Leadership, Communication, Vision

Our agenda for the first session in Pullman came this afternoon. I printed everything off and stuck it into my notebook, then hustled off to a social at Tom's house (Class XXV) before hustling off from there to a night meeting.

Now I have time to review the agenda (and see that my part comes at the end, introducing the seminar in Wenatchee). A good deal of the October sessions take place in the Center for Undergraduate Education on the WSU campus. It will be interesting to find my way around the campus, for as many times as I've been through Pullman, I've almost never been on the campus. A fair amount of the agenda is devoted to introducing concepts such as leadership, and setting the ground rules. Nota Bene: wondering where the CUE is? click here. It's just off Stadium Way.

We're staying at the Hawthorne Inn & Suites, and Rachel is my roommate. I ought to write her and apologise ahead of time for being a middle aged, overweight woman who snores. Or perhaps I should just pack earplugs for each roommate. I travel with them on the motorcycle, and sure have used them to survive noisy nights myself.

I think I am ready for this. I may not have a great deal of time to agonise over it during the next two weeks, for we're expecting our Marine son home on R&R from Iraq. He couldnt' have planned the leave better to coincide with Ag-Forestry, though he has told us little of the details of his trip.

If I'm lucky, I will be able to persuade some of my local classmates to carry a bag down and, if the weather's fair and I get a new chain and sprocket installed on my motorcycle, I can ride the 919 to Pullman. It's not a terribly exiting ride (outside of the Palouse, which is God's country on two wheels) but it's always more of an adventure to ride than drive and there's plenty of time to reflect.

Acquaintance Building Blocks

I have just returned from a very pleasant hour with one of my local classmates, Julie, who met me at McGlinn's. She works for the Salmon Recovery Board (in fact, she had to return to work while I returned home), an entity charged with re-establishing viable salmon habitat. For more on this mission, which affects much of the Pacific Northwest, visit http://www.ucsrb.com/.

Julie is a perfectly amiable, charming young woman, fond of theatre, reading, hiking, biking and travel—in fact, she is leaving soon for a backpacking vacation through central Europe with the wife of one of my husband's classmates (networking layer upon layer!) and I am quite envious, for I haven't been back to Europe since 1994.

I am so pleased that we had the chance to get together in a relaxed setting, for I have the sense that our monthly seminars will be fairly intense. I really enjoy the chance to reflect on experiences. Good conversation with one to three people is a most satisfying way of sythesizing intense experiences, and I hope there will be more such meetings.

At Rotary Randy tantalized me with where our international trip might be—and where it likely won't. Class XXIX is going to Russia next January,and while I told Randy there are very few places I wouldn't care to travel, Russia in January, well, that might just be one of 'em. He tempted me with India, which certainly would be more attractive. Its economy is emerging, as anybody who's attempted to call customer service can vouch for. True, it's halfway around the world, a long haul indeed, but I survived the flight to Japan with a few books, and getting there wouldn't scare me off. What a wonderful opportunity that would be, but there's no way of knowing at this early stage.

All in good time, as they say.

Looking Behind, Looking Ahead

My husband (Class XXV) and I met one of his fellow classmates and her husband tonight at McGlinn's, and made a date to see the new home of another classmate next Tuesday. I can't say a great deal of the discussion rolled down memory lane, which was fortunate (for me at least). The whole point of Ag-Forestry really seems, after graduation, to implement what one has learned in your community and chosen vocation.

I'm still noodging my future classmates to connect before Pullman, though it may be a challenge, since harvest is in full swing. Well, if it happens, great, if not, there'll be two full years to learn each other's idiosyncracies—and we all have 'em! Fortunately for Mark, his classmates were pretty congenial.

There's absolutely no way of knowing at this stage about Class 30. Let's see what we do know: there are 25 members, at least 10 women, or just under half of the class. All except me have direct ties to agriculture, forestry or fisheries. There are seven members from SW Washington, three from Puget Sound, six from north central Washington, two from the Yakima-Goldendale area, seven from SE Washington (my family orchards and ranch were in this area before the Little Goose Dam inundated the lands) and none from the Spokane area.

We're all a great unknown at this point.

Start Me Up

This evening my notebook came from the Ag-Forestry Foundation, which, even more than the initial acceptance letter, makes my acceptance into the program more real—more tangible.

My husband, Mark (Class XXV) is, if anything, even more excited than I am about my acceptance, and I certainly have seen what the leadership program has done for him, for his classmates, and many people I know around north central Washington.

In a few weeks I will go down to Pullman and meet my classmates. I've sent an e-mail to the five candidates from my area suggesting a casual get-together beforehand, and have gotten a couple of responses. I am the only one in my class not directly tied to agriculture, forestry, fisheries or viticulture, however, few people who live and work in Chelan county are untouched by the ag industry, and I feel that this will be an essential addition to my store of knowledge.

At this stage, it all lies ahead: the speeches, the policy development, the travel and the attendant stresses of functioning at a higher level.

I can't wait. I just can't wait.