Heartwarming! Student Breaks Through Long-Standing Emotional Issues With Father While Sitting Next To You In Olin Library

OLIN LIBRARY—What would have been a typical evening for late-night studier Matt Kippler ‘24 took an unexpected turn for the heartfelt after he overheard a moment of beautiful catharsis between Lucas Braht ‘25 and his estranged father occuring at the desk directly to his right. Though Kippler failed to submit the internship application he had spent three weeks working on, he learned a valuable lesson about the power of family.

“I haven’t felt this touched since I watched Puss and Boots: The Last Wish,” stated a thoughtful Kippler. “I’ve been so caught up with materialistic goals. That internship application was supposed to line up my junior summer internship, and then that was supposed to be my return offer out of college, but who cares. What really matters is the bond between a dad and his boy, that’s real.” Kippler reflected on his relationship with his own father, who he had last spoken to roughly two weeks earlier, requesting money for a plane ticket that would allow to skip his hometown layover and fly direct to Miami Beach. “I should call him.” 

Braht’s lengthy discussion with his father was overheard by a large portion of the library’s population, particularly the moment when he erupted from his chair, flinging it into the student behind him, and shouted “YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND ME!” While many students were initially perturbed by Braht’s apparent misuse of library facilities, they were quickly swayed by the immense progress he was making in his relationship. Nearby library patrons were inspired, following Braht’s lead by FaceTiming their long distance partners, scheduling doctor’s appointments, and crying even more than usual.

“Everything happened so unexpectedly,” explained Braht. “One minute I’m sitting at my desk, trying to remember whether diestrus comes before or after metestrus, and then I think: I oughtta give my dad a real piece of my mind. He and I hadn’t talked in about two years after I killed his pet chameleon. I was just gonna give him a quick scream through the phone, nothing too distracting. But as I heard him talk, I felt like I could finally get through to him. I thought about walking thirty seconds to the door, but I knew that I had to capitalize on the moment.”

Kippler was so struck by the call that he called his own father from Olin the following night. Tragically, his public rehashing of 20 years of angst was cut short when another student told him to “shut the fuck up dude. We’re in a library.”

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