At the conference this past weekend, I commented to Patrice on how completely absorbed she seemed to be during all the speaker sessions and asked her what she planned to do with all the notes she was intently taking. Today I got an email from her:

Anyway, I wanted to thank you again for taking the time out of your schedule this weekend to come and share your wisdom :) I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences at the U of I and it gave me such encouragement to see how much we have progressed as a community. I compiled some of the "quotable quotations" during the conference and sent it to the coordinators- this is where all those notes came in handy!

"An alum's biggest joy is to look back and see there's a new generation to step up." -Jimmy Lee

"If you don't take it upon yourself to do it, then who will?" -Ho Chie Tsai, referring to the need for us to be proactive and seek out opportunities

"If you're coasting, you can only go downhill." -Christie Kennett

"We can help people in big and small ways, so make every moment count." -Anna Hui

"Cherish your time here and also leave footprints for others." -keynote address by Ho Chie Tsai and Anna Hui

It's amazing how you can spot people who are bound to succeed with whatever they do in their lives. Patrice is definitely on that track. I'm more than impressed...