Houston Regional Cabinet Dinner

Jolene and I went to this dinner last night at the Junior League of Houston. When we got there, the room was filled with a bunch of old people, and I was thinking "What is this?" I felt awkward, but, hey, what do ya do? So we went over to the table to get our name tags. In the bottom corner, there was either small print that read the school you graduated in and what year, the word "parent" or nothing at all indicating that you're a friend. There were a lot of parents of WashU parents including Marissa's. Jolene and I didn't really know what to do with ourselves so we wandered into the room where they were serving cocktails. I had some red wine. While we were talking a couple came up to us whose children had graduated in '99 and '01. The dad was the biggest complainer ever. He asked me if I had to write a thesis. I said not exactly but I did have a "capstone experience". He said something about how WashU makes everyone write a thesis and how WashU doesn't have enough faculty to do that. He was also frustrated with the fact that an A and an A+ are worth the same, but an A- will bring your GPA down. I agreed with that statement, but I wasn't nearly as hostile as he was about the whole thing. Later, at the end of the speech, he expressed his frustrations to Dean McLeod. Dean McLeod handled it so well. He politely listened to this man's concerns, corrected some misunderstandings, and offered to work with him in talking to the right people. Okay, enough talk about that.

During Dean McLeod's speech, I finally realized what the point of the dinner was--a WashU update. He talked a lot about the changes that were going on at WashU. For example, WashU is starting a new International Scholars Academy. You can read the press release at http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/5994.html
It was cool listening to him talk about the changes because we've experienced them, and I knew exactly what he was talking about. For example, he mentioned the renovation of the library and how circulation has gone up 100%. No kidding,-- I mean-- the library is the social scence during the week.

This should next thing should excite you, Lei Lei. A woman at my table asked me if I was involved in APAP (I don't know what it stands for.) It's where alumni interview potential students in the Houston area. She encouraged me to get involved especially since I had just graduated and could really answer current questions. I mentioned how I had a friend who worked for the admissions office and and interviewd a lot of prospective students ;) During the presentation, a guy got up and talked a little more about the program. At the end, I got his business card, so I could email him.

Lastly, for dinner we had a salad with greens and fruit, steak with asparagus and a rice pilaf followed by fresh berries in a hard caramel shell with whipped cream on top. Yummy!