Kyle gets his smart on!

It warms my heart to know that we have successfully raised our children to want to do hard things. Not just to do them when they are put in front of them and they have no other choice, but to seek after the hard and challenging things and choose to do them. Not only to try them, to struggle, to overcome them, but to ultimately conquer and finish them.

Andrew has been doing this with the IB program at Klein Oak High School and I think that his efforts have finally started to pay off. His last report card was straight A’s.

I was a little shocked when Kyle announced that he was going to apply for IB as well. For a couple of years we had heard that he “valued his sleep too much” to do IB and we left at that. We had resigned to the fact that Kyle was not interested in IB nor was he willing to put forth the effort that would be required academically to keep up in the program. We had accepted the fact that we would be a “house divided” when it came to high schools. We would have a senior at Klein Oak High School and a freshman at Klein High School. We would accept whatever challenges that threw at our family for the year. It had to be Kyle’s choice and we could not make it for him.

It was time for Kyle to make that decision, however, and I still offered it to him as an option and I was surprised that he was interested after all. My preference was mostly over the orchestra programs than over the IB or non-IB because I am still not 100% certain that Kyle will find the motivation to get his work done (or rather get it all turned in). He is a different child than Andrew and definitely has different motivations. Still I knew that Kyle had to make the decision on his own.

And he did…

He filled out the paper work. He wrote his essay. He got all of his teacher recommendations. I filled out the paper work that was required of me. He turned it all in. He went to his interview. I sat in the car and waited for him. He did everything that was required of him…and then we waited…and waited…and waited…we were still in limbo…

Then Kyle received this letter, hand delivered at school in an envelope with his name on it. Kyle was accepted to the IB program. He is going to Klein Oak High School!

I am extremely proud of him for making this decision. I am truly delighted that he has made the choice to do something hard. He knows that it will not be easy because he has watched his brother do it. He also has a friend that is already a freshman in the IB program and they may be comparing notes. He knows Quentin at the karate dojo who is a senior this year. This is a close knit family and I am sure their influence has helped encourage him that while it will be challenging it will be worth it in the end.

I am proud of Kyle for choosing to take things to the next level and just being willing to try something that he knows is going to be outside of his “comfort level.”

Here’s to you Kyle…may you forever be blessed for arising to the challenge. May your cup run over with the blessings of abundance of just enough sleep to get you through the next four years of school. I love you son.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply