Lately, I’m feeling old. I’m not the young mom with the little babies anymore. While I’m happy about that, (emphatically happy, vigorously happy, beyond ecstatic happy), I just can’t believe that my twins are now Sophomores in high school and will be leaving for college in three short years.
Listening to them talk about their futures has had me reminiscing about the time I spent at Michigan Technological University. I remember that first ‘move-in’ day in great detail. Sometimes, it feels like it was just last week I was roaming the halls at Tech, while other times if feels like a lifetime ago.
Michigan Tech was an exciting adventure for myself, as well as for my parents. Mom and Dad loved everything about the Upper Peninsula. We had gone on many family trips to the U.P. to go camping and snowmobiling. The location itself was looked upon as a wilderness paradise, of sorts. When I decided to attend MTU, everyone approved of the choice.
The Car Ride There
One Saturday morning at the end of summer, my brother, sister, parents, and myself all packed into our van with a great deal of my belongings, and headed on the road – destination about as far North as you could travel in the state of Michigan. The excursion was a family affair. The total trip took approximately 10 hours or so, with restroom and food stops sprinkled in. The Mackinac Bridge was our midway point of the trip.
If you’ve never crossed the ‘Mighty Mac,’ you should take the trip someday. It is a 5 mile long suspension bridge, which also happens to be the fifth largest suspension bridge in the world. The bridge itself spans the Straits of Mackinac, a body of water that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
I remember that particular car ride being exceptionally long. Once you get past a certain point in the U.P., there’s not a lot to see beyond trees and water. Occasionally, you will turn a bend and see a small waterfall near the roadway. Other times, if feels as if someone carved out a section of between cliffs and plopped a road down in the middle. I enjoy the quiet and vastness of nature, but it’s certainly not for everyone.
Finding the Dorm
If you’ve ever been on an exceptionally long road trip, you know how it feels to finally reach your destination. My family was definitely ready to arrive and start unloading the vehicle once we arrived on campus. Our main goal as we rolled into town, was to find the correct parking lot that would provide us the closest entrance to my new dorm room.
Wadsworth Hall was not that difficult to find. There’s one main roadway (U.S. Highway 41) that runs directly through campus. Wads is located at the south end of campus to the left of the highway. The problem that we ran into was that Dad was absolutely certain we were in the wrong spot.
“This can’t be right,” he said as we drove around back, weaving our way through parents and students loading luggage onto carts. “There are boys going into this building.”
At this point, I remember clear as day, looking over at Mom and sharing a smile. We both knew that Wadsworth Hall was a co-ed dorm. Obviously Dad did not.
“It’s okay, honey” Mom said. “This is where we are supposed to be.” It was at this point that things started to click with Dad. His eyes squinted together and gave me The Look. I smiled and shrugged.
Saying Goodbye
We made it through all of the unloading and meeting my new roommate, Lisa. After that, it was off to check in to the hotel the rest of the family would be staying at for the night and then finding a restaurant for dinner.
The next day came quickly and we were off to the Memorial Union Building (MUB) for books and MTU gear. I distinctly remember looking around the bookstore and seeing a postcard with the road sign on the front – made famous by MTU students back in 1984.
The story goes that 2 MTU students decided to play a prank. They constructed a road sign off Highway 41 that said, “End of Earth 2 (miles), Houghton 4.” The sign did not stay up for more than a few hours before workers took it down, but it became a part of Michigan Tech lore. The message embodies how many people feel once they arrive at Tech.
With books and MTU clothing purchased, there was nothing to do but drop me back off to my dorm and say goodbye.
I remember feeling ‘ready.’ I’m not sure what I was ready for, but I just remember being excited and wanting to begin my new adventure. When I went to say goodbye to my mom, there were tears in her eyes. I was perplexed as to why she would be upset. Nothing was wrong. Everything had gone smoothly and with absolute certainty, I remember thinking, “I wonder why she’s sad.” (For someone that was book smart, I didn’t always clue in on emotions.)
The one thing I did know was that Dad was anxious to get started on the long ride home. We gave our hugs, they all piled into the van, and I waved as they drove away until I couldn’t see the vehicle anymore. In that moment I felt this sense of freedom that I had never experienced before.
Now I Understand…
I get it now. I can’t imagine what Mom was feeling as she left me there alongside the road, 9-10 hours away from home. I’m watching my own boys grow into young men right in front of my eyes. It won’t be long that I’ll be going through a similar experience with them.
One more thing before I stop rambling; there has to be a part of Mom that was happy when we were all out and off on our own. I know that I’m looking forward to not having dirty socks on the floor, football helmets lying around, basketballs being dribbled on the foyer, etc… The whole, “You’re going to miss this when it’s gone” philosophy can’t be true all the time.
That’s a post for a different day.
Goals for Today:
- Read My Book
- Stop Worrying about School Stresses While at Home
- Go to Bed Early