Greetings from Chi Town!

Today marked the third day of our trip in the Windy City, and the first day that we headed down to West Englewood for our first day of classes at the Lindblom Math and Science Academy! Waking up at 6am was definitely not a fun time, but we had time to fully awake during the subway ride to the school. Lindblom is a massive and beautiful school from the outside, and was bursting with personality from the inside. It felt like we were all back at high school for the first time, trying to navigate to our classroom through a crowded maze of students, and it was something none of us wanted to realize! We first met with Nick Anaya, an engineering teacher who worked as a liaison for the school and helped coordinate the activities with Maya, and his beard was INSANE. WE CANNOT STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. From there, we were divided up and sent into different classrooms to do Q&As about engineering and college life or to do one of our planned classroom activities . I was surprised at how friendly and willing to participate most of the students were, because usually it is a bit harder to actively participate in classroom activities with strangers. I attended an AP Chemistry class, where I answered a few questions about college but mostly just watched their lecture; an Algebra I class, THAT WAS TAUGHT BY A BUCKEYE; and a few engineering and coding classes of Mr. Anaya, where we worked on a project with Lego MINDSTORM Robots. Honestly, it was all super fun. I loved engaging with the students, and it was awesome that most seemed to appreciate why we were there! Now I've got to go to bed so I can get up bright and early again!

Betsy