Unfinished Business

Friday, December 9, 2011

I have a confession to make.  I am not a 'real' Hokie.  And by that I mean, I have not attended Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia.  My love for this school and this town formed when I adopted them both as my own.  First the school, when I married a Hokie in 2002 (John Baute, class of '94), and then the town, when I moved to Blacksburg in 2008.  I am confident that I could not love them one iota more than I do today, even had I been born in the town and attended every level of higher education at the school.


But there is this nagging feeling in the back of my head.  The knowledge that I am not "on the books" as one of theirs, to the extent that they have become one of mine.  I believe I now know the feeling of Pinocchio, wanting to become a real boy.  There is always a perceived risk, otherwise...  I am not 'real' in their eyes.

To be clear, I did attend a school of higher learning and earn my Bachelor's degree.  There is no unfinished business in this regard.  Except... Wanting to become a 'real' Hokie.  To be on the books forever more as a Hokie.  To experience all that the great institution has to offer by learning there.  To create my own classroom memories, find my own inspiring professors, and absorb MORE of the spirit and energy that is the Hokie Nation. 


Unfinished business.