~:[CH15 - Day 24]:~ Focus In

 
~:[CH15 - Day 24]:~ Focus In

Saturday tends to be the main day of the conference. With the students focusing in on their roles, they were also fighting against the elements as their bodies and minds were exhausted from a long week. It was great to see all of them engaged and while I did poke and prod a few to get a little more involved, they kind of did their own thing. With this being the conference's 25th anniversary, I was dragged into an interview talking about our program and the conference. It was nice to reflect on all the experiences we had and the reasons behind why I do this. While it's easy to get caught up in the chase for awards, I always hope that our students focus in on representing their countries as best as possible with substance and participation. As I said in my interview, you can't always control whether or not you get an awards, but you can control how you present and what kind of information you bring to the table. Many of my students impressed with so much detail, they were asked to not be so specific. I am not a fan of that comment as this program is supposed to be about researching and coming up with tangible solutions, however, it's also a good sign that they put in the work all these years to get where they are today. With the students focused in most of the day, we had our annual team dinner together. It was a bit sad as the restaurant we have hosted this at might be on the verge of closing down, but at least we had one more opportunity to celebrate here together. There is a lot in life that you cannot control, but I hope that we all find ourselves able to focus in on what we are working on so we can find a path that we can always label as successful. With or without recognition, a journey you can be proud of is the greatest success of all.