When freshman Miami University student Sarah Bowling first received her dorm room assignment, she could not believe her eyes, for it was the same dorm room her mother had when she was in college.
Bowling and her mother, Laura Bowling, screamed in excitement on the phone over the coincidence, the Miami University Communications and Marketing team reported.
According to Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Statistics John Bailer, the odds of this assignment happening are .002 percent. There is a greater likelihood of being audited by the IRS than being placed in the same room that a parent had.
“I was hoping she would be in South Quad just because that was where I lived, but never ever expected her to be in Emerson, let alone in my exact room,” Laura, a 1994 graduate, said.
Laura received a degree in Marketing and now works as the senior account manager for Cincinnati Magazine in advertising and event sponsorship sales.
“My older brother also attended Miami, so I visited him often in high school. We attended hockey games, and I spent the weekend for Lil Sibs Weekend, which sealed the deal on my decision,” she said. “Miami was the only university I applied to. I applied for Early Decision, just like my daughter Sarah did. I still remember the day I got my acceptance letter in the mail in December 1989.”
Sarah, who first fell in love with the campus upon visiting it as a middle schooler, will be pursuing a degree in Integrated English Language Arts Education (grades 7-12).
“I am so excited for classes to begin,” Sarah said. “Like most people, I am a little nervous, but I also have a sense that I am coming home. Miami is where I am supposed to be.”