Back in the Swing of Things

And so it begins again. After almost eight months of rest, I am blogging again. Well, rest is a slight exaggeration. Really is has been eight months of being a junior, reapplying to the the Ivy League Connection, getting in (as you might guess from my presence on this blog site), and more recently applying to Yale. And let's not forget the reading. After almost a thousand pages of reading (only a fraction of what we will have read by the end of the course) I am more excited than ever to take the Grand Strategies course.

An image that almost made its way unto the blog site

This past Sunday I met with my cohort, and of course Don, for the first time since our interviews. Despite our originally planned location, Starbucks, falling though, the Peet's just down the street worked just fine. After a few hours we finally assembled our blog site, and I for one am quite pleased with the result. We worked together quite well as a team, making decisions together, splitting up the work load, and generally getting along.

I am very excited to be a part of the ILC again, and I expect this time the be just as good, if not better, than last time. I like my cohort, and I cannot wait to get to know them all better. This Thursday we convene again, this time for dinner, to meet the Yale chaperone. Then a few weeks from now we have our fancy dinner in San Francisco, then orientation, and before we know it, we will be off to the East Coast. It is good to be back with the ILC.

To Blog Or Not To Blog

My fellow Grand Strategy cohorts, Don, and I planned to meet at a local Starbucks at 2:30 PM. Don was the first to arrive, I was second, Eric Wilson was third, Liam Guevara was fourth, and Joshua Ko was fifth. When I arrived, Don greeted me and pointed out that there was absolutely no room in Starbucks. After everyone arrived, we all decided to go to the Peet's Coffee across the plaza. Luckily, there was a counter for all five of us to work there. 

This was the first time that we reunited after the interviews in December. I was a bit nervous at how we would all interact. Thankfully, it was not awkward and we all spoke with one another comfortably. The day was quite beautiful, seventy degree weather and not a cloud was seen. We enjoyed some drinks at Peet's Coffee and proceeded to work on our blogs. I was never the one to be interested in computers, so setting up blogs is a bit foreign to me. Fortunately, Don and my cohorts are perfectly capable in that area. We all decided on the banner and background. The area that gave us the most trouble was the margins. It was necessary for us to repeatedly go back and change the width, but in the end, the blog turned out wonderful.

Don and I on our laptops

For inspiration and ideas we went to the older blogs of some Ivy League Connection alumni and to the blogs of current Ivy League Connection cohorts. We pieced and puzzled backgrounds, schemes, colors, font, font colors, banners etc. That was the easy part. One very difficult thing was the Internet connection. Liam and I decided to connect to the Fed Ex wifi unlike everyone else, who bought a drink and received an access code from Peet's. The slow connection made looking up pictures and refreshing the blog a painful snail-paced task. 

After about four hours we finally finished. I was the first cohort to arrive and the last to leave. I was and am extremely pleased with how our blog turned out. I began to show the blog to my parents and friends. I hope that this blog will receive many views.

Sun Tzu, So True

"If then we prefer to meet danger with a light heart but without laborious training, and with a courage which is gained by habit and not enforced by law, are we not greatly the better for it?”

Pericles, from his Funeral Oration

And so describes the Ivy League Connection experience. Four months ago, I found myself sitting in a large science lab with four smiling adults with brand-spanking-new notepads and pens, their heads nodding and noting as I spoke. Little did I know that I would find myself, not two months later, with a bevy of reading material, with handy notepad nearby, to help prepare me for the Grand Strategies course my cohort and I will be taking this summer!

My personality is that of a reflective, introspective, outgoing person. Through that lens, as I read the material throughout the past couple weeks, and as I type these very words, I noticed specific bits of Sun Tzu's The Art of War that revealed themselves to me in reality this weekend as we put together our blog (which you're seeing the fruits of right now) in the caffeine-infused haze of Peet's.

"The first of these factors is moral influence; the second, weather; the third, terrain; the fourth, command; and the fifth, doctrine."

As a cohort, one of our first goals was to put together a blog that would serve as a beacon of Ivy League light to the online community and introduce a life that many prospective college students have never considered. After deciding to meet on what is now this past Sunday, the weather turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for a group of teenagers and Don Gosney, our fearless Ivy League Connection head connector, to put that blog together. Unfortunately, we hadn't mapped out the terrain quite as well as we could have, and we found the Starbucks location we had chosen to have no room for the blog session we needed to have. After checking out Yelp, we went across the street to Peet's, which had enough room and beverages for us all, an environment that would work for us!

"Sun Tzu sees the business of a general to consist, in part, of creating changes and of manipulating them to his advantage."

After cups of coffee and minutes staring at our bland-looking blog, Don sat us down and shared ways with us to make an aesthetically-pleasing blog that was easy to read and visit. With prior experience working with Blogger, I was ready to go, and so was the rest of my cohort. We worked with Photoshop to create multiple banners and backgrounds until we were all pleased with the final turnout.

"Generally, management of many is the same as management of few. It is a matter of organization."

We ended up splitting up tasks among the cohort to make things go faster. Liam's post goes into further details about our exact individual tasks, but we worked together, debating color schemes, pictures, and fonts that would work the best for our blog.

"If the officers are short-tempered they are exhausted."

After nearly four hours, we found ourselves winding down, finishing up our respective cups of caffeine and chocolate, putting the finishing touches; adding links to our fellow ILC blogs and making sure all the gadgets were in order. After a twenty-minute worrying fit (and then later discovering that the button I was looking for was in front of me the whole time), I happened to be picked up right after. As I leaned back on the leather interior, I sat comfortably and calmly, although my eyes were tired, knowing my cohort and I had had only the first of a series of even more complicated and exciting adventures together.

As the blog continues to be further updated, check back later in the week for my bio, which will give you, the reader, more information on my life, why I am interested in going, and what I hope to get out of the experience. Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to give me feedback by commenting or emailing me at jandakocompany@yahoo.com!

The Finer Points of Blogging

Then there came a problem with the Internet at about 5:00 PM. Whoever bought a drink only got Wi-Fi access for an hour. After our one hour limits were up, some of us bought another drink while others used the free Wi-Fi that the FedEx next door had. It was slow, but it was free Internet access. Worth it to Damian, Eric, and me.

We got a lot done and I got to know my cohorts a little bit better. Knowing the basics about blogging and setting up the site now will ensure that we don’t get frustrated while on the East Coast trying to figure out where to include links or how to change the background. Knowledge is power, and I will use this knowledge to make a great blog.

Damian, one of my cohorts, working hard.

Then there came a problem with the Internet at about 5:00 PM. Whoever bought a drink only got Wi-Fi access for an hour. After our one hour limits were up, some of us bought another drink while others used the free Wi-Fi that the FedEx next door had. It was slow, but it was free Internet access. Worth it to Damian, Eric, and me.

We got a lot done and I got to know my cohorts a little bit better. Knowing the basics about blogging and setting up the site now will ensure that we don’t get frustrated while on the East Coast trying to figure out where to include links or how to change the background. Knowledge is power, and I will use this knowledge to make a great blog.

The Four Horsemen

I was planning on titling this blog The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse but worried that someone might get the wrong idea about who and what these four men are all about or even what may lie on store for them when they get to Yale or even what may lie in store for the rest of us once they put into practice what they learn while at Yale.

Way back in December--the 13th to be exact--thew ILC’s Yale panelists read the application essays, reviewed the transcripts and listened intently to the responses to the 10 questions asked of each of the applicants.

As usual, the cadre of applicants were all qualified and made the job of the panelists all the more difficult.

In the end, though, four were selected to be this season’s Yale cohort.

In just two hours from the time of this posting, the four will gather to start setting up this blog site and personalizing it as their own.

In the coming months we should read of their reading of the many thousands of pages of preparatory material, of their appearances before City Councils, their tutorial session where they will learn more about working this blog site, their dinner with sponsors and alums from Yale, their presentation to the School Board and their Orientation session to prepare them for their trip.

Stay tuned for more.

Heavy Reading

At Don’s behest, I want to write about the reading that my cohorts and I have to do before we go to Yale. We have to read over 850 pages by the 21^st of April. We have been given a month to read these pages, but this is only the beginning of approximately 4,000 pages that we will have to read by the time we depart for Yale. We have to read such books as Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and The History of the Peloponnesian War.

The Art of War was extremely interesting because of the military strategy that Sun Tzu proposes. One of my favorite quotes from the book is, “One able to make the enemy come of his own accord does so by offering him some advantage.” This simple yet elegant statement says a lot about Sun Tzu’s military philosophy. He believed that the part before every battle was the most important. He has an entire chapter titled “Strengths and Weaknesses” where he does not only talk about the strength you must have in battle, but how to build and keep your strength before battle. If your army is weak before it goes into battle, then it will be weak during battle. Sun Tzu also mentions gaining strength by holding key vantage points at passes or at rivers. Another quote I like about holding key points is “When a cat is at the rat hole, ten thousand rats dare not come out.”

He warns that weakness comes if soldiers feel contempt and at ease in their camp. This will make them less prepared for battle, and preparation is vital. Sun Tzu also talks about when and where to strike. He says that in the heat of battle, finding a weak spot and pushing to attack it can make the enemy crumble. He also suggests that you strike the mind not with weapons, but with ideas. If you can convince the enemy that your force is superior even if they are not, then you have won the battle before the first man is killed.

Another drier book was The History of the Peloponnesian War. It drones on and on about how the Greeks are in a war with the Peloponnesians, then they make a peace treaty, then they are at war again. The writer describes the battles in the book using a lot of flowery language that draws away from the point he is trying to make. I read an entire page that could have been summed up in one sentence. Not to mention that the monologues that some of the characters give are so long that you forget what he is talking about. There is one obituary that a great Athenian philosopher has to give to praise the fallen soldiers and all their sacrifices for Athens. The man drones on for a whole page about why he has to give speech for the state, what will happen if he doesn’t, and who he was asked by to make the speech. Unnecessary details abound, it blows up simple sentences into mini speeches with the continual use of colons and semicolons.

Thankfully, though, I have finished The History of the Peloponnesian War. I have moved on to a 90 page report by the U.S. federal government made in 2002 about the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and what it will do for the nation after it is made. It’s so interesting to read how the U.S. plans to protect our borders, our infrastructure, and our liberties from terrorists. It also describes a few counterterrorist methods, like more thoroughly searching through imports brought on ships and checking what’s inside semi-trucks that pass from Mexico to the U.S. everyday.

Well, that’s just an update on my reading that I have to do. Hopefully the Department of Homeland Security report stays interesting and hopefully they’ll include something on how to get other nations to participate in counterterrorist operations.

Tutorial At My School

I woke up at 7:00 AM to attend a tutorial for the Ivy League Connection at my school. I thought to myself, "Great. The last place I want to be on my Saturday morning is at my school." I got ready and left my house knowing that the outcome would far outweigh attending the tutorial in the dusty, musty, depressing, and crumbling computer lab that used to be my geometry classroom. Since the geometry teacher left in the middle of the 2013 school year, the classroom and its computers have been constantly abused by students. I remember when my class took a health survey in there, we immediately became dangerously aware of how filthy and run-down this once lively classroom filled with posters of movies and hope became. What disgusted us even more was our hypothesis that someone had empty their fluids into the hand sanitizer. Then again, all the hand sanitizers at school smell unsanitary, so our teacher told us to pay no mind.

When I got to the school, I parked right outside of the computer lab to save walking distance. When I walked in, I noticed that I was the first student to arrive. I also noticed that the computer lab was a lot cleaner than my previous visit in this classroom. Don later told me that the custodians, who usually hold excellent conversations, cleaned the place. The room was no longer as dusty and sticky as it used to be, but what didn't change was the empty and cold feeling that lingers in the room and the horridly slow and run-down equipment. It wasn't until about ten minutes after my arrival that chaperones began walking into the classroom. Then about five minutes after the chaperones, came the students. 

Before the tutorial began, many people ran into technical difficulties. Half the kids had no idea how to access Blogger and Blogspot was restricted on our computers. Don and one of the chaperones had a little episode in setting up a new Google account and getting access to Blogger. It became increasingly frustrating and I began to space out. Being the only person in the room without a laptop made me a bit self-conscious and I pondered on the idea of owning a laptop. By the time I knew it, Don was ready to lecture. The tutorial began with special tips, tricks, and talismans to ward off "Evil Don." Through out the tutorial Don taught the students the ILC standards of blogging and reasons as to why our blogs must meet the criteria. Throughout the tutorial I was a bit bored. Of course in a cold, smelly, and dejecting classroom, it gets a bit hard to focus especially when the classroom brings back a flood of memories. It took a bit of effort to keep myself interested, but Don's quick quips, snide remarks, and occasional jokes and punchlines made it a bit easier.

Hercules High School. Ironically, I found this picture on the website of my former geometry teacher.

The rest of the tutorial went on in a similar manner. Don teaching us about blogging, the East Coast, loaner items, etc. while inserting little anecdotes and other interesting, humorous, or awkward comments. We had a few quick breaks which I spent either walking slowly to the bathroom, attempting to start a game of Solitaire, or exploring Facebook. There isn't much to do when no one is at school and you're in a room filled with people you've never met with their faces blocked by bulky snail-paced computers. When it was time to scan our personal information, the scanner decided to inconvenience the group even further by not working. Half the tutorial was filled with technical difficulties and frustrations. What would have been a possible hour long tutorial, doubled in length due to electronic errors and irritations.

I didn't feel as if my time at the tutorial was a complete waste, but it was a bit tedious.  I learned little tips and tricks about the East Coast, Adobe Photoshop, blogging, picture taking, and much more. Unfortunately, the most important aspect of the tutorial, scanning the information for our plane tickets, amounted to nothing. Although there was nothing much Don could do, he repeatedly apologized. After I left the tutorial, I ran a few errands, went home, and continued my interrupted slumber.