This Mom’s Surprise Trip To See Her Daughter At College Takes An Unexpected Turn

McKenna was nearing the end of her freshman year at Utah State University. Her mom, Deanna Pilling, missed her dearly and wanted to give her a surprise visit. So, she packed up a suitcase and flew from New York to Utah.

Deanna Pilling’s sole intent was to surprise McKenna at college. Although Deanna had already made plans to meet up with McKenna the next day, she decided to surprise her by arriving a day early instead. 

That being said, mom and daughter were very close, and that closeness was something they both treasured. When the topic of college came around, Deanna thought McKenna would stay in New York. She didn’t. Instead, McKenna wanted to go all the way to Utah. 

A year was a long time for McKenna to be all the way across the country. Although she was coming home for the summer, Deanna thought it would be fun for her to come to Utah as well. So, she let McKenna know she intended to make a visit.

Regardless of whether it was necessary to fly to Utah if McKenna was coming to New York in just a few days, Deanna decided it was something she wanted to do. The only bug in the plan was the fact that the last day before summer break is very busy. 

Right before getting on the flight, Deanna gave McKenna a call. She wanted to see what McKenna was up to for the night. Mom hoped the answer was “nothing really” because she planned on spending quality time with her.

It took about five hours to get from New York to the city of Logan, where Utah State is located. Despite the slight concern about not being able to reach her daughter, Deanna was absolutely thrilled to be so close. 

The ringing took Deanna by surprise. If she picked it up and tried to act cool, she knew her surprise would be foiled because she was never great at lying. In a panicked attempt to keep her daughter out of the loop and in for a surprise, she didn’t answer her phone. 

In the fall, Deanna came to the Utah State campus to help her daughter get ready for school. At the time, she was too excited and nervous to pay really close attention to exactly where McKenna’s dorm was. Now, she wishes she had.

To say Deanna was mildly frustrated is an understatement – she was properly overwhelmed! The campus was a beehive of activity. Since school was soon to be done for the summer, all the students – and many of the student’s parents – were racing around campus trying to move everything into their cars. 

Although lost and overwhelmed, Deanna tried to stay calm. She needed to keep a low profile so she could surprise her daughter. That meant asking for directions was too risky – Deanna had no idea who knew her daughter or who might recognize her. 

It turns out that a bit of wandering worked! After pacing around the campus for a while, Deanna saw some familiar landmarks and followed them all the way to McKenna’s dorm room. From seeing McKenna’s social media posts, Deanna recognized that a bunch of the girls outside the dorms were McKenna’s friends. 

So, with no more time to spare, Deanna walked through the doors, down the hall, and hopped in the elevator to make it to McKenna’s floor. Upon finding her daughter’s door, she took a breath in, let it out, and knocked. 

Deanna decided that she needed to be bold. Standing outside wasn’t going to cut it, so she grabbed the door handle and jiggled it around. When doing that, she instantly realized that the door wasn’t locked. 

Upon entering the dorm, Deanna noticed that there were a few other girls in the nearby rooms packing up their belongings for the summer. It seemed odd to her that they didn’t hear the door. Regardless, Deanna waved hello to them, walked past, and headed toward McKenna’s room. 

Immediately upon opening the door, Deanna saw that no one was there. The room was completely empty minus some school supplies. If all McKenna’s roommates were in their rooms getting everything for summer break, why wasn’t McKenna doing the same?

After processing the shock and reflecting a bit, Deanna took a closer look around her daughter’s dorm. She saw boxes tidily filled with school supplies, photos were taken off the wall and placed away, and clothing neatly folded up into suitcases. 

After a five-hour flight, a long cab ride, and a heck of a time trying to find her daughter’s dorm, Deanna was exhausted. Not only physically, but also emotionally – all her built-up excitement only led to an empty room. 

Although exhausted, Deanna was in no mood for a nap. Plus, if McKenna came back any time soon, Deanna would feel like a fool if she wasted such a perfect (and meticulously planned) surprise by falling asleep instead. No, she would have to stay awake.

Instead, Deanna would use her phone to take a selfie. The thought of her taking a surprise selfie in her daughter’s bed filled her with good cheer, so she put on a smile, held the camera up, and snapped away. 

The message went through as Deanna stayed in the room waiting for a reply. The response, however, wasn’t what she expected. Instead of expressing her love and surprise, McKenna expressed confusion in a simple two-word reply: where’s that?

Immediately the comfy bed turned into a pit of vipers as Deanna jumped out of it, shocked by the realization that she wasn’t in her daughter’s room. Instead, she was in some random student’s room. What if that student came back to find a random mom taking selfies on the bed? Awkward. 

Now that Deanna was safely away from a potentially awkward situation – both from the incoming student and from the school staff who would have been suspicious  – she had time to reflect on the incident. She felt sick. 

To cut mom some slack, where she thought McKenna’s room was and where it actually was, wasn’t too far apart. Deanna was in the right dorm building and on the correct floor, she simply got the dorm room number incorrect. 

Shortly after McKenna posted the selfie and story to Twitter, her friends and followers began to comment. One comment, in particular, caught both Deanna and Mckenna’s eyes and made them both laugh. “Is that my pillow?” McKenna’s friend asked. 

McKenna always knew her mom was great for surprises. However, the selfie surprise visit is by far the best surprise she’s ever undertaken. The fact that the tweet went viral gave McKenna a pleasant dopamine burst – she loved the attention. 

As time went by, however, Deanna’s attitude toward the viral tweet changed. Rather than being overwhelmed by a silly mistake being seen by thousands or millions of people, she focused on the tweet’s ability to make people laugh – which it did in droves.