Tuesday, February 14, 2006

you CAN go home again!

I'm back. Did you miss me?

(So is Bright-Eyes, by the way - go welcome her back. And I added a few new blogs, too - great reading. Check 'em out.)

Went to the Alma Mater to design a new alumni program. I won't bore you with the particulars, but essentially we're mobilizing the young alumni, and we're prepping the current students to enter "the real world" with the tools they need to survive. Told you that I'm all about the kids... We got to speak to some of the students, which was cool, and I got to spend some time with an old friend and meet her supercool new husband.

Anyway, being back there was surreal. 90% of things were exactly the same, and I had been gone for almost seven years. The buildings, the classrooms, even the professors - almost exactly the same. I kept expecting to see my old classmates around every corner. So weird.

Honestly, I felt old. (Sorry, Melissa.)

But the really surprising part was how at home I was. I really felt like I belonged there. I remember how comfortable I felt when I got to campus when I first visited, as a high school senior. I knew, within 15 minutes or so, that this was the school for me. And I kind of had the same feeling yesterday. Don't misconstrue my statement; I've got a lot of things I want to accomplish, and I'm not going to drop those to party like an undergrad again. But I can definitely see a day where I'm heavily involved in that community again. Maybe I could even teach. So, obviously, it was a great visit.

The only thing that sucked was the compressed nature of the trip. I was only in town for about 30 hours, and I was asleep for about a third of that. I had to get up at 4am in order to make my flight, and save for a few minutes of shut-eye on one of the flights, I haven't slept at all. I'll be back in the fall; hopefully I can spend a few more days there then.



Five days left in Steak City. Funny-weird story (as opposed to funny ha-ha): on my way to the airport the shuttle driver wove his way through downtown. I happened to look to my right, and what store do I see?

Cowtown.

Funny-weird, huh? Guess that signals it's time for me to get my act together and get ready to go west... I think it also means that I should eat that steak that's been sitting in my freezer for a couple of weeks.

4 comments:

Melissa said...

Eat the steak, old man, Eat the steak. For what it's worth - I can see you teaching, too. Hendie-style. Wise and laid-back with so much knowledge to share, leading more like a shaman than a teacher.

Anonymous said...

its nice to know that the place is still the same. I haven't been back since I graduated, but am planning to head down in the spring--glad to know I won't be in for some crazy surprises.

Dr. The Bird Man said...

I can think of one big difference. Our Basketball team sucks real bad now. When I was in school it only sucked kind of bad. That and the Pit...Did you go in the Pit?...It is not even remotely a pit anymore.

April said...

We did miss ya!

Glad you had a good trip.