Kick-Off!

our first student event of the 2013-2014 academic year

Late this afternoon we had 50+ Eckardt Scholars over for a Welcome/Welcome-Back Mocktail Party. It was a great event to kick-off the year. Thank goodness for:

• Jeanne, my Right-Hand-Woman (our Eckart Scholars Program administrative coordinator, from the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs) who makes all of my visions reality.
• LU Catering, who make these events possible for me to pull off — and who make it delish for some very appreciative students! (I like to spoil the Eckardt Scholars with all sorts of treats… today’s menu included: sushi, crab cakes, bruschetta, spring rolls, fresh fruit, yummy alcohol-free sangria… and many other fabulous items too!)
• The students. They are, truly, just so incredibly incredible. I just love them.

By living on campus I can easily do these sorts of events at our home. The students feel like they are being invited to a professor’s house (which they are), and that makes it much more personal and special than if I were to hold it in an event space. They can also get to/from the event very easily (we are right on campus, so no car necessary). I can pull it off without having to worry too much about the bambinos (Kyle, Owen, and Meera all join right in… and honestly, add a lot of life to any party!). And our dear friends from LU Catering just swoop in to set it up, and then clean it up. After a quick run of the vacuum and a wipe-off of all the surfaces, everything is right back in shape (so our entire day/night is not consumed with hosting an event).

The bambinos are happy (they are eating pizza and watching a movie right now), the students are happy (the Eckardt students and the Sayre students [who, by the way, always benefit by getting all the leftovers from our events!]), and Braydon and me are happy (we’re high-fiving each other feeling like we’ve somehow managed to pull off yet another day of the dual-career-&-3-kids marriage). It is all good as we wrap up the First Week of Classes and head into the new year.