An Appetizer to Our Fabulous Summer

My day was going as planned: stressful but normal. I have to say that this dinner was planned on what might be the busiest week of my life. I'm afraid I'll be pulling an all-nighter tonight! I was excited all day and could not wait until school was over so I could go through the various outfits I had brought with me to school. I did not have time to go home between school and the dinner. I chose a red blouse and a plain black pencil skirt and my friend Jasmine helped me do my hair. At 4:40, I went outside to be picked up by my father and we drove to the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.

We mingled at the BART station for about half an hour and then got on a train shortly after 5:30 PM. I sat by Audrey and we found that we had a lot in common! I also got to talk to most of the others in the group somewhere along the journey.

The walk to Scala’s was rather quick and we were squeezing into the elevator leading to our private room in no time. We all mingled some more and I learned that Alex Elms was majoring in Communication, which is what I am planning on studying in college. I learned a lot about everyone and was thankful for them sharing their knowledge with me.

When we were seated, I noticed my name was written to give speeches! As I was not given any advance notice, I asked John Hillyer, our chaperone, and he asked Don Gosney. It turned out to be a mistake and they explained later to the group that they did not want to give me any surprises and did not ask me to speak on such short notice.

Shortly after, we were served our salad. I learned from Mr. Hillyer that you start with the silverware on the left and work your way in! I was seated between him and a UPENN alumni named Helen. I spoke with her a lot throughout the night and enjoyed her company greatly. The main course was delicious and so was the dessert.

My Main Course: Filet Mignon

The Dessert: Creme Brulee

After the dinner, we took some photographs and had more time to mingle. I talked to Tom, another UPENN alumni, with Audrey for a while about how great the UPENN professors are. It appears that they are very personable and much more helpful compared to other prestigious universities. This is an amazing quality to me and I hope I get to meet some of these kinds of professors this summer. 

We started heading home after this and walked as a group to the BART station. The train was more crowded than the train we took into the city so I did not get to sit down, which was fine. After our transfer at 19th Street, I got a seat on the next train and sat next to Roger who will be attending UPENN next year. We talked about my chances of getting accepted to UPENN and concluded that it is definitely possible. This makes me very happy and hopeful. Audrey joined our conversation for a little bit too, at the end.

We arrived back at the Plaza BART station and said our goodbyes! I got home around 10:45 PM, which was earlier than I had expected. I have a big load of homework left, which I will be working on for the next couple hours. I want to thank the people who organized this dinner and this program and everyone who made such a great opportunity like this possible to me!