Day 4 - an unbelievable day
Today was an astonishing day, with 6 extradordinary meetings - and a cool dinner and rinks with Alumni and Round 2 Washington DC admits to boost (thanks Derrick B!).
First stop: Howard Dean. Howard Dean, a physician and former Governor, once a Democratic frontrunner for the 2004 Presidential Election and now the head of the Democratical National Committee, gave us some amazing insights into the general political climate at the moment, as well as his own reflections on how US politics works. He had an amazing energy and enthusiasm which we all really appreciated (and some of us - mostly Democrats - were inspired by!) ...
Then to the Coast: Admiral Thad Allen. Soon-to-be head of the US Coast Guard, Thad Allen is an inspiration. Having served in the Coast guard for 35 years (and having gotten a degree from MIT-Sloan during that time!), Admiral Allen was most recently commended for this work on the Katrina relief effort. His insights on leadership during crises was simply incredible, really inspiring (Especially to us non-army team members!).
Here's Steve Chung with Katrina, one of the Admiral's aides (who somewhat coincidentally was heavily involved in the Hurricane relief effort!)
Congressman Jim Kolbe. We then had the opportunity to hang with Congressman Kolbe, currently the only GSB alumni in congress (though maybe one day some of us will join him?). Congressman Kolbe talked a lot about the dynamics of the "Hill" - and his 22 years of serving there, and how the GSB helped him along the way. Go Stanford!
This even included a "luxury lunch trip" to the US Congress cafeteria ... as orchestrated by Gavin "Logistics Man" Woody and Kassia ...
Capt. Woody in action!
House Majority Leader John Boehner (and his policy chief). John Boehner then stopped by to give us some insight into some of the latest happenings on the floor of the house (he had to then run out and cast his vote in the house). We then grilled his policy chief for almost an hour on some of the key issues before the house: immigation, Dubai ports, and the like ...
Senator Elizabeth Dole. Senator Dole shared with us what it's like to balance family life and life in the spotlight - and challenged us to do the same! This is Tracea "interviewing" her (in a very Oprah kind of a way ...!)
Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor. Secretary Chao shared with us the challenge of the Labor ministry - reaching out to the 5% of the workforce or so who are unemployed, and how they are changing that. We had a pretty heated discussion about some key labor issues - such as wages, economics, and race! But, after all that, she gave us some great little key rings ...
All in all, an astonishing day. Can Friday top it? Stay tuned to find out! =)
First stop: Howard Dean. Howard Dean, a physician and former Governor, once a Democratic frontrunner for the 2004 Presidential Election and now the head of the Democratical National Committee, gave us some amazing insights into the general political climate at the moment, as well as his own reflections on how US politics works. He had an amazing energy and enthusiasm which we all really appreciated (and some of us - mostly Democrats - were inspired by!) ...
Then to the Coast: Admiral Thad Allen. Soon-to-be head of the US Coast Guard, Thad Allen is an inspiration. Having served in the Coast guard for 35 years (and having gotten a degree from MIT-Sloan during that time!), Admiral Allen was most recently commended for this work on the Katrina relief effort. His insights on leadership during crises was simply incredible, really inspiring (Especially to us non-army team members!).
Here's Steve Chung with Katrina, one of the Admiral's aides (who somewhat coincidentally was heavily involved in the Hurricane relief effort!)
Congressman Jim Kolbe. We then had the opportunity to hang with Congressman Kolbe, currently the only GSB alumni in congress (though maybe one day some of us will join him?). Congressman Kolbe talked a lot about the dynamics of the "Hill" - and his 22 years of serving there, and how the GSB helped him along the way. Go Stanford!
This even included a "luxury lunch trip" to the US Congress cafeteria ... as orchestrated by Gavin "Logistics Man" Woody and Kassia ...
Capt. Woody in action!
House Majority Leader John Boehner (and his policy chief). John Boehner then stopped by to give us some insight into some of the latest happenings on the floor of the house (he had to then run out and cast his vote in the house). We then grilled his policy chief for almost an hour on some of the key issues before the house: immigation, Dubai ports, and the like ...
Senator Elizabeth Dole. Senator Dole shared with us what it's like to balance family life and life in the spotlight - and challenged us to do the same! This is Tracea "interviewing" her (in a very Oprah kind of a way ...!)
Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor. Secretary Chao shared with us the challenge of the Labor ministry - reaching out to the 5% of the workforce or so who are unemployed, and how they are changing that. We had a pretty heated discussion about some key labor issues - such as wages, economics, and race! But, after all that, she gave us some great little key rings ...
All in all, an astonishing day. Can Friday top it? Stay tuned to find out! =)
posted by John at 8:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home