On Campus, Oct 24
Walking to the library this evening I had plans to stop and get a cookie at Emily's room on the way. Big goALS.
I was taking a nasty picture of a moldy door (why?! i don't know) behind the dining hall in the back parking lot and heard someone call me. I went over to the parked car and said hi to the little girl who hollered. She then asked me how i got to college.
Seriously, she had the craziest, most curious eyes. I took on the roll of the story-teller Grandpa and put on my camp counselor voice i often hear Paige use. "well I took this BIG test called the ACT and i studied and studied and studied. Then I got my score, and that wasn't high enough, so I did it again and I got another score and that was high enough for the school to give me scholarships..." I went on to explain the weird standardized test process that sounds even stranger than it is when explained to wide-eyed children.
Yeah, it doesn't make any sense, but if you get X score you really will win the university lotto and could score yourself a free ride! (i did NOT, but it could happen).
Their mom was the sweetest. Seriously, she was smiling and nodding at the kids as i told them about the whole process. She asked me about my elementary years, I told them about staying late after school learning how to correctly do "big" subtraction and division. When i said this she looked back at them and said, "see! see! you guys gotta keep it up!"
I told them if they keep working hard through all the stuff they don't feel like they care about they could come to a cool school like Baylor and do something they do care about! Like heal people with medicine, or be a fashion designer, or learn to be a chemist and make potions! (Doctors, artists and scientists are always crowd-pleasers for examples).
Seriously, their expressions got to me. They nodded along, hearing all that i had to tell them.
Watching their mom encourage them was beautiful. She was beaming and thanking me for my advice. "I just was telling them how important an education is! See you guys, ya'll have to keep working hard!" She told them, turning around to look at them in the backseat every couple of seconds to nod to something I said or make sure they were listening.
She seemed to want the the best for her kids. I mean, she loved them so much that she would take them to sit in the Baylor parking lot and just dream about their potential. I felt like it was a weekly ritual for them.
