THE WEEKLY RANT

by Jenna Carson

Does anyone else want a refund on their supposed ‘waterproof’ mascara? I sure do. On July 17, most students at PCC were expecting a light and upbeat Core Course, but instead were left with teary eyes and blotchy faces.

James Orrigo, a motivational speaker, came to PCC to inspire us to do good things. However, none of us were prepared for how he would deliver the message. When he first started his speech, he talked about how he used to play lacrosse and how he had to stop playing due to severe head injuries. And, okay; yes, that was sad, but the real heart wrenching part of his story started when he began talking about his mother. You could tell something happened based on the way he was describing her in past-tense, but then he started going into detail. He described how she had been sick for a while with some form of cancer and was later diagnosed with a rare heart condition. And if you didn’t start crying then, I’m sure you must have at least let one tear fall when he explained that the doctor only gave his mother a few weeks to live.

Still not crying? Within those few weeks, Orrigo wanted to spend time with his mom; but instead, he was off to college. Apparently, throughout the whole car ride, his mom was sitting in the passenger seat, with his dad driving, and she just looked at him the whole way; because this might be the last time she’d ever get to see her son. Then, he finished off the beginning of his story with singing a song he wrote for his mom.

Wow, okay. That’s when my dam broke. That must hurt your heart at least a little bit. And those visuals? Not exactly what we were expecting from a motivational speaker.

According to James, his mom liked to daydream to distract herself from her illness. They decided to come up with a list of all the dreams she had; one of them being to travel to Montana to film a music video. After her death, James did just that. However, that wasn’t all he did.

The story starts to get a little better here. After filming and producing the video, James came in contact with a little girl who wanted to travel to Hawaii to go to a Disney Park with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The cost, though, was a bit much. After finding out that the little girl was a fan of his song ‘Boat Shoes’, he decided he wanted to help her raise money to get to Hawaii. James Orrigo came up with the idea of Lad in a Battle and traveled all along the east coast raising money for this little girl with a terminal illness. Man, this guy is awesome, right?

I thought so too, until he played us a video that he made for girl who passed away due to brain cancer. Her faint giggles in the background of the song he wrote for her, ‘Katherine the Brave’, really messed me up. If you didn’t at least tear up a little, you’re heartless. Honestly.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I cried through the whole Core Course. His whole story really screwed with my emotions. And then, at the end of his presentation, he said, and I quote, “I didn’t tell you or show you all of this to make you sad.” Um, hello? Can you not see these three-hundred people wiping their eyes and blowing their noses into the collars of their shirts? I’ll admit, Lad in a Battle really moved me. It was beautiful and inspiring, but a little warning would have been nice. I would have appreciated it a lot more if I came prepared with tissues or something. Any type of forewarning would have made it ten times better.