Kick Off To An Exciting Year Ahead...

They’re Here! They’re Here!

First to arrive on the scene was Jamie Sung, UExplore Participant, who hails from NanoEngineering. She was greeted by the UExplore Welcoming Committee (i.e. Linda Thai Schlossman and Wes Kovarik) with a customized “Jamie Sung” reusable UExplore nametag (note: bring these back to each monthly session).

We'd been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this inaugural group of 25 participants. From philosophy to physical sciences, from engineering to Extension, this diverse group of 25 impressed us with their motivation to identify a compatible UC San Diego career field and commitment to personal professional development.

Only announced about two months ago, there was a high level of interest in the program. We received a substantial number of applications, and it was a tough decision to whittle it down to a smaller group of 25. Since the nature of UExplore is to help UC San Diego staff members make educated decisions regarding their professional goals, we would have loved to have offered each applicant a spot in the program. Ultimately, though, given space constraints and the positive learning environment that we wanted to support, it was only possible to invite a fraction of those who applied.

Opening Remarks
Facing an audience of about 45, Assistant Vice Chancellor Debbie McGraw welcomed the participants, UExplore Program Committee, and the UExplore Career Information Facilitators and Panelists in attendance.

Offering generous and hearty congratulations, she also shared the history of the program’s development, the importance of succession planning and knowledge transfer. Lastly, she imparted some very important words of wisdom—“Have Fun!”—to which the audience replied with open smiles, nodding heads, and loose laughs and giggles.

Birth Order, Birth Month, and Books
All I have to say about this is:
**I am the middle of 3 kids—one older sister, one younger brother. **I was born in February—say it aloud: “Feb-brew-rare-ree” **And, well...I’ll skip what book I last read and, instead, reiterate: “I was born in Feb-brew-rare-ree”

In all semi-seriousness, what a fantastically diverse group of folks we are? We’re reading the whole gambit of literature—from Mark Plummer’s All Quiet on the Western Front or Cheryl Will’s Anna Karenina to Bobb Barile’s selection on zombies, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

It was fantastic getting to know each other, putting more pieces of the puzzle together in what promises to be a great adventure ahead…