Matthew Hessburg’s family just dropped him off this weekend to his dorm room at the Western Carolina University where he is attending his first full time semester there. He is the last of four boys to fly the coop and head to college. I asked his mom, TJ, how HE felt about leaving them to start his new adventure and she said, “after a weekend full of advice he was ready for us to LEAVE!” Ha! Then I asked her how SHE felt now, with her youngest son off to college. A son that, once upon a time, this may not have even been an option.
Matthew and his brother Joe…right before he kicked them out…ha!
She said, “So…how am I feeling, very confident that this step will be an incredible breakthrough for Matthew. Something that I have been focusing on is the yoga teaching “lokah samastha sukhino bhavantu” which basically means – may all beings be happy and free and may I play my part. Matthew is a dreamer and an idea man. I don’t want him bound by limitations set either by himself or others. He needs to figure things out or ask for help- not only practicing self advocacy but also self- determination. What better arena to explore than college. Although we as a family have good intentions, it’s just way too easy to create a positive environment for him and now he will have to be the ringleader working with others to create his own positive space. I have played my part in hopefully instilling some strong values and virtues and helped him through the process of becoming a college student and now he gets to fly with it. An interesting discussion yesterday was about him becoming the first UP student to get a paid internship with the dining services and he said “with great power comes great responsibility” quoting Spider-Man. Also, he was actively trying NOT to smile so much because his cheeks were hurting…He’s thrilled.”
And we are thrilled for him!! He will be studying Theater and Hospitality & Tourism along with some other courses while maintaining his internship hours. He dreams of being and International Chef with his own restaurant one day, and has vowed to make me his famous pork tacos next time I am in Michigan! I am definitely taking him up on that this summer. Keep on rockin’ it Matthew! We can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve!!!
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