A Great First Weekend at Stanford!

Hello Abbey Road students, parents, and all other interested parties!

My name is Brian Bond and I am happy to greet you as the Program Director of the Summer 2012 Leadership Program at Stanford University.

Since arriving at Stanford on Thursday we've had a great time getting to know one another. The students comprise a truly international group, representative of the interconnectedness of our 21st century world. They hail from Russia, Northern and Southern China, Korea via Japan, South India via the Middle East and Canada, France, and the East and West coasts of the United States.

In addition to meeting one another, we've also had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the university's beautiful campus, the foggy city that is San Francisco, and the breathtaking vistas that seem to never end here in Northern California.

Today marks the first day of classes, with the students attending a morning lecture by Lonjezo Peter Hamisi on International Intervention, an afternoon lecture by Benoit Pelopidas on International Security, and an evening Leadership workshop with yours truly. To prepare, they spent Sunday night reading articles and completing other preparatory assignments.

I've included some photos (taken by our marketing intern Lizzy Kinnard) of the past few days in the hopes that you might live vicariously through our adventures.

Signing out,

Brian Bond