Statistically Guessing (The End)

Martin called back Thursday.

Martin of Stonehill College.

Or should I say Mahtin, the way his softened  vowels reveal his Irish heritage when he identifies himself?

Martin had become as caught up in my little "Stonehill grads marrying Stonehill grads" study as I.  And as head of College Communications and Media Relations, Martin had gotten a hold of what I couldn’t uncover - numbers. Not for all Stonehill students since the Congregation of the Holy Cross founded the college in 1948, but for some.

            “’I’ve taken a look at all the alums in Mahssahchusetts,” he said, light on his “a”s, heavy on his “t”s .  Those would be the graduates who are settled in the state the college is located. “There’s 13,389 graduates living here and 1,624 of them are married to fellow students,” reported Martin.

          “That’s over 800 alumni couples,” I said. An easy estimate. I went on to do the high math on my computer screen: 1,624 / 13,389 – to five places.

            .12129

            That’s 12 %.

Twelve per cent of Stonehill College graduates living in Massachusetts are married to Stonehill graduates! 

Then, I wondered from where  the hearsay 70% emerged?

Martin let me babble a bit “Maybe it was once thought to be 17%, and the seventeen sounded so much like seventy, it became seventy,.” I said.

But Martin wasn’t into maybes. He preferred to speak with certainty. And so, with a just the facts M'am air of authority in his voice, he said all that really mattered:

 “I’m married to an alum. I highly recommend it.”

              

           

Statistically Guessing

While Em and Ry were students at Stonehill College – 2003 to 2007 - a myth of sorts purported that over 70% of Stonehill alumni married Stonehill alumni.  The notion pervaded campus the way urban legends lurk within and out of city limits:  oft-told and unfounded.

As freshmen, Emily and her roommate thought the dubious statistic amusing, seemingly impossible, and sort of sensational in a non-sensational way. As demographic legends go, it evoked more humor than horror. I never heard it related in any other tone than jest.

Then, in 2007, Em and her roomie took part in an Alternate Spring Break, rebuilding houses in Katrina -worn New Orleans. After they returned to campus their team was invited to dine with the college brass. I am told that when one of the college’s highest of administrators sat down to sup with Em’s table of volunteers there was, at first, an awkward silence, followed by his emphatic relating of the statistic to the altruistic crew. Seriously. Eyes rolled.

Neither Em nor I thought much about the statistic until, with great irony, she and Ry’s post grad plans placed them in the unverifiable 70%. As far as their graduating class goes, a number of their college friends have wed – but, to my knowledge, none to a fellow alum, not yet anyway. So, as Stonehill College statistics go, I can verify that, concerning a recent graduating class,

• 92% were employed within one year of graduation

•  90% of full-time students received some form of financial aid
•  8% joined or applied for a year-long volunteer service program

and

   ·     at least 1 % had plans to marry an alum

Bit of a discrepancy from the rumored 70% on the last stat – but, just for the fun of it, I’m not through with this quest for nuptial truth . . .

A Mother's Intuition (Part Two)

When Em and Ry were    ” just  college friends”  who had returned to their homes for the summer, Ry, an EMT, would occasionally show up in my driveway in an ambulance – between calls. He lived 30 minutes away, but the company he worked for covered our neighborhood.  Once he visited Em in the middle of the night. My middle. Not theirs.  For college students, the night is still young at 2 AM.

No siren was involved, but I woke up to a revolving red light flashing through my bedroom window.  When I looked through the pane I could see them kibitzing, along with his shift partner.  The next morning, a few of my neighbors looked as if they were surprised to see me up and about..

Anyways. . . the following school year, Em went to Washington D.C to study. It was the stay - in - the - USA version of  a semester abroad. She surprised me when,  less than ten days after her departure, she asked to fly home for the weekend. Was she homesick? Not  quite. More likely lovesick, but too close to the malaise to figure out the symptoms. What she had figured out  was - if she flew home Friday afternoon, we could hop in the car and head to the Stonehill  campus in time to see  Ry , the backstage guy, perform his first role on the Stonehill Theatre stage.

The plane  from D.C. landed on time. As we headed northeast the Mass Pike traffic moved right along to 495S – a minor miracle at the start of a weekend.  We arrived and took our seats (no surprising  before the show!) just in time to see Ry’s debut – a success for us, offstage, and for him, on.

 As Mommy-of-his--greatest-fan, I gave Ry even stronger reviews for his extemporaneous performance after the show. He spotted me first. Looked  downright confused. Then  turned to the sound of Em’s voice as she uttered, “Surprise.” Then came the hug. I’m not sure I would have thought Em’s two-legged trip – in the air and on the Pike—would have been worth the trouble if he stopped at a hug. But he didn’t. Almost as  if the move had been rehearsed, he grabbed her around the waist, picked her up, and gave her a little spin  the way Gene Kelly might lift Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal.  Coming attractions, I thought, to the sequel of this story. 

In Their Own Words

Check out Em and Ryan's story in their own words.
http://www.wix.com/emilyandryan/10-8-11#!our-story

MOTBs and MOTGs  - pass this address  http://www.wix.com/  on to your future bride or groom if they are interested in  building  their own wedding site with pictures and music.  It's free.