Welcome back to the OLLI Community News email. Starting this week, I will be sending a newsletter each Wednesday.

I wanted to begin by introducing myself as the new director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. My name is Amanda Rhodes, and I am a lifelong St. Louisan. In case you are curious, I went to high school at Fox in Arnold, Missouri. I also attended the University of Missouri Columbia and received my bachelor of social work before returning to St. Louis to pursue my MSW at WashU's Brown School.

It has been quite a journey to get to OLLI, though I have been watching the growth and development of this program for almost a decade now. I am so impressed by the dedication to peer learning and sharing of experience that OLLI members continue to bring to the classroom, in-person or virtual, each term!

As we are now just a few days into the summer term, I am grateful for everyone who has stuck with OLLI and continued to engage with classes on Zoom. I want to say a special thank you to our facilitators and moderators who fearlessly lead discussions and presentations to ensure continued learning. As well as a big thanks to Denise Zona who has been our constant through this transition. The summer term is full of interesting courses as well as Friday afternoon specials throughout the month of July. I look forward to continuing to sit in on and learn a bit more about the structure, purpose, and community formed in these classes.

As we look forward to the fall term, we are hopeful for a return to in-person learning for many courses. I appreciate your patience as we continue to navigate an uncertain environment while keeping the safety and wellbeing of members as our top priority. Please continue to watch the weekly update for more information as it becomes available.

We also have a great set of courses planned for the fall. Please watch for course listings to be posted online in August. Online registration will open on September 1, 2021.

I am grateful for the template Katie Compton set forth for this community news update, and I look forward to continuing to share with this community the photos, poems, articles, and videos shared by our members. Please continue to share them with me at amandarhodes@wustl.edu.

For this first issue, I have decided to share one of my favorite poems about taking on new beginnings with purpose as I embark on this journey with you all.