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braincoins · 6 years

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Title: Learn By Heart Fandom: “Voltron: Legendary Defender” Summary: It's Allura's first semester teaching, and she's prepared for anything ...except Takashi Shirogane. Ships: Shallura Warnings: N/A Author’s Notes: This is for my @shalluraexchange giftee, @zsyree! I hope you like it even if it wasn't your first-choice prompt.

They're not supposed to be at any particular college/university, but this is me, and I write what I know. What I know is Indiana University Bloomington. So to any IU alumni or students out there, some of this should be familiar.

Before anyone asks - they're the same age. (I even have her say it in the fic.) How is that possible? Welllll, she went to college right after high school, while he enrolled in the Air Force. She's completed her undergrad courses and is just starting her graduate career, and, as such, has been press-ganged by her advisor into teaching. Meanwhile, he's taken a few college-level courses as part of his advancement in the USAF, but he's otherwise been preoccupied with his tours of duty. Then he was injured and he needed time to heal, recover, get the prosthetic and then get used to it. This is his first time in a formal higher education setting.

Fic below the cut (3,600 words - also on AO3)

Allura was logging into the classroom’s computer when she heard a polite, “Excuse me?” from behind her.

She turned towards the smoothly masculine voice and smiled pleasantly even as her stomach flopped. Standing before her was a handsome young man, her age or maybe a little older, with a shock of white hair, a scar across his nose (just under warm, dark eyes), and an easygoing smile. Broad shoulders and chest… she made herself stop and look him in the eye. Remain professional, she chided herself. Aside from the black turtleneck he was wearing, he looked like a military recruitment poster come to life.

“You’re Professor Smythe?”

Her smile widened a little at how surprised he sounded. “I am Ms. Fala,” she corrected. “I’m one of Professor Smythe’s grad students. I’m teaching this section. Can I help you?”

His gaze had been drifting a bit south and he cleared his throat and straightened up again. Well, at least I’m not the only one who likes what they see. “I’m Takashi Shirogane. I was told to give you this when I arrived.” He held out a piece of paper and when she looked down to take it, she realized almost immediately what it was. Not because of the paper, which was neatly folded in half, but because where his right hand should have been was a jet black mechanical prosthetic.

She accepted the paper and unfolded it and, sure enough, it was a notice of need for accommodation. She read it and nodded. “All in order. Do you need this back?”

“Yes, please. I have to show it to all my teachers.” She handed it back to him and he thanked her quietly as he tucked it back into his jeans pocket.

“What sort of accommodation do you require?”

“Not much. I just need to sit front and center with my laptop and mic. It’s not a big setup; it shouldn’t be in anyone else’s way. I can use a mouse pretty well but I can’t really type fast enough to keep up, so I’ve got a speech-to-text program set up to take notes on what you say. I also have a notebook for jotting things down the old-fashioned way, but I’m still getting used to the new hand, and I want to make sure I don’t miss anything important.”

She nodded and gestured to the still empty front row. “I would suggest sitting here, actually, rather than in the center. I spend most of my time at the computer podium or very near it. Also, I do upload my PowerPoints at the end of each class, so you can access those online.”

His smile widened. “Great, thank you. That’s a big help.”

“Do you need a plug? There are several free ones on the podium.”

“Oh, I’ve got plenty of charge, but if it’s not too much of a bother…”

“No bother at all, Mr. Shirogane.”

“My friends all call me Shiro.”

She cleared her throat. “Get your things set up, Mr. Shirogane,” she said pleasantly. Unfortunately, you’re a student, so you’re going to have to stay “Mr. Shirogane.” That was a disappointment, but hey, at least she’d have a nice view during class. STOP THAT. Stop objectifying one of your students. “There’s a plug right here you can use,” she said, indicating one on the back of the podium.

“Thank you, Ms. Fala.” And he went to his seat, already slinging his backpack off to get it open.

She resumed setting up her “first day of class” slides and tried to keep her thoughts professional and on the topic of Comparative Politics.

The first class was standard and boring – talking about the curriculum, where to find the syllabus and PowerPoints online, her grading scale, etc. It was a first-year introductory class, and most of these students were just taking it for the necessary “Breadth of Inquiry” credits that the university required. Still, if she could turn even one of them into a poli-sci major, she’d count that as a huge victory. But ultimately, her job was to relay the required material to them, go over their papers, and compile their grades.

Still, for a boring introductory class on a basic topic, she found Mr. Shirogane alert and attentive. The small microphone clipped to the lid of his laptop was unobtrusive. While other students were barely staying awake, he hand-wrote the URLs, her college-affiliated email address, and her office hour times down in his notebook and never once looked bored.

She let them out early (promising them they were unlikely to get this consideration for the rest of the semester) and began the process of logging off and shutting down. Due to his extra preparations, Mr. Shirogane was quickly the only one left in the room with her.

“Well, it should be an interesting class,” he said conversationally as he started unplugging everything and packing it up.

“I appreciate your interest, but don’t get your hopes up,” she warned with a light chuckle. Be careful not to flirt, she reminded herself.

“I’m not. I’m genuinely looking forward to it.”

“Are you going to major in political science?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Minor. Well, double minor: this and history.”

Her eyebrows went up. Not quite a major, but at least he has a definite interest in the subject instead of just taking it as something to get out of the way. “Very nice. Do you have a major in mind?”

He nodded. “Double major: physics and astronomy.”

“Double major AND double minor?” She whistled quietly at the mere thought of the workload for that. “Well, you’re not afraid of hard work, that’s for sure. And physics/astronomy with poli-sci/history? Unusual choice.”

He shrugged. “Well, I want to be an astronaut, so that kind of dictates my majors. There are a few other options, but those were the ones that were most interesting to me. I can pretty much do what I want with my minors, and I thought it’d be nice to diverge a bit, indulge some of my other interests.”

“An astronaut?” She blinked.

His smile thinned. “I know, but just because I lost my hand doesn’t mean I can’t…”

“Oh, no!” She rushed to reassure him. “I wasn’t… that’s not…!” She cleared her throat. “Of course you can. I was just surprised that I have a future astronaut in my class, that’s all.”

His smile turned apologetic. “Sorry. I’m used to people thinking I’m,” he looked down at his right hand, which closed up into a loose fist, “broken. Like I can’t do anything like that anymore. Everyone talks like I have to give up the dream I’ve had since I was a kid, just because of the hand.”

“So, it’s… recent then?” She realized what she was asking and cursed at herself mentally. “Not that you need to talk about it; I shouldn’t pry.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. I lost it a year and a half ago. Afghanistan.”

“Oh, you’re in the military?”

He started to nod and then caught himself. “Well, I was. Air Force.”

“Thank you for your service…” She paused. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your rank.”

“I was a Staff Sergeant, but you don’t have to call me that. Medical discharge and all that.” He waved his prosthetic hand. “Finally getting back into the world. I generally prefer Shiro or Takashi to ‘Sergeant Shirogane’ all the time.”

She cleared her throat. “Well, Mr. Shirogane, I’ll see you in class again on Wednesday, yes?”

“Bright and early!” he confirmed. “Did you lose a bet to get the 9 AM class?”

She smirked. “I’m the newest grad student, so I had little choice. And you can’t really complain; you signed up for this section.”

“Well, technically, yes, but it was the only one that still had available seats.” They both laughed and he swung his backpack onto his back again. “See you, Wednesday, Ms. Fala.”

She watched him go, chided herself for ogling him again (I’m not sure how jeans that tight can be comfortable, but bless him for wearing them anyway), and grabbed her things. She had her own coursework to see to, after all.

*****

Coran set aside the work she’d handed him on her thesis. “So, how’s your first semester of teaching going, Allura?”

She barely caught her smile from slipping. “Fine.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “You know I can tell when you’re lying to me.”

“No, really, it’s going as well as could be expected, it’s just…” She chewed on her lower lip.

He reached over his desk to pat her hand. “Students can be rough, especially on a new teacher. They can smell it, like sharks smelling blood. We’re nearly to midterms; I know it’s probably getting stressful.”

“No, it’s… well, I mean, it is, but not because of that. It’s just,” she took a deep breath, “I think I’m going to need you to grade one of my students’ work from now on. Just the one!” she added quickly. “I know you’re busy and I’m asking a lot of you, but it’s really just the one, and he’s honestly one of the best students, so…”

“Allura, slow down!” Her advisor was clearly confused. “If he’s one of the best students, why are you trying to pawn his work off on me?”

She looked away. “It’s… um…” She risked a look back at him.

Professor Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe had a single eyebrow arched and the most “Well?” face she’d ever seen. (The mustache helped.)

She sighed and looked down at her hands in her lap. “I am developing an inappropriate attraction. Even though I’m not acting on it, I feel like my ability to grade his work objectively could be called into question.”

“Oh. Yes, that is a pickle. And you’re not acting on this attraction at all, correct?”

She nodded. “I’m very careful, honestly. The only times we’re alone together are just before and after class, and only for a few minutes each time. Well, and sometimes office hours, but they’re entirely professional!”

“He comes to your office hours?”

“Well, so do some of the other students,” she pointed out.

“And comes early and stays late? For a 9 AM class?”

She cleared her throat. “He has a prosthetic hand. He needs the extra time to set up his computer and software and to pack it all up again. And when he comes to office hours, it’s usually because his speech-to-text program misheard some of my words and he needs clarification for what they’re supposed to be. It’s all entirely professional!” She realized she was sounding defensive (and repeating herself wasn’t helping), so she shut up, feeling ashamed of herself. My first semester teaching and something like this happens.

Coran just nodded. “You’re doing everything right then. That’s fine. I’ll grade his work for the rest of the semester, just to be safe.”

She sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

But then he leaned forward and asked, dropping his voice conspiratorially, “So, how bad is it?”

She blinked. “What, his work? It’s not bad at all, he’s working towards a minor, so he’s actually interested in the subject matter and…”

“No, no, not that. How bad is this crush of yours?”

“Coran.”

“I’m just going to be an insufferable git until you tell me,” he pointed out.

She groaned and flopped back in her chair, tilting her head up to look at the ceiling. “His smile makes my heart stop, my stomach flip, and my knees weak.”

“Oh ho! That is bad!” He was enjoying this.

“And he sits right in front of me. He has to, because of the speech-to-text. He can type, but not fast enough to take good notes. So he’s right there all the time, and he’s always paying full attention to me and the lecture, and …”

“Handsome?”

“Extremely,” she confirmed. She lowered her head to look at Coran again. “He was in the Air Force! He wants to be an astronaut! He’s only a few months older than I am. He’s strong and brave and charming and I may die if he wears that one sweater to class again.” She dropped her head into her hands. “Don’t even get me started on my inappropriate staring as he walks out of the classroom.”

Coran guffawed. “Well, the rules are no fraternizing with students, but nothing wrong with looking! You can’t help who you’re attracted to.”

“You’re not helping,” she muttered through her hands.

“Well, I’m helping by grading his work for you,” he pointed out. “Courage. The semester won’t last forever, even if it seems like it will.”

She lifted her head. “But then I won’t see him again at all.”

Coran tsked at her. “Midterms really must be stressing you out. You’re overlooking the obvious.”

She frowned at him, brow furrowing. “What?”

He shook a finger at her. “You’re a bright girl – one of the best grad students I’ve got – you’ll figure it out! In the meantime, send me the astronaut’s work. We’ll see if it’s truly ‘out of this world.’” He chuckled, clearly pleased at himself.

She groaned again as she stood. “Can you try to write any comments legibly? I’m beginning to believe the campus rumors that the anthropology department tricks their students into trying to decipher your handwriting as if it were some long-lost ancient script.”

“I make no promises,” he declared loftily.

*****

“Mr. Shirogane!” she called after him when she saw him in the student union. She hurried up to him and smiled as he turned. “I’m glad I found you.”

“Ms. Fala,” he greeted her. His smile was warm, as always, and elicited that now-familiar feeling of happy sickness within her. But his smile faltered a little. “Is something wrong?”

“No!” She cleared her throat and tried to calm herself down. “No, nothing at all.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “I was worried that there was a problem with my test or my essay or something.”

“No, it’s not about that. Can we talk somewhere a little… quieter?” They were by Sugar ‘n’ Spice – one of the main coffee hubs in the union – and the hallway by it was half-filled with people waiting in line for a hot beverage.

It was full-on winter now, and students had been hiding their increasing finals-induced stress under hats and scarves and bulky coats. Mr. Shirogane had a black-and-purple beanie, black gloves, and the sort of coat she imagined Arctic explorers would wear to find the North Pole. Or, well, models would wear to give the impression they were exploring the Arctic. Maybe that was just her impression of all of his clothes.

He nodded and looked around. “Um…”

“If you don’t mind the cold, we could go outside?”

He snorted. “Well, it will be much less crowded.” He gestured grandly. “After you.”

She headed downstairs and ducked out into a tiny courtyard off a seating area. She liked coming here in warmer weather, enjoying the relative peace and quiet of the usually-unnoticed outdoor spot. It offered some nice benches and a lovely little sculpture, all of it surrounded by ivy-covered walls, with an old, high, wrought iron gate leading to stairs going up to the main street level. It was bitterly cold, so naturally no one was out here. It was also rather dark; this late in the year, it got dark so early, and with the courtyard’s relatively low position, it was already well-hidden from what sunlight there was left to them. The union’s exterior lights were already on, so she could still easily see his curious expression as she turned to face him.

“So, there was nothing wrong with my final?” he asked.

“You did fine. In fact, I just finished submitting all the grades for the class.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You submitted my final grade or Professor Smythe did?”

She fidgeted. “I submitted all the grades except yours, but Professor Smythe has submitted yours, yes.”

“Can I ask why I seem to be the only one in class who has to put up with his handwriting?”

She couldn’t help laughing at that, and it took her a moment to pull herself back together. “Well, if you had asked me before now, I would have told you that it was because I wanted him to see your work.”

He studied her. “Okay. So what’s the real reason?”

“It’s not a lie. I did want him to see it. You’re a very thoughtful and dedicated student. I can tell you’ve been giving this class a hundred and ten percent, and I appreciate it. So it’s not a lie, but it’s also not the entire truth.” She cleared her throat and tried to keep herself from fidgeting out of nervousness. “I had to turn your work over to someone else to grade. Someone who could be objective.”

Both of his eyebrows went up. “You… Why couldn’t you be objective?” His voice sounded hushed.

She bit her lip, then made herself stop that. C’mon. You rehearsed this about a thousand times. You can do this. “I…” You have to do this. “As incredibly unprofessional as it is to say, when I first found out you were my student, I was terribly disappointed.”

He looked like he’d been slapped.

That spurred her on (and also made her speak a bit quicker, sound less smooth and steady than she’d hoped). “Not because of…! Because you were so handsome!”

That transmuted the wounded look into stunned silence. She made herself take a deep breath before continuing.

“I thought it would be okay. There are a lot of very attractive people on campus, and I’ve always handled things well. I thought things would be the same with you. But they weren’t. They haven’t been, ever. My attraction to you only got worse as I got to know you. So, I turned your work over to Professor Smythe, because it was too hard to view your work objectively.”

He blinked and, after a moment’s consideration, asked, “Is that why the professor always sat in on class on days I had to do oral presentations?”

She nodded and stopped herself from fidgeting again. “Exactly. I would never have been able to give you a proper grade on your work. You have a very nice voice and you use it well.” She blushed. “That sounds terrible out of context, but… your delivery is good, and you have such a deep interest in the subject… Oh heavens, it’s just getting worse!” She cleared her throat. “He had to be the one to grade your presentations, is my point.”

He readjusted the straps of his backpack. “So, you’re… um… telling me this now because…?”

“Because soon I won’t be your teacher any more. And I was hoping that we could go out, get some pizza and beer, just talk.”

“About us?”

Her blush was getting worse, she could feel it. “About us, about one another, about… about anything. I love our little chats before and after class. I always want more time to just talk with you.”

He just stood there, looking at her. She wanted to scream, but she held it in, trying not to look as anxious as she felt. Then he held out his forearm to her. “Pinch me?”

She blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Pinch me, because I’m pretty sure I’m dreaming this.”

She laughed. “I am not going to pinch you!”

“Why not?” he demanded.

“Well, for one thing, that’s your right arm; I can’t really make much of a dent in that.”

He huffed at himself and withdrew the arm. “Sorry, I still forget sometimes.”

“And, for another, I doubt you’d feel it much through that thick coat anyway.”

“I’m pretty sure you could do some damage if you really wanted to.”

“Which brings me to my final point: I don’t want to hurt you!”

“You really want to go out with me?” he asked, dropping the levity.

She smiled and nodded. “Ever since I first saw you. Having you sit right in front of me all semester has been driving me mad.”

“I’d like that. Uh, when you’re not my teacher anymore. Speaking of which, when will that be?”

“Well, the grades for the class are submitted, so I will officially no longer be your teacher at 6 PM.”

“What time is it now?” he asked immediately.

A deep gong from the campus clock tower began declaring the hour. Allura silently counted out the booming chimes until the 6th one sounded and the clock tower’s bells fell into silence again.

A wide grin split his face. “So. Pizza & beer then?”

She nodded. “Sounds wonderful.”

“And, just so we’re on even footing, I have to tell you, I’ve never been one for those ‘hot for teacher’ type scenarios until I met you.”

Her blush cranked to full volume as she laughed. “And here I was going to tell you how charming you were.”

Unexpectedly, he reached out and took her hand in his right. He lifted it to his lips to kiss the back of her …well, glove. “You’re the most beautiful and intelligent woman I’ve ever met,” he told her.

“Okay, you can have your ‘charming’ title back. C’mon, I’m starved, and getting a seat at Mother Bear’s is going to be madness.” She grabbed hold of his hand and tugged him towards the gate.

“I don’t mind waiting for a table.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “More time to spend with you, Ms.. uh..” He laughed.

She joined in. “You can call me ‘Allura’ now, Shiro.”

#zsyree #shalluraexchange #Shallura #Voltron #Socks writes Voltron fanfic #modern AU

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

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Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events

Airing between regular episodes of the VinePair Podcast, “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at [email protected].

In this episode of “Next Round,” host Zach Geballe sits down with Belinda Chang to discuss her new project, “Virtual Boozy Brunch.” While this project is Chang’s newest endeavor, it is one of many exciting positions she has held in the wine world. Here, Chang discusses how she moved into the wine and hospitality industry shortly after majoring in biochemistry and economics, and the influential roles she has held along the way.

Early in her career, Chang moved to Chicago then San Francisco, where she was selected to replace Rajat Parr as the new wine director for the Fifth Floor. From there, she earned a series of interesting positions and was chosen to be the wine director at MoMA, as well as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH. She also led a team to win a James Beard Award, as well as hosting both an annual pre-prom for female nominees to get ready for the ceremony and an annual pool party in Aspen.

The latter two events were put on by her own company, which she describes as “luxury experiential marketing.” Now, her platform hosts “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” which she initially launched to support wine professionals at the beginning of the pandemic. Today, the series has evolved into what she calls a “sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along, and many- other-things-along experience,” where users can log on and learn within interactive sessions. Chang emphasizes that these events always focus on user engagement and storytelling and will continue on well into the future.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation here

Zach: From Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe, and this is a “Next Round” “VinePair Podcast” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations in between our regular podcast episodes in order to focus on the issues and stories in the drinks world. Today, I’m speaking with James Beard Award-winning sommelier and the creator of “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” Belinda Chang. Thank you so much for your time.

Belinda: It’s my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me virtually, Zach.

Z: That’s still the way we do pretty much everything these days, for now. So let’s start before we get into “Virtual Boozy Brunch,” where I want to spend a fair bit of our time today talking about your past with your trajectory, your career as a sommelier, before Covid-19 changed everything.

B: Sure. Like many of us, I started at university. I was a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas, who majored in biochemistry and economics. And if you ask my parents, they would probably say it all went wrong when I started dating the lead singer of this ska band. I mean, there were pretty good ska bands, right? They opened up for the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones. It was a college band, but they were pretty darn good. And the lead singer of the band who I was dating, he was a senior. I was a freshman, and he had the whole down low on how to be really well-fed and drink wine while being a college student and on a typical college student budget. And that was to work at the University Faculty Club, which is called Cohen House. And so that was my first job ever. Of course, I followed along and got myself a job at the Rice University Faculty Club, and I ended up being the head waiter there because I think I was just really having so much fun. So what that looked like was during my lunch hours, I was carving brisket — that brisket in Houston is so delicious — and ladling out bowls of the incredible gumbo and shrimp to say that they had on the buffet line for all of my professors. And then in the evenings, we had a small team that did these synchronized service, fine dining events for the president of the university. And a lot of the illustrious alumni, like the Baker family, people like that. And that was my first experience with fine dining and great wine. Well, the great wine at the time, I think, was Magnums of Macon-Villages.

Z: Seems great.

B: Yeah I mean, it was a private institution, and to me, that was slightly nicer than what they were serving at some of the other faculty clubs. But that’s how I got into this whole thing and fell in love with wine and fell in love with hospitality and fell in love with it all and decided to abandon the path that I had been set on to, maybe become something respectable, like a doctor or a lawyer management consultant. So while I was there, I then — after I fell in love with the lead singer of the ska band who knew a lot about how to get free food and wine — I then fell in love with the new chef of the top restaurant in Houston, which at the time was a restaurant called Cafe Annie, owned and operated by a Ph.D. in biochemistry who became a chef. His name’s Robert Del Grande. He won all the James Beard Awards and was a huge wine lover and lover of rabbit enchiladas and mole. So that was interesting. But, they ended up with a Wine Spectator award-winning program. And it’s a beautiful place where I believe that we had the most interesting clientele you could have at the time, like Colombian drug runners and people like that that are in Houston. And so there were a lot of Chateau Mouton ’82 and magnums of Dom Perignon all over the place. So that was a really fun place to get my start in restaurants proper. So I started in the kitchen there. I knocked on their back door one day and ended up being hired on as a banquet line chef. So I know a lot about making wild mushroom quesadillas really quickly and en masse and also doing that, remember that like ’90s Zig-Zag from the squeeze bottle? The crema fresca over the mole-topped enchiladas and all kinds of beautiful Southwestern food. And that’s where I got my first subscription to the Wine Spectator. I started reading about wine, started guzzling that Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered. I guess Texas is the biggest buyer of that wine. And there started my wine education that set me in that direction. And then a lot of things happened after that. I don’t know if we want to go into that.

Z: Well I just was going to say maybe obviously you’ve had a remarkable and illustrious career, and feel free to recount more of it, but I’m just wondering, obviously for all of us there are the initial formative restaurant experiences that you say “this is where I learned the ropes.” But then along the way for you as well, were there any other stops that you particularly feel like recounting? Or if not, we can certainly move on.

B: Yeah, I mean, I think I think the early stops are to be the most interesting because they really are the formative ones. So I had a great time at Cafe Annie and I loved working with the husband-and-wife team. And I’m grateful that I started on the culinary side to have a good grounding in how a fancy kitchen works and all of that, which made it easier for me to adapt moving forward. So while I was at Cafe Annie — and maybe this is also a little bit about my career strategy from the beginning — I went to Cafe Annie because a friend of mine told me it was the best restaurant. So if you’re going to learn something about cooking in restaurants, go there. And then while I was at Cafe Annie I saw a cover of the Wine Spectator that said that Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago is the best restaurant in the world for a food and drink experience. And I thought, oh, well, of course, I should just go work there next.

Z: I appreciate that. That is some self-confidence.

B: Right. So I wasn’t even thinking about it. It’s like how you might think to yourself, like, “Oh really? Yeah. I’ll just go to Harvard. That’s what I’m going to do.” And so I faxed my resume and went to Kinkos before it was FedEx. I remember driving there, sending in a resume that I’d cobbled together. And lo and behold, by the time I got back, on my answering machine that used a regular cassette tape was a message from Chef Trotter himself. So that was the next thing I did. I packed up everything. And I think within a week I just hustled myself out to Chicago and started working there. And there he starts you wherever he wants to start you, and even though I was so proud of myself at that point, at Cafe Annie I was the only woman working as a captain in the dining room, which in fine dining is like the top of the heap. I went to Charlie Trotter’s, and I was a food runner. So five years there, and I ended my time as the wine director of that very venerable cellar and learned everything you could possibly learn about operating a restaurant in the way that he did and many other lessons. So I think that’s the stop that really set me on this path forever and also informed a lot of what I believe in hospitality and how to deliver experiences and how to work and how to mentor and lots of other things. So I did that. So I went from Houston back home to Chicago. My parents have lived here, and I lived here from third grade on. This was my hometown. And after a couple of years at Charlie Trotter’s, I got a call that a chef named Laurent Gras was looking for a wine director and a replacement for Rajat Parr in San Francisco.

Z: I think I’ve heard of him.

B: Yeah, right. So I was like, oh my God, who doesn’t want to be the follow-up to Rajat Parr and that incredible cellar stocked from floor to ceiling. That was a giant cellar of Burgundy, I think probably the largest in the country, if not the deepest in the country just at that moment in time. And so I flew myself out to San Francisco with the same thought, like, “Of course, I’m the one to replace Rajat Parr.” And I met the chef. I think I was probably the 60th person he’d interviewed, the very last person who put their hat in the ring for it. And there’s a nice moment here where I took the elevator up to the fifth floor, right? The Fifth Floor in San Francisco was on the fifth floor, and I saw Martine Saunier sitting outside and she was on a cell phone. And it wasn’t an iPhone. It was like one of those big ones, I think, or maybe a Motorola flip phone. And she looked up, and we didn’t know each other well. But I met her a few times and she said, “Oh, Belinda Chang.” She said, “Are you here to interview?” And I said, “yes.” And she nodded. And I went into the interview. I found out later that she called chef Gras after and said, “hire her”.

Z: Oh, wow.

B: Yeah. So that was a really cool moment. And I didn’t know about this for many years. And I can tell you, I love him deeply. I think he’s so amazing and I treasure my years that I worked with him. But I do know that when I walked into the room, he was definitely like, but you’re a girl, right? But he comes from very classic dining rooms. And I’m sure in those years, there definitely was not a woman sommelier on any of those service teams.

Z: Yeah, I think that is a safe assumption.

B: So it was pretty cool that she got in the game and told them what to do, and he followed her advice. And I think that at that time that was the job that a lot of people wanted.

Z: I bet, yeah. If 60-something people applied, I bet so. So before we shift gears and talk a little bit about “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and what you’ve been doing lately, what was the last sommelier or wine director job you held? Was your stepping away from the floor just a thing or time that had come, or how did you make that decision?

B: Yeah, it’s a great question. We can fast-forward to it. So from the Fifth Floor in San Francisco I came back to Chicago to oversee a big group of restaurants for Richard Melman from Lettuce Entertain You. From there I was recruited by Danny Meyer’s team to take over the wine director position at the Modern and MoMA in Manhattan. And then after that, after winning the James Beard Award with my team, I then went into a couple of experiments. I worked with Graydon Carter and Ken Friedman at the Monkey Bar, and then I went into that corporate paradigm that a lot of people think that they want to go into after single owner-operators or small-group restaurant paradigms. And I spent some time as the corporate wine director at Starwood Culinary Concepts, which was part of Starwood Hotels and restaurants run by Jean- Georges. And then after that, I spent time as the first national Champagne educator for LVMH, for M.H. USA. So those are all the various things. And then after all of that, I decided it was time to get back onto the floor. So I took a managing partner and wine director position here back in Chicago, my hometown, with Maple and Ash. So that was the last time that I was on the floor. And that was a two-and-a-half-year stint that launched me into my own business.

Z: And so let’s let’s talk about that. So what were you doing, broad strokes, pre-pandemic? And how did you pivot into virtual events?

B: So pre-pandemic, I was about a year and a half into my first foray into single-owner-operated bootstrap entrepreneurship — terrifying in and of itself. But pre-pandemic, I had some great clients. I was working with Champagne Taittinger and Calvisius Caviar, and I was already then doing something that’s not easily explained. I guess if you had to give it a one-liner, it was luxury experiential marketing. The funny thing is, I actually did do some virtual Champagne 101 and food and wine pairing classes via Skype for editors at Sauver Magazine and Elle Magazine before this all happened. But aside from that, I was putting on really cool experiences, like an annual pool party in Aspen and my six-year-running James Beard Awards pre-prom, which put together a glam salon for all the women nominees and women winners to get them red-carpet ready. So things like that. So definitely in the luxury space, definitely in the experiential marketing space. So when we got to that fateful March — which feels like it was 10 years ago, but I guess it was just a few months ago — it was the first year of the business where I felt like it was all going to be OK. I had all my 2020 Q1, Q2, and Q3 lined up, deposits put down, and it was in one day, I was in Toronto on a business trip when I got all the calls. I got four of them in a row, which I thought was really weird, from different clients. And they were all calling me to refund deposits, so I emptied — like, literally emptied, maybe to the last 5 cents — my operating cash account and, of course, refunded all these clients, because I want to work with them again later and sat and cried on my couch, on this red velvet couch. So you can picture me just like, “Oh my God. Oh, my God!” Yeah. So that led to a “Virtual Boozy Brunch” a couple of days later.

Z: So can you again, having attended a couple of them, I don’t know that I could fairly ask you to summarize it in a couple of sentences, but just for the people who are listening who aren’t familiar and we’ll include the links in the show description, what is “Virtual Boozy Brunch” and and how has it maybe evolved since the early days of the pandemic?

B: So it’s how I got off the couch. So I got off the couch a day later and I saw Jackie and Dani’s virtual happy hour. I don’t know if anybody has seen that, but they were really, I think, the first to really put on this big effort where they were inviting three bartenders a night with two showings a night and recreated a bar scenario where friends and supporters could come in and virtually tip these bartenders from all over the country. And they also gave an opportunity for the liquor brands to come in and help out and sponsor all these bartenders that needed help. They’re all furloughed. They’re laid off. What are they going to do? So I thought I should try to do something for the wine people. I feel like that never happens because they all think that we’re landed gentry or something. And it might be because we all have friends who are such natty dressers, that I think it’s pretty unusual or until now pretty rare that there was a dedicated effort to help them. Like, who needs help? They look like they’re doing just fine. But just because we are sipping and swirling Jayer doesn’t mean that we bought it ourselves. It’s just a part of our job. So I thought well, what could I do that could be something similar to this virtual happy hour scenario that really helps wine people? So I called Carrie Leavens, who is a protege of mine. I called a friend Rachel, who was at Osteria Mozza. And I said, “You know what? Let’s put together a Sunday brunch where you can come and chat about wine. You can invite all of your collectors and your fans and your friends and your supporters. And they can tip you for sharing your magic. And we’re going to find a way to do that virtually on camera so that you can still ply your trade.” Right? Which is making people feel great and helping them to drink good wine. So that was what episode 1, 2, and 3 were about, having great wine people and giving them a place to connect with their supporters and fans and try to make some money and do it without having to ask for a handout. And what we realized was that a lot of our chef friends were coming and tuning in and a lot of other people with interesting stories and magic to share were tuning in. So it evolved after a few weeks into this sip-along, cook-along, bake-along, dance-along and many- other-things-along experience. So it evolved really quickly from being like a virtual wine class into being like, I don’t know, it’s a living magazine. It’s a virtual experience. It’s a lot of things right now.

Z: Yeah, well, and I will say just from my own experience attending a few of them, one thing that I think is really fun about it is it feels like going inside the cooking segment of something like “Good Morning America.” And this isn’t a negative thing, but not kind of polished within an inch of its life the way those things are, like, “Hey, mistakes happen!” Swear words definitely happen. People are drinking. But I think you guys do an amazing job of making it. If you want to learn how to do something, you really can. And I think that was the next question I was going to ask. I think one of the hardest things about the virtual format in my experience, especially as it relates to things like cooking, cocktail creation, even the more static things like even just wine tasting, I find it’s very hard to communicate and to receive that training when you’re distanced from somebody, when you’re watching them through a screen. But I think you guys do a really good job of making all of the recipes, all of the cocktail recipes really comprehensible. So how have you done that?

B: Well, I think from the start, we’re thinking about why someone would tune in and how we could keep a great audience and make this endeavor worth our time and engage people all the way through. I mean, I don’t know about you, but especially as I got later into my career, I was like “the formal wine tasting is the most boring thing.” And I was always trying to find ways to make it a little more interesting, in that landscape of back in the day when you and I were full-time directors on the floor, you get like 50 invitations per day. So it’s like, how do you choose which one’s going to be really great? Aside from like maybe going to the one that has the most expensive wine, I think in this virtual space, the ones that are really interesting to me are the ones where I get to really participate. Right. So we never have a moderator read off the questions from the chat and relay that to the chef. We flip you up on screen if you have a question about, “did I do this correctly or does this look right or is it brown enough?” So our audience is always invited to be a part of the experience in every way. I always tell our team if at some point you’re looking at the gallery of viewers and they’re all looking down and they’re texting or they’re looking at their phones instead of what’s happening, we’ve done something wrong. We want it such that everybody who’s in the audience is engaging with the talent the entire time. So it’s a really worthwhile endeavor, whether the talent wants to tell a brand’s story or share a recipe or technique, or just connect. We make it so that it’s a platform in which they can always do that at the highest level. So I think that’s what we’ve learned how to do throughout the pandemic. And I think that’s what we’re doing best.

Z: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I definitely can tell the participant and viewer engagement is high, which is very challenging to do, both in person, frankly, and also virtually. So I think the last thing I want to ask you about, at least at the moment, is we are hopefully — knocking on every piece of wood in my house — at a point in time where it feels like the end of the pandemic might be closer than the beginning. And obviously, none of us know what that process period is going to look like. It’s going to be uneven. Some people are going to be vaccinated and feel comfortable going out in the world. Some people might not even after being vaccinated, it’s going to take time, et cetera. But obviously, like anyone who’s created something in this period of time, you have some thoughts about how to carry it forward into a post-Covid landscape — and don’t feel like you’ve got to share any trade secrets here — but what have you been thinking about in terms of continuing “Virtual Boozy Brunch” once that virtual part is no longer mandatory?

B: It’s such a smart question, Zach. And also to your point about not showing any trade secrets, I’m very proud of the fact that I think that our “Virtual Boozy Brunch” format, which started March 16, has inspired tons of people to do their own take on it. So all my trade secrets are not secrets, I always want to share. I love sharing best practices and what I’ve learned. But to your question, I absolutely think that this is an idea whose time has come — not just because of the pandemic, but because it’s a smart way forward, particularly for marketing and this striving for experiential marketing and authenticity and storytelling. I’m going to be attending virtual experiences, I think, for the rest of my life, because it’s expensive to travel, right? Remember when we would get offered the trip to Germany, but you could only send one person from the restaurant or they were only inviting 10 wine directors from around the world? You can put together this programming that is so powerful if you do it well and hire the production team where it feels just like you’re in Luca Cerrado from Vietti’s mom’s kitchen, smelling the blueberry risotto because they sent you all the ingredients. And you can be stirring that pot with them from home and you can visit the vineyards and you can invite as many people as you want from all over the world. So I think that this is some cool stuff. I always use this analogy: You know those futuristic movies where they’re having the board meeting and all the people on the board are holograms and they’re all sipping the same Scotch together? Whenever I saw a movie vignette like that, I always thought, “Oo, how could we do that in the wine and food space?” And we’re doing it! So I think that this is going to go on forever, and people are going to get better and better at it and send bigger experience boxes and really make this so it does feel just like you’re in the room, but you’re in the room so safely and you can be in any room anywhere in the world with just the click of a button and the opening of a laptop. So I think it’s so cool. I’m all about it, and I’m all in. And I don’t know when I’m going to want to go like, are people going to still do Vinitaly? I don’t know. I did the virtual version of it this year, and it was really fun.

Z: Yeah well, I think that — just my two cents on this whole thing — I think two things seem pretty true to me. One is that virtual experiences and in-person experiences are not mutually exclusive. And people are going to want some of each. They’re going to want the experience of whether it’s getting on a plane and going to Europe, some of them, or the experience of just going out to dinner or having someone serve them. All those things are going to still be popular with people. But I think what we’ve learned, as you said, is that you can do an amazing job of creating a really memorable experience. I think the fear heading into this or before the pandemic was people were going to see a virtual experience as, at best, a pale imitation of an in-person experience. And I think what we found is they’re not exactly the same thing. And there are things that a virtual experience can deliver that an in-person experience can’t, including the fact that you could do it in your house with your pajamas on. And that is, as it turns out, for a lot of us, a thing that we like very much. I also think the other piece of this is that I wonder about, even in my own career. You said that in-person wine tasting had gotten old to you. And I largely agree that there becomes a time for everyone, especially professionals, but even I think for amateurs or just hobbyists and enthusiasts that having access to all the wine is less important than having good wine. And I think about some of the consumer-facing events I’ve been to big, big events in the States and it’s like, is there going to be the same demand? Maybe there will still be the same demand for the drunken s*** show that is these big, hundreds and hundreds of producers pouring drinks as much as you want events. There are always going to people who want to get drunk, for sure. But I think that the smarter positioning for a lot of people is going to be, if you’re a winery or a spirit brand or whatever, do you really want to go be lost in that sea of drunken red-wine sloshing, or do you want to do focused events for people around the country? Who are your actual potential customers? And I think that’s where you’re going to see a lot of that shifting is people’s marketing budgets are going to say, “You know what? We’ve been able to really reach our audience directly, as opposed to hoping that someone not too inebriated comes by our booth, likes our wine, and then remembers to order it five days later.”

B: “Remembers.”

Z: Yeah, exactly. Remembers anything that happened, of course.

B: Agreed. 100 percent. I think we’re at a really interesting moment for those of us that engage in the storytelling marketing activation side of things. I think we are now going to see some permanent changes and things for how we move forward, even when it is possible for us to all be safely together in the same space again.

Z: Absolutely. Well, Belinda, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. It’s been super cool to watch you experiment and explore this virtual space, and I look forward to seeing what comes in the months and years ahead.

B: Thank you so much, Zach. It was a pleasure.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you enjoy listening to us every week, please leave us a review or rating on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever it is that you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair is produced by myself and Zach Geballe. It is also mixed and edited by him. Yeah. Zach, we know you do a lot. I’d also like to thank the entire VinePair team, including my co-founder Josh and our associate editor, Cat Wolinski. Thanks so much for listening. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

The article Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-belinda-chang-virtual-boozy-brunch/

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johnboothus · 3 years

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Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation here

Belinda: It’s my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me virtually, Zach.

Z: Seems great.

Z: I appreciate that. That is some self-confidence.

Z: I think I’ve heard of him.

Z: Oh, wow.

Z: Yeah, I think that is a safe assumption.

B: So it was pretty cool that she got in the game and told them what to do, and he followed her advice. And I think that at that time that was the job that a lot of people wanted.

Z: And so let’s let’s talk about that. So what were you doing, broad strokes, pre-pandemic? And how did you pivot into virtual events?

B: “Remembers.”

Z: Yeah, exactly. Remembers anything that happened, of course.

B: Thank you so much, Zach. It was a pleasure.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity

The article Next Round: Belinda Chang on the Future of Virtual Events appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-belinda-chang-virtual-boozy-brunch/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/next-round-belinda-chang-on-the-future-of-virtual-events

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qtakesams · 4 years

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Some Tips on Travel Blogging (Hint: it’s all worth it)

I started my adventure abroad in Amsterdam a full year and a week ago now. It feels so crazy to think about, especially this year when traveling at all is nearly impossible. The age of social media memories is inviting me every day to look back on canals, Dutch food, and friends that are now old but used to be new.

There are two main reasons I started this blog before I left. The most important one was to keep everybody interested in my travels updated on where I was. I communicated religiously with about three people from the States (this doesn’t even include my parents, who got texts a few times a week and a Facetime once roughly every three), and hardly at all with anybody else. This really stems from how little time I spent glued to my phone when I was there. If anything, these social media memories consistently remind us that one lifetime is generally not enough. I won’t spend my life in beautiful places replying to texts and looking down.

The second one, most important to me and second to others, was that I wanted to prove to myself that I have writer’s discipline. My undergraduate writing program is among the best in the nation. We produce alumni who work in top publishing houses, attend top graduate schools, and publish bestsellers. Every workshop class I’ve ever taken (which is most of my classes) has required me to prove to the professor that I can make myself write even when there’s no grade following it.

Freewriting notebooks, word counts, progress logs, critique letters, etc. Proof that when I graduate, in five or ten years, I’ll still have the motivation to keep writing and edit what I write.

The summer before I went abroad, it occurred to me that my daily process was terrible. I still don’t set times to write, and I tend to leave things unfinished (quarantine has enabled me to finish or edit twenty-six pieces I’ve started since age 17). I’d already considered creating and maintaining my own travel blog as a method of reflection abroad. I’m a pensive person, and I wanted a platform that would make me slow down and take time to digest my experience. My handwriting is gut-wrenching, so journaling has never been a favorite hobby of mine.

Travel writing is a dream of mine I may never achieve, but its truthfully always been my top dream job. Using someone else’s money to travel the entire planet and write about it? Yes please.

My initial goal for this blog was to write a new article once a week. That was back in July of 2019, when I envisioned my semester of doing something jaw-droppingly awesome every day. Of course, I lived in Amsterdam, so pretty much every view or activity in my host city was better than any casual day at home. When I slowly learned how to study abroad like a local and allow myself lazy days, I realized that not every single thing required reflection. Then, I dropped my goal to one article every two weeks. Ultimately, I wrote twenty-six articles, excluding this one and including about five I wrote in reflections phases from the States. Having been abroad for four months and four days, I can pretty much say I hit my quantity goal.

This blog is the first writing I’ve ever “published” publicly (I have had one of these formally published in a literary magazine) that I re-read often. Writers do not like to re-read their own work. We don’t like to correct ourselves or admit we wrote something beautiful that consequently doesn’t work with our narrative.

Some of my writing in this blog was written on the fly. Some of it was edited poorly because I did so in a loud café, or on the steps of a museum where my concentration was everywhere but the page. Yet, I highlight some of my greatest moments in these pieces, some of my favorite things and places and people. A year out of a trip that feels like a dream, reading about them is the best.

So, if you yourself (or somebody you know) has dreams similar to mine, that you want to get paid to write about what you love, I’ve narrowed down some of my best amateur tips. If you to chat in more detail about it (which I’m always down to do), message me!

1. Do it for yourself, in your own style and pace. This sometimes changes if you end up freelance writing for magazine or getting paid to blog, but you can make it work. My favorite thing about my blog is how raw it is. My abroad experience was not always so fun and fluffy. I spent lots of time feeling scared, nervous, tired, or flat out not feeling well. Be real about it and write about it in the way you want to do so.

2. Set goals and refine them rather than trash them. If you’re at all like me, you set goals for your writing and then something happens that gets in the way. Sure, you wanted to write 25 pages this week, but then you caught a cold. Instead of choosing to stop writing, refine what you want. Write just 10 pages or write more than that in a different genre. If you can’t write at all, read something inspiring, or watch a movie that follows a similar plot.

3. Take breaks. This is difficult for any writer, because we tend to practice writing in a way that sets us up for the type of success we want in the future. That is to say, novelists get a book deal and then a deadline by which to write said book. Stephen King, for example, has written thousand-page books in a year. When you’re just beginning, pace yourself and step back when needed. You’re in this for you, so treat yourself with respect.

4. Speaking of respect, be nice to your words. One of my worst habits as a writer is walking away from something the moment, I draft a sentence I hate. It’s okay to dislike what you wrote on the first try, but that’s what revision is for. Let yourself mess up, and throw a tantrum when needed, always get right back at it.

5. When you describe an experience, let it be too full of detail. When I started transitioning from fiction to nonfiction, this was the most frequent critique I received because I was so used to writing lengthy sentences. When you write about scientific experiments, for example, you have to write clearly and concisely so your audience can actually understand you. Writing about a travel experience is different. Log the sights, smells, who cracked the joke and who else laughed, what the situation was, where you were, what you were wearing, the outside temperature, the restaurant name, etc. If you just can’t maintain it all, it’s okay. The more you record, however, the warmer the memory will be when you uncover it months or years later.

6. Not everything has to be recorded. This is the one thing I dislike about being paid to blog, because you’re often doing so to help a company maintain their branding and thus more likely to record what feels “Instagram” worthy and little else. I wrote about some of my fondest memories, but I have loads of others that have stayed between me and my friends. Late nights, awkward moments, fun times I just didn’t want to make public. It’s your adventure. You get to choose how you relive it.

Trust me, you’ll want to, again and again.

#study abroad #Amsterdam #writing #writing process #travel #tips #Thoughts #discipline

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bethestaryouareradio · 4 years

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Be a Super Hero! Wear aMask!

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BE a SUPER HERO! WEAR A MASK!

MIRACLE MOMENT®

“You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Christopher Robin

MESSAGE FROM CYNTHIA BRIAN, Founder/Executive Director

How are you doing in our 8th month of this horrid pandemic? Are you wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding crowds, washing your hands, and being responsible?

If not, please heed this message because Covid-19 is a devastating disease that will negatively affect you and those you love.

As of August 11, global Covid-19 cases have doubled from 10 million to 20,395,035 million, and those are only the cases that are reported. It is estimated that the numbers are at least 10 times those that are reported. The death toll is 741,807. It took 6 months for cases to reach 10 million and only 6 weeks to reach 20 million. Half of those cases are in just 3 countries-the United States, India, and Brazil. California, Texas, Florida, and New York lead the pack with confirmed cases over 500,000 and thousands of deaths.

If you read this newsletter, my blogs, or listen to our radio shows, you know that since March 11, my office has been closed and I have been sheltering-in-place with only occasional quick visits to the post office while wearing a mask, gloves, glasses, and a hat. My husband’s office was also closed and only reopened the end of June after he purchased all the pandemic protection equipment including masks, shields, gloves, gowns, goggles, security dividers, thermometers, sanitizers, specialized air filters, mouth rinses. He and his staff follow a very strict protocol for working with patients as do medical professionals everywhere.

We have all experienced our favorite salon, restaurant, pub, gym, bank, or store reopening only to be shuttered because an employee gets sick with Covid-19. It’s heartbreaking for the patrons and financially disastrous for the owners and employees.

I witnessed this recently when a close friend’s company was impacted.

Two weeks ago, an employee fell ill. Seven days later the office was informed that this employee tested positive for Covid-19. The business had to immediately close, all staff and their families had to be tested, all clients informed, and contact tracing begun. Because of a back-log at the labs, results from tests can take anywhere from 4-14 days. In this case, seven days elapsed. Everyone was instructed to stay home until a negative result was determined. Fortunately for my friend, his staff, and all their contacts, the test results were negative so work could be resumed within 12 days. But that was 12 days without income or services.

This is occurring everywhere around the country as businesses attempt to re-open. However, when even one person tests positive with Covid-19 in the workplace, the business must close. No one can go to work. The one positive infection exponentially affects hundreds, perhaps thousands of individuals and businesses. Many people live with several generations and everyone has to be tested and traced. Family members and friends become angry about the possibility of exposure, especially when many are being so careful. Everyone is losing out on earning a living. Many people live pay check to pay check and missing work for a week or more could mean ruin.

Even though every protocol is adhered to in a workplace, an employer can’t dictate what an employee does on her/his private hours. But there is one thing that everyone can easily do to curb the spread and that is to wear a mask when in public.

The power and potency of wearing a mask and social distancing can not be over emphasized. Wearing a mask is NOT a political gesture, it is the responsible action. Covid-19 strikes everyone and anyone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that if everyone wore a mask throughout the United States for the next few months, over 40,000 lives could be saved.

The volatile political landscape is fraught with misinformation. Contrary to what some politicians have claimed, Covid-19 is not going away, in fact, it is ramping up. The disease knows no boundaries. It doesn’t care what political party you belong to, what religion you practice, or where you live. It is an equal opportunity infector with people of color and lower-income households heavily hit. If you are gathering with groups and not wearing protective gear, you are risking your health and maybe your life as well the lives of those you love. Pay attention to evidence based health experts and scientists. Get your information from the CDC, not from social media or the campaign trail.

As coronavirus surges, labs are struggling to keep up with testing. Having to wait for a week to 14 days for results renders a test useless to prevent transmission. The CDC states that currently we are identifying only 1 in 10 cases because we are testing so few people. Currently no vaccine is available to prevent coronavirus Covid-19. To bring the pandemic under control we need rapid testing. We need to be able to test daily or weekly without cost and receive results within an hour or at most, 24 hours. Only then can we safely send our children to school and reopen our economy. The federal government must step up its leadership to safely ensure that we can go to work and gather. For now, the best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed.

Are you old enough to remember cars without seatbelts? I am. Our family of seven would pile into a truck or a station wagon and there wasn’t a seat belt in sight. At first when seat belts were introduced, a public outcry occurred. But today, I wouldn’t dare get into any vehicle without first buckling up.

Closer to home, you’ve probably engaged in a Zoom or SKYPE call for personal or business reasons. You could easily wear a lovely shirt or blouse on the top part of your body while your bottom is wearing underwear. But if you need to go to the market, I bet you add a pair of pants or a skirt! Right?

This autumn, major designers are adding masks to their haute couture lines. Whether or not there will be runway shows, you will be seeing coordinating outfits with a mask to match. Masks are going to be the next hot trend for looking hip, cool, and well-dressed.

Covid-19 is a non-partisan pandemic and it is at our doorstep. For accurate information visit https://www.cdc.gov.

Put a smile on your face and start viewing masks as a beautiful, life-saving accessory.

Remember, super heroes wear masks.

You, too, can be a superhero. Cape not necessary!

Be brave, be smart, be strong. Do your part. WEAR A MASK!

Living with gratitude and wearing a mask,

Cynthia Brian

Founder/Executive Director

Be the Star You Are!®

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

[email protected]

https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org

http://www.BTSYA.org

DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

Our newest and youngest reporter on Express Yourself! is 13 year old Jonathan Jackson who will be showcasing a segment called Jay’s Sports World beginning on September 13th. Be on the lookout for this new talent.

Hello, My name is Jonathan Jackson. I am 13 years old and from California. I enjoy playing sports and spending quality time with my friends and family. Basketball has always had a special place in my life. It is not only recreational for myself but it's also mental and emotional . I like to compete and I love to show my passion for both the game and its history. I have always had a natural curiosity towards all sports. This has created a desire to become a future sports journalist . I am a student athlete that is trying to maintain a 4.0 GPA. This will help to achieve my dream of going to UCLA and joining their journalism program. I love to talk, and I guarantee you will love my show! https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2014/express-yourself

TOGETHER IN UNITY AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS CALAMITY

by Siri Phaneendra

Eradicating the coronavirus involves a team effort and the cooperation of everyone. It is imperative for us to come together in unity against calamity.

As Greek philosopher Aristotle emphasized, ‘Society is something that precedes the individual.’ It is not about you and me — it is about humanity. Even if one life can be saved, isn’t it our moral obligation to wear a mask? The efficacy of wearing a mask can only be enhanced when every individual in the vicinity makes a conscious effort to do so.

The asymptotic nature of the virus causes it to exponentially spread like a forest fire. Let’s not add fuel to the fire by protecting ourselves and others. Spread love, not the virus.”

Siri Phaneendra studies Computer Science at UC Berkeley and is a recipient of the Cal Alumni Association Leadership Award. She is the founder of drawmylove.com, a company that provides people a platform to express their love by creating physical books with customizable characters. Siri is a host on Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio on the Voice America Network.

BE UPLIFTED WITH BE THE STAR YOU ARE!® RADIO BROADCASTS

As part of our Be the Star You Are! Disaster Relief Outreach program (https://www.bethestaryouare.org/copy-of-operation-hurricane-disaste), StarStyle® Productions, LLC and Be the Star You Are!® are showcasing authors, artists, actors, poets, musicians, and many others, all of whom had had their gigs canceled and are out of work.

We believe in supporting creativity that provides escape and joy, especially during tough times.

Tune in to StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® on Wednesdays at 4pm PT for “Wednesdays with Writers and Performers” LIVE http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2206/be-the-star-you-are as well as our teen program, Express Yourself!™ airing on Sundays at 3pm PT for “Super Smart Sundays” https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2014/express-yourself

Both programs broadcast on the Voice America Network, Empowerment Channel and will be archived on that site.

SURVIVING THE UNKNOWN

by Angelica Paramoshin

I remember the days of March that were so heavily flooded with normality. Crowds of individuals flocked towards train stations like classes of fish swimming through reefs. In the present day, we all crave that forgotten feeling of normality. We miss the days when we were able to peacefully stroll through the streets watching all forms of life flourish around us. Now that we are all stuck within the barriers of our homes, we cannot fathom what is to come.

Numerous individuals have struggled to assimilate into this newfound lockdown in quarantine and ultimately, have sunk into a never-ending whirlpool of emotional turmoil. As someone who is currently writing this from the confines of her room, I understand how mentally exhausting it can be having minimal social interaction with the people you were once inseparable from. People have forgotten to take care of their emotional well-being because their feelings of anxiety and fear of the unknown leave little space for glimmers of positivity and improvement.

Although we are living amongst the presence of a pandemic, we must continue to live for ourselves and not simply for the need to survive. Everyone deserves a day dedicated to themselves. Even reading a few pages of a novel you’ve been wanting to read, allows your mind and soul to flow through a river of serenity and peace. It is okay to take a step back and breathe. We are all on this mystical planet together and we will survive together.

Angelica Paramoshin currently is a rising senior in high school devoting her time during this pandemic to volunteering with Be the Star You Are!®.

SUMMER SURVIVAL READING

Our Star Teen Book Review Team is busy reading and writing reviews for you to enjoy this summer. Reviews are honest and the personal experience of each writer. Check them out at our website, http://www.btsya.com/book_reviews.html, and at our partner, The Reading Tub, https://thereadingtub.org/books/be-the-star-you-are/.

Many thanks to our Book Review Coordinator, Stephanie Cogeos, for keeping us on track. If you are interested in joining our team and you are genuinely interested in being of service to others, you can find the info at http://www.btsya.com/book_reviews.html

SHOP ONLINE WITHOUT A MASK!

Since we need to stay at home and only go out when absolutely necessary, these are on-line shopping portals that will sell you what you need, offer discounts, and assist our mission as a nonprofit. Please use these web sites for all of your shopping essentials,

1. AmazonSmile donates .5% of purchases https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3333882

2. Discounted books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shops/be_the_star_you_are_charity

3. Giving Assistant: Shop. Earn. Give! Use Giving Assistant to earn cash at 3500+ popular online stores, then donate a percentage to BTSYA:https://givingassistant.org/np#be-the-star-you-are-inc

& buy from your favorite stores.

4. Search and GoodShop: Choose Be the Star You Are as your charity to support. You can log in with Facebook, too! https://www.goodshop.com/nonprofit/be-the-star-you-are

5. Shop at over 1300 stores on IGIVE: http://www.iGive.com/BTSYA

6. Buy “Read, Lead, Succeed” black tanks $19.99 and books at StarStyle® Store: http://www.starstylestore.net/

7. Are you a gamer, lover of new software, or other digital content? Buy all of your favorites at Humble Bundle. http://ow.ly/cYs130iN6n4

DIRECT LINKS you can use for Be the Star You Are!®

Positive Results: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/positive-results

About Us: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/about_us

Programs: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/programs

How to Help: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/how-to-help

Blog: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/blog-1

Events: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/events

GREAT NON PROFITS REVIEWS: https://greatnonprofits.org/org/be-the-star-you-are-inc

GUIDESTAR/CANDID: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/94-3333882

We invite you to volunteer, get involved, or make a donation. Make a DONATION through PAYPAL GIVING FUND and PAYPAL with 100% going to BTSYA with NO FEES: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

PLEASE DONATE

BTSYA receives no government or corporate support. We count on YOU to help us help others. During this pandemic, all of our fundraising events have been canceled, yet we continue to support those in need. We appreciate a direct donation most of all via PAYPAL GIVING FUND at https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

Checks can be sent to PO Box 376, Moraga, California 94556

http://www.btsya.org

GET SOCIAL

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/BTSYAcharity/

TWITTER

https://twitter.com/BetheStarYouAre

TUMBLR

https://bethestaryouareradio.tumblr.com

BTSYA BLOG

https://www.bethestaryouare.org/blog-

MASK UP!

DONATE NOW!

Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 charity

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

www.BetheStarYouAre.org

www.BTSYA.org

Read more: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/672296/ca35fa6abb/288055965/bbd34d3431/

#tags: masks pandemic covid19cdcsuperherowearamask bethestaryouarecynthiabrianstarstyleradioshowsdonatevolunteers

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goddessgardener · 4 years

Text

Be a Super Hero! Wear aMask!

Click to view this email in a browser

BE a SUPER HERO! WEAR A MASK!

MIRACLE MOMENT®

“You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Christopher Robin

MESSAGE FROM CYNTHIA BRIAN, Founder/Executive Director

How are you doing in our 8th month of this horrid pandemic? Are you wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding crowds, washing your hands, and being responsible?

If not, please heed this message because Covid-19 is a devastating disease that will negatively affect you and those you love.

I witnessed this recently when a close friend’s company was impacted.

Covid-19 is a non-partisan pandemic and it is at our doorstep. For accurate information visit https://www.cdc.gov.

Put a smile on your face and start viewing masks as a beautiful, life-saving accessory.

Remember, super heroes wear masks.

You, too, can be a superhero. Cape not necessary!

Be brave, be smart, be strong. Do your part. WEAR A MASK!

Living with gratitude and wearing a mask,

Cynthia Brian

Founder/Executive Director

Be the Star You Are!®

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

[email protected]

https://www.BetheStarYouAre.org

http://www.BTSYA.org

DONATE: https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/1504

TOGETHER IN UNITY AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS CALAMITY

by Siri Phaneendra

Eradicating the coronavirus involves a team effort and the cooperation of everyone. It is imperative for us to come together in unity against calamity.

The asymptotic nature of the virus causes it to exponentially spread like a forest fire. Let’s not add fuel to the fire by protecting ourselves and others. Spread love, not the virus.”

BE UPLIFTED WITH BE THE STAR YOU ARE!® RADIO BROADCASTS

We believe in supporting creativity that provides escape and joy, especially during tough times.

Both programs broadcast on the Voice America Network, Empowerment Channel and will be archived on that site.

SURVIVING THE UNKNOWN

by Angelica Paramoshin

Angelica Paramoshin currently is a rising senior in high school devoting her time during this pandemic to volunteering with Be the Star You Are!®.

SUMMER SURVIVAL READING

SHOP ONLINE WITHOUT A MASK!

1. AmazonSmile donates .5% of purchases https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3333882

2. Discounted books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/shops/be_the_star_you_are_charity

3. Giving Assistant: Shop. Earn. Give! Use Giving Assistant to earn cash at 3500+ popular online stores, then donate a percentage to BTSYA:https://givingassistant.org/np#be-the-star-you-are-inc

& buy from your favorite stores.

4. Search and GoodShop: Choose Be the Star You Are as your charity to support. You can log in with Facebook, too! https://www.goodshop.com/nonprofit/be-the-star-you-are

5. Shop at over 1300 stores on IGIVE: http://www.iGive.com/BTSYA

6. Buy “Read, Lead, Succeed” black tanks $19.99 and books at StarStyle® Store: http://www.starstylestore.net/

7. Are you a gamer, lover of new software, or other digital content? Buy all of your favorites at Humble Bundle. http://ow.ly/cYs130iN6n4

DIRECT LINKS you can use for Be the Star You Are!®

Positive Results: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/positive-results

About Us: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/about_us

Programs: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/programs

How to Help: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/how-to-help

Blog: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/blog-1

Events: https://www.bethestaryouare.org/events

GREAT NON PROFITS REVIEWS: https://greatnonprofits.org/org/be-the-star-you-are-inc

GUIDESTAR/CANDID: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/94-3333882

PLEASE DONATE

Checks can be sent to PO Box 376, Moraga, California 94556

http://www.btsya.org

GET SOCIAL

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/BTSYAcharity/

TWITTER

https://twitter.com/BetheStarYouAre

TUMBLR

https://bethestaryouareradio.tumblr.com

BTSYA BLOG

https://www.bethestaryouare.org/blog-

MASK UP!

DONATE NOW!

Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 charity

PO Box 376

Moraga, California 94556

www.BetheStarYouAre.org

www.BTSYA.org

Read more: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/672296/ca35fa6abb/288055965/bbd34d3431/

#masks pandemic covid19cdcsuperherowearamask bethestaryouarecynthiabrianstarstyleradioshowsdonatevolunteers

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brunchbitch · 7 years

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When you get a moment could you please bullet update on your week?

sure! i’m putting it under a read more bc it’s long and boring.

2/19/17

this week has been okay - up and down.

i moved back to W (the group home) last tuesday and the first couple nights were very very hard, but since then it’s gotten a little better. or, rather, i’ve been trying to change my attitude towards it. i’m going to be living here for at least another year and i don’t want to be miserable the whole time so i’m doing my best to try to be a little more positive. laura, the residence director, has been nice and helpful, but not too overbearing which i was worried about - (can’t remember if i’ve already written this but) courtney called her to let her know they supported me moving back here and she was like “okay i would like a copy of her meal plan and her exercise plan. i will be watching her closely” and courtney was like “umm… usually by the time they’re in iop, they don’t really need to be watched outside of program” but laura said “i don’t care. i am not letting what happened in the fall happen again on my watch.” so i feel really bad bc i feel like she partially blamed herself for not intervening sooner. so i was worried about her watching me like a hawk but she’s been good. she asked me a little about partial/iop but hasn’t asked me what i’ve eaten or anything like that so that’s good.

on thursday i did shop and cook with another girl - we made chicken walnut cranberry goat cheese pizza and it was yummy. friday we went to a sandwich place for lunch. it was both my and another girl’s last outing in php, so we begged to get ice cream even though it was really cold. we were so excited when the dietitian said we could go to ben & jerry’s and obviously it was still scary and i felt guilty for being excited/asking for it, but i was also able to reflect on how far i’ve come since september and that’s really cool.

yesterday i finally had galentine’s day with my best friend and we did some painting and had coffee and lunch together while watching phantom of the opera. i was supposed to go to multi-family group at mnlh but my check engine light came on and i was too nervous to drive 30 min on the highway so i took it to a shop and bri and i went shopping at a fun store for a little bit. once i got my car back ($280 later ugh), i ended up still going to mnlh to say hi to some of my friends, but those three clients weren’t even there - they were all on pass. so i hung out with one of the recovery coaches who i was really close to. and T was there and i got to talk to her about brandon’s phone call which was really helpful. when i told her about the time limit/end date, she was like “does he think your ED is just going to go away by then?” and i was like EXACTLY and said how i wanted to tell him to put a time limit on our therapy too lol. i’m wondering if the director of mnlh might be able to talk to him and say that the end date wouldn’t be advisable. i don’t plan to see liz for the rest of my life, for sure, but i think it’s problematic to start out knowing when we’re going to end. if i really wanted to be in treatment, i probably would’ve said i didn’t need an ED team, and then just let myself relapse again so i could go back to residential. but i am ACTIVELY trying to make my outpatient team as supportive as possible so that i DON’T have to go back to a HLOC. so i’m gonna try to talk to him about this on friday. i really need to work on being honest with him, especially when i disagree with him. so i’m really glad i stopped by mnlh and got to talk to her. i told her i would try to come next weekend too so that i could update her on how the meeting went. while i was there, i saw a new client who looked really really awful, like should’ve been in the hospital, and she is T’s client. that was hard for me. i was jealous of her body (i know i shouldn’t be, but i am) and jealous that she was probably going to be there for a very long time which means that she gets to work with T for a very long time and that’s hard. i miss T so much and wish i was seeing her outpatient. but one thing that’s really helpful is that she does work on saturdays which is the day of the alumni group, so i can convince my bpd (or whatever) that i don’t need to get really sick to see her again - i can see her in group every week! and hopefully i won’t need to go every week for months and months, but i know it’s there if i need it and it’s a much healthier way of transitioning than saying goodbye to a therapist for good and knowing i would have to return as a patient if i wanted to see them again.

i milieu'ed last night (milieu is where we have to be in the common area of the house playing games or watching a movie - you can’t study or read or do anything too isolative - and we have to milieu three nights a week) and it was pretty low-key. i made dinner (brussels sprouts, sweet potato cranberry onion mix, and chicken breast) and prepped breakfast (baked blueberry oatmeal) then started some art journaling (mostly just cutting things out of magazines at this point).

this morning i was supposed to meet a friend for coffee but her car broke down and i’m bummed i couldn’t see her but was also kind of relieved bc i didn’t sleep well so i went back to bed for an hour. i had oatmeal for breakfast, did a load of laundry (still haven’t folded that whoops), unpacked a little, then went to volunteer at the cat shelter! that was fun and three kitties got adopted. i’m really happy i found this shelter bc they’re so nice and i love being around the cats so much so that’s been a source of joy for me. then i went to get snack at berryline and see my outpatient dietitian, kellie.

we had a really good session and laughed a bit about the ridiculousness of the fall (she was like “how did you even have ketoacidosis, i mean that is so freaking rare! it’s one thing if you have ketones in your urine, but for the actual pH of your body to change…” and then she shook her head and laughed and i laughed too bc it really is fucking ridiculous. and then she reminded me that she was talking to me on the phone in between the two hospitalizations and i was saying that my legs were numb and she had said “well if it gets worse, you should go to your doctor” and i replied “how would i know if they get worse? i can’t feel them!” and she was like “umm… ok you should definitely go to your doctor” lol i did not remember having that conversation. i just remember being terrified of going to the doctor or the walk-in clinic bc brandon had told me if i was hospitalized again, he wouldn’t work with me again.) i talked about how frustrated i was with the end date issue and she agreed with me, not by saying that i should be able to see liz for the rest of my life, that there should be an end to it, but to not necessarily set a date at this time. we also talked about some goals (continue eating out at a restaurant at least once a week when i step down to iop even though i don’t “have” to bc there aren’t any outings in iop, log everything in recovery record, and practice more intuitive eating while challenging judgements). we decided she’s going to do blind weights and she’s not going to give me feedback unless it continues to trend in one direction or the other and she’s concerned. i know my general 5-pound range from britt so kellie is only going to bring it up when i’m outside of my range. i think that’s probably better bc i get really obsessive about “it’s up a little” “well how much? still in the range? how close to the upper edge of the range?” etc. although it was really hard to agree to that from the outset. she’s also going to be weighing me with clothes on at 4pm on sundays and i wanted so badly to see it today bc i’m sure it’s so much higher than usual. i joked that she must have a really good poker face with this job and she was like “yeah i’m really good.” so i don’t think i’ll get any info there. overall though it was a really good session and i’m so happy i get to start seeing her again.

i’m milieuing now but am probably gonna get in trouble for being on the computer so much so i better end here. sorry this update was probably SO boring.

#anonymous #answered #personal #update #ed recovery #anorexia recovery #atypical anorexia #metabolic acidosis #ketoacidosis #tw ed #ed treatment #b #l #t #tc

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wfitvacations · 4 years

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Wellness Retreat FAQs – Top Questions, Updated Weekly (To Get To Know Us Better)

Some questions are so good, we can’t resist sharing them

Here we have it! Wellness retreat FAQs, updated weekly by yours truly, Cat Smiley. This is a round up of text questions, phone calls and emails from the previous week. Due to COVID (urgh, aren’t we all tired of hearing that reason), it’s often me replying to queries. While I’ve trained Sarah up to answer some basic questions that are already on the website, we’re never going to cover everything. And some of these things that we aren’t detailing, are really important to the person asking.

That’s why I’ve decided to repurpose all the questions we get asked every week about our weight loss camps in B.C. I’ll try to update it every week.

Oh, by the way, Sarah works from Australia so don’t be surprised if she replies at odd hours!

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Once you’ve confirmed your weight loss camp, book the ferry (well) in advance!

Do you have a last minute price for your weight loss camps?

Actually, just today I decided to put together a ‘bid list’ of women who’d like to be called if someone cancels their weight loss retreat. It’s up to the person cancelling to find a replacement guest if outside the cancellation window. How this will work is they buy the trip directly off the person who cancels, at whatever price is agreed between them. I imagine it’ll be a super deal, as it would otherwise be forfeited. If you’d like to be on that list, let me know what your bid price for one month weight loss camp would be, and what months you’d join if it became available.

Why do I need to bring a blender? Will a shaker work instead?

Great question. The wellness retreat food plan includes two delicious, full meal smoothies per day, otherwise known as Super Smoothies. There’s a mix of strawberries, blueberries, banana and spinach which sometimes doesn’t blend very well in the cheapo blenders. As you can see in the photo above, West Coast Fitness Vacations has loads of blenders as we used to provide them to Whistler wellness retreat guests.

As the Vancouver Island wellness retreat location is now for Canadians who are, for the most part, driving – it’s a good investment to bring your own high quality blender. I recommend the Vitamix, but that cost me around $800 I think so it’s not something to buy on a whim. There are cheaper ones, but you get what you pay for. The blenders we provide at the weight loss camp are about $40 which is pretty entry level quality.

I’m more than happy to lend you one for your time at our wellness retreat if you’d like, of course.

VANCOUVER ISLAND RESIDENTIAL WEIGHT LOSS CAMP (BIGGEST LOSER STYLE) – 1-4 MONTHS

Yesterday I was ‘route-mapping’ to find the best hikes for our wellness retreats. Loved this trail!

Support after your wellness retreat

Is there an Alumni group from past wellness retreat guests to stay on track with you if we feel ourselves slipping? I’m sure life changes will have some tips along the way that may need encouragement and motivation?

No, there’s nothing formal setup for weight loss camp guests anymore. Previously we used facebook groups but West Coast Fitness Vacations is no longer on social media. The best way is to directly keep in touch with other guests that you meet while on the wellness retreat. I’m always excited to hear from alumni guests, whether by text, phone or email, it’s always a pleasure.

Previously I offered post-weight loss camp coaching packages but since downsizing the company we no longer have an office – or office staff. This means that when I’m in the office my time is more limited than previously. The lowered cost of our weight loss camp is partly possible because of the extra things that are no longer being offered. Formal support systems after the wellness retreat is one of them. But, like I said, friendly phone calls and communications are warmly welcomed to keep me posted on your progress. And I’ll always be here for quick questions or trouble shoot sessions as you need.

I’m still in touch from weight loss retreat guests that were clients in 2008!

If I’m injured or health (something happens) and can’t continue the wellness retreat, is there a refund?

No, there’s no refund or credit of any kind if you don’t complete your wellness retreat. Please ensure that you review carefully the terms prior to signing up. These are available in the Registration Room.

NO GYM REQUIRED! CAT SMILEY’S WEIGHT LOSS BOOT CAMP IS 100% OUTSIDE (EVEN IN WINTER)

There are truly gorgeous trails to explore, here in Parksville!

I read the Sunrise Ridge hotel has construction. How will this affect our weight loss camp?

Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort is expanding! During 2020, the Resort will be undergoing construction to develop the new “Residences” townhomes. These will be located between the main lodge and the waterfront villas. Please be assured that our staff and contractors will continue to work very hard to create minimum disruption to our valued guests.

I contacted them directly and here’s what they said:

For construction, they plan to finish the first townhouse by the end of this year. In the last few days they have been working on the roof, so I imagine by October they will be mainly working on the interior, but as with construction it is almost impossible to nail down a timeline. They won’t be starting the next townhouse until the first one sells so we won’t know if there will be any construction early next year until this one sells.

The Developer tries to keep us updated and the information is shared with guests on our website here: https://www.sunriseridge.ca/construction-update/

Should I start booking spa treatments for my health retreat?

Yes – it’s a great idea to plan well in advance of arriving at your wellness retreat for spa treatments. Massage is definitely a good idea, as you’ll be training hard! Call the Tigh Na Mara directly to book appointments. This is not included in your weight loss camp fees. View health spa menu at grottospa.com and call 250-248-1838 or email [email protected] to book your visit.

Why is there no meat? I’ve got zero desire to be vegetarian.

Love your weight loss camps but am concerned about when I get back home (as we are meat eaters) and how this will affect my success in the long term. Are there any carnivores in your groups? Do you teach your groups how to adapt?

Yes, absolutely – nearly all of our guests are meat eaters in their normal life at home. The weight loss camp is full of challenges, and this is one of them I think for some, but it’s also a worthwhile challenge to try, even if for a month. The meal plan is carefully designed for those who are used to meat, using meaty like ingredients wherever possible. Yes, we encourage guests to reintroduce meat into their meal plans at home after their time with us. Sometimes our guests are eating up to 12x too much meat for their bodies to digest. Going without meat really jump starts powerful change in their lives.

No, I wouldn’t say that I teach groups to adapt back except for a few recommendations but nothing formal.

WHY WELLNESS RETREATS IN B.C. ARE WORTH STAYING LOCAL FOR

From the hiking yesterday, Top Bridge trails.

What are the room configurations at the Tigh Na Mara?

Guests of West Coast Fitness Vacations are booked in the log cabin, one bedroom private guest room. This is in a forest setting, with a separate bedroom. The bedroom has a Queen bed, double futon, kitchen and a wood fireplace.

Would you consider this a “medical weight loss retreat?”

No, probably not. We don’t treat, diagnose or advise on medical topics and are not trained medical professionals. However if you’re asking whether the physical activity might be suitable for the restrictions described, possibly. If this is the case, let’s hop on a call and chat more about what her restrictions are in regards to exercise, and the precautions recommended by her doctor.

For health concerns, it’s often helpful to know in advance some information (by email) in case research or extra planning is required for the call. We welcome women from all stages of modifications, however due to restrictions with registration being limited to 4 guests per session, it’s important to place them in a session that has other guests of compatible pace.

What does a regular day look like at your weight loss camp in B.C?

We’ve added information to the website – it might not have been there when you were last on the site. Here is the direct link.

I’m just wondering why some weight loss camp months are $10,000 and some months are close to $13,000? I had sort of made up my mind on the 10,000 per month rate but it seems there’s only one other slot like that that isn’t sold out.

Yes, there were only a couple of spots for that pricing available as the ‘pioneer rates’ of launching a new weight loss camp. These came with restrictions of special pricing being offered, such as full payment being due within 7 days of deposit. As our wellness retreats will be in the groove with business operations by the third month, rates will increase to a more profitable bracket. Those that signed up with the $9995 rate had several inconveniences already, with clunky signup, documents not ready, and delayed replies. Answers weren’t available for them, as often I had to wait to hear back from various partners about certain things related to their questions. Additionally, the lodging is different, and they are not extending the same rates to our wellness retreat program.

WHY WELLNESS RETREATS IN B.C. ARE WORTH STAYING LOCAL FOR

I’m 58 and have limited mobility. Do you have any wellness retreats for me?

This was a great wellness retreat faqs, and Sarah answered it really well:

Absolutely, we welcome those with limited mobility, as long as it can maintain group pace. Depending on your restriction, we place you in the best group based on compatibility of fitness, pace and comfort. Can you share a little more about your restrictions please? How far can you walk comfortably, what is your starting point – weight, height and activity level, what is the pain level if any, what might restrict you in our program. Alternatively you can call the office to speak with the fitness director.

The post Wellness Retreat FAQs – Top Questions, Updated Weekly (To Get To Know Us Better) appeared first on West Coast Fitness Vacations.

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years

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Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson seek for life after baseball

http://tinyurl.com/y5usvem7 I used to be launched to Ryan Kalish this winter at a spot in Santa Monica, California, identified for respectable burgers and chilly beer. I recalled he’d had greater than a little bit promise as a participant. I additionally hadn’t heard a lot of him for some time. He was staying within the space with mates and he nodded towards a desk the place a handful of women and men had been selecting chairs and hanging their coats. He mentioned he wasn’t taking part in ball anymore and that he was educating pilates and had a stake in a startup firm known as Birdman Bats. He appeared enthusiastic about each, and we agreed {that a} story in regards to the bats, an enterprise that had begun with a single lathe in a storage in Northern California, could be worthwhile. His buddy, Lars Anderson, was a co-founder, he mentioned, and for the second time that night time I used to be struck by a reputation and profession I knew existed however couldn’t fairly place. He mentioned Lars had performed abroad in recent times however had retired as effectively, and that I’d like Lars, who was clever and humorous and had an attention-grabbing means of taking a look at issues. The place was getting louder, my burger colder, my beer hotter, and we shook palms, promising to remain in contact. My 26-year-old son, sitting beside me, mentioned, “Who was that?” A man who used to play ball, I informed him. “Used to?” he mentioned. “How previous is he?” I tapped at my telephone. Thirty. I tapped once more. Lars was 31. A number of months later, this time at a Thai place in an El Segundo, California, strip mall, Ryan recalled that night time in Santa Monica and mentioned, “Man, I used to be so rattled then.” He checked out Lars, who smiled. “Inform him about your routine,” Lars mentioned. “My routine?” Ryan mentioned. “Oh, yeah. Get up, cry, pilates, cry, cook dinner, cry. It was like every single day. Each single day. Listening to those songs that I, I really needed to flush it. You understand, I knew it was taking place. So I placed on these songs that might sort of set off it, simply let it out. You understand?” It wasn’t precisely the baseball working out of him, however maybe the since gone imaginative and prescient of who he’d be in baseball, what he would do in baseball, how the 2 of them — the gifted younger man and the sport, his sport — would have grown not less than a little bit older collectively. Certainly, by now, he’d have carried out nice issues, created higher moments, stood in physique and soul with the participant he’d all the time imagined. As a substitute, a little bit greater than a yr in the past, he’d talked himself into the spring coaching lineup of the impartial New Britain Bees, requested his ineffective knee to carry for a couple of extra minutes, flared a single, breathed that in and surrendered. The bat didn’t make it. They had been drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2006, Lars 9 rounds after Ryan. Lars was from Northern California. Ryan from New Jersey. They turned mates late in that very same summer time in Fort Myers, Florida, and within the coming summers had been street roomies and bus mates. Ryan reached the massive leagues in July 2010, Lars a couple of month later. They had been 22. The sport that they had performed since they might hardly bear in mind, since Christmas mornings meant toy bats and balls, since they’d begun to see they had been possibly just a bit higher than the opposite youngsters, was solely simply starting. Staying was the onerous half, everybody mentioned. Getting there, although, that was one thing, too. Over elements of 4 seasons unfold over seven summers, Ryan performed in 153 main league video games. If his swing and arm and foot velocity and instincts had been keen, they usually had been, his physique was not. His knees, his shoulder and his neck took turns sending him to medical doctors and trainers and, ultimately, a actuality that his profession could be these 153 video games, and people could be surrounded by the types of experiences that has a person schedule into his day a great cry. Lars performed in 30 video games over three seasons, all with the Crimson Sox. His first profession hit — a single towards the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park — additionally noticed the runner forward of him flip recklessly at second base, get back-picked from proper area and tagged out. So Lars stood at first base within the second he’d labored his younger life to expertise whereas a full home booed Invoice Corridor. He’d get seven extra big-league hits, then almost a decade later strike out on a baseball area in Germany, pack his gear bag yet another time and head residence for good. “I don’t have disappointment or despair over my profession as a baseball participant,” Lars mentioned. “I believe I’ve extra nervousness about what lies forward. I’m not mourning not having the ability to play. I don’t even take into consideration taking part in baseball. I performed sufficient. I miss batting observe. For me, the disappointment and the fear and the nervousness and the worry is extra primarily based on possibly the lack of id. Simply feeling such as you’ve abruptly slipped into anonymity. You’re not related anymore. It’s like a sure dying of this projection that you’ve got of your self. How individuals determine with you. Which isn’t essentially wholesome. … I’ll recover from that. “However, I assume for me, the factor is, I’ve had one job my complete life. I’m certain some issues will begin to emerge. I’m thinking about plenty of issues. … However this can be a dying. We’re going by means of a dying. You don’t know what occurs if you die. I’m in that interval the place it’s like, ‘Oh rattling, I don’t know what’s coming.’ And that’s actually scary.” ‘Twice as more durable than hell’ to remain within the majors Roughly 60 p.c of gamers who log at some point within the main leagues don’t attain the service time required (about three years) for wage arbitration, in line with Steve Rogers, the previous main league pitcher who heads the Main League Baseball Gamers Affiliation’s profession transition program. The common main league profession for these gamers, he mentioned, is about 1 ½ years. Of the remaining, the 40 p.c who do play lengthy sufficient to safe the monetary features of wage arbitration and past, the common profession is 7 ½ years. Primarily based on the union’s analysis, Rogers mentioned, the common main league profession is about 4 years. Given minor-league salaries barely cowl meals and grooming merchandise, and the foremost league minimal wage is lower than $600,000, and most gamers don’t end school if they begin it in any respect, the fresh-out-of-work ballplayer would appear significantly susceptible in a job market that usually requires schooling, expertise and, effectively, expertise past hitting or throwing a fastball. The presumed path, maybe, is a minor-league teaching job, if the sport nonetheless runs deep sufficient and choices are few. To that finish, an entry degree, A-ball hitting coach may count on an annual wage of about $50,000, and there’ll be loads of competitors for it, and that sort of cash may be simply sufficient to get a coach to his offseason job. Steve Rogers retired in 1985, the top of a profession during which he’d received 158 video games and been an All-Star 5 occasions for the Montreal Expos. He had a petroleum engineering diploma from the College of Tulsa and had plans to enter the oil trade. Within the first 9 months of his post-baseball life, the price of a barrel of oil fell from $70 to $10. He went to work for the Gamers Affiliation. Former Montreal Expos pitcher Steve Rogers now heads the Main League Baseball Gamers Affiliation’s profession transition program. (Getty Photographs) Extra Fifteen years later, he started work with others on a pilot program that might help gamers — some lively, others retired — in profession transition. A brand new iteration of that program shaped in 2008, close to the ultimate days of Don Fehr’s management and the start of Michael Weiner’s, and the present multi-phased program took form about six years in the past. This system is partnered with the Ayers Group, a division of Kelly Companies. Roughly 100 gamers have taken step one in that course of, which is to satisfy with and endure an analysis by a profession coach and design a path ahead, often persevering with — or restarting — their schooling. (MLB funds the Persevering with Training Program, which financially assists retired gamers as effectively, and lots of drafted highschool gamers have school tuition written into their contracts.) The primary part is supplied without spending a dime by the union and the Main League Baseball Alumni Affiliation. On the finish of final week, Rogers was in Miami, the place he distributed program data to the New York Mets and Miami Marlins. The week earlier than, he mentioned, three gamers, all just lately retired, contacted him. “It isn’t rocket science,” he mentioned. “The reality of the matter is, it’s more durable than hell to get to the foremost leagues. And it’s twice as more durable than hell to remain there. So the whole focus is on getting there and staying there and ‘I’ll take care of the remaining later.’ And ‘the remaining’ hits nearly everybody. And ‘the remaining’ lasts longer. … It’s comprehensible. It’s not a damaging. It’s the character of the beast.” So he goes clubhouse to clubhouse and leaves folders for gamers who imagine the life-changing cash is coming and the baseball won’t ever finish and possess neither the time nor the top house to contemplate the options. And he screens a program designed to clarify what may very well be subsequent, in English and Spanish, when essentially the most urgent query in these clubhouses is — and needs to be — what’s now. The remaining, effectively, that’d be anyone else’s drawback, till it isn’t. ‘I favored performing for the world’ Virtually earlier than that final hit fell, Ryan Kalish was on the telephone with John Baker, a good friend and former teammate and, at the moment, a coordinator within the psychological expertise program for the Chicago Cubs. Although his physique ached and his baseball was unaffiliated and he’d left his twenties behind, and although he’d had an concept today was coming, Ryan knew he was in for a troublesome experience. “I actually needed it,” Ryan mentioned. “I put myself by means of plenty of ache to try to play. This man” — he nodded to Lars — “can attest to a few of the surgical procedures that I had, the rehabs, the shoulder, the knees. The knees had been the worst of it. Having neck surgical procedures, two of them. A variety of ache. And proving, quick, that I may play on the highest degree. So it was onerous for me to just accept, wow, I’m actually not going to get to show what I believe I may present everybody I may very well be. Everybody. As on the planet, man.” He laughed regardless of himself and continued, “I favored performing for the world. I favored to be on the stage. I needed to do cool issues. And ultimately, I needed to turn into an inspiration, too. I assume in some methods I’m. However it could have been larger on an even bigger stage. I favored that. Inspiration only for a combat. Simply to attempt. Like in no matter it’s that you simply wish to do exactly preserve attempting. Like, if you’d like one thing dangerous sufficient preserve going. I don’t know. I actually pushed the boundaries of how far I may go. “Hear, I do know individuals have had it worse. Ryan Westmoreland, that man, I all the time take into consideration him. I roomed with him throughout his mind surgical procedures and all that. So I do know I don’t have it the worst. However I took it fairly far. I had it fairly dangerous within the damage division. In order that was actually onerous to just accept, that I’m not going to play anymore. I by no means bought that likelihood. That was what was onerous for me.” Baker was raised in Northern California, performed baseball at Cal, was drafted within the fourth spherical in 2002 by the Oakland A’s and performed seven main league seasons as a catcher. He went residence at 35. Former catcher John Baker performed for seven seasons within the majors. (Getty Photographs) Extra “It’s like being thrown out of a helicopter into an ocean that’s the actual world,” Baker mentioned. “Earlier than that, you’re in perpetual Peter Pan-hood. You get to be a baby. You reside in a locker room. You’re round individuals who aren’t all that superior from highschool.” These are all good issues. Ok, anyway, that hardly anybody needs to go away, to go to a spot the place the sport modifications, the place you make the schedule, the place what’s subsequent is a thriller and possibly not all too comfy. “He known as me from the dugout,” Baker mentioned. “After the hit. He mentioned he was carried out. The very first thing, I needed to verify he was sure. Man, when he was wholesome, he wasn’t only a good baseball participant, he was top-of-the-line baseball gamers on the planet, a extremely particular expertise with a physique that couldn’t stand up to what a physique may do.” Ryan’s plan was to go to Europe for some time, watch Lars play in Germany, then bounce round, see the world and put far between himself and the earlier 13 years. After that, he’d transfer again to New Jersey, begin over there. He signed a one-year lease on an condominium in his hometown, broke that in two months, bought in his automobile and headed west till he reached Gilbert, Arizona. John and Meghan Baker’s home. They shared a bunch hug on the entrance door and began the rebuild. When the baseball goes, Baker mentioned, three issues go together with it. First, the previous participant now not has an apparent ability to grasp. “Hitting might be essentially the most addictive factor on the planet,” he mentioned. “You get a success and there’s a chemical launch. You’re so pleased. After which it’s the driving drive to stand up the following day.” Second, he mentioned, there isn’t a extra collaborative aim. No extra group. No extra scoreboard. “Once I first went residence I used to be destroying my 3-year-old in tic-tac-toe,” he mentioned. “That will get previous.” Then, he mentioned, the ex-player has nowhere to place his thoughts. “The quantity of stress they endure when taking part in, 50,000 individuals screaming, an enormous image of your face, your silly face, subsequent to your crappy file,” he mentioned. “We miss being beneath stress.” So there was Ryan Kalish. Adrift. Scheduling cries. Refusing eye contact. Asking for assist. For all Baker knew, Lars could be driving up any minute. He didn’t. He may’ve. “Ryan was looking,” Baker mentioned. ‘No matter occurred to that Lars man?’ Lars Anderson sat this spring on a inexperienced knoll behind a backstop at Camelback Ranch exterior Phoenix, the place the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare. He’d kicked his footwear into the grass in entrance of him. He watched batting observe, the a part of baseball he missed, and he watched a Dodgers coach flick floor balls with a Birdman Bat fungo. From a methods again, he’d seen afternoons like this one coming. Possibly from the primary time his identify made the waiver wire right here, or when he was launched, or possibly from Japan or Australia or standing at first base as a Solingen Alligator of Germany’s Bundesliga. The breeze, the clack-clack-clack of BP, the music from the close by ballpark, a case of recent bats at his aspect, he mentioned, these had been sufficient. He was a salesman now, a type of buoyant souls who units up a row of bats close to the cage or exterior the clubhouse and fights the earnest combat of the start-up. He’d grown Birdman internationally. He’d help in Birdman’s intentions to discover a place among the many company bat giants within the U.S. There was a protracted solution to go and that was OK by Lars. He had the time. He had the curiosity. He had the sport expertise. “I used to be not a man who swung one bat,” he mentioned. “I sampled all of them. I used to be very sanguine in my bat life, like a butterfly flying from department to department. So I bought to know loads about it simply accidentally. “Generally you get a vibe about it. My dad, when he would take me to purchase bats as a child, he’d say, ‘Lars, if you choose it up it has to say ‘Sure’ in your palms.’ I sort of saved that with me all through my profession. The issue was plenty of bats mentioned sure after which typically they’d say sure for a month after which begin to say no.” Ex-Crimson Sox infielder Lars Anderson co-founded the Birdman Bats firm. (Getty Photographs) Extra The bat firm, like their friendship, like their life paths, binds them. They went searching for an condominium just lately, pretty sure Southern California would maintain them for now. Ryan is gaining traction as a pilates teacher and part-time minor-league coach with the Dodgers. His brother, Jake, is a left-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, pitching in Triple-A. Lars composes dance music and has written a number of first-person items for The Athletic. They nonetheless fret over their futures. They snigger about their pasts, the great elements and the not-so-good elements. Additionally they have switched roles in latest weeks, Ryan now the settled one, pretty sure he’s on strong floor, Lars questioning what’s on the market for him. Possibly a e-book about his travels in baseball. Possibly enterprise college. And there’s nonetheless all these bats to promote. Once I requested him who was most pleased with the profession he did have, he grinned and mentioned his grandfather, who’d just lately died. “Any article about me, he’d print it out and also you’d go to dinner with him and he’d hand the hostess that article,” Lars mentioned. “I’m like, ‘She doesn’t care.’ He was simply so stoked. He’d come to spring coaching, he’d come go to me through the season. “However I used to be considering, since he handed, all of the individuals within the service trade are going to be like, ‘No matter occurred to that Lars man? I haven’t bought an replace shortly.’ ” He’s nonetheless engaged on that. So a lot of them are. What comes of those that made it, however didn’t fairly make it? What occurs when the final half is left undone? The place’s that sit of their heads? Of their hearts? Of their pockets? “As soon as I knew there was an expert baseball, that you would do this to your job, that was what I needed to do,” Lars mentioned. “So, at Three years previous. I didn’t consciously select my career out of school or one thing. That’s what I’m doing now. Nevertheless it was by no means even a selection. It was simply, I’m doing it. Prefer it selected me. It wasn’t a 12-year profession, it was a 31-year profession. As quickly as I may hit socks that my dad pitched me when he was folding them in the lounge, that was it.” Ryan grinned. Being an ex-ballplayer hasn’t been straightforward. Possibly it by no means might be. Nevertheless it was inevitable. And it’s nonetheless higher than the choice. “It all the time follows you, man,” he mentioned. “Yeah,” Lars mentioned, “I don’t assume that’ll ever go away, truthfully.” “It by no means goes wherever,” Ryan mentioned. “I’m curious,” Lars mentioned, “to see how that goes.” Extra from Yahoo Sports activities: Source link

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blog-mcc · 5 years

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How MCC Helped Me Become a Software Engineer

By Smai Fullerton

“Carrying a metal culvert six miles into the wilderness with someone who regularly whittled baseball bats out of logs with an antique butcher knife in camp” and “spending my days in front of a computer screen writing software to provide an SEC filing solution for corporations” aren’t the two most compatible gerunds.

But I’m grateful they tell my story. I moved to Montana in 2011 and served as a corps member, crew leader, and staff member in the state office. Now, I live in Missoula and work as a software engineer with Workiva -- a career I never imagined possible.

Here are five ways the MCC and AmeriCorps experience fostered skills that were critical on my journey to becoming a software engineer.

MCC teaches the value of taking leaps into the unknown

My story will be familiar to many alumni: I was 20 years old, drove alone across the country with a car full of stuff, had never set foot in Montana, had never camped more than a couple nights in a row, and knew no one. It was the most massive leap of faith of my life.

Serving with MCC makes members more independent and reduces their fear of trying new things. It takes a lot of time and energy and self-motivation to finish a season, which translates into the courage to follow other callings. MCC turns “Can I do it?” into “How will I do it?” at an age where that perspective shift changes the course of lives.

I’ve always loved computers, but as a woman with a liberal arts degree, and someone who hadn’t spent her childhood coding, it seemed impossible that I could actually change my career and become a software developer. Because of MCC, I knew it was safe to try.

MCC teaches what it’s like to be a total beginner at something

I know from feeling it myself and from reading the applications of hundreds of MCC applicants that living a simpler life, working with one’s hands, being present with nature, and having a deep inner journey is what compels many people to apply.

Everyone starts out clueless about what this really entails. Not many experiences, especially for people in their late teens/early 20s, prepare a person to know what it’s like to live and work in the backcountry with a bunch of strangers for nine days in a row for months on end.

Spoiler alert: it’s challenging, and growth is inevitable. A lot of skills are brand new, and they require patience, feeling a bit foolish, and being exhausted to the core.

Learning to code is like that, too. It pushes short-term memory, problem solving, and systematic thinking to the max. Fortunately, MCC gave me a lot of practice in handling the uncertain and unanticipated, and I’m more apt to not give up when the going starts rough.

MCC teaches how to stay positive through discomfort

Many of my best memories of the trail are times of hysterical laughter when something was going poorly. That’s not a coincidence.

It’s unavoidable for MCC participants to reckon with their sense of perseverance. From grueling hours of labor, to cooking with few amenities, to not peeing on oneself, to resolving conflict through discussion, to existing with thoughts and feelings in full color with no screen-shaped dopamine retreat -- all are realms that require a surprising amount of introspection to handle.

I discovered through the months of physical and mental discomfort that it was easiest when I surrendered and chose to make the best of it. When I let go of trying to control what I couldn’t (i.e. mosquitoes, or thinking I’d come up with a plan that was more efficient than what my crew leaders came up with), I received immediate feedback that life felt better that way.

MCC is a wake-up call about the ebb and flow of all things. This lesson translates to resiliency and an acceptance of reality out of the woods, too. When I encounter unpleasant aspects of software development, I can improve them with an attitude adjustment. When I can’t solve a problem, I know my reaction to the discomfort is all I can decide and factors in to how quickly the answer comes.

MCC teaches how to work VERY closely with strangers

Not many people have the social experience of working 10 hour days in the pouring rain or blistering sun, and then going back to a small camp with little privacy. Fellow crew members stop being strangers fast.

Serving with MCC made me feel a whole new kind of vulnerability. It improved my ability to have good conversations and be there for others when they cross their boiling point. It made me confide some of my deepest stuff and seek guidance from people I probably wouldn’t have crossed paths with at a party. Some people I didn’t get as close to, but I still learned to meet them where they were at, and respect them for their experiences.

I don’t have this level of closeness with my new co-workers, but I benefit from being able to find common ground better than before. I’m the only woman engineer in my office and one of only a couple on my project. I learned through MCC that everyone is far more similar than different. When I lead with this perspective -- rather than hold on to the things I think no one can understand about me -- it makes for a much more confident, comfortable, and charismatic existence.

The Leadership Development Program goes far beyond the woods

Given that MCC was my first “real world” experience out of college, I didn’t realize how lucky I was to work for an organization that set aside explicit and abundant time to practice skills like communication, conflict resolution, active listening, empathy, and giving feedback.

The Leadership Development Program is AWESOME. It made me a better person, full stop. I went through the week at Camp Mak-a-Dream, where these skills are taught, three or four times, and every time I was blown away by the power and excitement felt in the room.

Because of MCC, I’m equipped for life with a vocabulary that translates to my job - and relationships! Organizing and completing a software project is a massive effort of people working together and communicating about what they’re doing. The LDP teaches people to bring a subtle awareness to the table that can make a big difference to a group. Small things like offering a constructive observation about a social dynamic, bringing people into the conversation who are on the introverted side, or asking questions like “What could I do better?” are far more natural for me.

And I know they’re worth the courage.

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