The VP enters and introduces himself. I recognized him from beer gardens and from the off-campus pub we frequent. He mentions he must have met me somewhere before. They always seem to say that. Working in the department for 8 months is where they recognize me from, but I keep quiet. When we shake hands, I get a really flimsy response. Whoa, I guess I do come across as female. Or something. Perhaps I just shake too strongly. My friends all get me to open their twist-off bottles at parties... jeese sorry for having working farm-girl hands...

One by one, the executive arrive. Suit jackets. Receding hairlines on a couple of the MBA students. Numerous male PhD candidates. Only one other woman, her hair professionally swept back and up. Handshakes. Introductions. A couple of the men didn't even bother talking to me. I suppose my favourite t-shirt with a five-pointed star on the front and my flared jeans screamed "undergrad". I was the youngest in that room by a good 6 or 7 years.

The meeting begins. They all have amazingly clear voices and rich vocabularies. They talk business plans and networking. Legal issues. "The University advised us to not allow this to become derailed into an undergraduate beer-and-pizza club..." I wish for a cape of invisibility, "...but we still want a small percentage of undergraduate input."

Nobody mentioned a few key points that were my main concern. There was a lull. "Any other comments?" I had this feeling that I should just keep quiet. Be a good girl. Don't make a fool out of yourself. Your speaking-skills suck. So, I kept quiet.

And they passed around the pizza.

Immediately, a co-founder came up to me. The first time I met this guy we were playing shuffleboard on a friday night, completely drunk. "Hey, you are Shannon right? We are really excited to have you on the board... you are our link to the undergrads." I immediately started reeling off my ideas and beefs about what was going on. It wasn't my voice I heard coming out. It was clear. It was confident. The voice had some really good ideas!

The meeting wrapped up, and I said "Bye!" to a couple people I'd been talking with. Another limp handshake from the same guy. I tried to soften my grip but it still was much more aggresive than his. I went to unlock my bike, and one of the MBA students was in a dark corner gobbling down a piece of pizza he must have stolen from the meeting. So much for the intimidating Mr. Professional. I didn't feel so young right then. He got on his bike and pedelled furiously away. I followed quietly.