Rotary Ambassadorial scholar. Doug Williams

Doug Williams came today to speak to us.  He is our Ambassadorial scholar studying Economics at UBC.

He is from Germantown Tennessee on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.

Tennessee is famous for its Bar-B-Que food.  It is an old Southern town complete with a statue of a confederate soldier on a tall column in the centre of town and is always the tradition he is facing south with his back to the north.

His university town is Oxford where he studied.

He studied Literature and Economics there.

He is taking Economics here at UBC.

Tennessee was the home to the famous writer William Faulkner.

Unlike other famous writers of his day he stayed at home and wrote about his area.  Much of the area he wrote about is still the same today so you can travel around the area and see what he wrote about.

College Football is the main local sport and the tailgate parties before the match are an important event.

People come early and set up tents to Bar-B-Que for the whole family.

People dress up.  Long dresses for the ladies and suit and tie for the men.

You will see all kinds there from politicians to celebrities.

A good mix with everyone being very casual and friendly.

500 scholars every year are paid for from Rotary world wide.

Each student waits 18 months after applying to get accepted.

As a Rotary scholar you get very connected to the local community, both at home and where you are stationed.

He is doing a one year masters in economics at UBC.

There are 17 different nationalities in his economics class so that’s a good mix as well.

His favorite Bar-B-Que food is Pork ribs or Catfish with corn bread.

The speaker was thanked by Mary Stark.