From Cheryl Lilhanand—the Columbia Cohort Chaperone
From the beginning, our pace was extremely
hectic. Our week started with an early morning flight to the Big Apple. For
some this was their first trip out of the State, for one it was her first plane
ride. As we crossed the Queensborough Bridge to enter Manhattan the students
were so excited and became wide awake as they caught their first glimpse of the
high rises of New York City, which seemed to reach for the sky.
During our first week we went on a whirlwind
tour of four top schools. On our first morning we rose early to catch the
subway to Penn Station where we boarded our first Amtrak to Pennsylvania. Upon arrival
in Philadelphia we met up with the Cornell cohort and together toured
Independence Hall. To walk the grounds where our country was founded and hear
historical stories was truly amazing. Visiting this area of Philadelphia fit in
nicely with my student’s classes, which they would soon attend at Columbia.
As with my previous trips, my cohort was
very impressed with UPenn and all the support systems built into their
programs. Not only is the campus gorgeous, every alumnus and student we spoke
to raved about his experiences there. Also, as in the past, more than one of my
six students plan to apply to UPenn. In fact, the ILC has students attending
this university now.
Our next day took us upstate to a new college
for the ILC campus tour: Sarah Lawrence. Here the students were greeted on a
much smaller campus located about a half an hour train ride from NYC. What a
difference in size. During the tour we sat in a typical lecture hall—with no
more than 30 seats. Oh, the advantages of what small colleges can offer with
small class sizes as well as constant individual academic support and
counseling. Here again, two of my students felt very comfortable in this
setting and plan to apply.
Thursday we headed up the Hudson on Amtrak
again. Upon arrival we headed straight to Hyde Park, summer home and
Presidential library of FDR. After watching an excellent video on his
challenging life and touring his house and gardens, we learned to really
appreciate his dedication to the American public knowing the constant battle he
had with polio. Then we were on to Vassar. Trying to ignore the near 100º heat,
we attended an information session, which was followed by a campus tour. Since
there is no graduate program, professors are able to focus their attention on
their students. Later, after talking to some alumni over dinner, we were told
that Vassar is one of the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S., such pride.
On a side note, one of the ILC students I brought here last year will attend
Vassar as a freshman in the fall!
Friday we were off to Connecticut to visit
Yale. Their information session was the most dynamic of all the schools we
visited. We were so fortunate to have lunch with Yohanna Pepa, a former ILCer
who attends Yale. She brought some current students as well and afterwards they
gave us a personalized private tour. Here again, a couple of my students added
Yale to their application list.
In between our site visits we met with
current students and/or alumni from UPenn, Vassar, Yale, and Columbia over
lunch or dinner. In each case the conversations at the table were priceless. My
cohort felt so comfortable asking endless questions about the curriculum, class
size, support offered, housing, clubs, overseas programs, etc. I strongly feel
the dinners and luncheons were probably just as powerful and informative as
were all of the site visits.
After a week of traveling my students
finally moved into the dorms at Columbia. Over the next three weeks they
experienced student life; such as the stresses of completing assignments on
time, massive reading assignments, doing laundry and eating in the cafeteria.
Four students took Constitutional Law and two took Presidential
Powers, from Washington to Obama. The Con
Law students read many court cases and debated a number of issues. They
even had to write a six-page court briefing. Whereas the two in Powers had to complete a major research
paper, 20 pages long. Students in both classes had an extensive amount of
reading and class participation was an important part of both courses. All six
students said they absolutely loved their class. They all repeated that the ILC
should continue to offer these two classes to students in the future.
Our district can be proud of all six. They
worked hard and took their classes very seriously. Each one loved their class
and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge each one presented. In our daily briefings I could
see them gain confidence in a variety of areas from their debating skills to
doing extensive research. In short, they blossomed and took their challenges
head on ...and succeeded!
The best part about being a chaperone to six
high school students for four weeks is seeing them open up; academically,
socially, and culturally. My students gained confidence by reaching outward and
upward, they met their challenges and took pride in their accomplishments
whether it be in a class debate or quiz or paper, their smiles grew bigger.
Their conversations changed. Their thinking jumped to a different and higher
level.
None of this would be possible without the
incredible vision and dedication of the ILC founders: Charles Ramsey and
Madeline Kronenberg. Another very important person to the success of the
program is Don Gosney. And of course none of this would be possible without the
generosity of the sponsors. On behalf of my cohort I want to thank the sponsors
for giving my students the opportunity of a lifetime. I know how much this trip
meant to each one. In our daily debriefs they often expressed their amazement
and gratitude to the ILC program and the sponsors. After meeting and talking to
other students in their classes they soon realized our group was the ONLY one
supported by someone other than the individual family. My hat goes off to each
of you...you are truly making changes in our student’s lives, in more ways than
you can imagine.
What more can we ask for? Well, we now hope
this cohort, as well as the other cohorts, will share their incredible
experiences with other students in our district so they too can reach for the
stars with eyes wide open.
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