Brainy Bird’s intelligence will take him places beyond what I can imagine for him as his mother. His entire life he has been able to do things at a level far beyond his years. His programming and problem solving skills give him an edge in today’s technologically advanced world, but his huge variety of interests and curiosity about the world around him will be what takes him where he wants to go.
He dreams of being an entrepreneur that adds value to society through his entrepreneurial pursuits. As a high school student, he has dabbled in entrepreneurial activities, with notable achievements. He also has a strong interest in serving our country in the world of cyber security through the FBI, Department of Defense and/or NSA. Ultimately, doing something that matters and contributes to society is important to him.
It is amazing to have big dreams. It is more amazing to see these dreams start to take shape and become a reality. Brainy Bird’s next major step in realizing his big dreams is a college education. I am in awe of his options. He put great thought into each of his college applications. He has interesting and insightful reasons for choosing each of the colleges that he applied to. All of his many options are incredible opportunities for different reasons.
The road to where we are today has not been easy. Brainy Bird found himself a target of a relentless bully in his middle school and junior high school years. It was important for this child to feel good about himself at the expense of others. It was important for certain popular children to make sure that Brainy Bird had no self-esteem whatsoever.
The highly intelligent people in the world have feelings too. One would think that they are so smart that they would see past sports culture and popularity. That is not the case. Intelligence does not remove our need for acceptance.
There were dark days when there was nothing that I could do to make Brainy Bird be accepted by his peers. Other parents tried to talk to the parents of the bullies, and their children’s lives only got worse. At one of Brainy Bird’s lowest points, I sat down next him, and I cried with him. I still remember that feeling of despair.
I wiped away his tears, and I wiped away my own tears. Then, I made him a promise. I asked him to focus on school, and take the most rigorous coursework he could. I told him with complete honesty that high school would not be much fun, and he is never going to be popular. I promised him if he would endure this path in high school that mid-year his senior year it would all pay off. He would have exciting options like going to the University of Texas, and possibly the option of going to college out of state. I promised him that there is a university out there that will embrace a child like him. I promised him that he would be accepted in every form of the word.
I made good on my promise to him, funny really he made good on my promise to him.
As the college acceptance letters and scholarship awards roll in, I find myself taking a peek at Brainy Bird’s application essays. One of the essay prompts was to write an essay about one’s favorite word. Brainy Bird chose the word accepted. The words on that page could not be more true about humans and Brainy Bird’s heart. His last sentence of the essay is, “I want to be accepted.”
This week alone, the realization that this promise has become a reality revealed itself in so many ways: the letter notifying him of his selection to the Top Scholars program at the University of South Carolina, his interview with Vanderbilt, his opportunity to interview with the Houston alumni of Missouri, the countless birthday wishes that he received from universities, the girl that greeted us at the visitors desk of the University of South Carolina, and the words of the University of Virginia’s acceptance letter.
The promise was that he would find a place in this world where he feels accepted and his talents are embraced. When I made that promise, I did not realize that there would be so many such places. My words to him as I watched him through the grueling application process have been, “all you need is one“. Now, he has the exciting challenge of choosing just one.