Recently I blogged about a teasing letter we received at our home regarding awards night at Saline High School that suggested our son was up for an award and strongly encouraged our attendance. Friends of his had received the same letter but they were actually LIKELY to receive awards so we were just confused. My son and I attended anyway, just in case.
Kevin is a kid who has learned extraordinarily well, has avoided the typical temptations of youth, besides computer games (death to computer games!) and a senior year girlfriend (we like her - she is motivated, technical like him, success-oriented no matter what it takes, and adorable). He has endured psychological testing to determine that he is decidedly not ADD and that his only real problem is boredom and "you can't make me do it" (damn you psychologist - we already knew that!).
So there we sat at award night wondering if there would be an award. Many of Kevin's dear friends received embarassments of mention, monetary and non-monetary, individuals who were the only recipients of very specific awards, sometimes repeatedly. Congratulations dear friends!
There were honor roll awards (nope), specific field of study awards (nope), nice guy/gal awards (nope - though he is), and the departmental awards. Kevin was on the edge of his seat waiting and wanting one of several English department awards - his brilliance had been noted through the years - but how can an award be given to an individual with a sub 3.0 GPA? So many more candidates who put in the time and effort to hand in the homework and get good grades could not be upstaged by someone who shunned the requirements even if they led the discussions and invigorated the classroom. They could not be honored even if they received extra assignments since they had already read all the books in the curriculum and sat in the hallway with advanced reading material, popping in on cue to comment in the classroom discussions on books. The teachers may have known who the best candidates really were but they are bound by rules. The tap on the arm and hello to our son as his AP English teacher left the stage signaled to me that she wished she could have given it to him.
The most egregious example of this sort of thing was a few year's back when our daughter's friend was denied the position of number one graduate because he did not spend enough time in the high school during high school. As I understood it, he did not have the required high school credits - he was taking college courses at the university nearby since he had exhausted the curriculum at the high school. Upon graduation he could have entered the University of Michigan as a senior, age 18. In a "post mortem" or should I say "post mortar board" decision he was awarded first place, not in time for graduation; he got second billing then.
Here's the thing though. High school and even college are not life. They seem that way at the time, but the most brilliant student may turn out to be only a brilliant student - not a good employee and there are absolutely no guarantees about entrepreneurship. Someone who follows the rules is unlikely to take risks - just my opinion - and be an entrepreneur. There is a certain "devil may care" attitude, or "la-di-da" as my husband calls it in regard to my efforts in keeping bills paid, that is REQUIRED in entrepreneurs! If fear were to rule the day, no one would invent that better mouse trap or Microsoft Vista - sorry, wrong analogy.... I truly believe my son will do great things when the constraints are lifted. Time will tell.
Regarding that award, yes he did receive one - the Michigan Promise Award for exemplary performance on standardized testing, required by the state of Michigan. It is worth $4000 and he was in good company with about a quarter of his classmates. I wouldn't sneeze at a $4000 tax-free/company-dollar-free commission these days, would any of you?
Congratulations Kevin! When you hit the really big time I will be sure to blog about you then too. For now, good luck at Michigan Tech.
(He applied and was accepted within six days - his ACT score was that good.) It is the perfect school for you Kevin, despite the snowfalls that require six foot poles above the fire hydrants so the firefighters can find them in the ten months of winter.... You are going to love it there! Seriously, you are going to love it there, just as we love you. Now get out of here and raise that GPA. Dad is researching that Arctic-rated parka he had in the Air Force and intends to order it for you. Make a snowman, make a snowfort, make a snow time traveller machine. I trust you can make anything you desire, if given the means. See you at Thanksgiving. Let's stock up on the Ramen Noodle now.
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