What Carolina Symbolizes To My Mom and Many Others

I contemplated not writing anything this week. I have a hectic sales job, that I love and enjoy; seriously. To add insult to injury, my mother has been a patient at UNC Hospitals all week long. After work I have been visiting her, so she would have company before she went to sleep. Blogging is fun. I get to release all of this knowledge pertaining to Carolina Basketball that I absorbed for close to 30 years. With this column, I wanted to take a different approach and write about what University of North Carolina symbolizes to me.

Each night this week, my mother has told the hospital staff how proud she was of me to graduate from UNC. She tells the nurses this every day. In fact, my mother has compared UNC Hospital to another hospital that I shall not name for many reasons. She complains about the way that she was treated, and how things were done there compared to UNC Hospitals. To make a long story not as long, my mom’s experience at the other hospital does not compare to the one she is experiencing at UNC this week. She loves the way she is treated. It’s a family-oriented environment at UNC Hospitals. Tonight, the nurse was caressing my mother and talking to her sweetly as if she was her own mother. All of these things heighten my mother’s view of Carolina, which is the university is top-notch.

I know that during the past few years, there has been news pertaining to Carolina that was contrary what my mom thinks of this university. This negativity has given the university a bad reputation in a way. Nevertheless, my mother’s view of UNC makes me feel good because she associates me with Carolina, and Carolina with excellence. She has this same view of Carolina basketball, also. Many people, including my mother, view UNC as one of the elite schools in the nation. To be honest, it is although it is a state school. State schools (e.g. UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Georgia Tech) do not get the same respect as private universities (e.g. Duke University, Georgetown University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University) and Ivy League schools (e.g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton), in general.

I’ll be honest. I’m proud to be a graduate of Carolina. I grew up while attending college. I became my own person, and I overcame numerous obstacles. Nevertheless, regardless of what I experienced my mother was proud that I attended Carolina. Visiting Chapel Hill this week has been bittersweet, though. I try to visit as much as I can because it is my second home. However, this comes second to being there for my mom. Despite all of the physical pain she has endured this week, she has found time to brag about me graduating Carolina.

Before I conclude, I want to share a few things about my mom and how I view her. When Carolina beat the Oklahoma Sooners in a Sweet 16 matchup in 1989 (last second shot by Rick Fox – yes, the actor), my mother went to the mall and bought me a Carolina t-shirt and Carolina Starter snapback. In third grade, my mother bought me Air Jordan’s (better known as Jordan’s or J’s now) because I made straight A’s all year long, and I won first place in the Science Fair (don’t hate, geeks rule all day). In fact, I was the only kid in my school with J’s when my mom bought them for me. When I lived in Western New York in 2005, my mother saved numerous newspaper articles that pertained to Carolina winning the championship. I didn’t ask her to do this. Also, during this time I went through a divorce and she had my back with her unconditional support. My mother has done numerous other things for me. I wanted to take time out to pay homage to her during a difficult time she is experiencing. Here are your flowers, Ma. Similar to the way that you view me attending Carolina, you make me proud, also. Ma, Michael Jordan’s Flu game has nothing on you!