We are currently an hour out of Austin, Texas; enjoying the Easter Break. How we got here is quite the question.
Many many years ago, I had the good fortune to be part of an org called 180 Degrees Consulting, which selected college students, gave them a sprinkling of training, and sent them off to do pro-bono consulting for NFPs and charities. It was, and still is, a great idea: students get hands on experience, cash strapped orgs get some help, and consultancies get a sneak peak at potential talent. In my case, they clearly didn’t like what they saw, but that’s another story.
In my second year with 180DC, I was invited to be part of their global summit, which was hosted in Lima, Peru. This WAS one of the great weeks of my life.
On it, I met a young Stanford woman called Ashleigh, who was on our team tasked with assisting an empanada company that hired Peruvians with Special Needs.
Many years later, when Ky and I first moved to Denver, we were introduced by Ashleigh to one of her best friends from college and her husband. Over the ensuing years, Sydney and Jason have become fast friends, particularly when we became parents a month or two apart from one another.
This is a long way of explaining why this weekend we are on a huge ranch (with taxidermied bear rugs!) over the Easter break with Ashleigh and her husband, our Denver Pal’s (and their daughter) and the three of us.
All because I signed up for a student club on a whim 11 years ago.