Tuesdays with Morty

This past weekend we had the privilege to spend some time with Northwestern's own President Schapiro (and his entourage). Morty is a rockstar and thus is doing an Asian tour, making appearances in major cities in China and Japan--who knew Northwestern was so global, right?

All 50 students on my program were invited to an Northwestern Alumni Reception at the St. Regis in Beijing. It was a small, private event where we had the opportunity to meet local alumni, hear Morty speak, and ask questions about the university's 10-year plan.

President Schapiro spoke and then there was time for questions and comments. I'm going to be honest, the question and answer session felt excruciatingly long. We were all famished and could smell the delicious food waiting just outside the doors.

When Morty finished speaking, judging from the literal stampede toward the buffet line, you'd have thought that we all hadn't eaten in days. The food was a dream. Beef tenderloin, fresh-made crepes, curried pork chops, puff pastries--we were in heaven. Forget networking, most of the students were hell bent on taking full advantage of the catered food--oh, and did I mention the open bar?

Even better than the food were the downright luxurious bathrooms. Western toilets! Hand towels!? SOAP?! It was better than Christmas.

We were up bright and early the next morning to climb the Great Wall with Morty and company. Having volunteered to go on the early bus too pick up Morty and his entourage, I got to spend the two hour bus ride chatting with Morty and doing crosswords with Northwestern bigwigs. Totally worth getting up early for.

The rest of the day was spent climbing the Great Wall. This section of the wall was open to tourists, but that day it was cloudy and overcast, so we had the wall to ourselves.

I'll be the first to admit that I was completely star struck by Morty. He has this sort of larger than life persona amongst Northwestern students, and after spending an extended amount of time with him, I can say that he definitely lived up to my expectations. He was gracious and down-to-earthy and happily agreed to pose for pictures with students.

The president has students over for dinner all the time, but how many get to climb the GREAT WALL with him? It was really an incredibly unique environment to spend time with someone as important to Northwestern as President Schapiro and definitely something I'll never forget.