My "Birthday Party" at the Hercules Public Library

April 21 2011: my 17^th birthday.

My birthday morning was spent at the Hercules Public Library learning all there is know about blogging from the one and only Don Gosney. The tutorial lasted a solid 2 and a half hours and was very enlightening. As a student who has never blogged before, Don’s crash course was extremely necessary.

Genevieve Simmons and I arrived early to assist Don and a few other students in preparing the room for the session. The Library’s white room, Don’s projector, and the dull light of computer screens set the stage for the morning. The session commenced promptly at 10:30 A.M.

Don kicked off the session with a run down of what he would be covering. Topics such as: “Blogging 101”, “Photography”, and “This and That” entertained the morning. With each category came new knowledge for me. As comfortable and confident as I thought I was with computers, Don put my knowledge to shame with his vast knowledge about everything involving the programs of blogging and computers in general. Thankfully, though, he was kind enough to bestow all his wisdom on us eager students, and we soaked it up like sponges.

I am very thankful for Don’s crash course, it gave me the necessary knowledge an helpful tips on how to prefect my blog posts.

Blogging and Picnicking in Hercules

Aside from a shaft of light coming through a small window, the meeting room in the Hercules Public Library where the Ivy League Connection blog tutorial was taking place was bereft of any light other than the glow of multiple computer screens. Sounds were limited to typing, a few whispers, and Don’s lecturing voice- but only after a serenade to my cohort Taylor Doty with everyone singing her happy birthday!

Our tutorial agenda included the following headings: Blogging 101, Photography and This And That. We covered most everything you could imagine about blogging, from simple formatting rules and tips to spicing up our posts by adding graphics. I found most of this information review as I am fairly comfortable with using computers, but Don's expertise on photography was good insight as well as what is necessary on manipulating photos.

The rest of the time was spent with a brushing-up of ILC responsibilities, future dinner obligations, and looking ahead to all of our respective trips this summer. Kelly pretty much sums up my fellow Cornellians and my enjoyable jaunt in the park afterwards. This fun get-together certainly was a sign of many good times to come.

I also wanted to add a small note about the information session I attended on Chicago University at El Cerrito High, hosted by Callie Brown. It was nice to have a chance to meet her before this summer, and I look forward to being able to ask her more questions about the wonderful information she provided us about Chicago University!

A Beautiful Day for Beginner Bloggers

Image courtesy of http://www.friendsofhercules.org/publiclibrary.htm

The sun shone brightly over a lovely spring morning as we gathered inside the Hercules library meeting room for Thursday’s blog tutorial. Students and chaperones quickly set up extension cords and laptops, then took their seats and mingled before Don began speaking. Although I’d met most of my fellow Cornellians before at the U of Chicago info session, this was my first time seeing many of the other ILC students. We met up with our chaperone, Ms. Neal, and it was wonderful talking to her again after our last brief encounter. I found her to be a very approachable and helpful person.

Before I get any further, let me introduce myself. I’m Kelly Xi, a sophomore and a member of the ILC’s Hercules High school cohort journeying to Ithaca this summer for Cornell’s Hotel Operations and Management course. It’s my first time blogging, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the ILC for their support, and readers, whom I hope will stay tuned for all our adventures!

Now, back to the tutorial… Don guided us through the basics of blog-posting, which I appreciated and thankfully found out to be pretty simple. He also reinforced many of the important points that had been mentioned in his previous packets. I will certainly remember the What-not-to-dos.

I read with admiration Austin Long’s Bulldog Days, the sample blog we were provided. Improving my blogging skills will be among my summer resolutions, and hopefully it will reflect in better writing and sharper critical thinking, as Don pointed out.

Overall, the session was very informative. I was intrigued by the many tools available to explore with Photoshop Elements. The tutorial inspired in me the desire to capture as much of our journey this summer in photos as possible, because pictures really do communicate much more than words can.

By the end of the tutorial session, I was famished. We Cornellians had made plans to hang out together afterwards, but I was consumed by a hunger that only two McDoubles could fill (it was my wallet was prepared for). I ended up adding a McChicken and fries to the order, and the seven of us (Genevieve, Jobel, Joe, Kevin, Taylor, Nick, and I) convened at Refugio Valley Park with our takeout.

Image courtesy of www.ci.hercules.ca.us

It was really fun getting to know each other better and enjoying the beautiful day together. For me, it was certainly a welcome departure from the endless AP test and SAT prep, AP Bio reading guides, AP world write-ups, research papers, Calculus homework, physics e-portfolios, Spanish essays, and general chaos consuming my spring break. To top it off, we went to Kevin’s house for an afternoon of DDR.

I'm sure Jobel will have the photos up on our gallery page soon.