Hotty Toddy Gosh Almighty

“To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.”
​- William Faulkner

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Over the weekend, I had the chance to return back to Oxford for 2018 Homecoming Weekend at Ole Miss. And WOW It felt pretty good to be back home at Ole Miss.

I had the chance to attend the Ole Miss Alumni Association's Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and got to meet the Legendary James Meredith, the first African American Student to attend the University.

I had the chance to be a part of the annual Homecoming parade with my Miss Mississippi, Asya, and be announced on the field during the game as an honored alum, attend alumni association meetings and be a part of the Ole Miss Hall of Fame Dinner of Distinction with the Alumni Association. 

​Even more exciting, I got to meet MORGAN FREEMAN and James Meredith which was so surreal!!

But as I reflected on my time at Ole Miss during that weekend, I was so proud to be back in the town that means so much to me. 

I graduated in May of 2017 from the University of Mississippi with my degree in Broadcast Journalism, emphasis in public relations, and minor in political science... but This University gave me so much more than a diploma can describe. 
I gained some of my best friends that will be lifelong friends from our time in Oxford. I met new friends from the network of students and alumni at this university. I gained a sense of seeing myself as a part of the bigger picture and pride in an institution that pushed me to be my best. 

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Even more important than graduating and going through the ceremonial process, I fulfilled a family dream by graduating from Ole Miss.

​My dad always wanted to attend the University of Mississippi... but couldn’t afford to. He was the first member of his family to go to college.
He paid his way through school entirely on his own and graduated from the University of Memphis.

He didn’t attend his own college graduation, because he needed to work and he needed the money more than he wanted to attend the ceremony. 

My dad pushed his dreams aside for the time being so that he could work to create opportunities for his future family to achieve anything they wanted by laying the groundwork for endless possibilities. 
I’ll never forget the day I graduated from this beloved University.

I’ll never be able to describe what it meant to look at my family, my grandmother, my parents, my sister, my cousins, my friends, my family.... to know that I was fulfilling a dream that my father wanted me to have the chance to achieve, and gave me that possibility through his sacrifice and hard work.

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​My education at Ole Miss is so much more than 4 years and a piece of paper.

​My degree at Ole Miss was earned through blood, sweat and tears...Through the lessons of determination and hard work and perseverance.

​ That’s what graduating from Ole Miss means to me: being a part of a legacy that is so much greater than my own individual dreams...and laying the groundwork for a future generation of leaders to have the opportunity to pursue theirs.

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I'll close this post out with one of my favorite quotes about the University of Mississippi from Frank Everett Jr.; 
The University is buildings, trees, and people. Ole Miss is mood, emotion, and personality. One is physical, and the other is spiritual. One is tangible, and the other intangible.There is a valid distinction between The University and Ole Miss even though the separate threads are closely interwoven.
 The University is respected, but Ole Miss is loved. The University gives a diploma and regretfully terminates tenure, but one never graduates from Ole Miss.

All my love,

​Christine Electra 

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