On behalf of Alpha Epsilon Delta's Executive Board, I am excited to invite you to attend the 36th National AED Convention to be held at the Union Station Hyatt Regency St. Louis, Missouri March 9-12, 2006. Known as the "Gateway to the American West", St. Louis has a long history of bringing people together from across theUS and around the world so it is the perfect place to hold the 2006 convention-
"Gateway to Your Future". Convention activities and lodging will be at the beautifully restored St. Louis Union Station. On September 1, 1894, St. Louis Union Station opened as the largest, most beautiful terminal in the United States. At a cost of $6.5 million dollars, the Station's main feature was the Grand Hall decorated with gold leafing, Romanesque arches, 65-foot barrel vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. After World War II, train travel declined and
the last train pulled out of Union Station in 1978. After years of neglect, Oppenheimer Properties restored Union Station at a cost of $150 million dollars. Today, it is once again a thriving, beautiful St. Louis asset. Considered "a city within a city", Union Station spans over eleven acres and is an urban marketplace with a variety of specialty shops, stores, restaurants, a one-acre lake, and four active train tracks, as well as a number of public spaces for
special events, concerts and community activities. Our goal for the convention is to provide you with innovative ways to explore your interest in health care and have a GREAT time in the process! We have the convention packed with information sessions to help you with the application process: Financing Your Education, Writing Your Personal Statement,
Interviewing, and the computerized MCAT. Interactive workshops on topics like Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, and Diagnostic Tools in Optometry will give you a chance to explore various health careers. A new activity at convention this year is the Service Component. In keeping with AED's mission as a service organization as well as a scholastic honor society, we will be spending part of Friday organizing and completing several service projects around the St. Louis
area. Read on to learn what you and your chapter can do now to be ready for this part of the convention activities. Finally, we haven't forgotten that convention is also a time to make new friends and have fun. From the opening reception when you will be able to Salsa the Night Away to the Convention Retrospective at the closing banquet, ample opportunities abound for meeting new people and having fun. I hope each of you will mark your calendars today and make plans with your chapter members to meet us in St. Louis for the 2006 AED convention and find the "Gateway to your Future"! Sharon L. Schnarre, National Vice President | 
