Author: LaRae Bakerink

What are you looking forward to this coming year? I know I’ve been impatiently waiting to see all of my Mensa friends and family in person. It’s not that we haven’t been connected, we have been well   connected online. What I’ve really missed is the face to face with others, seeing the person smile and react to our conversation and reading their body language. The ability to spend quality time in each other’s company and laugh. The greatest thing about our gatherings are the people

REMEMBER THE GIDDY feeling of running races or sprints on a track or playground at school: crouched down, heart beating, feet spread just right with toes curled, looking around at the competition, wondering who will reach the finish line first? That’s how I’m feeling about the prospect of getting together with my family and friends at upcoming Mensa gatherings. We are all waiting for the starting gun to fire so we can get running. I know I’m ready, and I bet you are too.

AS WE LOOK toward the reopening of the world, I look forward to seeing, or meeting for the first time, some of the members who have positively affected my Mensa experience. We are all different, but most of us join Mensa for a few similar reasons: to meet like minds, to engage in those oh-so-unique conversations, to prove something to ourselves or to others

AT A NEW beginning and a with tough year behind us, now is the right time to consider making some changes. We have so much to look forward to this year. Vaccinations are starting to roll out, and that makes us raring to go plan for events later this year. Eventually, we’ll be meeting in person and hugging our friends and Mensa family members. With social distancing restrictions, we haven’t been able to provide regular testing to potential candidates; however, we are making progress

WE ARE FINALLY past 2020, praises and huzzah all around. Most of us have looked forward to 2021 and returning to a somewhat normal existence. It is time to forge ahead and prepare for a fulfilling year and a better time with our friends, family, and gatherings. With that in mind, I’d like to share some of the ongoing and upcoming projects we are working on to make our organization better. As has already been announced, Private Testing with Prometric is up and running.

SEEING THE END of this year coming up is one of the happiest parts of this year! I haven’t thought about wishing for time to go faster since I was a child — either while waiting for Christmas to finally get here or during those last two months before I was old enough to get a driver’s license. Patience is not one of my strong suits, and waiting to get through this pandemic so I can hug and visit family and friends has been

2020 HASN’T been the best year for us, we do have a reason to celebrate. It is the 60th anniversary of the founding of American Mensa, our diamond jubilee anniversary. It was on Sept. 30, 1960, that the founding meeting of what would become American Mensa took place in the home of Peter A. Sturgeon. There were 22 members of Mensa living in the United States at that time, and five of them attended the meeting at Peter’s home in Brooklyn. Can you imagine

In this time of COVID-19, I worry about the fact that we haven’t been able to see our friends and family in Mensa. Which got me to reminiscing about some of the events I’ve attended and members that I have met over the years. I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting some amazing people due to my Mensa membership. I will always remember my first impression, the two proctors who provided the Mensa test. Margaret Lowry and Joan Johnson were delightful and friendly

There's a weird dichotomy in being a Mensa volunteer. I’m a member and want to have all the things that members have — fun, friends, exciting opportunities for different events — but as a leader, I’m called to look at the big picture for the health and the future of the organization. As are all the AMC members. Our membership numbers were up slightly this year, but most recent years have seen small declines. Because we are listening to both members and those who

“One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode.” – Ron Weasley from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix That is how I currently feel, about to explode. Right now, I’m angry, ashamed, sad, deflated, lost, hopeful, searching, lonely, optimistic, and scared. What makes it more difficult is that I am unable to reach out to friends and family to talk and hug it out. It was bad enough when the lockdowns began. The initial shock of having to stay at home took some