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Published: October 1st 2010
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It's been a about 4 days since I've been back from Chicago and I just now have gotten a chance to post an update. I got chosen as a Gilman Scholarship Alumni Ambassador which is a pretty sweet deal. As part of it, I got to travel to Chicago this past weekend for a training event and then present at Saint Xavier University. My trip started last Saturday with a drive to the airport, then an hour delay where I watched the MSU football game I kind of wish I was at. But they were stomping them anyways. After a couple phone calls, I was on the plane for a small hop across the lake to Chicago.
I landed around 4pm central time and got lost finding the correct shuttle service, but after finally finding it, I took my $30 ride (one way) to the city which ended up lasting almost an hour and a half because I was the last person to be dropped off. We pulled up to a modest-looking brick hotel in the Medical District which was a Marriott and actually very fancy. My room key (Room 416) said $169 a night but in the room said
$699 a night so we'll never truly know. Nevertheless, the bed was fancy, the room was big and nice just for me, and I even had two tvs. After a short relaxation, I met up with the other Gilman ambassadors and the three staff down in the lobby and we went to a local restaurant for an orientation meeting and to go over our agenda and realized that out of 80+ applicants, we 10 were picked.
It was nice kind of getting to know people, trying to put names with faces, and seeing which institutions in the U.S. they came from. All of us had been abroad, and all of us had a unique story to tell. After some extremely rich and good lasagna, we walked back to the hotel on a somewhat chilly Chicago night and I retreated to enjoy my nice big bed and tv while the other ambassadors decided to hit up the nightlife. The next morning came a little too quickly but I enjoyed listening to the local news as I got ready. We had a full day of training in the hotel basement floor and were doing some interviews so looking nice was important.
I proceeded to the basement where we spent the entire day. It was long, I had no cell service, but it was important for our presentation the next day. I got paired up with a guy named Aaron who did his undergrad and grad in Georgia but now lives in D.C. It was nice to hear about his experience in the Dominican Republic too. We all had these sessions in different rooms of the basement and I didn't get interviewed until around 1. My voice was pretty shaky, but hope it came out okay. We'll see. Well after the interviews and an hour over schedule, we got released to go enjoy our day. I went back to my room to relax for an hour before I met up with a few of the others to go see the park and get some deep dish pizza. It got dark fast but we caught the "L" and snapped some good shots of the buildings, the park, the pillars, the pretty fountains, Lake Michigan, and got a tip from the hotel concierge on where to get some good deep dish. It wasn't until 9 that we found the little pub and got
seated. We sipped some beer and talked about dream jobs and a little about our personal lives as we waited for the pizzas. When they finally came, we scarfed them down, finished the beer, then parted ways. I rode back on the "L" with Naveed while the others hit up Boys Town to enjoy the nightlife again.
I was excited to get back to the hotel, shower, and relax. After some more phone calls, I got my stuff all ready for the next day, went over my powerpoint again, and watched some tv before going to sleep. The next morning was a little bit of a blur as we had a nice fancy breakfast buffet in the restaurant and then said our goodbyes. It was nice meeting the others from Tenneessee, California, Miami, D.C., and other places and hearing all about their time in Egypt, the Middle East, Australia, China, and the U.K. After I told a few goodbye, I went back to the room, changed into my skirt suit, packed, watched The View, then checked out of my room. Aaron and I met up with Lee at 10:30 to drive to Saint Xavier, but we were a little
early so we got some coffee and talked about how much fun the weekend was but how a little more time would have been nice. Around noon, Aaron and I set up our talk, presented, told our stories, then had an informal talk with the few students that were interested in going abroad. It was nice talking about our experience and I'm glad I went.
After the talk and a quick goodbye to the boys, I was back at O'Hare with my carry-on around my shoulder and my little suitcase being wheeled behind me. And I grabbed some very overpriced food before catching my plane to Lansing. It was a short flight -- 30 minutes or so and I was happy to be back in Lansing. It was nice getting my car and heading home. And one of the ambassadors even texted me and said to stay in touch and look them up on facebook which was nice. Overall, it was a great weekend and I hope I can stay involved with the Gilman program in the future! It was also nice to finally see downtown Chicago but I'm very excited that I don't live there. 😊 I was
also excited to be back before I got behind...ahh, graduate school...
Thank you for the support, Gilman!
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marsha
non-member comment
Gilman
Hey you! Glad it went well and it sounds like you met a few new contacts and saw some new sights. Good things happen to good people. I was wondering if I could write something up .....does this sounded ok to you? UAS graduate Kari Dammerman received a Gilman Scholarship while studying in Norway through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). She was recently asked to be an ambassador for the Gilman Foundation and completed training in Chicago. She presented to prospective study away students at Saint Xavier University and will have future opportunities as an ambassador throughout the year. Do you want to add anything?