Notes from 45th International STC Conference
Anaheim, California, May 17-20, 1998

Are You Ready to Soar Like an Eagle?
Excerpt from Wednesday, May 20 Edition of Conference Currents,
the Daily Newsletter

Lance Gelein
Incoming STC President

On this, the last day of the 45th Annual Conference, look back over the past few days of informative meetings, edifying presentations, and new friends made, and ask yourself, "Are you ready to soar like an eagle?"

In one of the many publications that I receive, I read a story of an eagle that was raised by a farmer. The farmer found the eagle chick deserted by its mother and placed it with his chickens. The chickens raised the [eaglet] as one of their own [chicks]. The eagle grew up pecking for grain in the dirt just as all chickens do. It knew of nothing different.

A zoologist heard the story of this eagle living as a chicken and went to the farm. Seeing the eagle, the zoologist told the farmer that the eagle needed to act as an eagle. The farmer replied that the eagle was now a chicken and could never be anything else. This reply angered the zoologist, who insisted that the farmer allow him to prove that the eagle was still an eagle. The farmer lamented but gave the zoologist three days to prove him wrong.

On the first day, the zoologist showed slides of what an eagle should be doing. The eagle went back to pecking in the dirt for grain. The second day, he lectured the eagle on how great eagles are and what a difference they can make. Again the eagle returned to pecking in the dirt for grain. The frustrated zoologist finally decided to take the eagle to the top of a nearby mountain. He placed the eagle on the edge of a cliff where he could see the majestic valley below, feel the wind on his face, and stretch out his fifteen-foot wings. The eagle looked at the zoologist and smiled; then he leaped off the cliff and soared over the valley below.

What we've learned over the past few days of the conference can only be used if you're willing to apply it and leap at opportunities as they avail themselves. I hope you'll soar like eagles.