State College, PA
10:30 PM
I’m sitting in the Gladwin House Bed and Breakfast in State College, PA, the biggest college town I’ve ever been to. It may be the biggest college town there is. Ohio State was a huge campus, but it was in the capital of the state. At Penn State, this is the town. I drove in on 220 South and veered off on Park Ave. The football stadium greeted me and I imagined Fall Saturday afternoons and the tailgating, the traffic and the roars coming from the crowd. The intensity must be electric and I know this year was even sweeter.
Before heading to Penn State I stopped in for an interview with the father of the 401k program. I heard of him through one of the people that will be attended the talk tonight. He was a salt of the earth guy and I was in awe of the man that plays a part in over 50 million people’s lives. His goal was to help people who needed it and he did it. After the interview I drove into State College to where I type.
I arrived to the B&B and was greeted by the owner. He helped me with my bags and showed me to the two bedroom apartment. The open ceiling and big French doors led to a nice porch. There was no way I was going out there on a 20 degree day. After a cat nap I was picked up my Kim, my host for the visit. She saw me in Worthwhile Magazine and asked me to come and talk to a mixed group of students and professionals from the area. She drove me around the campus, showing me the Shrine, which is the Nittany Lion, and the football, basketball, and baseball stadiums. Then it was on to The Corner Room for dinner with two students. Pat and Jim met us for a tasty dinner and then we all headed over to my talk.
The group was as they said, about half and half of students and professionals. I was jazzed at having an audience now that my book was almost done. I could sense the additional information in me as I addressed the group. We spoke for over an hour and there were quite a few questions from the group. The best part was the end of the talk when the entire group began to discuss how you can figure out what you want to do. I sat back and watched as they talked about their stories and how it could be applied. One student asked a teacher about his path and he shared. I felt like grabbing my tape recorder. There was also talk for the need for advice for stay at home mothers. I’ll be working on that.
All in all, it was a good night. I am energized right now and wish I could be out and about seeing the sights, but for now I’ll check out a book and eat some of the popcorn I just popped.
Tomorrow will be some sightseeing and then back to NY to finish the draft of the book.