An Early Departure

Normally my blogs come later in the week, but I felt I needed to do this now. As of last Friday, I’ve literally watched my life change before my eyes. UNC won our Homecoming Game. We tailgated in a rain/snow mix. And most importantly, I got the results back from 3 weeks of shoulder trouble last Friday. It just so happened that I’ve been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, which is a treatable type of cancer, which has placed itself around my shoulder. Some felt I just needed to leave the Rev. Chronicles behind altogether and get better, along with some feeling it was too personal to talk about on a public website. I just couldn’t do that. These blogs are updates of my life as a senior and this just happens to be apart of my experience here at UNC.

Mainly because finding all of this out, dealing with it personally, spiritually, and mentally, I still had to find a way to make some decisions regarding my school work. I still plan on graduating in May and that is what is driving me to do so. I sat around Sunday night and started to think had I finished in 4 years and working on my MBA at another school, would I be able to have the same amount of personalized attention that I have here there? Honestly, the answer is no. From the Dean’s office to every professor, they have all worked with me in ensuring that I get better first and keep my academic goals a priority as well. In a matter of literally 36 hours, my academic success had been ensured that I won’t miss a beat in my classes. Instead of having a traditional lecture, I’ll just be able to finish the latter half of my course work online. With all the changes that came up in less than a week, I’m humbled that they believe in me enough to be able to trust that I can handle treatments and tests at the same time.

I’ve bragged about how I think UNC is a great place thus far. This just solidified it for me. Yes, there are problems like in any institution, but there are also great people that make up that institution, big or small. The amount of help, support, and motivation that as come in the past few weeks I truly believe is offered to any student who is in a predicament. You choose UNC because you want the attention and not to become a number. However, I’m still surprised every time I get it because I don’t think I deserve it. The rest of my blogs for the semester will be coming from Tulsa until I return in the spring. Instead of campus experiences, it’ll be transitioning from going to class to signing on to class amidst life changing situations. Through it all, I still believe that Bear Pride can be seen in Sooner and Cowboy country.

Homecoming 2008!

Homecoming 2008! It’s finally here. The last memorable tradition at UNC before graduation, that brings a community together. Yep. The excitement is definitely in the air despite midterms. Why teachers and the university haven’t worked out an agreement to give us a break to participate is still amazing to me. The majority of us has full course loads, work at least 20 hours per week, and are still expected to be super in the classrooms academically and involved in our Bear Pride initiative. Something has to give. My Greek friends and others are operating on less than 6 hours of sleep to make this university look good on Saturday. It’s amazing.

This blog is going to be a tad shorter than normal. Not because of studying for tests (which I have), not because of the craziness of homecoming, and nor is it due to friends going through life altering events that needed a bit of my attention. It is simply due to the fact that I’m typing with one arm. The shoulder has caused me to miss a lot of class and other events. I’ve grown quite weary of doctors and poking me to find out what’s wrong. The one humorous side of all this is that I had my first biopsy yesterday, without my family. I was informed that my mom was trying to catch a same day flight at 7 am in order to be with me for my 1:30 appointment. Thankfully there are a lot of great people around to take care of me. Sounds sappy, but those people make this special for me. I’ll keep you all posted when I find out more. Keep your head up.

Rev.