Adventures await those who apply for awards and grants

By Mimi Bunton, Carrollton-Farmers Branch ATPE member
  

I’ll never forget the excitement I felt when I heard my name called as the winner of the 2006 Ben Shilcutt Plus Club $1,000 grand-prize drawing. The prize is given to one of ATPE’s top recruiters, who are recognized each year at Leader U. I had worked hard all year to encourage colleagues to become ATPE members.

When my name was called, an uncontrollable scream emerged from somewhere deep inside, and a smile took over my face. This was the grandest prize I had ever won. Before the drawing, I had decided that if I won, I would accept a colleague’s invitation to travel with her to her family home in Thailand.

The trip took 26 hours, but I slept much of the way over. Bangkok was busy and teeming with humanity. There was a strange mixture of old and new on streets filled with heavy traffic. The sidewalks were crammed with vendors selling everything imaginable. Some of the people, in a centuries-old tradition, carried long poles balanced on their shoulders, each end of the pole laden with a heavy burden. They weaved in and out of the temporary booths with less care than if they had been on an empty country road.

I was in Thailand for a month and traveled to such unique places as a Buddhist temple buried in the base of a tree, the real bridge on the River Kwai and a beach near Phuket still haunted by the ghosts of the tsunami. I rode an elephant through the jungle and walked with a tiger while stroking its back. I could fill this magazine with tales of my incredible experiences. (I took nearly 600 photographs.)

All of this was made possible because of two things: the generosity of my friend Arpassorn Hroch and her family, and the check from ATPE. Although I love the idea of traveling to faraway, exotic places, I would never have made such a trip if it had not been for Hroch’s invitation. And I could not have taken the trip without the grand-prize money.

This isn’t the only time I’ve been able to see the world thanks to an award or grant. A Region 10 ATPE scholarship enabled me to study Spanish in Costa Rica for a month. That trip also stretched my imagination and filled my memory book with countless stories for my students, family and friends.

I encourage all of you to take advantage of the opportunities this organization and others offer you for realizing your dreams. Take the time to apply for awards and grants. You never know when you’ll win—and you, too, might get a kick out of riding an elephant.

Bunton took more than 600 photos, including this Chao Phraya river scene.
  

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