Interesting number.
If you are like me (god help you), you may remember how "space-age" the year 2011 seemed to be in, for example, 1978. Following the brain drain of trying to work out how old I would be in that year, I used to think about what I might be doing at that point in my life. More importantly, I imagined what I'd be wearing as I wended my way confidently from one automatic door to the next, the updraft accompanied by a perfect Star Trek whoosh and making my feathered hair self-fluff handsomely.
And here it is, 2011. There are no Star Trek portals. The hair I used to engage with in a desperate battle of wills has long since fallen out. The sights I once set on my own education and career are now focused very differently.
It's 2011, and the son that I doubted I'd ever have is growing up. In inverse proportion to the health of my parents, he is getting bigger, stronger and more independent than a frisky yearling. Yesterday a child of 9, today a youngster of 13, tomorrow a man of 18 with a size-twelve foot and the appetite of a small nation.
Last week, at our five-day tour of private boarding schools in snowy New England, Zane was transformed. He also showed colors we never thought he had. Gone was the dispassionate, practically mute boy we witnessed at a painful admissions interview with the Head of Secondary School at his private school in Sydney three years ago. In his place was an articulate, engaged and interested young man who quizzed his tour guide and admissions interviewer with a enthused spark. Zane rose to the occasion. While there were low moments--for example, walking across the Exeter campus in blizzard conditions, fighting off the flu, and once or twice just simply wishing he could shut down for a day--Zane kept his spirit fueled and did his very best...all we have ever asked of him. After all, this was a goal he set for himself. We're just his cheerleaders.
Applying to boarding school in the US was Zane's idea a couple of years ago. When he approached us with the idea, Mark and I were still reeling (happily) from his exceptional performance in the GATE program in Tucson. We encouraged Zane to think long and hard about his willingness to do what it would take to try and make the cut to get into one of these schools. His grades, although good, would need to get better. His performance on standardized tests would need to improve dramatically. His self-initiative and determination tools would need some hefty sharpening. (And we would need a dumptruck full of money.) Zane was adamant of his goal, so Mark and I threw our weight behind him and provided the necessary encouraging, pushing, prodding and general kickassitude to help him make it up the hill. And make it he did.
Mark and I have no idea what Zane's real chances are. We see the numbers and statistics, and we get a little depressed, but that's the way with impersonal data. We saw Zane as a human. We saw a desire to succeed and a strength of character that startled us. We know that Zane worked hard for this, maybe not as hard as he will next year, should his current applications be unsuccessful, but he certainly proved to us (and himself) that he has what it takes to climb to the top.
I reckon watching your kid take those pivotal steps from childhood to adulthood via that torturous path known as adolescence is one of the best things about parenting. I am proud of Zane. Whatever the outcome, we will always have this victory to remember together.