SENIOR HUSTLE The student sales team stared down a decided financial shortfall during money week as the March 5 deadline approached. Even with Director of Student Activities Joe O’Brien orchestrating the annual phone-a-thon/letter campaign that generated nearly $90,000. Even with a preposterous Thursday count of $160,000 for the last group sales turn in. “No seniors were holding back, no alumni waiting with blank checks,” Luke McLane ’21 says. “We all kept working, literally going door to door, and trying to exhaust every possibility. There was a $10,000 transaction Friday morning and that was a huge momentum swing. But (Senior) Joseph Mundell and I approached donors who we thought would be big buyers and they had written checks which honestly were much smaller than we had in mind. We couldn’t convince them to go for more. But we all kept pushing and didn’t have the totals until 10 minutes before the reveal because the money kept coming in.”
“No seniors were holding back, no alumni waiting with blank checks. We all kept working, literally going door to door, and trying to exhaust every possibility.”
“When I saw their excitement, that’s what told me we had something amazing,” Misleh says. “The reactions were filled with pride and accomplishment. They had a game plan ready for Thursday once the dollars were calculated and came in short. They had a game plan for Senior Hustle that had to deliver. They believed. They invested. They stayed positive. The true spirit of the St. Thomas brotherhood was in play every day. Every single seller pushed that record total.” McClain believes the resounding collaborative effort “shows what this student body is made of and we refused to compromise for anything. Mr. Misleh instilled that attitude and the senior board embraced it. He wasn’t an administrator. He was in the trenches along with us every step, every up, ever down. He led by example.”
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EAGLES’ NEST MAGAZINE