Capping years of work, Club member Maryna completed her Doctorate this year and invited the Club to join her, her family, neighbors, business friends, and fellow academic warriors to party and celebrate with her. Sixteen years ago, as a young student, Maryna arrived in the area, She achieved her bachelors, masters, and now her doctorate while hold multiple jobs, mentoring other students, raising a family and also, being a very active Rotarian, With all the fun and celebration, Maryna also took the moment to put a large spotlight on Rotary
At the Stageneck Inn in York, several fellow Club members joined a gathering of friends of Maryna and her family to share stories, and celebrate the completion of years of academic work with Maryna. Besides her family, fellow "students who had shared the academic journey with her, and even a childhood friend from her youth in Belarus, were all there to laugh and share stories.
After many personal stories and laughter, Maryna called upon PDG Andy to take the microphone and "Tell them all about Rotary". Andy did a very good job, if we do say so ~ and then Maryna took the mic again, and she talked about what Rotary had meant to her, especially her year as club president.
Maryna talked about how much she found could still be done, despite the challenges of the pandemic, both locally and internationally. Specifically she talked of what it meant to be able to work with a Rotary Club in her native Belarus to provide specialized readers to a school for visually handicapped children in Belarus. She strongly urged her gathering to get involved in Rotary (in fact their were several people there that she had already got into Rotary).