More for Moms

This past Sunday, love was in the air, but not for just anyone. The love was being sent to the most caring and hardworking people on the planet: mothers. Students all over campus made phone calls across states, countries and continents to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to their moms and to express their gratefulness and love for the powerful women who have raised them. Some sent cards or presents home, and others were fortunate enough to see their mothers in person. Mother and child selfies filled Instagram feeds. Overall, even though most students on campus have busy lives and don’t usually have a chance to think about life back home, most made an effort to celebrate this holiday with their far-away mothers.

However, one’s natural mother is not the only mother that affects our lives every day. Aunts, grandmothers and even the mothers of those unrelated to us deserve the same appreciation for being there in the way only a mother knows how to be. Still, while worldwide grandmothers and the like receive thanks, the majority of Exeter students probably failed to make these calls. 

Moreover, many students who opted for the phone call home to mom most likely had a quick chat, no longer than ten minutes. This begs the question: are we keeping in touch with life back home, or do we not make enough time for communicating with our families? The people that we boarding students left behind when we came here are extremely important; they helped shape us, support us and get us here. We owe them so much, and most of us spend very little time communicating that to them—or communicating with them at all.

Ten minute phone conversations once a week, and a card sent home on Mother’s Day may seem like it will have to do. With all the hard work we constantly have weighing us down, parents can hardly ask for more than that. But maybe there is some extra time here or there that we could be using to get back in touch with our families, time we justify using for other trivial things. The problem is not that we are too self-absorbed and busy to remember to contact loved ones. It’s a matter of remembering that there are two worlds to juggle now. 

At school, life is always happening so quickly, and with ten things to think about at once, you may forget that you left a whole other life’s worth of things to keep running far away. And, hey, out of sight, out of mind, right? Maybe that isn’t so right.

It’s time that students examine their priorities a little. Your family is always going to be there, whether it gets smaller or bigger, whether it’s doing well or poorly. Throughout your life, family should remain a top priority. Don’t let Exeter make you forget that.