WGU Semi-annual Meetings

Wow! It has been a busy couple of weeks. Once again, I’m surprised at how much I’ve missed posting! I’ll try to get to everything in the next couple of days so I can be caught up again.

Our semi-annual WGU meetings were held July 7 - 11. I always enjoy getting together with my good friends. Once again, we had a great week!

We were color-coordinated a couple of times…

We had a fun BBQ dinner and carnival at the Gallivan Center…And we all enjoyed spending time with our former boss, Tom. He has now moved on to another department. A couple of us put together a thank-you recognition for him and worked on it during the week. I took pictures of groups of Tom’s former employees throughout the first couple of days, and then compiled them in a book. We passed the book around to all of the former employees to sign and write a memory or message. Then we were able to present it to Tom at dinner one night. He was very pleased.Graduation was great...My friend, Carrie, was my inspiration to change PhD programs. She started her PhD a year after I started mine, and just finished! This was her first graduation with her new regalia. I wanted a picture of the two of us together as my inspiration to continue with this new program.I had expected one of my students to come, but then didn’t see her at the Friday night reception, so I figured she was unable to make it. I didn’t hear her name during the services, so I was sure she wasn’t there. Blake and I changed out of our regalia and started walking to the car. A WGU employee that I didn’t know (in her regalia) came up to me and said, “Aren’t you Melanie Olson?” She then told me that my student was looking for me and led me to her! I was so glad she had found me! I had already taken off all of my regalia, and had heat and hat-head, but we still took a picture. She even brought me a gift! It was so fun to meet her in person!Most people fly home on Saturday, but Blake didn’t fly home until Sunday. So, instead of leaving her stuck in her hotel room, we entertained her for the day. We took her to our house to meet Copper and pick up Ryan, went to lunch, and then went for a drive around Bountiful, including Mueller Park to dip her toes in a cool mountain stream.Of course, we also had her semi-annual “height check” with Ryan!As always, it was a fun week, and it has taken me the entire week since to get caught up! But it’s always worth it!