Awards & Recognition

May was a month of awards and recognition for both of us. Yes, in this post, I get to share the spotlight with my son, Lewie!

First, let me brag about my son in typical mom fashion. He's taking a boatload of challenging courses this year — Algebra II, Chemistry, AP Computer Principles, Honors English, History, American Sign Language, and gym — and earning High Honors for all terms so far. (We shall see what the fourth quarter brings...) On May 21, hubby, Grammy, and I piled into the high school auditorium to see Lewie get inducted into the Mu Alpha Theta National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society. We were so proud to hear his name called on stage! However, in an earlier morning ceremony (for students only), Lewie also received an Academic Award for Excellence in Computer Science Principles and American Sign Language. (I promised Lewie I wouldn't post pictures of the awards on Facebook, but I never said anything about my blog--lol!)

Lewie's "come-back" this year was exactly what he needed. Last year at this time, he was recovering from two lung surgeries (after having a spontaneous lung collapse) and doing everything he could to pass his finals in biology, geometry, and Spanish--three courses that gave him problems right from the start. He needed a "reset," so to speak, and this year provided just that. This year, he also played on the boys' tennis team (something he wasn't able to complete last year). While his lung still gave him problems at times, he was able to push through, and now he's more motivated than ever to get better at the sport. My first assignment for the summer is to find him formal lessons!   

For me, this month brought three great surprises. First, I was accepted into the University of Kansas's Doctor of Education program (Ed.D.) in Higher Education Administration, and formally attended my first orientation as a doctoral student; my first class begins in less than a week! 

Then, one day, as I was reading through my emails, I was surprised to see one titled "Congratulations on Winning the Good as Gold Award!" "The what?" I asked myself in disbelief! I had to read the email three times to believe it was real. It read...

Several CT State Community College Honor Society Collective (PTK/ABG/EX) inductees have nominated you for the Good as Gold Award, recognizing faculty, staff, and administrators who make extraordinary contributions to students at CT State, and your nomination has been selected for the top award.

I was shocked! A total sense of gratitude and overwhelm took over. It was obvious that some of my students were being inducted into the PTK National Honor Society, and they nominated me for the award. I was asked to give a speech, and of course, I couldn't say no. I was allowed to invite my family (my husband, Grammy, and Lewie) to the ceremony where I delivered the speech, meant to inspire, uplift, and remind my students (all the PTK students) of their extraordinary accomplishments. I rehearsed the speech for weeks and weeks, not wanting to disappoint. To me, getting an award from my students was the highest honor and privilege of all!!!!

My last surprise was to learn that a conference proposal I wrote for the CT School Counselor Association was selected to be part of their program. This may sound unusual, but despite having taught and worked in higher education for 25 years, I had never submitted a proposal to present at a conference before. This year, I was asked to do it (as part of my job), and the response from the conference organizers was yes--go for it... (in my words--not theirs). It was super exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking, to have both of these events within a week of each other. No less--the show (or shows) must go on!

Yes, this May was a pivotal month. It was BUSY, but it helped Lewie and me get back on track. For Lewie, (after his lung collapse), it was a year of getting back in the game; for me, (after a year of working at a land trust), it was a reminder I needed to stay in higher education. What a great feeling it is to know we're on the right path!

The College Tour Begins...

Little Lewie knows he will be going to college. Being the child of two college professors/administrators, he has no choice. Although, as a sophomore in high school, he still has some time to decide where he wants to go.

For the longest time, we all thought Lewie might go to the small liberal arts college where I worked for the last 21 years. If I continued working there, his tuition would have been free! Unfortunately, now that I've left my role, we have to look for other economic choices. For example, community college is "free" for Connecticut high school students. He could do his first two years there and then move to a four-year college. He could also be eligible for scholarships. Our plan now is to keep a cautious but open mind.

Two weeks ago, Lewie received his first piece of college mail--a postcard inviting him to become a Bobcat at Quinnipiac University (QU). Let the college tour begin! We laughed because two of my best friends' children are living on QU's campus right now. Being only twenty minutes away from our house, we hope to visit them soon. 

On the other hand, Lewie's older cousin, Sarah, chose to attend Fordham University in the city. At $95,000 per year, attending this college is out of reach for Lewie; however, Sarah earned an academic and a track scholarship, which cover most of the cost.  We are so proud of her!!!

To officially begin "the college tour," we contacted Sarah to see if we could visit her during Lewie's spring break. It might not have been as adventurous as going to Costa Rica last year, but it was an exciting experience. After a quick discussion, we decided that Wednesday, April 16th, worked well with our schedules, and we set out to take the hour-and-twenty-minute drive to the city. It was a frosty day, but the campus was in full bloom with cherry blossom trees, tulips, daffodils, and other budding flowers. The historic buildings in the backdrop made me feel like I was part of a classic movie like the Dead Poets Society. 

Here we are...the only picture of all of us!

While I can't remember all the structures she pointed out during our tour, the two that made the biggest impression were her residence hall (Finlay) and one of her classroom buildings. Her dorm room was one of the coolest rooms we had ever seen! As a triple, it had a bunkbed at the bottom and a spiral staircase to a loft at the top. Her roommates had the bunkbed, and she had the loft! We all climbed the spiral staircase to get her view from the top. We gushed over the setup, but, in secret, we all agreed the loft was a tough place to sleep. The staircase is unforgiving. What if Sarah had to use the bathroom in a hurry, or she woke up groggy? One wrong move, and she could end up with a broken bone or a concussion!

The two boys checking out the loft.

Cautiously coming down the stairs.

The bird's eye view from the loft.

Sarah's classroom building reminded me of a Harry Potter movie—there were dark, medieval hallways, large lecture halls, and candelabra light fixtures. In one empty lecture hall, I couldn't resist getting on the "stage" and pretending like I was conducting my class from the podium. Teaching on that stage—or, ahem, pretend teaching—felt powerful!

After we finished our tour, we promised Sarah dinner at a restaurant of her choice. She selected Enzo's of Arthur Avenue, which offered exquisite Italian food. Since we did a lot of walking, my husband rested his knee in the car while we hoofed it to the restaurant. There at the table, I mostly sat in silence while I listened to Sarah and Lewie talk about college, famous actors she's seen in NY, and just life in general. It was an amazing snapshot in time, for it was just a few years ago when the two of them played Minecraft together as two little kids (ten and seven).  How could they now be talking about college, work, driving, and plans for the future?

After dinner, Sarah had a six-o'clock class to attend, so Lew, Lewie, and I piled into the car to go home before dark. We were so proud to see Sarah in her element; it was the perfect way for Lewie to begin thinking about his next step after high school. Of course, I'm not trying to rush him. I would do anything to make these final high school years last a lifetime. 

A Long Winter

Somehow, January skipped to March, and in between, there was work, school, illness, and a few bright spots here and there.

Being a new employee, I still couldn't take time off from work yet, so I had to squeeze in family fun on weekends and holidays; however, even our weekends and holidays felt scarce because of a long-lasting stomach bug (through most of January) and repeated colds. In late February, I finally caved in and made an appointment for Little Lewie and me to see our naturopath. Lewie had lost more than six days of school and was still feeling sick to his stomach. The poor kid spent his "well" time trying to get caught up on all the work he missed, and although I paid over $300 for him to be part of the ski club, he only had one day of skiing out of the entire season. It was a bummer for sure!

On the other hand, we did have a few snow days, and I used the time to get out there and hit the trails. Lewie came with me a few times, but when he couldn't, I always had my trusty pup, Bruce, to keep me company. Ironically, many of our snow days fell on the weekends, so Bruce and I were able to enjoy the snow this winter more than any other since we adopted him in 2020. We had about twelve hiking days in the snow, which was a record!

Some other fun moments were roller skating with my bestie, Jen, tubing with my hubby, and attending two 50th birthday parties. The tubing experience with my hubby was a pleasant surprise. Ever since my husband had a complete knee replacement surgery in November, he's been going to physical therapy three times a week and doing well. I wasn't sure if it was wise for me to buy tickets for us to tube, but he kept saying he'd "give it a try," and I kept promising him that there was no pressure for him to continue if it felt uncomfortable.

Fast forward to the day of our tubing adventure, and we had one of the best experiences ever! For years, he could only go down the hill a handful of times because of his knee. This time, with his new knee, he went down more times than I could count. Even more, he started off wearing a knee brace and realized not only did he not need it, but it was actually interfering with his mobility. He was snow tubing like he was ten years younger. We were both AMAZED!

Finally, I am dubbing this year the year of "Midlife" or the year of turning 50. Yes, I will be turning 50 in October, which is leading me to reevaluate my journey. I am proud to say I was accepted into an Ed.D. program, which I may start as soon as this summer! (The goal is to say I started an Ed.D. program in my 40s--lol). 

However, since I am turning 50, so are most of my friends. Thus, the slate of 50th birthday party celebrations has only just begun. Two of my friends, Debbie and Mary Ann, turned 50 this month, and so did my cousin, Carl. Another friend has hers in April. I am careful not to post some of these birthday photos here since not everyone wants a grand announcement, but I am posting the picture of my cousin, Carl. He, by far, has the best attitude toward turning the big 5-0. "I am so happy to be 50. I am so happy to be this age." Truthfully, minus the aches and pains, I'll admit that I like the wisdom that comes with being this age, too. Of course, I'm still 49. Might as well not rush it.

My cousin's 50th Celebration from yesterday. Who says 50 can't be AWESOME?