NU Connects in Mexico City: 2020 Edition
The beginning of the year is a good time to gather, meet new people, share perspectives and opportunities for the months ahead. Perhaps this is why Northwestern University has chosen the third week of January to hold the flagship alumni event of the year: NU Connects.
Open to all Northwestern alumni, Northwestern Connects is an annual networking event held on the same night in cities across the globe. By the school’s own account, in the 2019 edition more than 2,000 alumni and friends gathered in 95 locations worldwide. The 2020 edition took place on January 23rd, and in Mexico City, 40 proud wildcats and friends met at Cantina La Imperial in Torre Reforma, in the heart of the capital.
The Mexican theme with a sophisticated and modern decor made La Imperial a perfect setting for the occasion. The attendees received name tags upon their arrival, with color-coded stickers depending on their field of work. While dominated by Kellogg and LLM graduates, the alumni in attendance — Mexicans and foreigners alike — came from various programs of study, including undergraduate programs, journalism, and marketing, among others, as well as from a broad range of graduating classes.
Very quickly, guests started intermixing and mingling, at first over some fine Luz Millar Roble 2018 tempranillo wine from Bodegas Lleiroso, courtesy of an alum in the wine industry (thank you, Federico!). The appetizers served, also merit a worthy mention — the mini panuchos topped with cochinita pibil were my personal favorite. It is quite plausible that CDMX was the tastiest NU Connects locale, as far as I’m concerned.
As the evening went on, more guests kept arriving and joining the conversations taking place across the room. Eventually, Alejandra Solís, co-president of NU-Kellogg Club of Mexico, took a moment to greet everyone on behalf of the club, talked about upcoming events, and, more importantly, proceeded with the most exciting part of the evening: the raffle. Club members organized this activity to give away a number of prizes (including a number of copies “The 11th Habit”, a book by renowned Kellogg Professor Andrew Sykes, as well as a watch, notebooks and NU pens) through a trivia game in which participants had to answer five multiple-choice questions about their Alma mater. The fastest, most informed of the bunch were the ones to take home the gold.
It was on this exciting note that the evening officially concluded, not without having invited all interested alumni to join the club and, whether formally or informally, propose ideas for events, help organizing one, or in general be an active part of the growing but tight-knit community that we hope Northwestern Alumni in Mexico City becomes.
Pablo García graduated from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences with a double major in International Relations and French in 2015.
