TODAY'S BIG STORY: One month from today, my two youngest children will graduate from Mississippi State University on the same day in May! Spring Break has come and gone, and the last month of college is finally here. Senior year sounds almost old story and rubber stamp at this point; however, graduation day at Mississippi State hasn't always been a familiar tune.
Katie graduated from high school in 2005 and enrolled at the junior college in our area. So many high school graduates from our county go to this particular college that it is nicknamed 'the thirteenth year of high school.' That same year, Hurricane Katrina hit south Mississippi, and the college closed for almost two months. Those two months were two months too many for Katie, who had not embraced her thirteenth year of high school. In October of that year, she withdrew from junior college, moved to Memphis to live with her sister, and worked at J Crew during the holidays. In the spring of 2006, she was hired as a flight attendant at age 19.
In May 2006, her brother Matt graduated from high school and headed to the same junior college. Unfortunately, he didn't last until October. During his first week of school, my husband and I sold the Big House and temporarily moved into a friend's mobile home. Matt withdrew from school within a month…probably the roughest patch for us all. Meanwhile, our oldest daughter left Memphis and moved to Sacramento, California, so Katie moved to another Memphis apartment by herself at age 20. Matt graduated from insurance school and tried to sell life insurance...which lasted one day.
After insurance school and real estate school, Matt tried his luck as a traveling salesman or "slinger" from town to town...which lasted a week. Finally convinced of the importance of a college education, he and I drove to Starkville, MS., enrolled in the School of Architecture (the only accredited architecture school in the state) and put a down payment on an apartment at Stonehenge #79. He spent the summer of 2007 taking Trigonometry, College Algebra, and Statistics, which were all prerequisites for the fall semester. Meanwhile, David and I were moving into our newly-purchased honeymoon cabin that we had built when we first married! CRAZY TIMES!
On Matt’s first day at State, he locked himself out of his apartment and walked five miles during Mississippi's unprecedented 100 degree-plus heat wave to get a key from the landlord. After that fiasco, he drove to campus to finish his registration process and backed into a car! What craziness! That day seems like ancient history now, as does the relationship that ended for him that first semester. Around the same time, Katie started having second thoughts about her career choice. So in January of 2008, she enrolled at Mississippi State and moved in with Matt.
Somehow, over the next four years, we all defied the odds – financially, emotionally and academically. At one point, we moved both kids out of Apartment #79 in the pouring rain in the middle of July, only to move them back into Apartment #78 on Christmas weekend – six months later! Unbelievable! Now, they will be moving out of Apartment #78 for the last time.
Katie found the love of her life at Mississippi State University, and Matt learned the importance of best friends. Matt realized how smart he has always been with a 4.0 GPA in his major, and Katie proved to herself that she could kick butt in College Algebra! After four years as roommates, Matt will always hate The Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Katie will never watch an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Matt will miss Katie’s home-cooked mac and cheese, but Katie will never miss Matt’s canned ravioli from Fred’s.
Despite disappointing losses, dashed hopes and heartbreaking upsets, they both bleed maroon and white. In just a few weeks, they will be a part of an insular group of people – Mississippi State University alumni. Friends and football, fun and finances, feast and famine – four years of struggle and success, hot sauce and heartburn, nightlife and noodles, tailgating and tests, changed majors and challenged minds – one chapter ends and another begins.
But today, I say…let the cowbells ring!
MAROON – WHITE – FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
MISSISSIPPI STATE – WOOOOO…
D--- RIGHT!
Dianne ; )
NOTE: Over the past four years, the kids have sent me phone photos documenting their life at MSU...here are just a few of those pics.
Best Friend...
New Friend...
Boyfriend!
Our Campus...
Our Coach...
Our Bully...
Our Tent...
Our House!
Katie's Poison Ivy...
Matt's Broken Ankle!
Dress Rehearsal for Game Day...
Dress Rehearsal for Life!
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