My DE experience

by: Barbara Agin

I have been here at the League just about nine years (since July 2006) and as many of you know, I came from the dark side.

One of my first experiences at the League was handling registrations for a Supervisory Committee Conference. I showed up at a hotel in Long Branch, N.J. and met devoted volunteers who gave up their Saturday to educate themselves to better their credit unions—I was impressed.

Fast forward – I became comfortable with the industry and got to know many credit union professionals and so the story goes…

Along came Greg Michlig (June 2013), a guy from the Midwest, and he attends this Credit Union Development Educator class – CUDE. I had seen these initials before but had never really given it much thought. And then I was informed that Greg wanted Candice Nigro and I to attend a DE class in 2014.

The class was out of state – 8 full days – yikes – and in Madison, Wisconsin – double yikes.

Once enrolled, we received a welcome letter followed by various emails to inform us about the things we needed to know to prepare for the event, such as dress code and pre-work assignments. We also received a book that we were to read to help prepare for one of the pre-work assignments on the philosophy of credit unions.

Here is an excerpt from one email message: “Bring an open mind and a passion for credit unions – AND Pack very comfortable clothes and shoes. For most of the training jeans, sweatshirts, and khakis are fine or whatever is comfortable for you. For the final project date, please bring business clothes.”

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