Saturday, April 15, 2017

Chips, Cameras, Action!

I came to the tutorial at 7:45 in the morning, which took me a 40 minute drive from Pittsburg. I was greeted by a huge ILC poster and many of my cohorts. I was pleasantly surprised to see many of them come so early, and ended up having a nice chat with them as we helped Don set up for the session. Within a couple of minutes using my strength assisting others carrying tables and food, I realized was not helping much with the tasks because, I am in fact, very weak.
Many of us wondered why this sign was placed at the front of the school. I wanted to know the stories behind the prohibition of Go Carts, Kites, and Laser Tag.
We weren't able to get to work immediately since Don seemed to have trouble with his computer booting up. To make matters even worse, only two rows of school computers had working USB ports and half of them did not function at all. When we started, Don talked about emails, phone calls, blogging, and making blog spot profiles. He also reintroduced us to his several personalities, but we all knew to fear the one and only frightful Guantanamo Don. We were reminded that being in the program is a privilege, not a right, and each of one us has to adhere the rules or we would lose our scholarship.

The next task we had was learning the skills of blogging and be able to differentiate what a bad blog looked like, compared to a good one. During this, we had to use Don's practice blog to give us some time to get used to formatting our blogs. My cohorts and I were able to let loose and create silly blogs, which still followed the format that Don laid out for us. I ended up writing two paragraphs about how Frito's chips and cookies blended their flavors well with one another. I had an enjoyable time writing and reading what everyone had posted, this task was definitely my favorite part of the tutorial.

Don gave us loaner cameras to practice our photography skills. I decided to pair up with Cecilia since there weren't enough cameras for everyone to use. We all took a breath of fresh air outside and used the school's scenery to fuel our creative inspiration, making wonderful and silly photos in the few minutes we had.
Kelsey immediately became everyone's favorite model.
Evan becoming the ultimate camouflage master.
After transferring our photos into Media fire, Don lectured us on several important things about the meetings and the big trip. He also gave us a hands on experience on how to use some of the loaner items that could be provided in the trip. In our small group, we all took turns and passed around an Ethernet cable, computer, and laptop security cable. Each of us had to lock and unlock the security cable, which was an item of necessity to avoid our computers being stolen while traveling. Out of all the cohorts, Brown seemed to have the most required items due to the dorms, weather, and outdoor activities. From everything I've heard from Don, the Brown cohort sounds like a rough boot camp, but I believe boot camps can still be fun with the right people!

Today was an educational and amusing experience, and it was nice to see several faces I knew from other cohorts. I'm excited to share more of my time with all of them, I look forward to the opportunities and experiences I'll have with all five of the my teammates during the big trip.
The Brown cohort is back in business!

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