Overcoming Adversity

For most of us on the planet, we have had to deal with adversity one or more times in our lives. Thuy decided to make this the theme of our May 8, 2014 meeting of Top of the Hill Toastmasters. Fittingly, Pam, the Grammarian for this meeting chose misfortune as the word of the day.

Roger started us off with a project from the Interpretive Reading Advanced Manual - Project # 3, The Monodrama. The title was "Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address -- Saturday, March 4, 1865." Bringing us this bit of history from 199 years ago was quite interesting, especially considering the similarities of social issues then and now. 

Catherine followed with her first speech at Toastmasters, the Ice Breaker. After all, adversity is the Ice Breaker's middle name. Catherine chose to break tradition and not tell us about herself, but rather to talk about a topic that is near and dear to her heart, a matter of great importance to her - a healthy lifestyle. She showed a degree of confidence and poise not common to most giving their first speech.

Joel continued the theme in the Table Topics session giving five of our members to reflect on adversities in our lives and how we overcame them. Fred wrapped up the evening as General Evaluator with presentations by Vangie and Werner on the two speakers.

Next meeting: May 15 at the Castro Valley Moose Lodge at 7 p.m. Why not drop by for a little entertainment, a little education, and the camaraderie that Toastmasters provides.