Summer Conference
By carpenter5
@carpenter5 (6782)
United States
May 13, 2009 12:48am CST
I have been named as a McNair Scholar at my University. The program was named for the American Astronaut Ron McNair, who died on the Space Shuttle that blew up in 1986. It is a great program that enables it's students to prepare for graduate school, often even securing funding while still doing work in their undergraduate degree program.
It comes with a stipend that you get after completing a 16 week summer internship and a research project. I'm very excited to be working with an awesome professor that is a member of the faculty of the Bill Clinton School of Public Service. Since I want to go into the Non-Profit world this is going to be such a great opportunity!
I got my schedule for the summer today and found that one of the things we get to do is go to the National Conference with all the McNair scholars from more than 3,000 schools across the United States. We will get to hear different papers being presented. Then next year, as a 2nd year scholar, I will have an opportunity to present my paper and have it critiqued by men and women in the field I want to go into!
This years conference is in Atlanta. I got to go there in 1999 and have always wanted to go back.
Have you ever had an opportunity to return to a city that you enjoyed visiting?
2 people like this
5 responses
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
13 May 09
In 1973 I got to go to Victoria B.C. The trip up the west coast with my parents and sister was probably one of the best trips I ever took - in no doubt partly because my brother WASN'T there.
In the 1990's, my sister lived in Washington state, and my mom and I drove up from mom's condo in Durango, CO and then all of us went over on the ferry to Vancouver Island. That was a great trip, actually almost as good as the first trip, in some ways better.
2 people like this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
18 May 09
My husband has an uncle that lives somewhere close to Durango. My inlaws used to go out there every summer to visit. Isn't there a huge zoo there?
I have only been to Canada once, and it was Niagara Falls. We went to both the US and Canadian side of the falls.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
21 May 09
My bad. It was Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. I couldn't remember where it was exactly. Guess I could have looked it up, like I did this afternoon! LOL
Mike's uncle was the zoo director there for several years. All three of my kids have been there, but I've never had the opportunity.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120737)
• United States
14 May 09
That is wonderful. I'm impressed! I've been fortunate to return to a couple of my favorite cities. I love to go to Colorado Springs, Colorado. I have veen blessed to have visited there a couple of times. But the place I want to go back to is Sydney, Australia. I won a contest to go there in 2000, and I know I probably will never be able to afford to go back, I'd love to. They city was so beautiful.
2 people like this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
21 May 09
Now I'm really jealous. Australia is one place I would absolutely love to go to. How awesome! Do you have pictures, because if so, you should really post to them to gather!
I'm hoping that we have time to go to Olympic Park or take in a ball game while we're there, but we'll have to wait and see when the schedule comes out for the conference.
@GardenGerty (169462)
• United States
15 May 09
I have returned to an event I enjoyed in Columbia, Missouri. I think that is about as close as it gets to returning to a place I enjoyed visiting. I am very impressed with the fact that you have been chosen as a McNair Scholar and I am excited for the opportunity.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
21 May 09
Well thank you! Yes, it is a very exciting opportunity and a blessing for me. Most people aren't familiar with the program, which is really sad because there are some unbelievably brilliant students involved with the program. I'm currently reading and working on my purpose statement for the summer research project: Which is going to be 4 reasons why Non-Profit Organizations use Public Relations.
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
13 May 09
That's kinda funny, your going to Atlanta - I was there a million years ago when I was young but for some stupid reason the last few months I keep thinking about it and thinking I want to move there. I hear the employment rate is good there which is horrid in my home town where I live again now but I don't know anyone there or anything else about the area.
As for returning to a city - yea, my home town, every time I've moved away and each time looked forward to going home. Now I'm here I think weekly of getting out of here :(
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
18 May 09
See, I felt that way when we moved home to Hot Springs a couple of years ago. I wanted so badly to move home and reconnect with all my friends that I was just sure that I had there and everything would be all right! But when we got there, those friends had changed as much as I had and we had nothing in common anymore. So I was totally miserable the entire time we lived there and couldn't wait for Mike's job to transfer him somewhere else.
@kawalnarang (1095)
• Trinidad And Tobago
15 May 09
That's so nice,, Great job,, keep movin fwd,,Kawal
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
18 May 09
Oh I will. We did the orientation and the introduction luncheon for the Scholars program on Thursday and Friday. It was very interesting to see the professors and politicians come into the room to wish us all well. I didn't get to eat much at the luncheon because some of the schools faculty members got there way too early.
