Friday, September 12, 2014

From an Admissions' Interview to my classroom - an amazing journey.

Four years ago I interviewed a young woman and her Mom - she had been awarded a Book Award from SMC and that plus subsequent mailings from St. Mike's had piqued her interest.  Her Mom had once lived in Stowe and thought her daughter might like Vermont.  I was asked to interview her because she had expressed an interest in Psychology and because all of the Admission Counselors were out on the road.  We had a very nice conversation and she explained that she had cancer when she was younger - that comment resulted in my sharing that Saint Michael's College has had a long standing and wonderful relationship with Camp Ta-Kum-Ta (TKT) which is a local camp for kids with cancer.  We finished the interview and I wrote up my notes indicating that I thought that she was wonderful and someone who would fit in well with SMC.

Unbeknownst to me, they returned to Florida and the next day the young woman called the Camp and spoke with Hattie Johnson (an SMC alum) about possibly getting involved with Camp.

Fast forward four years and Bri, now an active member of our community, a member of our Fire and Rescue Squad and a senior psychology major is enrolled in MY Practicum course.  We drove to So. Hero yesterday afternoon to talk with Ted Kessler, Executive Director and Hattie Johnson, Director of Development to talk about how Bri can spend her required 8 - 10 hours per week at TKT.  Brianna Atkins is going to be spending her time with special projects, programming AND quality time with kids with cancer and their families.

As we drove back to campus, Bri reminded me of that initial meeting and interview in our Admission Office four years ago - I guess some things just are meant to be!!!!!

The picture is of the newly completed chapel on site in So. Hero - the flagstones with names on them leading up to the chapel are the names of some of the "kids with cancer" who have attended camp there over the years.

Take good care, be well and, as always, please keep all of the members of our military and their families AND all of our veterans and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Dave