They Found Me

I've worn my college ring every day since I purchased it over three years ago. Because the ring comes in only one style, it is quite distinctive and is therefore easily recognizable by those who are familiar with AlmaMater. I've met alumni who still wear their ring, even after more than thirty years have passed since they attended our Alma Mater.

A few weeks ago, at our last school faculty meeting, one of the other teachers saw my ring.

"Is that an AlmaMater ring?" she inquired excitedly.

"Yes," I responded, pleased that someone had recognized it.

"I'm an alum too! I graduated in 199(?)! When did you graduate?" I told her, and then our meeting began ... I was thrilled that I had a connection with one of my new colleagues.

The other day, I was attempting to find the classroom of another colleague (in an unknown section of the school). As I asked another teacher for directions, she asked,

"You went to AlmaMater, right?"

"Yes," I replied, pleased that she remembered.

"My cousin, FirstName LastName, is dean of students there. My maiden name was LastName."

"Oh, okay," I gushed. "Of course I remember him," recalling that her cousin is actually the president of AlmaMater. "What a small world!" I remarked as I thanked her for her assistance in locating our colleague. I didn't tell her that my most prominent memory of her cousin was when our choir director shared that he had been quite offended that the music students didn't greet him when he walked through our "backstage" area, also the location of the administrative offices, before one of our concerts a few years ago. None of us knew who he was because he didn't make an effort of actively supporting the music programs.

Today, I wore my ring as I always do, and I threw on my AlmaMater sweatshirt when I got home after church. I've been reminiscing lately, and I smiled the other day when I noticed a recent visit to my page was made by someone in CoolCity, home to AlmaMater.

This afternoon, shortly after I awoke from a quick nap, I received a phone call.

"Hi, this is Stu Dent from AlmaMater," the young lady stated, pausing to confirm my name.

"I'm calling to update our alumni records and to share information about the annual alumni pledge fund." She confirmed my address and then proceeded to ask if I would be able to contribute to the fund.

I hesitated. I'm grateful to AlmaMater for the stellar education I received, but I still have several thousand dollars in loans to pay back. As a student at AlmaMater, I always joked with my friends that I'd donate money after I had paid off all the loans. I'm thrilled to have a job now and I have been overjoyed on the past two pay days when I see the amount that I'm earning. (As a teacher, it's not a huge amount, but so far, I've earned more in six weeks of school than I ever earned over a single summer!)

So I hesitated momentarily before I asked if my contribution could be earmarked for a certain area -- the music school.

"Yes, that is possible," the student happily responded.

"What about certain areas within the music school? For example, the choral organizations?"

"Well, I see some areas ..." she replied, listing a few smaller accounts. None specifically related to any opportunities I took part in while at AlmaMater.

"The general music school fund is fine," I said, "and I'd like to contribute [small amount]." I gave her the rest of the information she needed and wished her a happy school year.

"You too!" She chirped cheerily, before pausing. "I mean, have a good week," as she realized that, as an alumna, I was no longer a student and therefore was probably not in the school year routine.

"Oh, I'm a teacher, so I'm on the school year system too," I responded, grinning. She thanked me and we hung up.

They found me after all ... and against my earlier plans, I donated anyway. My contribution won't go far, but ... I'm sure this is only the first of many contributions I'll make over the years.