Gap Year

Originally I wrote this for a Folk Journaling project as my son was finishing his senior year of high school (2013).  He didn't end up taking a gap year and has just graduated college.  His studies took him to China, France, Germany, England, and on occasion even Kansas.   Today he turns 23, and I am reposting in honor of him.

It is the last semester of my last kid’s last year in high school.  Years ago I thought I would be a weepy mess by this point, but I am not.  He is a great kid with a huge heart and good mind.  He has two older sisters who have gone before him and shown me that a young adult can leave your home, but never leave your heart.  So, much to my surprise (and no doubt his), I am getting anxious to see what comes next.

My son comes from a long line of males on my side of the family who are late bloomers in terms of achievement matching ability.  For several years now I have been promoting the idea of a gap year between high school and college.  Recently, I think my son heard what I have been saying for the first time.  Delayed entry to college makes sense to us all.  So, the search has begun for an appropriate gap year experience.

Travel is educational and encourages maturation, but it comes with a price tag that exceeds what my son has available.  His dad and I are not interested in working here at home to pay for our eighteen-year-old to be a jet-setting tourist.

I have found programs that pair international travel and earning college credits.  If we aren’t going to send him to college in the USA in the fall because we think he could use more time to grow ready for the experience, how could taking classes half a planet away serve him well?

The third option we found online is a combination of international travel and service.  This is the option that has us the most excited.  Serving others is good for your soul.  It makes you appreciate what you have as well as what others do to serve you.  There is nothing like hard work at minimal wages to make you begin to see the value of higher education. Helping to pay your own way builds self-confidence.  It gives you a clearer picture of the worth of a dollar.

I see by the application deadlines that we are arriving late to this party.  So, we will be scrambling over the next several weeks in an attempt to make this happen for him.  I have no idea what our search will unearth, but  I trust that we will forge the best plan for his growth and development.

There is a big world out there, and nearly everything my son has done to this point has signaled his intention to explore it.  His knowledge of geography surpassed mine more than a decade ago.  His favorite classes are the three foreign languages he studies.  His future holds the promise of great things.  As his mother, I will do all in my power to give him the world.

May Daze

I chose this photo I took earlier this week for its peaceful feel---the opposite of my current life.

Ten Things I am Thankful for Despite Feeling Dazed:

Next weekend my three adult kids graduate from three separate programs in three different states.  And I work in a school on top of that.  May for those of us in the world of education is never an easy time.  This year is less easy...but more blessed.

When she was four, our eldest announced she would grow up to be a Dancing Dentist.  She has certainly danced her way through the better part of three decades.  Saturday the dental part kicks in.  Her hometown is rolling out the red carpet to welcome her home; and the dentists she will work for are doing all within their power to ease her transition from student to full-fledged dentist.

Le Professeur, our middle child, will earn her Masters in French and Francophone Studies at UNC.  She loves Chapel Hill, and her students love her.  She recently shared a letter one of her students had written to nominate her for a teaching award at the school.  She has what it takes to be the kind of teacher who will change lives.

My son attends my alma mater...also his dad's alma mater.  We both loved K-State when we were there, and it has only gotten better through the years.  My son has completely blossomed and has taken advantage of the multitude of opportunities that have been offered.  It has been a joy to watch.

Somehow despite the ceremonies being only hours apart, we believe we have a plan that will get us to a portion of all three graduations.  We are strapping on our track shoes and are ready to hit the road.

TToT

Ten Things of Thankful: Grown Up Edition

The daughter known on these pages as The Dentist is nearing the end of her course of study.  A local dental practice awaits her arrival.  Later this week she will take possession of a charming old-world home not far from us.  

When she was four years old and completely consumed by ballet classes, she announced as a matter of fact that when she grew up she would be a dancing dentist.  Apparently, she had inherited a touch of her father's practicality which led her to understand that she would prefer to live on a dentist's salary rather than a dancer's.  To this day the dégagés continue, now finally dentistry will be part of her days as well.

The European inspired house she is buying belonged to an elderly couple, and has suffered benign neglect at their hands in recent years.  Their lack of care was enough to bring the price substantially lower, but not so much that the place could qualify as a money-pit.  It is filled with charm, and still provides a blank slate for her to express her style when her income eventually grows compatible with her taste. 

A fun perk of parenting young adults is the opportunity to relive some of the highlights of your own life.  I remember so clearly the excitement of finishing our studies and launching the careers we had worked so hard to pursue.  First jobs, first homes...the realization of dreams.  It has been a joy to have favorite memories resurface.  There is nothing like life rewarding your hard work  with all that you had hoped for...unless it is getting to watch life reward your children in the very same way.

TToT

One Piece of Paper

For my daughter: ballerina, adventurer, beautiful spirt.  Class of 2011

An artist named Peter Callesen creates fabulous works of art from single sheets of paper.
Your life is like that one sheet of paper...clean and unmarked as you enter your adult life.  God has given you free will so that the life you create is up to you.  Your parents have guided you in a way so that what you create will be pleasing to Him.
Your creation when complete, won't look exactly like anyone else's.  It will be a creation which reflects the unique and wonderful person God created in you.
God has given you this gift; now it is up to you to decide what to do with it.  May the life you create be as complicated, original and clever as the art  this artist creates from a single sheet of paper; and may you never forget the one who gave it to you.


With love today and always,  Mom

For more complex and amazing images....http://www.petercallesen.com


(It is hard to believe but this piece was originally written five years ago at graduation time.)