On May 8th, 2010, I attend the District Assembly of District 4340. The event was eagerly awaited by many Rotarians in the district as RI President John Kenny and his wife June were to make an appearance. The Assembly had over 400 attendees for the special occasion, as well as to participate in the many sessions to prepare for the next Rotary Year.
Just like the Rotarians, I was also excited. I was looking forward to seeing the RI President for a second time, but even more importantly I was anxiously awaiting the opportunity to speak with and meet some of the Rotarians of the district. As such, I made it my mission to meet as many of the attendees as possible and make them aware that there are 7 ambassadorial scholars in District 4340 at the moment and that I am one of them. At the very end of the assembly another scholar and I caught a big break. After an entire day’s worth of work to get the chance to speak to all the Rotarians, we got the opportunity. It proved to be well worth it. We were welcomed warmly with much applause and were then approached by many Rotarians immediately after. We exchanged so many business cards that I had run out. This was the opportunity I was looking for. Getting in contact with the Chilean Rotarians has been one of my biggest challenges. I knew this assembly would be the chance to gain some attention and the necessary connections that I need to be more active in the District. Because of my “two minutes of fame,” I have been invited to attend various Rotary clubs to make presentations, attend ceremonies, and have been asked to meet up for lunch or visit the homes and families of some of the individuals. I even met a Rotarian by the name of Alfredo Garcia, who traveled a few years back with the GSE Team that went to Houston. He told me he knew many Rotarians there (Sunny Sharma, D’Lisa Simmons, and others) and that he considers Houston to be his second home! I plan on holding tight to these connections and make the most of them.
Taking advantage of presence of John Kenny, I requested that he and his wife take a photo with all the present ambassadorial scholars in the district. Luckily, they were able to make the arrangement. We were told to wait by the entrance at 2:30 and that we would get our opportunity then. Well all I can say is that John Kenny is a super star. All the Rotarians were going crazy trying to take photos with him as he was exiting. The poor man could barely move! Well after a few minutes we got our turn to be photographed with the President and his wife and were blinded by the many flashing lights of the cameras. During our photo shoot I could hear many of the Rotarians yelling at others that were behind us “Ambassadorial Scholars Only!”. It was an exciting experience and definitely a very rushed one.
I am glad to have participated in the district assembly. For this district it was the first to have a visit from an RI President. For this assembly it was a first to ever have a youth programs session. And for me it was a great experience in a different Rotary culture. I hope to begin a stronger exchange between our two societies and I am looking forward to the results. Further below you can find out how you as a Rotarian can help in the reconstruction efforts in Chile and a project for which I am pledging my support.
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