“Do you know who your real mom is?” As an Asian adoptee growing up in Southlake, I am often asked this question. There is no doubt in my mind regarding the identity of my “real” mom. She is Lucy Drenka, and she deserves to be recognized as Southlake’s Best Mom, because this is what she has been to me for 22 years.

Motherhood is more than an inherent right. It is an ability and capacity for love, which transcends biology. My “real” mom is not the woman who gave birth to me but the one who held, nurtured, taught, and loved me unconditionally; who has nursed me through illness, accidents, and broken hearts.

Standing at barely 5’ tall, Lucy Drenka is living proof that good things come in small packages. What she lacks in height, she makes up in size of heart. Although I did not inherit her petite frame, she bequeathed to me her appreciation for the arts. A skilled pianist, she supported my love of music, never missing one of my choir and theater performances. Above all; she taught my younger brother and I the value of education.

There’s a saying, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” Well, if you have children in this school district who enjoy reading…thank my mom. She has been a librarian here for nearly a decade.

Mark Terry, principal of Eubanks Intermediate, says that she is “committed to developing a love of reading in each child she sees,” and that he often receives “testimonials from parents whose kids have never picked up a book and are suddenly asking to go to the library or bookstore.”

She organizes the annual “Battle of the Books” competition, which fosters teamwork while increasing students’ desire to read, and also teaches the “Big Six” technique, which makes research more fun and accessible to students, and “prepares students for high school and beyond,” said Terry.

Beyond instilling a love of reading in her own students, she encourages them to share that love by giving back to the
community. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, she organized a book drive where her students collected 2,194 used books, which were given to children in the affected areas. Her benevolent spirit is a constant inspiration to all.

Her lessons are with me even miles away while I attend college in Chicago, encouraging me to fight for social justice. At times when I often felt ostracized because of my ethnicity and differences, her color-blind love provided a constant reminder that I belong, teaching me the importance of embracing diversity. It is this same compassion and openness that she shares with her students.

In the words of novelist, Elizabeth Hardwick, “The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.”

Lucy Drenka, my real mom, did not give birth to me. She has given me infinitely more.

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Intro and Essay

Montclair, NJ (Vocus) May 18, 2009 — Bradford announced today the launch of their new and improved website,  http://www.bradfordlicensing.com. With user friendly design, image galleries to showcase new licensed products for clients and an interactive  news page, Bradford hopes that the site’s dynamic content will allow visitors to find the latest information with ease. The launch coincides with the 2009 Licensing International Expo, where Bradford plans to unveil exciting plans and partnerships for their brands. “Exhibiting at the show allows us to sit and meet with all our partners worldwide in one central location. This provides enormous benefits for collaboration with our global licensing programs, helping to highlight the successes and expand the products into new markets,” said Michelle Minieri, President of Bradford.

As exclusive international licensing agent for PepsiCo Beverages, Bradford will reveal “The Pepsi Brand, Refreshed” merchandise and style guide exclusive to international licensees. Go beyond the apparent to trendy new designs, applications, and product concepts and discover an emerging fashion brand for today’s generation – completely refreshed! Bradford will also discuss the expansion of the Pepsi brand stand alone shops throughout Asia.

Bradford client, Shaw Family Archives, an extensive collection of photography spanning over 60 years of celebrity imagery, will be showcasing products from some of their top-selling licensees. The Shaw Family Archives licensing program contains a collection of rare and personal images taken of Marilyn Monroe by her personal photographer, and friend, Sam Shaw. The licensing program offers its partners an easy to access online
gallery of high-resolution images as well as intimate, behind the scenes anecdotes as told by Sam Shaw’s two daughters, recalling their personal encounters with the starlet. The Shaw sisters will be at the booth to share their stories and meet with other Marilyn fans.

“Sam had a relationship with the Marilyn Monroe fans and we are building upon that by using his iconic photos on products so that Marilyn  admirers all over the world will be able to enjoy the images just as we do,” said the sisters Edie Shaw Marcus and Meta Shaw Stevens.

This year, Bradford Licensing brings a piece of Aspen Mountain to their booth. Aspen, Colorado, the ski resort renowned for its natural beauty and rich history, has inspired an exciting luxury lifestyle brand. In the tradition of countless visitors and residents of the city, the Aspen® brand represents a lifestyle of environmental and social consciousness, refined taste, and a love of the outdoors. Aspen Jewelry & Watches, founded by
Netherlands-based brand specialist, Rene van Ass, launched its first timepiece, Aspen One, in February of this year. The launch party was held in Aspen and the first watch given to model and businesswoman, Elle Macpherson, who in turn donated her gift to two area nonprofits: Challenge Aspen and Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (AVSC). The timepiece, whose retail value starts at US$38,900, will be showcased at Bradford’s booth. The precious Swiss-made timepiece, offered in four-color combinations of 18 kt white or rose gold, carries unique features that  communicate elements specific to Aspen.

Other top brands to be presented at the show are 7Up, Mountain Dew, The City of Beverly Hills, Happy House, and PEZ Candy.

About Bradford Licensing LLC:
Bradford Licensing LLC is a global licensing firm partnering with some of the world’s best-known logos and trademarks. Established in 1986, Bradford is a full-service licensing agency with worldwide brand extension capabilities. Bradford develops licensing programs based on the leading  corporate brands, television series and characters, fashion brands, sporting events and non-profit organizations. Bradford is based in Northern New Jersey and maintains a network of agents in all major foreign countries, including Europe, the Asia Pacific Rim, and South America.  Current Bradford clients include Pepsi, 7Up, Mountain Dew, City of Beverly Hills, Aspen Colorado, Marilyn Monroe by Shaw Family Archives, PEZ Candy among others.

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Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
For college graduates presented with complicated choices and opportunities, the Career Center has developed a new tool to help students navigate their future. The Career Roadmap helps students and alumni, from first-time job seekers to career changers, identify where they are in the career management process and what they should do next. Using four cyclical steps, it helps anyone at any stage of their career find their way to career success.
“The Career Roadmap was developed because we felt students needed a framework to help them do the right thing at the right time and in the appropriate order,” said Gillian Steele, director of DePaul’s Career Center, who used something similar to the Roadmap with people in
transition and found it was helpful in “giving them direction when they felt lost.”

The first step of the Career Roadmap, Know Yourself, is about self-awareness. In this phase people reflect on their interests, skills, values, etc. in order to determine what type of career is the best fit. The Career Center offers advising as well as various assessments such as Choices, the Myers- Brigg Type Indicator and Strong Interest Inventory to help people during this stage.
Step two, Explore and Choose Options, delves into the choices that will help in moving forward on a chosen career path. Networking events allow students and alumni to meet with professionals to learn more about careers in their industry. Career and academic advisors can give guidance regarding academic courses relevant to the field. The Alumni Sharing Knowledge program offers the  opportunity to meet with career mentors in related industries who have graduated from DePaul. Career Center workshops can also give insight into different career options.

For those who have already investigated their career options, the third step, Gain Knowledge and Experience, involves obtaining the
experience necessary to begin a job search. This is the time to have your resume reviewed, gain experience in a part-time, internship or volunteer position, or to get an inside look at a company’s operations by participating in a job shadow through the Alumni Sharing
Knowledge program. Career mentors also conduct practice interviews to help prepare students and alumni for the final step – the job search process.
In the final step of the Roadmap, job seekers learn to Put It All Together – The Job Search Process. Students and alumni learn how to market their skills and show potential employers how they will add value to an organization. Advanced workshops are offered to cover job search strategies, salary negotiation, how to build a portfolio, and more. The Career Center also hosts Job Fairs and On-Campus Interviews to aid in the search for the perfect job.
While the Career Roadmap was designed to help students get started on their career development, its relevance doesn’t end once a job is secured. “The Roadmap is a tool that can be used beyond college – a career management tool,” notes Steele. Even established professionals can use the Roadmap’s steps as a guide to evaluate their career, decide whether to change career paths, and learn how to approach a new job search.
The Career Roadmap allows DePaul students and alumni of all ages and experience levels to find Career Center services tailored to their needs. Download your copy at http://careercenter.depaul.edu. Need an Introduction to Career Center Services? Peer Career Advisors are available for walk-in appointments and can provide an overview of services including eRecruiting, On-Campus Interviewing (OCI), Career Mentors, Job and Internship listings, Resume and Cover Letter Reviews and more!

all artwork on site belongs to artist

Interviewed for brand profile on Licensing.biz

“[Marilyn Monroe] was truly a pioneer of all that is beauty and glamour, it would be very difficult for a star of today to achieve a legacy on these grounds and ‘replace’ Marilyn,” states Bradford Licensing’s Stephanie Drenka confidently.

What began as an internship assignment to attend a Career Center workshop of my choosing became a rewarding experience that has helped me solidify my future career path. The Myers-Brigg Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment and workshop helped me identify my career interests and pursue post-graduation career possibilities with clearer focus. Career assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Strong Interest Explorer, are tools

that can help you identify career paths that best suit your strengths and interests. The results can be helpful for students and alumni in all phases of career planning. For example, for students seeking direction in choosing a career path, the MBTI provides suggestions on careers and work environments that would suit their preferences. The MBTI is also great as a team development tool for those already in or about to enter the workplace. Since the results help identify communication style and preferences, they can explain why you may have conflicts with others and how to resolve those conflicts.

Even before I attended the MBTI workshop, I felt confident that it would be a worthwhile experience. The night before the workshop, I received an e-mail from facilitator/career advisor Ed Childs. In it, he mentioned his 18 years of experience working with the MBTI assessment, and that it was even the subject of his doctoral dissertation. Childs was introduced to the MBTI during his senior year in 1989 by a professor and has been “fascinated by it ever since.”

The next day, as Childs introduced the workshop and gave an overview of the Myers-Brigg Type Indicator and its history, I realized that it was much more than a mere “personality test.” Based on the typological theories of Carl Jung, the MBTI was developed by a mother and daughter team, Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers.

The assessment’s results are based on four pairs of preferences or dichotomies (Extroverted- Introverted, Sensing-Intuitive, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving). There are 16 possible combinations of the four pairs of preferences. As Childs explained the different preferences, he had workshop attendees self-select which ones they felt described them most accurately to see how those choices would compare to the results of the assessment.

My results, “ENTJ,” surprised me initially. I felt the preferences did not describe me accurately. So, Childs offered suggestions on other
types to read about, and encouraged me to go with my first instinct about the preferences to get the most efficient result. In the end, I settled upon INTJ after reading the differences between extroverted and introverted characteristics.

For those workshop attendees, like me, who felt conflicted about which type best fit them or anyone with questions or wanting more information, Childs offered to stay afterwards to help make sense of the results. He also encouraged attendees to meet with a career advisor for further discussion.

“Honestly, I enjoy presentations more than anything; there’s a good value in it for the student. But, if you really want to go in depth with your career exploration, make an appointment with your career advisor,” says Childs.

All of DePaul’s Career Advisors are trained to administer the MBTI assessment. Since attending the MBTI workshop, I have been able to narrow down the career options I had been considering to the ones that  compliment my “type” and pursue them more intentionally. It was evident from the workshop that advisor Ed Childs enjoys what he does, and wants to help students find similar satisfaction in their careers. I now feel like I’m on my way to doing so.

The Holt gala and auction is many things — a silent auction, a chance to hear an enlightening speaker and eat some yummy hors d’oeuvres.  Above all, it’s a reminder that even in a small town outside of Dallas, we can change the lives of children waiting for their forever home.

I first attended Holt’s Dallas benefit event in 2010 after receiving an invitation from Kournti Rader, Holt’s adult adoptee outreach coordinator, who I had met at a gathering of Korean adoptees in NYC. I knew very little about the event at the time, but I did know that the benefit included an auction and dinner hosted at Paradise Cove, one of the most beautiful and highly coveted event venues in the DFW area.

Attendees for the upcoming event in November can expect traditional fundraising activities. The silent auction will feature several exciting donated items – restaurant gift certificates, spa packages, artwork and more. And one lucky raffle winner will even win a two-night package from Hilton Hotels.

My hope is that even those who do not take home an auction item will feel as though they’ve left with something more than when they arrived.

The special guest speaker for the evening will be Dr. Margaret Fitch-Hauser, who will bring a unique perspective as both a recognized scholar and Holt adult adoptee.

Those attending the event for the first time will have the opportunity to learn more about Holt International, in general, and the Special Needs Adoption Fund, in particular. You will also get a chance to donate to this incredible fund, helping adoptive families bring their children home. Our long-time attendees will get to see how their support has helped the organization grow.

At last year’s event, I sat next to a fellow Korean adoptee who told me about her upcoming trip to Korea – it would be her first time back to her birth country. I also recognized an adoptive family who I had seen every week at church but never had an opportunity to meet until the benefit. My mom was my date for the evening, and she loved hearing stories of other adoptive parents in the community.

It was absolutely inspiring to be surrounded by people whose lives were all touched somehow by Holt’s mission, be it an adoptee, or an adoptive parent, sibling or friend, or someone who simply felt drawn to the call.

I can’t wait for this November’s event!

Do you feel drawn to the call? Do you want to learn more about the mission of Holt International? Join us for a night of fun, food, family and friends, all while benefiting Holt’s Special Needs Adoption Fund.