Macklemore and Sam

Last night was our spring concert. This year we had Macklemore which is the biggest act we have gotten in years. Needless to say everyone was really excited for the show and we've all been looking forward to it ever since it was announced. Sadly, my good friend and suit mate Sam was diagnosed with leukemia last week and has to stay in the hospital for a month for treatment. The doctors are fairly confident that he will pull though but it's still a really crappy situation. We all knew that Sam was looking forward to the concert so one of his best friends, Justin, said we should try and get Macklemore to visit Sam in the hospital. I thought it was a long shot but figured we could give it a try. I messaged my friend who is on the programming committee and in charge of the concert to explain the situation and he passed on the message to Macklemore and his people. On Monday we visited Sam and he mentioned the concert so another one of Sam's friends, Dana, decided to take the campaign to the next level. Dana's entire suite worked to get in direct contact with Macklemore. They ended up getting his fiancee's cell phone number and she said to call on the day of the show!

Yesterday Dana and Justin were told to come by the bus and pick up Macklemore to take him to the hospital. So Justin actually drove Macklemore around Burlington which I'm sure was a pretty epic experience in itself. They ended up surprising Sam and hanging out with him for about a half hour. Before yesterday I liked about five of Macklemore's songs but wasn't really a huge fan. Now he's one of my favorite people. Between visiting Sam and allowing Justin to drive him around so casually you can just tell that he's a great person.

Sam and Macklemore!

Sam is one of the best guys I know so that fact that he got to experience made my way more excited than the actual concert did. That being said the concert was a blast as well. There was so much energy and everyone was having a great time! He saved my favorite song, And We Danced, until the end and the entire crowd was just jumping around to it. The best part though was when he gave a shout out to Sam. I got chills and almost started crying.

This whole experience just reminds me how special of a place Saint Michael's is. Upon hearing about Sam everyone wanted to do something to help out. Macklemore's finance said that they got lots of emails and messages from people saying they should visit so they knew that he must be a special person. After the show people who barely even know Sam were posting on Twitter and Facebook to show their support and give get well messages. There is so much love on this campus!

Even off campus there is support for Sam. His picture was on the front page of Reddit last night and Macklemore even wrote a post  saying why he visited Sam, which is really moving as well.

Stay strong Sam!