A pilgrimmage "home"

It's amazing how rejuvenating it can be to return home. Even though this past week's trip with 15 students was far from relaxing, just the feeling of being home in a place that has been a huge part of my life energized and recharged me just in the way I needed before the beginning of this next semester. Greg and I took on the group of 15, 3 days in PGH exploring ideas of arts & entertainment and 3 days in a conference called Summit. We saw the Carnegie Museums, the Andy Warhol museum, the Heinz History Center (which had an exhibit on the 75th anniversary of the steelers... picture above is of the exact place where the immaculate reception was made by Franco Harris - they actually cut out that piece of the turf field), the Carnegie Science Center for the Bodies Exhibit, Phipp's Conservatory with the Chihully exhibit (picture below), A Second City Show, Disney's The Lion King musical, and loads of restaurants and neighborhood shopping and walking.

What was most invigorating for me was to be able to instill the same kind of love I have for Carnegie Mellon, both Qatar and Pittsburgh, in the students who had never been to the main campus. It gives me great satisfaction to see the joy and excitement on students faces when they get to connect with students on the main campus and experience and fall in love with Pittsburgh. I wish every student on the Pittsburgh could come to appreciate their own campus as much as the students from Qatar do.