The College Tour

I’d taken a week’s worth of high school homework on the cross country flight to Florida. I was visiting my college-professor aunt, but neither of us had time off—it was just one of her wild hair ideas and in her trademark fashion, she’d put it together at the last minute.

We spent our days at the University of Florida campus where she was near the end of the spring semester and was surrounded by several hundred student-athletes. 

Every football player was eventually one of her students—and some went on to pro careers, like Dallas Cowboy, Emmitt Smith. But I digress. 

My aunt was the popular professor who taught a range of interesting sports-themed classes that helped launch many a career in sports management, broadcasting, and promotion.

As a 16 year-old in a collegiate world, my eyes were open wide. I slid into her classes and listened to the lectures. I walked with the throngs of students between the modern buildings. I sat outside her office and listened as she counseled distraught students over failing grades. 

It was hectic, fast-paced and high energy. The intensity the football players had on the field was expected in my aunt’s classes. She knew most would need a real career, and she made certain they were equipped.

As I packed for home, I wondered why I’d come. Our time had mostly been spent racing from one class to the next. Then I realized in the best way possible, my aunt had given me a glimpse of my future—the increased demands, higher  expectations, and the ultimate reason for the hard work—finding a career that would bring satisfaction. 

It was a lesson that she could only teach by having me right there in the middle of her academic world—a world she loved and in her own way was helping me find for myself.

Holding you close to my heart 
as I will be soon letting you go.

My aunt, Dr. Gail McCall