“Need-to-Call-Mom” Moments

Nine weeks.  The first twenty-seven are down, and I just have nine to go.  This is the first day back after Spring Break.  I feel right at home, but man, oh man, am I missing Fairbanks.

Skiing/ Snowboarding at Moose Mountain during Christmas Break – Fairbanks, December 2015

I had the three months of summer before I got on the plane in August, and I had a month for Christmas break.  Two-thirds of this year have been spent in Lacey now, and that will be the story for the next three years.  Here I am, putting numbers and statistics into my college experience.  Why?  To better understand what I am accomplishing here?  No.  That is not an accurate representation of what I am gaining from SMU.  I will save the numbers for my economics and calculus classes, because I think of this year by all of the friends I’ve met and memories I’ve made.

Making the Dean’s List was fantastic news to me, and it reflected all of the hard work that I had put into my classes that first semester.  When I think of this later, I will not think of every test and assignment, but rather what I felt when I went up to my door and saw my name on the certificate.  That was a “need-to-call-mom” moment if I ever had one.  “Need-to-call-mom” moments are an excellent way to think about college.

I was surprised that I had made the Dean’s list for the Fall semester! -January 2016

Mom is always my greatest supporter, and she has been with me every step of the way until this year.  It should be noted that when I say “Need-to call-mom”, that includes dad too!  I think that until this year, I didn’t realize what my family meant to me because they were always there.  Now they are far away from me, including my two little brothers.  “Need-to-call-mom” moments are important because it shows the moment was more important than a regular Facebook post, or tweet.  It would have been something that you would want to celebrate with the whole family.  Along with academic achievements, these moments included an exciting track meet, any time I would go and explore a new city, getting an on-campus job with The Belltower,

“A Trip to Tracktown” published in the school newspaper. -February 2016

or completing an interesting project for a class.  Mom isn’t just there for the good times, however.  She is also there for the rough spots in life.

Recently, the leadership positions on campus were announced and I was greatly anticipating to be selected as a Norcia mentor.  Unfortunately, I was not chosen, but was offered a position to be an Orientation Leader.  I would have loved to be an OL, and hope that I can at some point, but the job requires me to stay on campus over the summer, so I had to turn down the position for now.  Initially, I was pretty upset by the news, but I had to let it go.  Nevertheless, it was a “need-to-call-mom” moment.  By talking to her, I was able to visualize the big picture and see that not only had I already had a great year, but that I had many more opportunities to come.  Just because I will not be a Norcia mentor next year, doesn’t mean I can’t be a leader in the Saint Martin’s community, and nothing is stopping me from applying for the position again next year.

It would be easy to start distancing myself from leadership programs on campus but that is not what this experience is supposed to do to me.  I can see that the Norcia program is very tough to get into, but this is strengthening me.  I will be improving my skills for another year and be ready to earn my spot next year.  Until then, I will continue to work to find my place at Saint Martin’s, and give back to the community that is giving so much to me.  Oh, and of course, update mom along the way.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew