Toastmasters Speech #1- Ice Breaker
Fellow Members and Guests
Let’s begin with some trivia- Who knows the main character’s name from Lord of the Rings? How about his best friend? What race is Frodo? And finally, where does Frodo Baggins live? As many of you already know, the Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favorite movies. Today I’d like to share some of who I am with all of you … and just how much this movie (and story) are intertwined in my life.
I am recently married- a little over a month ago, I married Chris Sunderland, a man I have known for 6 years and have dated for 5 of those years. …And I met Chris through Lord of the Rings- let me explain. I started the job I was working previous to AgileTek in the summer of 2000. I was going through a lot of transition in my life- I was going through a divorce, I had moved to a new apartment and started a new job where I didn’t know anyone at all. Since I didn’t know anyone to go to lunch with, in the beginning I would often take my book to read in the lunchroom or at the park bench in the back of the building. One day, as I was riding the elevator back to my floor after lunch, I rode up with a co-worker I sort of recognized. He noticed that I was reading Lord of the Rings and asked me about it. He said he had read it and that his best friend was actually just reading it for the first time as well. That was the day I met my now husband. (Incidentally, they are his favorite movies as well ;)
The reason I was reading the book was because one of the most important people in my life had recommended it to me. Mr. Albert Sowa was a high school math teacher of mine who I kept in touch with after high school and is a good friend to me to this day. I was on the math team in high school and towards the end of my sophomore year, I expressed interest in learning more math over the summer. Mr. Sowa was pretty surprised and told me that if I really would like to, he would teach me some math over the summer. Most kids’ summers were filled with camps, vacations and activities, but I came from a low income family where we did none of those things. For me, summer was boring after the first month with nothing to do. Mr. Sowa followed through with his promise and came each and every Saturday morning to pick me up. We went to the local library and I learned all about matrices and the theory of Algebra. During those weeks, Mr. Sowa was not only my mentor, but a kind friend who listened to me talk about my family troubles, financial and otherwise. When the summer was over, Mr. Sowa gave me a book to read: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. I took the book home, lost it and frankly forgot all about it.
In my senior year, Mr. Sowa and some fellow teachers brought many students on a “senior trip ski trip” to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go cross country skiing. I did not have the $60 they were asking from students- and of course the 5-day trip cost much more than that- the teachers would personally foot the extra bill in order for low income students to be able to have this experience. The year following my high school graduation, I was invited to attend the trip again. I decided to go and since then, have never missed a trip… and it has been 15 years.
For the ski trip in January of 2000, 10 years from the time the book was given to me, I finally had picked up and read the Hobbit. I wanted to be able to discuss the book with Mr. Sowa on our trip. When I brought up the book, Mr. Sowa immediately asked me if I remembered this small insignificant event that happened in the book, where the main character Bilbo finds this ring and puts it in his pocket. He said to remember that event because it was important later in the sequel. Since I enjoyed the story of the Hobbit, he recommended that I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy… which I finally got to doing that summer at my new job, which is when I met my husband.
Yes, I do credit Mr. Sowa for getting my husband and I together through Lord of the Rings. I also credit him with giving me the travel bug. As a child, we didn’t travel much and I never went on an actual vacation. I was 24 years old when I went on my first airplane ride. The ski trips to Michigan were like a world away and I enjoyed the different perspective. As the years went on, I joined Mr.Sowa on hiking trips to Michigan and Canada, which I still go to each year. I loved traveling so much that I made it a goal to go on a trip once a month… I don’t often meet that goal, but I sure have fun trying! My next vacation goal? To make it to New Zealand, where Lord of the Rings was filmed.
I hope you’ve learned a little more about me from this talk and why I’m such a fan of Lord of the Rings. Namárië (which means Farewell in Elven).
Let’s begin with some trivia- Who knows the main character’s name from Lord of the Rings? How about his best friend? What race is Frodo? And finally, where does Frodo Baggins live? As many of you already know, the Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favorite movies. Today I’d like to share some of who I am with all of you … and just how much this movie (and story) are intertwined in my life.
I am recently married- a little over a month ago, I married Chris Sunderland, a man I have known for 6 years and have dated for 5 of those years. …And I met Chris through Lord of the Rings- let me explain. I started the job I was working previous to AgileTek in the summer of 2000. I was going through a lot of transition in my life- I was going through a divorce, I had moved to a new apartment and started a new job where I didn’t know anyone at all. Since I didn’t know anyone to go to lunch with, in the beginning I would often take my book to read in the lunchroom or at the park bench in the back of the building. One day, as I was riding the elevator back to my floor after lunch, I rode up with a co-worker I sort of recognized. He noticed that I was reading Lord of the Rings and asked me about it. He said he had read it and that his best friend was actually just reading it for the first time as well. That was the day I met my now husband. (Incidentally, they are his favorite movies as well ;)
The reason I was reading the book was because one of the most important people in my life had recommended it to me. Mr. Albert Sowa was a high school math teacher of mine who I kept in touch with after high school and is a good friend to me to this day. I was on the math team in high school and towards the end of my sophomore year, I expressed interest in learning more math over the summer. Mr. Sowa was pretty surprised and told me that if I really would like to, he would teach me some math over the summer. Most kids’ summers were filled with camps, vacations and activities, but I came from a low income family where we did none of those things. For me, summer was boring after the first month with nothing to do. Mr. Sowa followed through with his promise and came each and every Saturday morning to pick me up. We went to the local library and I learned all about matrices and the theory of Algebra. During those weeks, Mr. Sowa was not only my mentor, but a kind friend who listened to me talk about my family troubles, financial and otherwise. When the summer was over, Mr. Sowa gave me a book to read: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. I took the book home, lost it and frankly forgot all about it.
In my senior year, Mr. Sowa and some fellow teachers brought many students on a “senior trip ski trip” to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to go cross country skiing. I did not have the $60 they were asking from students- and of course the 5-day trip cost much more than that- the teachers would personally foot the extra bill in order for low income students to be able to have this experience. The year following my high school graduation, I was invited to attend the trip again. I decided to go and since then, have never missed a trip… and it has been 15 years.
For the ski trip in January of 2000, 10 years from the time the book was given to me, I finally had picked up and read the Hobbit. I wanted to be able to discuss the book with Mr. Sowa on our trip. When I brought up the book, Mr. Sowa immediately asked me if I remembered this small insignificant event that happened in the book, where the main character Bilbo finds this ring and puts it in his pocket. He said to remember that event because it was important later in the sequel. Since I enjoyed the story of the Hobbit, he recommended that I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy… which I finally got to doing that summer at my new job, which is when I met my husband.
Yes, I do credit Mr. Sowa for getting my husband and I together through Lord of the Rings. I also credit him with giving me the travel bug. As a child, we didn’t travel much and I never went on an actual vacation. I was 24 years old when I went on my first airplane ride. The ski trips to Michigan were like a world away and I enjoyed the different perspective. As the years went on, I joined Mr.Sowa on hiking trips to Michigan and Canada, which I still go to each year. I loved traveling so much that I made it a goal to go on a trip once a month… I don’t often meet that goal, but I sure have fun trying! My next vacation goal? To make it to New Zealand, where Lord of the Rings was filmed.
I hope you’ve learned a little more about me from this talk and why I’m such a fan of Lord of the Rings. Namárië (which means Farewell in Elven).
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