She REALLY REALLY got it

The post I wrote last night was really a "bread-crumb trail" to lead Sabrina to her letter of acceptance from SUNY New Paltz that we got in the mail yesterday. I didn't want to tell her over the phone. Before she left Sabrina told me she would kill me if I read it and told her... she wanted to open her acceptance letter.

Anyways... Kimberly, Christopher and I had the honor of being on the phone with Sabrina in Ecuador as she clicked her way onto the letter. I wish I had taped her reaction... She got it. Sabrina really understood how her life pivoted into a new direction.

I have been a relentless, deaf idiot to my kids about college. I try to act interested in who they take to the Prom, and whether they get to cut on Senior Cut Day. I try to feign interest in whether their job pays $8 or $10 per hour. Honestly I know. I really know that all of that pales in significance to the question "where are you going to college next Aug."

Sabrina will be going to the cutest school, in the most charming little town at the foot of beautiful mountains, just a 70 mile train ride from Manhattan. Sabrina will be a fluent Spanish speaker who is getting a degree from one of the best teaching colleges in the United States. In 5 years Sabrina is finally much more likely to be teaching High School kids to speak spanish, than she is likely to wear a blue smock and man the cash register at Wal*Mart.

There is no shame in the blue smock... The problem is there is no career path to get from there to teaching kids to speak spanish. The only way to get inside the walls of the castle has to do with this letter of acceptance.

All of our kids have gone to primary education for 13 years. There is however a profound difference with what they do from there. Ironically 11 of the 13 years have almost no bearing on what happens next. The results of your 10th and 11th grade years end up being being the most powerful forces to determine what you do with the 50 working years of your life.

Now there are still a million chances for things to change but I can infer some great things. My guess in Sabrinas kids will get braces if they need them. I bet Sabrina has a career that includes health insurance, vacation time, and a retirement program. I bet that Sabrina won't have to drag too many carts in from parking lots, clean public restrooms, or have bosses named Gomer. I bet Sabrina won't be working in a factory, a mine, or a fast food kitchen after her 22nd birthday.

I am so proud of my daughter... but most importantly I am so happy that she has put herself in a position to put her wonderful talents to great use. I hope that someday Sabrina gets to watch the light go on, and see one of her students open a letter like this one.

You Go Girl!