| I worked with Austin for 3 years at the Albuquerque Academy. I was inspired at his memorial service to do something in his memory. So I decided to take Austin's love of science, kids, and technology and pay it forward to my fifth grade gifted students at Carlos Rey. Nine students from our school learned about robotics through the VexIQ program and won trophies at the tournament at UNM! Our school's trophy case was empty but now there are trophies and photos of our Robo Lobo robotics team. I shared with them about this remarkable young man in whose memory we were playing and how they too could become successful college students in STEM areas. One boy was so excited since he had never thought about college as a real possibility, even though he is extraordinarily gifted in many areas! I have never done robotics before, but knew how pleased Austin would be to watch me struggle and do this anyway! He will always be missed, but when I see a spark in my students' eyes, I see a little bit of his spirit still! |
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Feeling exhausted from grad interviews, I was tempted to spend a lackadaisical day off between courting schools; just sleeping in the snazzy San Francisco hotel, ordering room service, and lazily reading sounded like heaven. Then nudged by Austin, the night before I decided I would take an adventure. What followed was the most wonderful day of the quarter. Everyone at UCSF told me that I absolutely should see Muir woods, the closest Redwood Forest- with this destination firmly in mind, I set off for the buses… only to realize that the next one wouldn’t come for four hours (oops). Fine- what would Austin do? Obviously, it would be to take 4-5 hours to walk there! With this rudimentary “plan” in mind, I spent an enjoyable hour getting lost in SF, wandering up and down hills, stopping at a fruit market, taking in the sights of the city and bay… it was a beautiful day to walk and soak in a different place. Finally arriving at the Northern part of the city, I noticed that I could take a ferry across… or rent a bike. A few minutes later I was whizzing along, joining the mass of tourists and muscled athletes crowding the path and roads. Then the Golden Gate Bridge- first, not golden (reddish!), second, much larger than expected, third, overlooking such beautiful hills; breathtaking terrain, absolutely incredible. After much “I-live-in-Illinois-this-is-bloody-hilly” effort, I made it up the narrow, winding roads coating the mountains that ensconced Muir Woods’s valley- biking down into the valley, descending into the weighty realm of the Redwood forest, with the wind whipping away-- I hadn’t felt this alive in ages. And the Redwoods- behemoths, staggeringly beautiful and grandiose, humbling to think of my snapshot of time, theirs, all of ours. Thanks, Austin. Best day of my year. I know you would have eagerly walked the 20 miles to the woods and then happily hiked there, too.
dark spiraling staircase to the top- luckily for me, the key hadn't been changed, and I emerged onto the Observatory deck, the white dome housing the telescope covered in layers of silky snow. The sky was cloudy and I couldn't see the stars, but I had a perfect view of the Christmas-lights decking the quad-trees. It was gorgeous and just what I needed. The wind was blowing south-east and bringing fog along the coast-line; Chicago was reduced to a lighted blur. A few people wandered along the quad (I resisted the temptation to throw snowballs at them), but for the most part everyone was gone, home. There's nothing as refreshing or beautiful as a normally hectic place reduced to a quiet winter landscape, blanketed in snow.
Just taking the time to walk outside and look at the white campus was the best part of my week. Thank you, Austin.
Austin,
Your parents and your sister asked us to live life more fully in your honor. I think about this simple request every day and have tried to incorporate it into the fabric of my life. Sometimes I do small things, such as traveling a different route to work so that my window view is fresh and so that I am reflecting on new images as I start my day. I have also asked myself to do bigger things, most recently to don wetsuit and snorkel mask and slip off the side of a boat for some deepwater snorkeling. I am not a great swimmer, nor did I know how to snorkel. In fact, the thought of breathing through a plastic tube in ocean current terrified me. I did it, Austin, because you would have appreciated the view. There were sharks, sea turtles, rainbow fish, striped pufferfish, purple and red coral, sea stars, turquoise king fish. I would have missed it all if I hadn't had your inspiration to guide me and your spirit of adventure to comfort me. You have given me a gift unknowingly. I am deeply grateful. Love, Susan I promised Austin that we would walk along the lake at dawn to the Field museum and have a picnic before I went to work one day this summer. Today, I did so with his roommate. We got up at 4:30 so we could meet at 5 and be at Promontory Point by 5:30, where we sat as the sun rose. Then we wended our way along the lakefront trail the 6 and a bit miles to the museum where we ate delicious pastries. Along this walk, I kept imagining Austin sharing in our joy in the out of doors, even at this ridiculous hour, seeing him roll his eyes as I stopped to look at plants along the side of the path, and feeling him hugging me we completed our journey.
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AuthorCollecting stories so that everyone can see who Austin Hudson-Lapore was to each of us. Archives
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