With another daughter about to leave for college, we hope she will make the right choices and decisions. We are confident that she will; however, our fingers are crossed that she will focus on the real purpose of her being there.
We were recently invited to a “Send-Off Party” for all of the students from our area that would be going to Clemson University in a few weeks. Hoping to meet new folks and classmates, we thought it was a great idea – and it was.
Having visited the Clemson campus in South Carolina with my daughter, I understand what she likes about it. The professors I met were nice people who seemed to genuinely care about their students. The community is pretty much all about the university and its reputation and I like that.
However, I’m from Alabama and not used to the Clemson colors of purple and orange – but I will wear them proudly for my daughter. On this day of the party, I donned an orange shirt, shook hands and talked to a lot of folks. They were nice, they were genuine, they were Southern – they could easily be “my people.”
I had a long conversation with the young lady who was in charge of organizing the party and sticking name tags on people. She was in her mid-twenties and had a glow to her that I really liked.
She was explaining to me how friendly the students, faculty and people in the community were and how many different organizations there were to get involved with on campus. We talked about church organizations, sororities and a lot of other groups on campus.
Again, this young lady “glowed.” Her name was “Natalie.”
Natalie made a statement that prompted me to inquire what she meant. She said something to the effect of, “There are so many organizations that you can end up in one without knowing it.” She said it with a grin, thus I knew there was a story behind it and I had to ask.
I was glad I did.
She said while at Clemson, she was asked to attend a fraternity/sorority type meeting, probably to plan social or university events.
However, when she got in the room where the meeting was supposed to be, she noticed about the time the meeting was supposed to start – she seemed to be the only girl in the room and was definitely in the wrong place.
In her words, “I was there in my sorority shirt, pearls and a smile with a bunch of fellows in camouflage.” She smiled. Well, being a good Southern girl, Natalie decided to stay put and not admit she had wandered into the wrong meeting.
This is what Southern women do… Even if they make a mistake, they gracefully “hang in there.”
Before she could figure out the nature of this club she had barged in on, these fellows in camouflage started “electing officers.” Natalie sat there.
Then, the office of Secretary came up and yes, these fellows had the gall to say something along the lines of, “You are the only girl here, you should be the Secretary.” I have taught my girls not to take such, but then again I know the truth of the matter…
One Glowing Southern girl, a bunch of guys in camouflage dipping snuff… I don’t care what her title is; she would be running this club in a matter of minutes.
Just stand back and watch.
She stayed until the end of the meeting and yes she was happy to be the “Secretary.”
You know I had to ask. “What did you do then?”
With a Scarlett O’Hara smile, Natalie looked me in the eyes and simply said, “I called my Daddy and told him I needed a gun, I had joined the Shotgun Club.” Not only did she join the “Shotgun Club,” but she liked it.
Lord have mercy, this girl is single and living in Richmond, Virginia. Send your eligible sons her way…
In addition to learning that Clemson University has a lot of organizations for their students to become involved, I learned that Clemson girls have this “Orange Glow” about them.
The best way to describe it would be to compare it to a moth being attracted to a flame or light. The way I figure it, the camouflage boys at Clemson couldn’t resist the Orange Glow of a Clemson girl.
Upon further research, I found out that moths really aren’t attracted to fire and lights as much as they are “disoriented” by them.
Southern Women – their smiles and words disorient you and put you in a trance… Don’t let them fool you – they are smart and probably don’t need any sort of weapon to get you. They just glow and you come toward them in a daze…
My daughter is going to the right place.
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Cranks My Tractor
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I'm BN Heard and I like semicolons, dogs and glowing girls from Clemson.
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