What's Up in The Academy?

What's Up in The Academy?

Share this post

What's Up in The Academy?
What's Up in The Academy?
There’s Nothing Soft About These Skills

There’s Nothing Soft About These Skills

Finding purpose, one #HigherEd skill at a time

Dr. Laura De Veau's avatar
Dr. Laura De Veau
Sep 11, 2023
∙ Paid
3

Share this post

What's Up in The Academy?
What's Up in The Academy?
There’s Nothing Soft About These Skills
Share

1×
0:00
-6:46
Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.

26 years ago, my husband, Shawn and I traveled to Las Vegas for a portion of our honeymoon. While walking through the gigantic parking garage at the MGM Grand hotel to find our rental car we approached the escalator. A family was in front of us. A father, a teenage son and a mother. Led by the mother, the family went to the ‘up’ escalator, Dad realized once they were on the escalator that they were going the wrong way.

Father and son turned around and ran down the stairs. Mom attempted to do the same. But unlike her husband and child, who were wearing sneakers, Mom was wearing strappy sandals. She made it down a couple of stairs, but her footwork and footwear failed her. She found herself tumbling down and while her husband and son were seemingly paralyzed at the foot of the escalator unable to act, mom was getting smacked in the face by the escalator steps that were landing on her chin. 

Shawn and I burst into action.

What's Up in The Academy? is a reader-supported publication. To receive all content, become a paid subscriber.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to What's Up in The Academy? to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Laura A. De Veau, Ed.D.
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share