I bet not very many of you know that I am the "executive director" (aka secretary aka administrative person) of a non-profit mentoring program in Puget Sound. I'm involved through my job as a marketing person at a structural engineering firm; I used to assist the CEO/chairman of the company and as such, helped him run this mentoring program. Even though I don't technically "assist" him anymore, I'm still involved with ACE.
ACE pairs high school students interested in architecture (A), construction (C), and engineering (E), with professionals in the area. All of our students are divided into teams that meet about twice a month. From October to May, they learn about what A/C/E professionals do, and basically build a building on paper. They develop a concept for say, an aquarium or a stadium or a high-rise building, and they design the entire thing.
ACE is nation-wide; it started in the East in the '90s, and the Seattle chapter was founded (by my company's CEO/chairman) in 2001. At first, there were 11 kids on one ACE team. This year we have more than 175 kids on 9 ACE teams. My how we have grown!
One of the coolest parts of my job is our annual Scholarship Breakfast, which was this morning. Every year dozens of companies (32 this year, I think), in the A/C/E industry contribute money to our scholarship fund. Our seniors apply, and we award several of them big bucks. This morning we awarded 12 high school kids $35,000 in scholarships. Wow! Two kids -- the top engineering and top architecture students -- got $5,000 each; two kids -- the next two top applicants -- got $4,500 each; and 8 other kids got $2,000 each.
It's so fun to meet these kids and their parents, and introduce them to the people from the companies that made these awards possible. When I was in high school I considered myself to be a genius (not true), but I did manage to get several scholarships. It made me feel good, and it went a LONG WAY to helping pay for school. I graduated from BYU debt free; not a lot of people can say that.
Anyway, these kids love the program. It really helps them see what it means to be an architect or a structural engineer, and it helps them figure out if they want to pursue that in college. It's pretty cool. In fact, ha!, one year we got a thank you note from a kid who said, "thanks so much for mentoring me. I know for a fact now that I DON'T want to be an architect, but it was a really awesome experience." Many students do go on to pursue A/C/E careers, and in fact at least one of our former ACE scholarship winners now works for a Seattle construction firm! Very cool!
It was a fun morning. This is the SIXTH breakfast I've run, and they've kind of become like clockwork, which is nice. Everything runs smoothly. I like it that way. Sometimes I think they don't even need me anymore, but since I usually end up answering a lot of questions I guess I'm serving some purpose. It's also fun just to be there and feel the energy and see everyone being happy and excited about supporting education.
But here's the real kicker from Scholarship Breakfast 2009: After it was all said and done, I raced home to greet my sweet Wesley, who was under the care of a friend from Church. And by "raced," I suppose I mean that literally since I was pulled over for speeding. Did you know the speed limit on I-5 is 60? I thought it was at least 65.
Anyway... I was not adhering to the limit. But for reasons known only to God, the officer asked me where I was headed, and I said I had an event this morning and wanted to get home to the baby. Then he asked what kind of event it was. Umm, "well officer, I am part of a mentoring program and today we awarded $35,000 in scholarships to 12 local high school students." I couldn't tell what he thought, until (after his private deliberation during which my blood pressure continued to skyrocket) he handed back my license and registration and said "no ticket today, you've already given out enough money this morning, but please watch your speed."
Oh wow!
So basically, my job rocks and helping high school kids learn about architecture and engineering and then giving them money rocks, and getting out of tickets for being a good citizen also rocks.
But note to self: STOP SPEEDING.
I hope you're having a good Friday, too!
3 comments:
Wow, that reminds of me of what happened to me when I got my only ticket back in high school. I sped because it was REALLY late and I needed to get to bed (I was working at the movie theater and going to seminary the next morning). Anyways, I saw a cop on the side of the road and didn't slow down in time. Ticket. Busted. Since it was my first one I decided to take it to court. I had to skip school in order to go to court, and low and behold a lawyer in the court room recognizes me! He was a representative from the American Bar Association who recognized me from the night before- senior awards night. I got like 7 scholarships that night. He thought it crazy to see me in court. I told him what happened and he agreed to be 'my lawyer' when my case went forward. Actually I think he just gave me advice on what to do since he had to leave. Luckily the judge gave me probation before judgement and I didn't even have to really even say anything. BUT, it was cool to have a lawyer volunteer to help (and I didn't even have to pay him!)
My brother got out of a ticket once because the cop saw the card in his wallet that said he was an Eagle Scout. Funny the things they reward you for.
I have *never* gotten out of a ticket. I did go before a judge for a ticket once, though (to do public service instead of a fine you had to go before the judge) and when he saw I had a Utah license he said, "Isn't that where they have a speed limit of 75? Well, I guess you really weren't speeding at all, were you?" Hahaha But I still didn't get out of the ticket.
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