Wichita State University....

I am not a real sporty person. I didn't play sports AT ALL growing up -- other than in gym class. I don't really follow sports much. I'm very uncoordinated. In my 20s, I did go through a period where I ran quite a bit, and I did O.K. with that. At this point in life (I'll never say never), I'm content walking (as many of you know). BUT then, back in 2004, I married Marc. He's an AVID runner, and he follows sports. Now, almost 9 years later, I've really learned to like and appreciate college basketball -- you know, the NCAA Division I type. If you've followed the big "March Madness" NCAA men's basketball going on right now, you'll know that a little university called Wichita State University won a HUGE game on Saturday evening. Yep, WSU is headed to the Final 4 in Atlanta next weekend -- something the men's basketball team hasn't done since 1965. Not only is WSU a little over 20 miles away from here, it's also the university with which I graduated. My mom has a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from WSU. My dad has a Master's degree from WSU. My mom is the Associate Dean with the College of Health Professions at WSU. My dad teaches a class at WSU. AND, back on December 16, my brother, Joel, graduated from WSU. There's just a bit of a family connection at WSU. So, as I've posted on Facebook a couple of times recently, I'm GIDDY about WSU and their progression in the NCAA Tournament. I'm going to be positive and say they'll do well this coming weekend. However, if they don't, I'm still pleased with the basketball team breaking the 48 year drought (for lack of a better word) of being in the Final 4! SO, ultimately, this blog post is about my brother's graduation with just a small plug for WSU....His graduation was in Koch Arena on the campus. Not to long after getting there, some of the faculty and the graduates "marched" in.... Fortunately for us, Joel ended up sitting in the back row of the graduates. That way, we could see him easily -- which was especially good for his kids. Finally, after the graduation address (which I honestly couldn't tell you much about other than it was the Lieutenant Governor), the graduates were each called by name. Finally, Joel's name was called. Fortunately, for the big screen, we could see him go across the stage. (Sorry that it's blurry -- I was taking the pics with my phone from my seat with Joel and Amber's 2 year-old daughter asleep on me).... Then, we watched him (from above) get the "post-walk-across-the-stage-professional-pic." (up against the yellow screen).... Then, we watched him walk back to his seat -- AND, just like that, he was a graduate of WSU! If you're curious, his degree was in Accounting. He's now working for an accounting firm in Wichita. Earlier in this post, I referred to holding his sleeping, 2 year-old daughter...it was pretty sweet! SO, this coming Saturday evening, April 6, even if you ARE a Louisville fan, please cheer for the Shockers of WSU! Ha! (AND, I just might question you if you're a Louisville fan)....