LINK Weekend

This past weekend I took a trip down to Leicester for the Ambassadorial Scholar LINK weekend. The weekend is essentially an opportunity for all of the scholars in the UK to get together, meet one another, and get some practical tips for success during the scholarship year.

I traveled down to Leicester by train. The other scholars in Edinburgh chose to fly, but I enjoy trains and I figured maybe I'd be able to get some reading done (so I was kidding myself on that one...) However, I did get a nice view of the countryside before it got dark. I stayed with a host family and another scholar from Germany, Maria.

Saturday all of the scholars were given free admission to the Leicester Space Museum. Afterwards, we all went to the City Hall and Courthouse for a speech from the Lord Mayor of Leicester. Yes, I'm sure many of you are thinking "Lord Mayor, really? Is that a joke?!" But no! It is not a joke, that's what people call him. He is addressed as "Lord Mayor" when people speak to him. I am including a picture of him with me-I hope you can differentiate between the two of us. Apparently, I am the first person he has ever met from Delaware!

Saturday night we all had a big dinner at Leicester University and a night full of traditional English dancing. It was called a "Barn Dance," but in reality it was nothing like a Barn Dance as one would imagine in the States. It would really do me no use to try and explain the evening to you, so please see attached pictures for a better description!

The best part of the weekend was getting to meet so many fantastic people. All of the scholars have such a unique attitude about service and changing the world. And the scholars came from all over the world-I met people from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Georgia (the country, not the state!), Namibia, Greece, Germany, and many more countries. Having the chance to be introduced to so many different perspectives was great. (And now knowing friends all over the UK, I have more excuses to go do more traveling!)