Hotel Park City, where the summit was held.
Why, hello there.
One lovely & almost immediate perk of my new position is travel. During my second week on the job, senior leadership were scheduled to take part in a three day summit in Park City for working on the strategic plan for WGU, both short-term & long-term. I felt very excited to be included. Thankfully, we carpooled so I didn’t have to white-knuckle my way through the Wasatch Mountains without knowing the area.
Little did I anticipate the beauty of the place & lodgings where things were held!
The sitting room of my own cottage. Whaaaaat?
The included mini-kitchen.
When I arrived at my own cottage with a view, I had to do a double-take because I couldn’t imagine that whole place was meant for only me. I mean. I’m just not used to the royal treatment, which betrays my working class background & youth, I guess. There was an adorable care package on the bed, a WGU Marmot windjacket, & a stunning view to absorb! This meant a lot, since it had been a crazy whirlwind moving to Utah in less than a month of the job offer.
So the sight of such tranquil posh digs (soaking tub, views, gas fireplaces) acted as a balm to a frenzied introvert’s soul.
View from the cottage.
Another glimpse of the view.
Exterior view.
Don’t get me wrong, we were very busy at Park City, listening to amazing minds & sharing cutting-edge ideas about how to transform online higher education. So the amount of time spent in the cottage was pretty limited, BUT I so greatly appreciated that my boss wanted me to be able to relax after so much hustle & bustle of moving. She’s very kind that way. She knew I’d appreciate the tub & fireplace in the evenings, which I certainly did.
The energy expended not only on mental strategy but in meeting new people (& so many so quickly) was enervating, even though everything was so lovely.
The lovely soaking tub.
The heavenly bed with care package waiting.
As you can imagine, I found this a quite lovely welcome to Utah. We will be returning to Park City in a month for the next round of strategic planning. I actually love this kind of deep thinking, & I’m excited to be at an institution that’s so focused on genuinely bettering the lives of forgotten, underserved students in the United States. From scholarship money to extremely low cost & completion times, WGU makes good on their commitment to expand access in truly substantive ways.
Fireplaces make everything better.
View in Park City.
Anyway more will come, but I wanted to make sure to update the blog, even though I’ve been dealing with unpacking & a norovirus-infected toddler. (Good thing I love you, kiddo.)
Hopefully, you’re finding Utah as charming as I have been so far. I feel like pinching myself all the time. It’s just so pretty here. The mountains. Oh, the mountains. They sing to my soul.
Park City sky.
More views.