We’ve had so many unique and wonderful opportunities as the result of living on campus. We’ve been able to do so many cool things as a family because of it. But last night topped them all for me. We had the most amazing evening.
Lehigh (like many universities) has a required summer reading book for the entering first-year class each year. Every incoming first-year student is expected to read the chosen book before arriving on campus. The book and the book’s themes are then incorporated into many of the first-year orientation programs. This year’s book was The Madonnas of Echo Park , by Brando Skyhorse.
Brando Skyhorse came to Lehigh yesterday to give a public lecture last night. During the day he spent time on campus. We arranged for him to attend the first-year Eckardt Scholars seminar in the morning (the entering cohort of Eckardt Scholars have a seminar just for them during the fall semester). And we also arranged for him to have dinner with that same group of students (there are 13 of them). The dinner turned out to be an amazing experience — surely for everyone involved — but especially, I think, for me.
It was the kind of evening you always imagine happening on college campuses (but, unfortunately, just about never actually does happen). I felt like I was on a movie set — it was that dreamy-ish!
It was an epic night with this incredible author, 13 exceptional students, my family and me, the director of Lehigh’s First Year Experience, and the director of Lehigh’s Community Service Office… all together… for a fabulous meal and genuinely engaged conversation… in a cozy real home… really together… on campus. It was the stuff that dreams-of-college are made of. For real.
It was the birthday of one of the students. I put candles in our dessert cake, and we all sang happy birthday to her. Imagine… being a freshman in college… turning 19, and having a famous author sing happy birthday to you!?! Imagine… being a professor… and having students with whom you’re close enough to do stuff like this?!? Imagine… being an author on the lecture circuit… and now you’re in the real home of someone (instead of an event venue), and you’re singing happy birthday to a student who read your book as required summer reading!?! It was really pretty special.
Brando Skyhorse was wonderful. He was down-to-earth, he connected with the students, he was nice, he was real. He generously signed all of our books.
A certain 5-year-old was much more interested in playing with the students than she was interested in chatting it up with the famous author. A certain 5-year-old has no clue how very unusual her little life is. (Her 9-year-old brothers are starting to really “get it”; they are starting to understand how unique their life is; and they definitely know how rare it is to have a famous author come to your home for dinner. Kyle, in particular, got great enjoyment from the evening, and connected — in about as much depth as any 9-year-old possibly could — with Brando Skyhorse.) But you know what? There is something really great about having that clueless 5-year-old in our midst; she keeps it real and reminds everyone of just what does (and does not) really matter.
The entire evening was magical for me. From my perspective, I felt like everything came together, the dots all connected, and all that I’ve been working toward — in terms of pulling together all the pieces of this huge endeavor of living on campus — was fully in motion. It felt mystical and magical.
I took a huge risk in doing this (moving onto campus, as Lehigh’s first faculty family in the Residential Fellows Program), and last night I saw how the risk was worth it. There is a lot that is hard about doing what I/we are doing. But last night was a wonderful reminder that sometimes, when wonderful people from divergent places come together, in a real warm and homey home, good stuff happens.
* * *
I need to finish this post with perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle: Lehigh Catering. I just have to acknowledge it. This group is incredible and truly — truly — makes what I’m doing possible. It is only because of our ability to work with them that an event like last night can be pulled off so splendidly. I have to explain: We bring in LU Catering for all of our events — so they know us well. We’ve developed great relationships with the front-line folks (the people who actually come to set up, serve, and break-it-down). We have an especially great relationship going with Jeff — one of the catering staff. He’s our favorite catering guy, and we request him any time we can.
Jeff was our guy last night. He’s like a friend of the family at this point — but he’s also a true professional. He came in, set it all up (he knows our space so well by now that he can just take liberties to be creative and make it work, despite how tiny and cramped and non-conducive to entertaining our space actually is). He works miracles! Believe me! Then he worked the event and made it run perfectly smooth. The food was delicious! And then, he cleaned it all up. Seriously… that is how “I” do it. Because it isn’t “I”… it is us. (Photo below: Jeff serving cheesecake with fresh berries)
This is all just to say: Thank you LU Catering! And thank you Jeff! The J-Ms love you!
(Photo below: Jeff and the bambinos)
And, because I know some Lehigh folks will read this post–
Thank you too to some other very important people who made last night possible:
- Allison Ragon, Director of Lehigh’s First-Year Experience
- Carolina Hernandez, Director of Lehigh’s Community Service Office
- Our Eckardt Scholars students (who made us proud) & The Eckardt Scholars Program (which funded the dinner)
- And, of course, as always — Jeanne Kassis, my “Right Hand Woman,” who coordinates all of this, does all the ‘real’ work to put it together, finds a way to make my visions realities, and makes everything happen but gets none of the glory. Jeanne Kassis, I love you and I could not do what I do without you. Seriously. You rock my world!
It was a great evening!
This post leaves me somewhere between yearning to be an undergrad again and excited to share with my (8-month-old) son when he gets older so that he may seek out experiences like this when he’s in college.
It was such a great night! Thanks for hosting. It was wonderful to hear the conversations between the (incredible!) students and Brando Skyhorse!
Also, funny to see that Kyle and I are in the kitchen bonding over a Civil War book
Your life just amazes me! Woweeeee.
I grew up in a very small town, and my dad had one vendor who came through every fall from the Netherlands. Because the guy was an on-the-road sales rep, he would join us for a family dinner, and sit at the kitchen or dining room table. I look back on these dinners as extraordinary in just now “normal” it was to have an international guest in our home.
I always assumed he joined us for dinner because it was a nice break for him from restaurant meals in every town, every day. Now I realize my folks arranged this so we kids could have this experience!