Long Day, Short Board Meeting

I went to bed at 4 AM in the morning and woke up at 6:30 AM, preparing myself for a meeting which started at promptly at 9. Drinking loads of coffee, I took off for San Francisco with BART only to find out there were barely any seats on the train and the coffee had not kicked in yet. My body was feeling terrible but I was feeling hopeful of the day. Even though San Francisco was not what I expected it to be, I was still looking forward to speaking at the WCCUSD Board meeting to represent the UChicago cohort. I spoke with Max on the phone about the logistics of the board meeting, taking place tonight, right on the opposite side of the BART map. 

“Distinguished guests, honorable board members, and supportive families...” I practiced silently on the way back home from SF. It was not remembering some portions of the Speech that was an issue but rather the time constraint. I was unsure of the pacing of the speech as I only had 1 minute and 30 seconds on the clock whereas I am used to talking for 8 - 11 minutes. 

“The mike will turn off without a hesitation,” if you speak overtime Hawi reminded me as I anxiously laughed at her text. 

However, I consider myself as an effective communicator. As the Vice President of the Contra Costa College Speech Team, I have given over 10 speeches to 2-year and 4-year institutions on various political topics. This time around, though, the speech would be structured like a commencement address which got me somewhat out of my comfort zone because I was not used to a podium.

Even so, I was excited for the night to network and reconnect with the Chicago cohort. I bumped into Uche Uwahemu, a candidate for Richmond city mayor, and we briefly talked about my journey through the IVY League Connection. Then, I reconnected with the ILC’ers to discuss the logistics behind the presentation - how we were going to effectively make use of the 5 minutes. 

I was speaking to the Board right after Don about how the Chicago cohort will make sure to utilize the opportunities that the ILC provides me to continue on our academic journey. Hawi would take off right after me to talk about how the Vanderbilt cohort would do the same. I felt like the subject of a paparazzi as Don flashed various pictures and the TV cameraman recorded our presentation. Having reserved seats in the front, and pulling up on a suit feels good. 

Wrapping up the day, the ILC’ers and our families took a picture together right outside the multipurpose room at DeJean Middle School. 

SF at Night

Right after the Board meeting, I headed out to San Francisco to meet up with a friend after 7 months. Even though, I got home at 11:30, only to find someone in Texas accessed my social media accounts, the night overall was fantastic. 

San Francisco is great and all but I am sure Chicago will be better. T - 20 days until liftoff.