Let the technological fun begin!!! I have my quick cam and am studying the manual. I am looking forward to waving to you from my home office in Cairo!

So much has happened in the past two months! I have planned an International Advisers Conference for educators from Asia, Africa, Mid-East, Europe and the U.S. It was so much fun to meet people from all over the world and find out how much in common we all have. Committed people to students and their needs struggling to make it all happen in a time of decreasing budgets and support....does that sound familiar? I felt right at home. The current themes in International Education are l) how to market and sell educational services and 2) how to develop the use of technology to better serve students. These goals create interesting dilemmas in this part of the world....developing countries with many students living with very little extra money and technology that is helpful but not always dependable due to electricity, support and/or politics. It is exciting to be in on the discussion and to try to influence some of the decisions. Right now the for-profit educational services seem to be leading the pack. I continue to wonder if "EDUCATION" seems to be the key to changing poverty, health, economics and politics, why is it so hard for educators to LEAD instead of follow or react? If you have the answer please let me know.

I spent a few weeks with my mother after her diagnosis of breast cancer. Happily she got a 90-95% cured prognosis! A not-so-gentle reminder about how precious life is and not to take things for granted.

Upon my return, we went to Turkey for spring break. Talk with Betty about the amazing details of this trip. Turkey is a great destination for history, culture, politics, humanities and lots of fun! We talk often of how lucky we are to spend our holidays in such exotic places...Petra is next on our agenda.

I am settling into my position as regional coordinator for advising. I continue to be amazed at how much I have to learn.....about cultures, international advising, governmental red-tape, technology! I enjoy the challenge and diversity of it all....some days the security of home sounds good but mostly the adventure is still exciting and challenging. Get ready for lots of "Questions from Dummy", as desk-top publishing, web-paging and quick-camming are my current goals....maybe I should prioritize them....or can you do a little in all and gradually move ahead. See what happens when a creative, curious and differently organized person tries to take on this challenge. Word of advice for all of my doubting colleagues: computer skills in ALL areas are essential....the more you know, the more employable you are globally and locally.

Look forward to becoming a counselor turned technologist,