"We had to move him up because he was getting so many of the processes down that he was doing very well," said Monroe, the summer program's administrator. "Whereas most kids might be scared or intimidated, because it is a new thing, he was never scared. He was always ready to go, always polite and helpful."
The second story Monroe could tell, though she'd likely be modest about it, is her own. When I received a press release about the foundation's upcoming fundraiser — Wine Knot 2011, a wine-tasting event Saturday at the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club — and asked to speak to the person in charge, I expected a veteran of a few regattas with a decade of nonprofit experience.
Instead, the woman who answered the phone recommended that I contact Monroe, provided that I got a hold of her between classes at UCLA.
Monroe, a second-year economics and geography major, is 20 years old. She entered the sailing program at 7 and advanced through its four levels — beginning, intermediate, advanced and racing — by 13, then started working as a junior instructor over the summer. At 16, she got her U.S. Sailing certification as a small powerboat handler and instructor. By last year, she had moved up to head instructor, and this year, she plans to oversee the entire program while teaching her own crew.
Bill Wheeler, secretary of the foundation's Board of Directors, said Monroe got the administrator job because she has more than a decade of experience. If that experience started when she had barely passed the age of reason, well, 13 years is 13 years.
