Return of the Nance Effect

Return of the Nance Effect (The Summer Update Edition!) Greetings to all! Can you feel that? Summer is slipping away and the crisp New England weather is looming just around the corner. (Funny I say that even though Boston had a heat index of 106 degrees last week.) As we get closer to September the class of 2010 prepares to take their place as matriculated students at MIT, and future classes, especially the class of 2011, are preparing to run the gauntlet known as the college application process. In some ways this entry represents the changing of the guard for The Nance Effect. Many more of those reading and posting to this blog will be new or first time Bloggers. To you I say welcome! Come on in, the water is just fine. I hope that you will not hesitate to throw your two cents in to any and all conversations. This is, after all, a community designed for and about you. When I began to blog a little more than a year ago I wrote the following: My blog will hopefully give you a backstage pass to the theater of the absurd, better known as College Admissions. Instead I will discuss real issues that affect minorities and the college application process. Does that mean that you have to be a minority to glean wisdom from, or participate in, this blog? Au contraire, mon frere! This is a place to recognize and support all diversity with particular sensitivity to the African American, Latina/o, and Native American communities. I cant promise you the answers to all of your questions remember, the only way out is to THINK your way out. Enough said. Lets get down to business. This blog is designed so that we all learn from each other. Remember: a sense of humor never hurts! To those of you who are returning as veterans of The Nance Nance Revolution, welcome back! Please continue to do what youve always done inform and entertain us with your experiences and tell us about your life in general. I would be remiss if I did not also welcome parents to our little corner of cyberspace! As always, we have reserved a place at the table for you. Just remember, unlike Thanksgiving dinner, the priority goes to the Kids Table. Lets get this party started right! Remember Mrs. Browns second grade class? The first day was spent with each student in the class standing up in front telling everyone how he or she spent the summer. Well, Im going old school on you. Ill start Show Tell with how I spent my summer solstice. (Unlike most of you, the admissions office is forced to work through the heat.) Consider this your first assignment. Be sure to tell us how you spent your summer. If you are new, be sure to introduce yourself! Again, welcome to NNR! Here are a few pix from my summer I had the pleasure of working with the MITES students this summer. Here are a few photos from their ice cream social: [] [] [] I rubbed elbows with the Class of 2010 students who attended Project Interphase this summer. (Unfortunately, I dont have any candid shots of the group, but I do have this really cool official-like photo: [] In addition to working with students on the MIT campus I also attended several college fairs. The largest was held at Columbia University, in New York City on July 19th. Here are a few more pics: [] [] I played in the backyard with my kids (Miles and McKinley) [] [] I CLEANED RELOCATED MY OFFICE! Before [] After [] Finally, I celebrated my 40th birthday. Ben will post photos of that here soon. :-)