Circling the Wrong Building

Our orientation was held at Pinole Middle School on Monday. I attended Pinole Middle so I knew how to get around the school. When I opened the map that Don had provided us I found that he had circled the library. Making my way to the library I noticed a lack of ILCers so I called Don. After a short talk on the phone with Don, I was informed that the wrong building had been circled and we needed to be in the cafeteria.

Entering the cafeteria, I found that it looked the same from when I attended Pinole Middle; memories of sitting at the light brown tables during lunch chatting away with friends that I have not seen since then came rushing back. Sitting down with my mom I waited for the orientation to start.

The meeting started off with a brief introduction from Madeline Kronenberg before Don began getting down to business. Don began the meeting and he was mostly filling in our parents to make sure they had all the needed information about the trip we will soon be embarking on. After a few minutes, the chaperons were brought up to introduce themselves to our parents. Once they finished up their introductions we broke into groups based on what school we will be attending.

When we sat down with Kendra she began going over the rough itineraries where we found out we will be meeting at 3:30 AM on Departure Day. After the rough breakdown of what will happen once we leave, we received a copy of possible places that we wanted to do. Before we went over the list we had the privilege to speak to Krystal Pantoja, a senior at Richmond High, who attended the Women & Leadership program at Brown last year.

Krystal provided information that was very helpful when thinking about what to pack, what type of food to expect, and answered a few questions for my worried mom. She repeated what I have heard from many that it will be humid and that we should pack light clothing for the trip. Next, she explained that the food was nothing special but it did come in plenty with a wide variety. My mom had a few questions like how much money we should take on the trip and if to do laundry we will be needing a roll of quarters, which were all answered.

After we spoke with Krystal we began discussing our list of possible activities before it was time for Don to take over again. He began going over all the loaner items that most of us (the ILCers) had been over before yet this time he had one of each to show our parents. After Don finished it seem as if there was a mad dash to take a picture with a purple suitcase. Overall it was a very good event that reminded me of things that I had forgotten and I enjoyed getting information from someone who attended the Women & Leadership program last year.