Saturday, August 8, 2009

Our Last Few Days at Yale

Today is our last full day here at Yale. It is amazing to see how fast time flies by, especially when every day is another adventure. I am starting to wish I could stay here longer; not only because of the great atmosphere, but because of the people I have met. Both my new friends and new mentors have helped me succeed in this program, and without them, none of this would have been possible. For example, yesterday was our final presentation for our Marshall Briefs. I was terrified because our group was going last, so my nerves built up until 7:45 pm, which was when we presented. However, before our presentation, my group and I got a nice and calming pep talk from Zoe, our second mentor. She said that to do well, we had to be confident. We had to believe in our policy and do what we could to support it. They would be giving us a hard time by asking us lots of questions, but we had to stay strong and not let them "win".

I believe that our presentation went pretty well. Just like the time when I had to give my persuasive essay, I became serious and my nerves went away when the presentation started. Despite the difficult times our "judges" gave us, we pulled it through. It was an interesting simulation and definitely one that I will always remember. We even got a "visit" from our current president, who was played by Dr. Luong. Overall, my group went through a lot of tough times with this project but we stuck to it and worked as a team. When I was feeling down, I could count on all of them to cheer me up; and vice versa.

Tonight, we have a mocktail reception, where we will have to show our etiquette and social skills. We then have our graduation dinner at 6:30 and presentation of certificates at 7:30. I will take lots of pictures tonight and hope to add them soon. Other than that, here are some pictures from these past few days:


This is our residential college, Timothy Dwight (TD). The white door on the right hand side is the entrance to the boy's dorms. The small arch entryway is the exit/entrance to the college. The girl's dorm, is not shown in the picture but it is to the right of the boy's dorm.






This is a picture of me and my friend, Jean Park. She is very sweet and funny. When we had to give our persuasive essay speech, she was in my group. Ever since then, I have gotten to know her more each day.


From left to right: Me, Jessica Xiao, Hadley Chu, and Tiffany Tzeng. Both Jessica and Hadley had to leave the program a few days early, so I am really glad I got a chance to take a picture with them before they left. The three of them are very nice and I know that we will keep in touch somehow.



From left to right: Zoe, Huong, me, Stephanie, and Bryce. (Missing from our group: Sydney and Angie). We took this picture after we presented.

I am glad I took lots of pictures. These photos will bring great memories that I can share with my friends and family when I get back home. I will try to write again soon and update with more pictures! Thanks for reading!

1 comment:

  1. Jessica,

    Glad that your presentation went well for you. Part of the test always included giving you the third degree to test your mettle. How you handled their interrogation was what they were looking for.

    Another part of this experience was learning how to work as a team and to learn how to count on your teammates. From your blog, it seemed that you learned from that lesson as well.

    Thanks for all of the blogs, Jessica, and especially for adding the photos.

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