I have been in the U.S. this week to interview 45 WPI students who have applied to go to the Venice Project Center in the fall of 2009, the term that will conclude our 20th anniversary year. Only 28 will have the opportunity to travel to Italy next year, so the ones I selected were a well-diversified group of highly qualified individuals. I am confident they will all do great! Since I was also interviewing students for the Boston Project Center and for the new Santa Fe program, I had to conduct 60 interviews in 3 days, non-stop from 7am to 8pm. It was a marathon, but well worth the effort since I also had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I am really grateful to have this chance to fly back every year and spend time with my loved ones...Before this break, the current Venice teams jointly cooked us all a fabulous Thanksgiving feast at the Settemari Club (see picture). It was truly lucullian!
As I fly back to Venice tomorrow, they will also be returning from their travels to the four corners of Europe. During the 5-day break, this year's students have managed to visit Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, Greece, Sicily and Barcelona among other destinations.
Venice is truly the omphalos of the world!
