Greetings from NOLA

A picture from my walk along the Mississippi.

Hi all.

So as I write this I am currently in New Orleans, Louisiana for a student diversity leadership conference. I'm a faculty member for the third year in the row. It's as exciting this time as it was in each of the years prior. I was especially glad that on Tuesday we got a chance to do a half day service project here in NOLA. Our work at a local charter school gave me much to contemplate including my contributions to society.

Back to the conference this is my third year on the faculty. I'm looking forward to working with my co-facilitator to lead a group of 50-60 students through an intense 2.5 days of diversity work. My partner, a senior at Brown University in Providence, is extremely cool. I'm sure we'll work well together.

New Orleans of course is great. This city is so full of history. I was here a month and a half back and got to explore a bit then from Bourbon Street, to the French Quarter, to parts of the lower ninth ward (where I saw the houses Brad and Angelina are building with their Make It Right Foundation), the Garden District, and a local cemetery. This time I've had a little less time to travel but have enjoyed it very much. Sometimes it's all about the food (had chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House, a shrimp po boy at another restaurant, and beignets and hot chocolate from Cafe Du Monde; and then there's the fellowship (some members of the conference faculty I didn't imagine I'd connect with but I have are phenomenal folks).

Hopefully I'll get a chance to update you all again on my conference experience before my week here is over..

Talk to you soon.

-C. Nel