I must admit being home has been a bit odd. I have really missed Professor Kramnick’s class and hanging out with all my friends, but I do enjoy being home.
Over these last couple days of being home I have had time to think about what the ILC and Cornell Summer College experience has meant to me. And I must tell you all now that the experience I had this summer changed me for the better.
I owe the ILC a huge thank you. For those of you who are unaware of the process of being an ILC student here is how it worked for the Cornell kids. First we had to write an essay about vandalism and the meaning and/or impact it has on us. After our essays were read we went through an interview process with four questioners and Don filming us. Then the questioners made the cuts and called us out of class to tell us who would be going to Cornell that summer. I must say the entire process pushed me pretty hard. I was very motivated to be part of the ILC and thus tried my hardest to prove that I should be one of the kids going. I must say that the interview portion of the picking process was the scariest for me. I have two parents in the working world who have told me that public speaking is the key to life (more or less), but the interview was still terrifying. That is not saying that the people who were questioning me were scary, they were actually very nice, but what was scary was having to think of an answer that you thought would set you apart from the others in a positive manner.
After being chosen, you (as an ILC student) are obligated to keep being the best you you can be. You attend meeting and dinners and are always on your best behavior. I had never had to blog before, and I have learned a lot about myself through my blog. It is interesting to see the blogs from the beginning and then the later ones and see the new Taylor that has grown from this whole experience. If you read the blogs from the beginning of my ILC ‘career’ you would find a more shy and timid girl, now I am more out going and confident and I owe a lot of that to the ILC for giving me this chance to grow.
As I think back on my time at Cornell I am speechless. I honestly cannot believe that I, Taylor Doty, was chosen to go take a class for three weeks at one of the top universities in the nation. It is a great feeling knowing that I was smart enough and capable enough to compete with students from all over the world for a spot at Cornell this summer. It give me the confidence to try and compete with those kids and more kids for a spot that the university for the next four years of my life. I had only really considered Cornell because it is an Ivy League school and would be a great place to say I went, but now I would actually like to attend Cornell. I have learned a lot about what I want to get out of college and know now that if I put my mind to it I can do it.
I blogged about it when it happened, but I feel the need to state it again and give another HUGE thank you to the ILC for this opportunity; as I mentioned in a blog a while ago I met the assistant coach for the Cornell Women’s Soccer team. She met with me for an hour and we talked about their program and what I would have to do to be a constant for the team. I would never have gotten the opportunity to sit one-on-one with some like her if I had not been in the position I was in. As some of you may know I am considering playing soccer in college and would love to play for Cornell.
I really must say that no matter how many times I type or even think the words thank you it wouldn’t be enough. The ILC has opened a door for me that I may have never tried to open on my own. I have learned the world is what I make it. That nothing can stop me from getting what I want as long as I stay focused and push through every and anything that gets in my way.
Thank you ILC members for giving me this summer opportunity. Thank you for pushing me in the right direction. Thank you for opening a new door for me. Thank you for believing in me and thus making me believe in myself. Thank you for sending me to Cornell this summer.
Over and Out blog readers.
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