Deanna Pilling thought it would be a cute idea to surprise her daughter, McKenna, at university a day ahead of schedule. A mom surprising their daughter at college is a sweet idea.
If you are thinking the same thing we are, this was a terrible idea! Not one college student wants to be surprised by their parents. Deanna’s sweet surprise ended up taking a wrong turn.
Missing Her Daughter
Deanna and McKenna had a close mother/daughter relationship. When it was time for McKenna to attend college, Deanna was shocked that her New Yorker daughter wanted to go to Utah State University.
To say the least, the mom was heartbroken to have her daughter across the country. She knew that it would be the best decision to let McKenna spread her wings and leave the nest.
Surprising McKenna
The two were especially close, so the day before McKenna was heading back to New York for the summer, Deanna decided to do something special and surprise her daughter at her college.
While, on text, this sounds like a good idea. It soon turned into an entirely different experience for both mother and daughter. Deanna would learn soon enough that surprising a kid at college is not a good idea.
Last Minute Flight Reservations
Deanna thought it would be fun to show up in Utah a day earlier without telling McKenna. The whole point was to make her daughter feel loved and give her a few more cuddles before they had to part again.
Again, Who doesn’t love a surprise from their mom? So, flights were scheduled and hotels were booked for this impromptu visit. Never once, did Deanna think her daughter would be anything but ecstatic to see her mother, early but of course, something had to go wrong.
Flying to Utah
Without notifying McKenna of her arrival, Deanna booked a last-minute plane ticket from New York City to Utah. She had never done such a thing before and was hoping to surprise her oldest daughter.
Little did she know that the surprise soon would be on her rather than her daughter, as soon as she got to her daughter’s dorm room. What surprise was it exactly? Keep scrolling down to find out!
Missed Call
Deanna tried to play it smooth and casually decided to call McKenna before boarding her flight to find out her plans for the night. She had hoped, she would be out of her dorm, so she could easily sneak in! Unfortunately, McKenna did not answer.
Unfortunately, McKenna did not answer, probably since she was in class. When Deanna was boarding the flight, she had a sudden thought, what if her daughter had planned on going away for the weekend?
A Five Hour Flight Later
After spending five hours, alone on a plane Deanna had virtually thought out of every scenario in her head. She felt a little prepared when she landed in Logan, Utah and quickly grabbed a cab.
Rather than head over to her hotel room. she decided to go straight to see her daughter. Especially since she hadn’t been able to contact her. Just as she about to start second-guessed it all, Deanna’s phone then rang.
Declining the Call
She took a quick peek and the caller Id and saw her daughter’s face beaming back. She had hoped for this call, to ensure that McKenna was still in town but something felt off and she couldn’t figure out what.
This once, heartwarming surprise was turning out to be one full of anxious hours. She thought about it and worried that, if she would answer the call her nervousness would soon catch McKenna on to her plan!
Visiting Campus
Utah wasn’t a quick drive away, instead, it took an expensive five-hour flight, so the parent visits were few and far in-between. The last time Deanna was on campus is when she moved McKenna in the fall semester.
Nine months had passed since that time and when she got to campus, she felt a little lost. Obviously, she couldn’t call her daughter and ask her the directions to her dorm and tried to rely on her foggy memory of her last visit.
Campus Was Busy
The campus was beautiful in its summer afternoon, with students and faculty buzzing around the quad. There were a lot of students moving out for the summer, so Deanna was hoping to ask someone for help.
But as most young college students know, moving day is quite overwhelming and the campus felt more alien than anything. Deana felt more like a freshman, ready to enrol to her classes then a mother looking for her daughter.
Keeping Her Eyes Alert
Of course, the real danger with all this commotion was getting spotted! Deanna did not want to run into her daughter, while she was wandering around finding her dorm room. This simple idea was turning harder to execute!
She tried to look around cautiously to see if she spotted familiar faces, maybe she could track down one of her daughter’s friends to guide her to her dorm room. At this point, after hours of travel, it was all getting to be a bit too much.
Finally Found It
After wandering around the campus for quite some time, she finally found her daughter’s building, or so she thought. After a few explanations, she finally got into the building and immediately spotted a few of Mckenna’s friends.
She was finally getting closer to her surprise! Deanna was relieved that she had not only managed to navigate the endless maze of college buildings but also was able to track down her daughter’s friends.
Entering Now
They all made small talk for a while and this reinvigorated Deanna. She hopped on the elevator and went up to McKenna’s floor. She was tired, exhausted and ready to see her daughter’s surprise face.
It also felt very emotional, since this was the longest amount of time that they had gone without seeing each other. The once tight-knit duo both had busy schedules and meeting every month was getting harder and harder.
Is There Anyone Home?
She walked to her door and trepidatiously knocked. Deanna stood outside while she waited to see her daughter’s reaction. She was hoping that her daughter would be happy to see her and would be genuinely surprised.
But no one answers, she waited and knocked again, but it seemed like there was no one inside the dorm room. McKenna’s friends had told her that she would be in, so Deana was a little confused and taken back.
Going In The Room
Deanna realized the door was unlocked, which was very weird. Why would her daughter leave her room unlocked? And Where was she? At this point, she was getting a little paranoid and was wondering what was going on.
Deana was thinking that this surprise was turning into something else and was becoming to get worried, as any mother of a young daughter would. She tried her best to not panic and was hoping to find her daughter safe, on the other side.
She’s Not There
When she entered the room, she saw that there were a few girls packing up their stuff, while listening to music. They didn’t pay her much attention. Deanna said hello to them and went into McKenna’s room.
Her room was completely empty though, so Deanna was afraid that she screwed this whole plan up. Had her daughter already moved out? Or Worst was she on a flight BACK to their hometown?
All Packed and Ready To Go
The room had no sign’s of Mckean’s stuff and everything was packed neatly in boxes, waiting to be moved. She was surprised, that her daughter hadn’t mentioned that she was packed up already.
Mckenna had removed everything from the walls and all of her belongings were neatly packed in boxes. It was all getting a bit confusing for Deana, who had no idea what to do next. Should she call her daughter?
Getting Tired
Remember, Deanna was exhausted after a long day of travelling. The only thing that was left in McKenna’s room was her bed that was still covered in blankets and pillows. So, she knew what she wanted to do next.
She thought to herself that it was a good idea to hang out until her daughter returned. She got cosy, decided to put down her bags, take off her shoes, and laid down in her daughter’s bed.
Trying to Stay Awake
Deanna was awfully tired and sleep was taking over. Though a welcome relief, she then thought it was not a good idea if she fell asleep because it might ruin her surprise. Instead, she came up with a better idea.
She was going to let her daughter know that she was on campus but in a classic mom way. Deana was done with the secrets and thought it best to surprise her daughter with her arrival.
Smile For The Camera
Deanna took a selfie of laying in McKenna’s bed and she knew that her daughter will be shocked that she flew all this way to see her and rather than waiting for her, in her hometown as at her college dorm.
McKenna replied immediately and she was just as surprised as her mom had anticipated but not in the way that Deanna hoped. It wasn’t her mother’s arrival that was the real shock but something else.
SURPRISE
Where was her mother really? McKenna sent another text, “I’m in my dorm. Please tell me you’re not in someone else’s dorm.” It turns out Deana was taking selfies in some other girl’s bed!
It was part cringe, part embarrassment and part hilarious. How did she get the wrong directions to her own daughter’s dorm and whose dorm was this? She couldn’t believe her surprise had gone so wrong!
Plan Backfired
Deanna bolted out of bed. If this wasn’t McKenna’s dorm, then where was she? She ran out of the room and halfway down the hallway. Deanna texted back, “I am in the wrong dorm omg.”
She made her way down the hall laughing at her terrible mistake and hoping that she didn’t run into the real owner of the dorm bed, that Deana nearly took a nap in and had taken selfies in.
Absolute Panic
“I felt sick to my stomach because I’ve already said hi to several people in the dorm and they probably have no idea who I was,” said McKenna’s mother. Deanna then laughed and said, “I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even look at the name of the building. I could be in the wrong building!”
Turns out, she wasn’t in the wrong building but in her tired state, Mckeana’s mother went into the wrong dorm room. She called her daughter and asked her for her room number and was finally going to the “right” room.
It’s A-Okay
Thankfully, the room Deanna had initially, called home was a friend of McKenna’s who lived down the hall from her. Deanna’s daughter found the whole situation HYSTERICALLY FUNNY that she took to Twitter to post her Mom’s selfies and text messages.
While this was hilarious was Deana daughter, it was an embarrassing tale she was sure she would never live down. She admitted that she knew something was off when she entered the wrong dorm but didn’t know what.
Wait, What?
McKenna’s friend, the girl whose dorm Deanna had been in, didn’t know about the whole situation until a few days later. McKenna didn’t show her the picture of her mom, casually relaxing on her friend’s bed, since she didn’t know what she would say!
But, when Mckeen posted the picture on twitter, “She commented on it and was like, ‘Is that my pillow?’” The entire thread went viral, with thousands of people commenting on the disaster of a surprise.
15 Minutes of Fame
The response shocked both Deanna and her daughter. McKenna said, “We weren’t expecting anything of it, I just thought friends and family would see it but now it’s completely gone everywhere.”
The college student said that her mom was always loved giving surprises and this one was the funniest, so far! Deanna, on the other hand, was not too keen about all of the attention.
Getting A Better Photo
Even though it was a terrible mistake, Deanna was relieved that she had so many people laughing, including her daughter. And was especially glad that, the first dorm room owner did not mind her blatant intrusion.
McKenna does have one issue though: “Every time I refresh my feed more retweets and favourites pop up, and now all my mom has to say is, “‘I wish I would’ve taken a better picture!’”
The original story from is for Upbeat News. Thank you for the pictures and information!