He's In!

My son got four more college acceptances this week, no rejections so far. Two were from his tied-for-first choice schools, one of which has the top fire protection engineering program in the country, a major he was so interested in, until he started to think that he wouldn't get in. The school has become very competitive in the last decade, so we worried it might be a reach school for him, given his unspectacular SATs. But they saw him. They saw past the SATs to his solid B+ average, and extracurriculars that show he is totally engaged with his world. Then, too, he's witty and charming and sociable, a cut-up and a loyal friend, all that to say, I think his teachers may have written him warm references. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's a Black boy holding his own at a great school. Way too few of those applying to colleges right now.

He found out about this latest acceptance last night. He got awake around three a.m. and went for water in the kitchen. Then he decided to check his email before going back to bed. And there it was. A notice of his acceptance, sent at 4:17 p.m. the afternoon before. (Coincidentally, it arrived just as he was stepping up his game at a track meet, smashing his time in 55m hurdles, setting a new personal record of 7.9 seconds, finally breaking through the 8.1 time that had dogged him all year.)

He woke his dad and me and held his cell phone to our faces. As the words ("Congratulations, you have been admitted...") swam into focus, I grabbed his neck and hugged him, my excitement matching his own. But this morning, I didn't know if I had dreamed it.

Barely awake, I asked my husband, "Did it really happen?"

"Yes," he confirmed happily. "He's in."