This past Wednesday, I learned more than I ever thought I could at the Rose Cafe. Paul Wilcox was the esteemed speaker. What drew me to his talk was his credentials. He graduated from Eton College and Corpus Cristi, Cambridge. It amazed me so much I had to hear whatever he had to say, regardless of the topic. Little did I know it’d be about track and field.

He discussed the history of track and field in Cambridge/Oxford and the Ivy Leagues. I did not know how much history and monumental moments in track and field were created by graduates of even my own school. In my mind, I think of Cornell as a great school in academics but never really athletics. But when he talked about how one track and field star and Cornellian broke world record! Thats incredible! Especially with his British accent, Paul Wilcox was able to capture the very full audience and entertain us the entire time (which is very rare for an hour long talk).

Although I can continue to talk about his great talk in track and field, I was actually very interested in the first 5 minutes of introduction more. Paul Wilcox is a shipbroker! I was so amazed at his profession, for it is rare to be in attendance of a talk from a non-academic. His career path as a ship valuer is just so interesting. Not only is he a busy man in career, but he spends his time dedicated to preserving the history and value of the track and field community. He truly is an amazing person and has had an amazing life path.

Thank you so much for talking to us! I definitely recommend to hear him speak if anyone is able to.