Off to College

I am writing from a quiet house. Well, I normally write early in the morning when everyone is asleep, but this is different. Ben has moved to Cookeville for his first semester at Tennessee Tech and Jenna has returned to Trevecca for her final semester there, making Nate the only one left at home.

To catch up since I wrote last month, Jenna has returned home from eSwatini and spent a few weeks here before heading off to college. She really didn't have a lot of time to try to find a job so she concentrated on preparing for school and putting her Africa experience into perspective, something I hope she can share here soon.

Ben has continued working a lot of odd jobs up until it was time to move into his dorm. I know he has been ready to get a move on with college, but when asked about starting school he observed that he gets to work his own schedule, receives good pay, and then can spend his free time playing video games with friends online. Sign me up. That sounds like fun.

We have celebrated two birthdays this month. Ben was 19 back on the 3rd and I hit 53 on the 13th. Jenna took a chance and made my favorite chocolate cake for my birthday. This was a bit of a risk as neither Vicki nor Jenna have been able to master the icing. This icing recipe is titled "Never Fail Fudge" and can make a great batch of fudge just by changing the cooking time. I was afraid this was lost once Aunt Mar and Mom quit cooking as we could only turn out a batch of grainy goo or brown concrete that had to be chiseled out of the pan. Well, I don't know what Jenna did, but she nailed it this time. Took me back to birthdays of my childhood! I keep telling her she's my favorite daughter but she just rolls her eyes.

Nate and I were the first to return to school back on August 7. Nate is beginning his junior year which, at our school, seems to be the toughest year for the students. He is taking two AP level courses--English and Physics, Honors level Pre-Calculus, and dual enrollment US History. These year long classes are rounded out with two semester courses this fall, Foundations of Christian Faith and my new robotics class.

My schedule kept the two courses I taught last year, an 8th grade STEM class and a high school mechanical engineering elective. I am very fortunate to have been able to secure the funding and realize a dream I've had for our school and start up a new robotics class this year. I am hoping after this initial year to form a robotics team that competes with other high school students at least within our region and potentially from around the world. For now, I'm just glad to see that we can pull off an in-class robot soccer game on Monday.

So on Thursday we filled Ben's Jeep and followed him to Cookeville to help him get situated in his dorm. His roommate, Ryan, is one of his friends from DA. They have tight quarters, as you would expect. Had Jenna's freshman dorm room been this small half the stuff she packed for school would have come back home with us. We did get a chuckle from his choice of decor from home. His desk is adorned with two bowling pins, a storm trooper helmet, a Yoda hat, a Zelda hat, and Rubik's cubes.

There were lots of people on hand to help the students unload. Ben took the first load up to his room and was surprised to find a parade of strangers behind him with the rest of his stuff. I wound up just pulling things out of the Jeep and handing them to people saying, "McCord 318." And after taking him out to eat and making sure he was settled in we headed home.

The kids at school (especially the older ones who know Ben) asked me the next day if we were sad or cried and were taken aback a bit when I said we didn't cry. Sure, there's a bit of sadness there, but this is what we have been working toward as parents and it is more fulfilling than sad.

Ben, we are very proud of you, and we are confident that you will make this a rich and rewarding season and come away equipped to move forward in your life.

Joe