This blog marks the end of an amazing journey. I have learned so much over the course of this past month. From the moment I first decided I wanted to apply to the Ivy League Connection to this very moment I am typing this blog, I have gained new experiences I can't wait to share with everyone else. I cant thank everyone who made this opportunity possible, enough.
From the moment I got accepted, I began to count down the days before my departure. I knew from the start, this would be an experience to remember. We began with the college tours. Touring the mid-west to explore some of the most prestigious universities our nation has to offer. Each college taught me new things than the previous. This showed me exactly how much I didn't know about college before. I liked how each college was pretty different from the last. Washington University had that old Gothic feeling, while Northwestern University had more modern buildings and was right next to the water. Notre Dame University had a lot of religious architecture and gave the Harry Potter like feeling. The info sessions at each college taught me a lot about actually applying to college, and helped me build a preference for what I am looking for in a college. The dinner meetings took my knowledge of the college even a step further. Dinner with Washington and Northwestern University allowed 1 on 1 in depth conversations about anything we wanted to know about the college they know and love.
Once we got to the University of Chicago, I felt free. I really liked the independent feeling of living on my own. I was responsible for eating healthy, sleeping on time, and getting all my work done. I had more freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted. Although. this came with all the responsibilities, such as laundry and cleaning, which I was totally okay with. I had a successful 3 weeks living on my own. Now that I am home, I really miss the peace and quiet, without someone nagging me to do something every 5 seconds.
The dorms were great. However, the dorm building is somewhat a big maze and took me the first week to figure out. I loved the fact that I got to control the AC. I was able to turn it ON either high or low whenever I wanted. The bathroom and trash room were fairly close to my room so I didn't need to walk very far to access them. My roommate was awesome, he was one of my best friends at UChicago and I spent a lot of time with him. My RA group was also filled with friendly people. There were very few people in the whole program I preferred not to talk to.
Although my class was rigorous, I learned a lot. I really liked the professor, she made the class interesting by providing information we can relate to. The class was from 9:30 AM to 4 PM, but we had a much needed lunch break in the middle. She also let us out of class often, if we had finished all of that days material. This gave us time to get a head start on the plethora of homework she assigned us. If I manged my time wisely, I would still have time to do anything else I wanted to do throughout the day.
Honestly, this was a once in a lifetime experience. This changed the way I saw college life before. Looking back to this past month, I realize just how much I have learned. I would like to thank everyone who made this opportunity possible for my cohort and I. Thank you to our friends at Washington, Notre Dame, and Northwestern University for hosting us and sharing all that you know about your college. Thank you to Don and the Ivy League Connection, I know this was not possible without you. I cannot express how grateful I am, that I was able to experience this at the University of Chicago. This past summer has been the best one I have ever had.
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