. During my senior year of high school, I was convinced that I was going to be an engineer; I loved math and science in high school, so it seems like a good fit, right? After my first semester, I’m rethinking my major. I realized that the engineering track wasn’t quite what I had imagined it would be and that it really isn’t the right fit for me. If you find yourself thinking something similar, no matter what your initial major is, I recommend you talk to (most importantly) your advisor, parents, or close friends; really, anyone who you trust and knows you. It can be quite a stressful conflict if you realize that you might not know what you’re doing after all but keep it to yourself. Keep your lines of communication open to ensure you don’t have any unneeded stress.
 
I hope what I’ve shared is helpful to you college-bound scholars. You’ve got quite the adventure ahead of you. Prepare yourself as much as possible while you’re still in high school, stay focused, and be thankful that you have the Ivy League Connection to help you start in the right direction. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at aelms1185@gmail.com any time and I’ll be happy to help.
 
Best of luck everyone!
 
Alex Elms
University of Pennsylvania
Class of '16

From ILC Alum Courtney Mariano

Good evening Ivy League Connection students,

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break. My name is Courtney Mariano, and I am currently a third year at UCLA. My college experience has been incredible thus far. I have definitely changed from the first year I was two years ago. I would say I feel more confident and comfortable in my surroundings; I have definitely found a home away from home here in Los Angeles. I now live at an apartment close to campus so I am slowly learning how to live without the conveniences of the dorms, such as the dining halls. I have also taken on more responsibilities, such as a job at a clothing store in order to not only gain a little money and be less financially dependent on my parents, but to also be more responsible and time-efficient. Balancing a job and school was definitely not as easy as I first imagined. I definitely needed to learn how to manage my time well because although school is a higher priority, I knew I could not slack off at work. Also, having a job means less free time to hang out with friends or to waste time and relax. But I appreciate all that I have learned by being a working student. My job has also allowed me to meet great people outside of UCLA, to learn how to interact with customers, and to gain experience in a fast-paced environment. So, besides giving me a little extra cash, I have learned valuable skills for my future career.

College has been going well academically for me as well. I found out over summer that I was accepted into the Communication Studies major at UCLA, which is highly competitive to get into, so I was ecstatic and appreciate to learn I got into the major. Before, I was hesitant to even apply because I heard how difficult it is for students to get in. But after taking a general Comm Stds course, I developed a strong interest in learning more. With hard work, I was able to keep my GPA up and was given acceptance into the major. So, if there is anything you are hesitant about applying for, just know that there is no harm in applying. Just work hard and hope for the best. After finally deciding to double major in Communication Studies and Economics, I started taking upper division courses last quarter. The upper div class sizes are much smaller in my opinion, so I enjoy them because you get to know your professor and peers better. I also think the subjects are more interesting because rather than listening to a general overview about a subject, my professors have been able to go more in depth in the material. This quarter, I am taking on a heavier load academically, so hopefully I will be able to do well in all of my classes.

Also, I was able to secure an advisor position for an older camper program for UCLA Unicamp. Unicamp is UCLA's official student charity, and this will be my third year volunteering with this group. For the first two years, I was a regular volunteer acting as a counselor and then an activity specialist. This year, I wanted to challenge myself and take on more responsibility, so I applied and interviewed for one of the programs within Unicamp for high school students. This process was definitely more competitive than the regular volunteer process, so I am grateful to have gotten this position. I definitely suggest that you find a student group or two that interest you and fully commit yourself to it. They give you a nice break from your studies and you have the chance to meet more people and expand your university network.

I wanted to end by giving a few pieces of advice for all of you before you enter college. Don't be afraid to try out whatever interests you. Although I had no experience in the field, the hotel industry always interested me for some reason. So over summer I decided to find an internship to learn more, and I was able to secure a summer internship working for human resources at a hotel in LA. It was a very valuable experience, so I suggest that if a career or industry interests you, try to gain experience to see if you will grow and thrive in the environment. Definitely take advantage of all the resources your school has to offer. Whether it be a free tutoring service, a career center to help you find internships, or even a free printing lab, find out what the resources are and make the best use out of them. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Go up to a professor or TA or peer if you're having trouble at all because keeping your questions to yourself doesn't help at all. You'll be surprised at how friendly and helpful people are. Also, try to make good relationships with your professors. Use office hours to your advantage, even if you don't have specific questions about the material, asking your professors about their experiences or any advice they may have can be beneficial for you. You will not regret putting in extra effort to getting to know your professors and TAs.

Honestly, if any of the current Ivy League Connection students want to know more about UCLA or have general questions about college, feel free to email me with questions.

Best,

Courtney Mariano

From ILC Alum Yueming Wang

Greetings everyone,

As I began my sophomore year in the College of Engineering at Cornell, I realized that I wanted to try something new. Throughout freshman year, I dedicated most of time to coursework and joined only a few student organizations, none of which I was very involved in. While this allowed me to keep my GPA afloat, I didn't feel that I was having the full college experience.

Right before the semester started, I interviewed for a part-time student employment position at the Cornell Center for Material Research and was hired. Each week, I dedicated approximately eight hours to work at the office. Although I may not have learned many useful technical skills, I now have a much better appreciation for the amount of work one must put in to make money.

In addition to taking a part-time job, I also decided to join more clubs and become more involved in the student organizations that I'm affiliated with. After attending the club fair, I decided to apply to be a member of AIESEC, the largest international student-run organization that promotes the development of student leadership and offers opportunities to students to be global citizens via international internships. After two rounds of interviewing, I was so excited to join the organization because I really believe in the importance of AIESEC's mission statement -- "Empowering young people for Peace and the Fulfillment of Humankind’s Potential". Now I work as a recruiter/manager of potential exchange participants who are interested in going abroad for technical internships as part of our Global Internship Program.

Some of my friends and I decided to take on leadership roles as returning members of the Chinese Student Association and committed to participate in the big-little program. As a co-head of a CSA family, we meet together on a bi-weekly basis to hangout with our freshmen "littles" to smooth their transition from high school to college.

In terms of academics, this semester has been most challenging. As of last week, I am officially affiliated with the Operations Research Engineering major at Cornell. I also plan on minoring in Computer Science and Business, which gives me the privilege to take a greater variety of courses. For example, next semester, I'm very excited that I will be taking a graduate-level business introductory course at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell! One piece of advice that I'd offer to everyone is to take some classes for yourself! Even though we all have lots of requirements that need to be fulfilled, I realized that I enjoy all of my classes more when there's a balance of courses I must take and ones I take out of leisure. This past semester, that course was the introductory Chinese language class for heritage students. Wile that course demanded a lot of time, I genuinely believe it made me happier, especially since all of my other courses are more geared to math and science.

As I completed my third semester at Cornell, I feel that I've learned so much about myself. Never have I pushed myself to take on a course load so rigorous while committing all of my free time (and often times my sleeping time as well) to clubs and my part time job. While this semester was indubitably the most challenging semester of yet, I still managed to enjoy myself. As I look over my shoulders at my fellow peers, I also see them recruiting for their student organizations, putting in hours here and there to gain work experience, and of course, studying hard. Although this may sound boring and exhausting, the fact is that we choose to be busy and sometimes, even overwhelmed. For the most part, we enjoy to challenge ourselves, but more than that, we seem to understand that doing our best is in our best interest now that we've matured more.

I look forward to yet another exciting semester at Cornell. Best of luck to everyone in the upcoming semester!

Cheers,

Yueming

From ILC Alum Andrew Gonzales

Hello all ILC members, I hope that for you seniors, your application process went smoothly and I am sure you will all be admitted to just the right places. My name is Andrew Gonzales and I am currently a freshman at Brown University. My ILC experiences were at Cornell University taking part in the Freedom and Justice class and Brown University where I learned about the many nuances of Macroeconomics.

My first semester at Brown was almost indescribable because of the many great things I learned, experienced and became a part of, but I will try my best to let you in on a vicarious ride of this great first semester. For starters Brown's motto for the educational path of each student is for you to be the "architect of your education." This basically means that you truly design and build your education the way you see best fit or most interesting. Brown has no general education requirements, so you can truly take a wide breadth of classes that are of great interest to you. Because of that I took Sports in American history, Introduction to International Politics, How to Manage Industrial and Non-Profit Organizations and finally Campaigns and Elections.  As you can see I have a wide range of classes and I can confidently say they were all very interesting. I would have to say that my Campaigns and Elections and my Business Management classes were my favorites. The Campaigns class was very interesting and stimulating because it took place in the midst of election season. The Business class was very fascinating because of the highly acclaimed guest lecturers that spoke to us. Some of them included the founders of the popular Nantucket Nectars drink, Senior Vice President of Ralph Lauren Polo, and executives of the Nordstrom's company (All of which were not only Brown graduates, but had taken the same class that I was taking with the same professor).

Coming in to Brown I thought I might not be fully equipped to handle the rigorous work. But, I can truly say that with persistent and relentless hard work (and prayer I must say) I was able to perform very well in all of my classes. This is just an encouragement for you all, do not be afraid of the rigors of college. You all have many of the necessary tools you will need to succeed and I am sure that many other tools will be developed upon the duration of your time in college.

I feel that I have developed or enhanced many tools since being at Brown. One for sure is the notion of independent drive. In high school you constantly have those around you, be they your parents, peers, or school faculty trying to push you to do your very best. But because in college I have truly been my "own man" it has really allowed me to develop a stronger independent motivation and drive. It has allowed me to see that in the real world you must spark and ignite your own engine if you ever want to get anywhere.

While at Brown I have joined three clubs so far, the Black Student Union, the Christian Branch fellowship and finally the GSA Brown Debate team. All of these groups have played a very intricate role in me being acclimated to college life. I was able to gain new friends, many of who were older and shared valuable experience with me. I would advise that everyone at least check out one club in college because it allows you to truly network with a group of people otherwise you probably would not have had contact with and it is good to talk to people about the college experience and different things you may be going through. Also clubs serve as a good way to be proactive in the college community. I believe I really learned that all of these were very important while I was in the ILC. Going to meet with admissions readers and other very important people was a great outlet and networking opportunity. Being involved in clubs can serve as this same networking benefit.

Also while at Brown I had time for some leisure activities. My friends and I played intramural basketball and football and this was really fun. It was great to just get out and go play, to not have to worry about your upcoming midterm and to be able to build comaraderie with friends. For me playing sports and getting regular exercise was very important in order to keep me well balanced.

Overall my time at Brown was truly great. I am really excited for the upcoming semester and the remainder of my years. I can imagine that some of you have applied to Brown and I wish you the best of luck. If any of you would like to talk about Brown more, or college related I would be more than happy to do so. My email is andrew_gonzales@brown.edu. Take care all and best of luck!

From ILC Alum Terilyn Chen

Hi!

My name is Terilyn and I'm a freshman at Harvard University. Quite honestly, the idea of writing this testimonial is a little daunting because I don't feel like I have a "lesson" to share or anything like that, since I'm still very much figuring everything out myself. Still, I hope this helps a bit.

This semester I took four courses (Harvard freshmen must take no more and no less than 4 courses first semester): Math 1b (equivalent of Calc BC), Life and Physical Sciences A (intro bio/chem course), Chinese BX (Chinese course for heritage students, or students who already speak and understand Chinese, but need to learn to read/write), and a freshman seminar (pass/fail discussion class of 15 or less freshmen) called Imagining the Suburbs Post World War II.

I am involved with the Environmental Action Committee and will be its Outreach Chair next semester and I edit Manifesta Magazine (Harvard's first and only feminist magazine that just started). I'm still in the process of comping the weekly newspaper The Independent, and I have been to a couple of events for the International Women's Rights Collective, but haven't been too involved with that. I hope that changes next semester.

At the beginning of the semester, I was really anxious and self-conscious about not doing many extracurricular activities. I felt like I was just doing math homework all the time (which was true, but to be fair, I also super super exaggerated in my head) because problem sets took me forever. I just didn't understand how people had time to become so involved with so many activities. I was also super stubborn about my math problem sets in the beginning. I felt like I needed to figure out every single tiny problem I had by myself. And while that helped me really learn the material, it also really slowed me down because sometimes I would be stuck on a problem for hours because I had just made some small addition error. Anyway, I met with my section leader and we talked about how to speed up my homework process, and I went to office hours and the Math Question Center. My math class didn't become a breeze or anything like that, but I definitely got better at doing other things too. The great thing was, I learned that I really like math, which I never did in high school. And I learned that even though it's something I have to work hard at, I'm not bad at it. While there were a lot of little "discoveries" that happened during my first semester, this was one that was especially important to me because I had convinced myself for much of high school that I hated math and that I was horrible at it.

Another pleasant discovery I made was that professors and teaching fellows (graduate students who teach/lead sections and are basically extra resources for students) are awesome. Or at least, mine were. I had heard stories about professors who didn't know their students' names, etc. But I had the great fortune of having awesome, down-to-earth, brilliant and funny instructors. One ended up buying me lunch, and another invited all of her students to her house for dinner. Another went to the Freshmen Faculty Dinner with me and a couple of other students who asked him, and would send personalized emails to check up on his students. Meeting up with professors was as easy as literally shooting them an email asking when they could meet up, or asking if they would be interested in having lunch/dinner sometime. My teaching fellows were also amazing. One TF for LPSA would bring cookies and candy to section, and would always stop to talk if he happened to run into you outside of class. I could go on and on about all of the amazing profs/TFs I learned from, but that would take forever. I guess the important thing to remember is just not to fret about this.

When I try to sit and reflect on my first semester, my thoughts are all jumbled, maybe because so much has happened, and I haven't finished processing. So I really mean it when I say you should all feel free to email me with questions. I'll probably be able to tell you much more about college through specific answers than through this.

Happy New Year everyone,

Terilyn

From ILC Alum Beilul Naizghi

Hello current ILCers!

I hope you are enjoying your winter break and you all hear good things come April!

My name is Beilul and I am currently a freshman at Brown University.

This past semester, I took Campaigns and Elections (with fellow ILCer Andrew Gonzales), Introduction to Public Policy, Contemporary Egypt in Revolution and The Digital World.  I elected to take the last two S/NC (pass/fail)—which may not be for everyone—but I highly recommend anyway. My class sizes included two 150-200 person lectures, a 20 person first year seminar and a 40 person introductory course. One important difference from high school was the sheer lack of assignments I had. One of my classes (Campaigns and Elections) consisted only of a midterm, a final and a 6-7 page, double spaced memo. Most of my weekly assignments were all readings and it was a bit intimidating to have so few opportunities to demonstrate that I new the material. In terms of my major, I had initially entered Brown with the intention of studying public policy but am now considering switching to development studies.

I am now a member of the Student Labor Alliance and the High Impact Network - a relatively new organization about effective altruism. I attended some of the Feminists at Brown and Brown for Financial Aid meetings but there were too many conflicts this semester. I also did some public opinion polling for the university's center for public policy.

This semester I spent a lot of time could attending lectures and presentations, some of which were about the programs offered at Brown and others were on topics I found interesting such as the effective altruism group 80,000 Hours, the Achebe Colloquium on African foreign policy and a United Students Against Sweatshops boot camp in New Jersey. Some of the courses I want to take next semester include African Issues in Anthropological Perspective, Perspectives on Society, and Islam and Modernity but this will probably change in the next month.

Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone and please let me know if you have any questions about Brown :)

Beilul Naizghi

ILC Cornell - Hotel '10 & Columbia - Presidential Powers '11

Hercules High School c/o 2012

Brown University c/o 2016

From ILC Alum Carla Ramirez

My name is Carla Ramirez and I just finished my first semester of my third year at Denison University and I am a biology major.

These first 5 semesters of college have been the hardest and most amazing semesters of my life. For me going to college has been an uphill battle. At times I find myself frustrated because the amount of effort that I put into my classes sometimes does not reflect in my grades.

When I was in high school I was naive; I thought that college was going to be like a fairytale. My experiences at Denison have been great, but they have also been tough. I am glad that I choose a college that was going to challenge me because even though each semester gets tougher and tougher, I continue to learn from my mistakes and keep my head up to try and improve the next semester. If there is one thing I have learned from my experiences at Denison is to keep trying and to keep my head up because even though I don't have the greatest grades and the perfect GPA, I know that I am fighting for my dream and that all the hard work I am putting in will pay off in the future!

So, fellow ILCers, I suggest that you choose a college that will provide a good environment to help you achieve your goals and will make you feel at home!

Carla