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

Once there, she visited McKenna’s dorm room, only to find it empty. To say “hi”, she snapped a selfie while lying in McKenna’s bed. Then, something unexpected happened.

Clearly, Deanna missed her daughter McKenna who was all the way across the country for a whole year! Although the sentiment is easy to understand and the action came from the heart, it’s also safe to say that mom was taking a gamble by showing up without her daughter knowing in advance. 

Although difficult, Deanna knew it was time for her little bird to leave the nest. That was the only way she would truly grow into her own person. Deanna was sad to see McKenna go but excited for her to start something new.

Deanna’s simple wish to show up at her daughter’s campus in Utah wasn’t so simple after all. It turns out that turning up at McKenna’s dorm room without a proper invitation was a recipe for disaster.

College kids are busy cleaning up their rooms and hanging out with friends. There’s not a lot of time for family matters, but nevertheless, Deanna was eager to surprise her daughter.

Unfortunately, however, McKenna didn’t pick up her phone. Deanna, understandably, was frustrated, but there was nothing she could do – the flight was ready to board. With that uncertainty playing at the back of her mind, Deanna boarded the plane, found her seat, and got herself ready for a long flight. 

Deanna smiled to herself as she imagined the look of surprise on McKenna’s face when they would finally get to meet. With that in mind, she hopped in a cab and headed toward the campus. During the ride, her phone began to ring. It was McKenna. 

Instead, she let it ring. She was now minutes away from the campus now, her heart racing faster. The only trouble with her plan, however, was the fact that she didn’t know exactly where McKenna stayed. 

She racked her brain trying to remember the name of McKenna’s dorm. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure it out. So, she walked around aimlessly. Her frustration grew as she tried to decide her next move.

Deanna felt lost. The campus didn’t seem that big when she came here in the fall, but now that she didn’t know where to go, it seemed huge. How would she find McKenna?

So, she kept her head down and continued the search. Unfortunately, that meant that she didn’t make any progress. She remained lost. However, she decided that pacing around campus might help her get her bearings straight, so she tried it.

Deanna let out a tremendous sigh of relief. This had to be McKenna’s dorm room, why else would her friends be there? Although it was a harrowing adventure, Deanna was finally where she needed to be.

Nothing happened. No sound came from the other side of the door and neither did anyone walk up to answer. Deanna tried again – nothing. Now she was in a bit of a bind. Was it better to stand outside and wait or go inside?

That’s a bit odd, Deanna thought to herself.  Why wouldn’t McKenna lock the door? Wasn’t she concerned about intruders or thieves coming in to rummage through all her stuff? Deanna put these concerns aside and decided to act rather than think. She opened the door. 

She knocked again, but there was no answer. Perhaps McKenna was listening to music, or maybe she was deliberately ignoring her knocks. Regardless, Deanna grabbed the doorknob, gave it a twist, and opened the door. 

It was quite the shock. Deanna began to second-guess her spontaneous plan. Perhaps hopping on a plane from New York to surprise her daughter in a dorm room wasn’t such a great idea. Considering it was the last day before summer, McKenna was probably out hanging with her friends. 

Of course, McKenna wasn’t here – she had already packed everything! Although she got a touch of pride at raising a daughter to plan ahead so well, she was also a little sad that she was nowhere to be found. She must have been with friends.

She looked around, a little saddened, and zeroed in on one thing left untouched: McKenna’s bed. The sheets were nicely tucked in and the pillow looked comfy. So, she took off her shoes and laid down for a bit, thinking of what to do.

But she couldn’t just lie there doing nothing. After thinking it over for a moment, she came to her next move: a phone call. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. She would use her phone, but not to make a call. 

After she settled on the perfect pic, she rummaged through her phone to find McKenna’s contact info. Then, she sent it off her selfie. She knew McKenna would both love it and be surprised at the fact that her mom traveled thousands of miles to see her.

Did McKenna forget her own room? Deanna waited for clarification, which came moments later when McKenna wrote, “I’m in my dorm.” Whoops! Panic flooded through Deanna’s body as she realized what McKenna soon put into words, “ Please tell me you’re not in someone else’s dorm.”

To avoid that awkward possibility becoming a reality, Deanna left the room as quickly as she entered it. Once she made it outside, she texted her daughter to confirm she was in another student’s room.

She began questioning why she went with gut instinct rather than looking at the name of the building. Then, she began to think about the other students in the dorm: what did they think about her? Rather than embarrassment, however, most of these reflections brought on laughter. 

Once she made it to McKenna’s room, her daughter was still pleasantly surprised. Plus, it turns out Deanna was in the dorm of one of McKenna’s friends, so it wouldn’t have been that awkward. Alongside surprise, McKenna got a huge laugh, so she decided to post the text on Twitter.

At first, the tweet garnered a few comments like the ones above. Then, all of sudden, it exploded beyond the confines of McKenna’s social network. The tweet went viral. Users simply couldn’t get enough of the funny and endearing mistake that Deanna made.

Who didn’t love the attention, however, was Deanna. Perhaps it was because she came from a different generation. Deanna expected the tweet to be seen and shared by a few family members and friends, so she wasn’t thrilled when it reached thousands more people.

That being said, Deanna wishes one thing differently: she wishes she took a better selfie! At the time, of course, she couldn’t have known that her picture would soon go viral. Now that it did, however, she wishes she spent more time getting the perfect shot. There are certainly many heartwarming and hilarious stories about mothers and daughters out there, and here’s another one that went viral.  

Walters and her husband went to the college on August 22 because they were supposed to have plans with their freshman daughter. They didn’t get any responses back from her. What had happened to their eldest?

Filming the aftermath of the visit, Walters posted the video on Facebook where it gained a whopping 3.6 million views. In the footage, Walters says, “She thought she could dip off and go ghost for three days. No, you won’t. What you’re not fittin’ to do, while I pay tuition, is disappear for three days.”

Walters and her husband were very worried about their daughter. They also wanted to ensure that she wasn’t irresponsible, considering her mother was paying for her daughter’s education on her dime.

A parent’s worst fear is not having any communication with their children. This was especially true for Nicole, whose mind was racing with all the things her daughter could be doing instead of studying.

Parents are meant to be authority figures. Sometimes, they have to give a little tough love to their kids, while also setting boundaries that are for their good! Disciplining your children means that you love them, too.

Nicole and her husband drove to John Hopkins University to confront their daughter (and embarrass her a bit, of course). Nicole created a flyer that she posted on her daughter’s dorm room wall with a photo of her face. The words on the flyer read: “Is my daughter being irresponsible?’

Nicole added her Twitter handle to the flyer. Anybody who had information about what her daughter was doing would get free pizza and a Starbucks gift card for $10. Well, college students couldn’t resist that.

Since their eldest went MIA and Nicole detailed her story online, the viral video has garnered over 7 million views, as well as thousands of reactions and comments. Not to mention, the 66 million shares. She made it evident that she’s a parent who is humorous but also has a backbone, and parents her children with tough love.

Their eldest daughter, nicknamed BigTiny, messaged her parents a fairly cryptic response at two in the morning, saying that she was out late. They were not satisfied with her answer and that led to questions that needed to be clarified in person. That’s why they made the trip to the college to find her.

Nicole expressed to her daughter that as long as she was paying for her schooling, then she only expected her to focus on studying and getting good grades. BigTiny was attending university to get a degree, after all. She also needed to understand how distressed her parents were after they didn’t hear from her for days. BigTiny and her parents now FaceTime every week!

Yes, there were other ways she could have handled the situation. Nicole decided to take things to another level with her primary intention to be funny. Even though the video and the entire experience taught BigTiny an important lesson, she also became the most popular freshman in her class.

It was meant for Nicole to be the mother of these three girls. After Nicole and her husband had fostered the girls, they took the next step and adopted them. The Walters were a family, finally. The biggest challenge for Nicole was balancing her family and her career, but it worked out in the end.

But for BigTiny, she would get taught a lesson a bit harder than her sisters. She had to test the boundaries and learn from her mistakes. Regardless, Nicole and her husband were still very proud of her achievements.

She often shows off how wonderful her beloved Tinies are and how content she is with her life. Her excitement can hardly be contained! Nicole also feels like as soon as they came into her life, their grades improved, too. Not only did they enrich her life, but she also enriched theirs.

Nicole’s method of parenting is more traditional than how it is these days, which isn’t good or bad. It just meant that children were supposed to respect the rules and wishes of their parents. One thing is for sure: BigTiny’s mom taught her a lesson that can’t be taught in any college class.