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The Long and Winding Road for my Tiger Family
Its been a long time since I’ve had an update. There’s been lots of highs and a few lows in between. All of my kids have graduated this past year and it has been a busy, busy year. That’s right somehow this was not planned but each one graduated. My oldest graduated High School. My middle daughter graduated Middle School. Lastly, my youngest graduated Elementary School. From recitals, concerts and graduations this was a year to remember!
Recap of this past year
Here’s a summary of what happened this past year for all three of them. My oldest son went into his senior year getting ready to apply to colleges. We thought Junior year was tough because of academics and extra-curriculars. Senior year was difficult in a different way. The previous year was all about doing the best at school and continuing everything he was doing outside of school. He had to continue to build up his story and his stats.
Senior Year
Senior Year was the culmination of all the hard work he had done since Elementary School. Senior year is tough because it starts even before the start of the school year. During the summer he was constantly thinking about what to write for his common application as well as looking at the various college specific essays. I will write about that in a separate entry.
The Challenge
The challenge of senior year is to still take a rigorous course load, continue excelling at your extra-curriculars, getting awards(i.e. merit scholarships, AP Awards, Competitions) and to write tons of essays for your school choices. You have to juggle all that and still try to have a life and get some sleep. I feel sorry for every kid who goes throught this process. It must be experienced first hand to actually see how hard it is.
The Process
Once your child is finished with all the applications then you have to wait for the decisions to come out. In the meantime you as the parent or guardian must fill out all the FAFSA information as well as upload tons of documents to each school that your child applied. Depending on your finances this can be quite tedious.
The Decisions
There are various times that college decisions come out. If your child does Early Action, Early Decision I and II or Restricted Early Action and gets into the college of their choice then the Process is over. However, if they didn’t and they are waiting for Decisions to come out, you have from late February to sometime in early April for most competitive colleges.
The Wait
Waiting for decisions is quite possibly the most stressful time in their lives as well as yours. The feeling of helplessness is something that can’t be overcome because the fate of your child’s futures are in some other entities hands… When you get your first rejection it’s a gut punch. When you hear other kids getting into schools while your waiting it makes you question everything you’ve ever done. Did I do enough? Did I make a mistake in second grade? The craziest things start swimming around your head. When your child finally starts getting the acceptances, the elation and relief makes everything you and your family went through worth it!
In Between
Between all of that he made time to still have an active social life. Going to parties and hanging out with his friends every chance he had. Once he knew where he was going all the stress was over and he was able to relax in the final few months. I will write a separate blog entry just on some tips on what to do after you’ve sent in your acceptance and deposit to your new school.
He was able to go out on a regular basis. Went to the prom with a beautiful girl and have a really fun time with all of his friends.
In Conclusion
My son was accepted into some great schools. The school that he’s going to start in the Fall is one of the top schools in the country. Luckily, it was also the school that gave him the most aid as well. I won’t put down the school name but *hint* it is one of the top liberal arts schools in the country that has a long history with a rival school in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) PM on Facebook if you want to know for sure. Our whole family has been on cloud nine since. If you have any questions or comments go to our Facebook page or Instagram page and DM me.
Last but not least his orchestra went on a trip to Spain and toured and performed at most of the major concert halls in the country. What a fantastic experience. He said he was sad becuase that might be the last time he would be able to play together with kids at such a high level.
Middle School Graduation
My daughter just graduated Middle School and will be entering High School in the Fall. She will be attending our local public high school. She had a great time and did great in Middle School. She has laid down the foundation just like her older brother to continue and ideally excel in high school. She is doing extremely well in academics as well as in her other extra-curricular activities.
Back from CTY
She has already come back from three weeks at CTY. She had another great experience that she will treasure for the rest of her life. I would recommend anyone and everyone who has the opportunity to attend a summer program to do it. Last year and this year just reinforces that feeling for me. If you have questions about it just ask again on Facebook or Instagram.
Volunteering and Other things
My daughter is in a writing program that she participated for the past few years and is now teaching. I think this is great experience for her that will help her build her confidence going forward in taking leadership roles in High School.
Had to throw in a BTS pic for my daughter
She has enrolled in a language program at a county college that will help her with her native tongue(Korean). She will be attending it with her little brother. As a matter of fact her older brother will be a T.A. so he gets some spending money for college. It’s a great win/win/win for all three of our kids.
Graduating Elementary
My youngest son as mentioned in the beginning just graduated Elementary School. He had a great last year and really built upon all the things that we worked on in the past few years. He’s doing great in cello. Academically he finished his extra-gifted program with straight A’s.
First Year at CTY
Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island
My son finished his first year of CTY in Rhode Island. This is the location that my daughter went to last year. At first he was having a miserable time. Not because of the class or the kids but because of his phone. Almost on the first day he called to say that his phone wasn’t working right. The next day it went completely dead. Being a boy in today’s age you need your phone to play Fortnite. It was utter misery for him until he became more acclimated which took almost a week and a half. Ugghh… One of his friends actually let my son call us every night which was so nice of him. In the end he had a great time and was sad to leave. He loved the class and the teachers.
The rest of the Summer
He’ll be taking the language class the next few weeks to learn Korean as well. As mentioned above he will be going with both his brother and sister. Besides practicing cello he is on a mission to play as much Fortnite as possible due to his missing out for the time when his phone broke while at CTY!
That’s All Folks!
The summer has another month left but it seems to be fading fast. Once the language program is over, we’ll have to get ready for sending my oldest son to college. That should be fun and stressful! A couple of weeks of relaxing and the whole grind starts again for the next school year!
Any questions or comments? Go to our Facebook or Instagram pages and either IM or DM me. Thanks for reading and good luck to ALL you Tiger Parents for the upcoming year!
