Yes, I know I haven't written in over two months. I apologize and plan on correcting that by writing a lot over the next few weeks as I've found "myself" again...didn't know I lost it did you?

So, I'm going to write about something near and dear to my heart this evening. Have you ever had a dream come true? This past weekend, one of my most outrageous and intense dreams came true in ways that I could never have imagined. Last Tuesday (10/1) began the six days of the 2002 Tau Beta Pi National Convention. Nearly three years & five months before Tuesday (5/6/99), I revealed my dream of hosting the 2002 Tau Beta Pi National Convention in Detroit, MI to my fellow Michigan Epsilon members.

At first, the enthusiasm was tentative as many people thought I was crazy…right Colleen? However, my vision...my dream began to spread among the membership and people began to adopt it as their own. The first two months were rough as we slapped together a Convention bid in record time. By the end of June, we had constructed a bid that was pretty damn good. The next three months were filled with ups and downs as we prepared our presentation and realized that we would be up against Orlando, FL and Lubbock, TX. Looking back now, it was not easy to keep the faith and focus on the dream. However, I had people like Colleen, Dawn, Greg, Vera, Natalie, and Noy among others to stay focused on the dream. When the 1999 Convention in Madison, WI selected us to host the 2002 Convention, the dream seemed to be even closer to becoming a reality.

Once we were selected, the focus began to shift towards planning and the past 3 years have been about actually executing what had been proposed. Again, there were lots of ups and downs over the years, but in the end, the Michigan Epsilon Chapter held steady and pulled it off…in ways far beyond my dream. I want to personally thank everyone who helped plan and execute the Convention, but most notably Abha, Doug, and Jennifer who put in over a full-time job's worth of hours over the six day Convention period.

Never before in my life have I've experienced anything like this past weekend. I've been to several TBP Conventions, but never one that I had dreamed about. Standing in the Marriott Hotel and seeing all the people there was overwhelming. It was nearly impossible for me to accept that what had started out as just a couple neurons firing in my head was all around me. Not only was it all around me, but it ended up being one of the best Tau Beta Pi Conventions in recent history (if not the best as I've been told by others).

To everyone who had any part in making my silly little dream come true, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Never in my life have I had the opportunity to be part of something so incredible and overwhelming. I certainly don't want the credit for it...as Thomas Edison once said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." I may have contributed the 1%, but it was all of you that provided the 99% that made the dream become a reality.

My advice...dream big...anything is possible when your share your dreams with people who are willing to adopt it as their own and put their hearts, and sheer will into making the dream become a reality. I may have had the initial dream, but it didn't come close to being as truly amazing as the reality actually was.

To close, let me share one of the best things I heard and that needs to be repeated here for posterity's sake. "Michigan Epsilon may not be a big Chapter, but it is the Chapter with a big heart." Right on Doug!