Last month, my baby boy, Tyler, finally graduated from college. He was on the five year plan. Tyler was my gifted kid who taught himself to read at the age of four. He could spell any word, and read thick novels by second grade. But when he got to about 5th grade, schoolwork got harder, and he didn't feel like trying very hard. He was the boy who should have had a 4.0 in high school. But he was somewhere in the middle of the rankings.
Tyler took the ACT three times. He got a 27 the first and second times, and a 30 on the final try. He was awarded a distinguished freshman award and a marching band scholarship, plus he was accepted into the Honors College. He also got the top level TOPS award from the state that paid basic tuition plus a stipend. But before marching band camp was into the third day, Ty decided he hated marching band and didn't want to do that. And he decided that he no longer wanted to major in music - that his passion was Physics. His father and I scrambled to line up financial aid that we wouldn't have needed if he stayed in marching band, and were supportive of his major change. If I had a do over....
Tyler and his roommate spent a lot of time gaming. I'm not sure what else they did, but going to class and studying wasn't high on their list of to do items. Tyler finished his first semester with a .1 grade point average. You can't do much worse than that. He got rid of the girlfriend who was a large part of the distraction, changed majors to Marketing, and did better semester number two. His TOPS was gone, never to be regained. His scholarships were gone forever. But Tyler hung in there, through Latin, French, classes he liked, and classes he hated. He changed majors again, to Moving Image Arts, which we just started calling film to make it easier for other people.
In his final year, he had a Capstone Project to do, a group effort. In essence, his group wrote, produced, and edited a film. They had to line up actors, find a musicians, shoot, get voiceovers done, and have a finished product to show an audience at the end of the semester. As always, I fretted and sweat with him, worrying about whether or not the film would get finished. As passive as my son can be, he did persevere and wound up with a film. Will it be nominated for an Academy Award? Not just unlikely, but no way! But that's okay because in my eyes, he got the big prize - his bachelor's degree!
I think I was more excited that he was about the actual graduation ceremony. Okay, I know I was. And I even got teared up a couple of times. This was the moment I had waited five years for! I told him a number of times - you may not appreciate that piece of paper right now, or a year from now, but there will come a time in your like when you are glad that you worked to achieve that degree. For days afterward, I would wake up in the morning and it would hit me all over again - I was the mother of a college graduate!
Within two weeks, Tyler had a job interview with a company that develops and produces video games, and about a week after that, he started his first week of training. At the end of the week, he had to pass a test to stay on. He passed! The company offers a year contract and then decides whether or not to keep the person on staff. So Tyler is back at home for now so he can save money. Once he is a full-fledged employee (with great benefits!), he can look ahead to his own place. But for now, I am happy to have my boy back home.
Now, if I can just get his younger sister through college....
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