I am on an airplane on my way to Las Vegas. We land in an hour. To make my 9:30 flight, I got up 5 AM this morning. I had things to do around the house before I left. I also needed to finish packing, give the fur kids lots of cuddles, and return a rental car. I missed the long lines at security and baggage check, and I had an hour to sip free coffee in the United lounge before I boarded the plane.
While I sipped my coffee, I got some critical work tasks off my to-do list, and then I opened Facebook for the first time in a few days. I found my Facebook memory from a year ago today, which began with, “Apparently, Chance Storey did not inherit my bad math skills. He finally got to take the SAT, and he had a perfect score on the math section. 1550 total (800 in math and 750 on the verbal part).”
We also learned on this day last year that Brainy Bird was a top 100 finalist for the Roe Stamps scholarship at the University of Missouri. This day was a turning point, and Brainy Bird continued to trend up from there. Fast forward just one year, and Brainy Bird is now technically a junior in college at the University of South Carolina. The past year has been an amazing year for Brainy Bird.
It began with the SAT score and scholarship to Missouri. In the upcoming weeks, he received his acceptance to the Honors college at South Carolina. One of the many benefits of the Honors college is that out-of-state tuition is waived, thus making what was already an exciting option affordable.
In the months that followed, the acceptance letters and scholarships began rolling. I remember the excitement of getting the mail every day to see what was in store for Brainy Bird. On February 2, the day before he turned eighteen, he got the notification that he was selected as a Top Scholar at the University of South Carolina.
I remember watching him check his email that afternoon on my computer at the desk in our kitchen. A look that I had never seen before casting over his face, a look of pride and excitement like none other before. It could not be more perfect that we were headed to South Carolina to visit the campus that very weekend. I remember standing outside of the visitor’s center looking around at the incredibly beautiful campus before what would be one of our best college tours. At the end of the tour, Brainy Bird and I went to get Little Chirp from the student center, and as the three of us walked to our car he said, “I like it here.”
I now know what he meant was, “I am going to go here.”
He would go on to receive many large scholarships to a number of universities, but I knew his heart belonged to Carolina.
Fast forward just a year, Brainy Bird is now a student at the University of South Carolina. He just completed his first semester with all A’s. He is actually a junior based on the number of hours he has. From High School senior, to a junior in college in less than a year. Brainy Bird has officially flown from the next.