dinner with NYU President John Sexton

back in october, I entered a lottery to attend a special group dinner with the president of my university.  a few days ago, while in class, I received an email letting me know that i had been chosen to attend.  I didn't even remember that I had signed up for the lottery since it was so long ago but I was really excited.

The event took place in the university penthouse, located on the 18th and 19th floors of 37 washington square west.  john sexton doesn't even live there so they just use the space for special events.  the views from up there were unlike any other I've seen in new york so far.  since greenwich village is in a relatively "short" part of manhattan, you could see all of midtown (empire state building included) in one direction and all of downtown in the other.  

john sexton spoke to the group of 20 undergraduates for nearly 4 hours.  the dinner was scheduled to be from 6:30-8:30 but didn't end until 10:30.  john began by telling us pretty much his entire life story all the way from his childhood in brooklyn to being the current president and everything in between.  throughout his storytelling, he would pause and use the events of his life to illustrate an important lesson he wanted us to remember.  by the end of the night, i was incredibly proud of what he had accomplished not only for himself but also for nyu.  and yes, he gave me one of his famous hugs.

no big deal.

the view of midtown

downtown