This week I left for a four day Scholar’s Weekend at the
National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia, which I attend annually as a
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar. Jack
Kent Cooke was a Canadian-born entrepreneur who at various times owned sports
teams such as the Washington Redskins, the Lakers, and the Los Angeles
Kings. A keen businessman, he led a
colorful private life, but Mr. Cooke remains best known for his remarkable
generosity. Upon his death, the bulk of
his estate was given to the establishment of a foundation that awards
scholarships to high achieving students of modest financial means, enabling
them to go to college and complete degree programs. I belong to the eleventh cohort, as a 2011
Undergraduate Transfer Student. Because
of “Uncle Jack” as we call him, I am able to pursue my dreams of obtaining a
bachelors and master’s degree in social work.
We call our fellow scholars “cousins” and we refer to ourselves as “Cookies.”
During Scholars Weekend, we attend a variety of panels and
workshops. Programming begins at
eight-thirty each morning and continues to roughly nine-thirty each night. The highlights of our big weekend in the annual
talent show on our last night and the Cooke Conundrum. The Cooke Conundrum is a problem solving
puzzle race that saw us split into sixty-odd teams of six as we tried to
decipher difficult clues that led to the answer. Saturday was my first conundrum, and I thoroughly
enjoyed the challenges.
The extended weekend in Leesburg ended all too soon. I made new friends and renewed my acquaintances
with others. It has only been twelve
hours since we boarded the shuttle buses to take us home, and I am already
looking forward to next year.
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