One of the more memorable moments of my life, for so many reasons, pictured above. My graduation was a fantastic occasion – spending that entire weekend with so many of my best friends and my extended family, celebrating a moment that was way more than four years in the making.

A couple weeks before that occasion, I got a phone call from the White House while I was working out at the gym. I was told that Mrs. Obama had heard about my time spent at Tech, and wanted to meet me. Yes, mind blown.  I had, in a very tongue-in-cheek way, actually e-mailed Mrs. Obama’s office earlier in the year, after they announced that she would be our commencement speaker, asking if I could potentially give her and her daughters a campus tour. I’m not sure if anyone ever read that message, but it turned out that through the several stories the university published about me and my time at Tech at the end of senior year, it attracted her and her speech writer’s attention. And so, the rest was history.

I sent a similar e-mail to Mr. Warner’s office, having met him previously as a member of Boy’s State (BRADLEEEYYYY!) in high school. I actually ended up getting an e-mail back, the next week – from a close friend of mine. Turned out that a former RA of mine, in Peddrew-Yates freshman year, works for Senator Warner now. He e-mailed me back and said that we would for sure set up a photo opportunity as commencement grew closer.

And so, at THAT point, the rest was history.  I got to have about a five minute meet and greet/mini-convo with the First Lady, gifted her one our Actively Caring bracelets, and then caught up with Senator Warner right after word, right before heading down to the field with THE man (Peter Velz incase you didn’t know), to enjoy a ton of photos and a fantastic commencement ceremony.

This week, I got a package at home from Sen. Warner, and then stopped by Dr. Spencer’s office as he packed up for retirment, to pick up a package from Mrs. Obama.

Lovely packages, if I do say so myself.