91探花

91探花 will host the 2015 Opening Convocation on August 20 at 3:30 p.m. in the Broyhill Theatre of Hayes Auditorium. Each fall, students, faculty and staff come together for the afternoon to celebrate the beginning of a new academic year. Executive Director of Grandfather Mountain and Lees-91探花 alumnus Jesse Pope will give the keynote address titled Follow Your Passion, Find Your Success at this year’s Opening Convocation.

Pope is a living example of how following your passion can lead to a successful career. As a Lees-91探花 student planning a future teaching and coaching, he developed a passion for wildlife biology after taking a field course freshman year. Coupled with his love of the outdoors, a summer job as a backcountry ranger at Grandfather Mountain was a welcome post-graduation opportunity. After working his way to animal keeper and proposing a naturalist program which resulted in an additional 15,000 visiting students each year, Pope was promoted to Director of Education and Natural Resources. During his pursuit of a master’s degree in environmental biology, he developed a statewide climate change workshop to help educators overcome the barriers of teaching climate science in the classroom. In May of 2015, Pope was promoted to  Executive Director, a testament to his passion and dedication to wildlife, the outdoors and the Grandfather Mountain community.

We are thrilled to welcome Jesse back to campus for Opening Convocation and look forward to his inspirational keynote on Thursday.