" I upped it one, I broke both of " my leg bones. - senior Matt Savage, Student Impact co-director 12 1/ student life ill1pact leaders overcome obstacles to orientate freshmen, transfers On his way to the F-team championship basketball game for TNT social club Feb. 18, 2003, senior Matt Savage, Student Impact co-director, had a strange thought enter his head. "On my way to the basketball game I said to myself, 'You know, I think I'm going to break my leg tonight,'" Savage said . He never expected that strange thought to become a reality. "I upped it one," he said. "Tbroke both my leg bones." Savage played defense. He remembered going up to stop a player from completing a layup. The events following were blurred in Savage's mind, but he did remember wha t happened after gravity grabbed him . "We were down by 20 and I was trying to stop a guy from doing a layup," he said. "We went up and Theard a pop when we came down." About an hour later, Savage arrived at a hospital by ambulance only to fi nd out he needed surgery to repair his dislocated ankle and broken tibia and fibula. At that point the coping mechanism was laughter for Savage. "I was in shock because I couldn't feel any pain," he said. "They [friends] thought I was delirious because I was laughing. My ankle is turned 90 degrees, what else are you going to do?" He also learned at the hospital he would not be able to attend a student orientation conference in San Antonio, Texas, that weekend with senior Rachel Hollis, co-director, and Butch Gardner, director of First Year Experience. Gardner chose Hollis and Savage in December 2002 to fill the roles of Impact co-directors. "The only time I almost cried was when they [doctors] told me I couldn't go on the tri p," Savage said. Savage remained in the hospital fo r a week and was bed-ridden for two weeks. ''It slowed us up," Savage said. "It made things a little more stressful at the beginning of the summer and at the end of the school year than they could have been." Hollis commended the Student Impact staff for cooperating through the whole process. "We were fortunate to have a great staff," Hollis said. "When you' re surrounded by good people, it makes your job easier." Savage said although the road was difficult, Tmpact 2003 was well worth the journey. "I think Impact was amazing," he said. "I think it went reall y smoothly. I was very happy with it." Impact 2003, w ith the theme "Face to Face," was held Aug. 21-25, and 896 registered freshmen and new students participated. - Renee Lewis and Jamie Higgins While under hypnosis, freshman Paul Kurtz plays the part of an angry lifeguard at the annual hypnotist show during Student Impact Aug. 23. Hyp notist Chuck Milligan made another appearance at Student Impact this year. (Photo by Amy Beene)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==