As an English major/Spanish minor at the University of
Georgia, I can say that for every time I stayed up late to finish a paper or
research Faulkner’s stream of consciousness writing technique, there were just
as many days when I sat under an oak tree discussing Shakespeare or attended a
play in order to write a review for the paper; in other words, I remember those
days as being pleasantly ensconced among writers and poets and totally devoid
of undue stress.
Fast forward a few years and I find myself comparing my college
experience with Nicholas’ as he pursues an engineering degree from Clemson
University. Here’s what I’ve discovered: engineering is not for wimps and, most
definitely, doesn’t include Shakespeare. For Nicholas, the past four years
meant many late nights at the library, or marathon study sessions with friends,
or working on group design projects. The past four years meant engineering
internships every summer and during two Christmas breaks, and then afterwards sitting
down with Joe and discussing what he could financially contribute to his
tuition.
He’s a hard worker, is our son.
This is not to say that the past few years haven’t been fun.
He will graduate this June with many wonderful memories: the weekend trips to the beach or to Athens,
GA to visit friends, the traditional bar crawl when he turned 21, the trivia
contests at the pub and, of course, those Clemson football games and watching
(on his birthday no less!) the Clemson Tigers win the National Championship. So
he definitely had fun, but never at the expense of his studies.
And now here we are, his senior year. This past fall, in the
midst of working on a senior design project and maintaining a 4.0 GPA, he diligently
submitted resumes and interviewed at job fairs on campus. Then,
between homework assignments, oral presentations and a hectic exam schedule, he
had a few follow-up interviews which not only involved driving to Augusta
(once) and Charlotte (twice), but also flying out to Denver, CO where he had
his first “white board” interview which involved using the board to solve problems
given to him during the interview. Right there, on the spot.
I broke out in a sweat just hearing about it.
He never wore a suit as often as he did this past semester,
and he never called home as much as he did during those days before and after
each interview. There were many things to consider, plan, and discuss: he could
see himself working in Charlotte, he liked the people he would be working with
in Augusta, and he really, really liked the company in Colorado. Also, he wondered
in one phone call, would it be okay to fold his suit in a small carry-on?
By December he received two job offers, and earlier this
month he signed a contract with the company out in Denver, Colorado. We couldn’t
be more excited for him. This May he will find out where he will be located (we're hoping Nashville, TN, or it could be Washington D.C. or even Salt Lake City, Utah)
and in June he will begin work after a two week training session at their
headquarters in Denver. And so far the
company has been very good to him. A week after signing with them Nicholas
received a beautiful, high end laptop backpack in the mail with a personal note
welcoming him to the company and, just this past week, company recruiters
visiting campus took him and a few students out to dinner.
As parents, nothing is more gratifying then seeing our son make
his way in the world, and we are excited these doors of opportunity are being
opened to him. I have always referred to
Nicholas as my “Renaissance Man” because his interests and talents are so varied:
he’s very good at engineering and math, but he is also a voracious reader; he plays
the guitar, follows politics and world affairs, goes to church every Sunday, and
is teaching himself how to paint; he is presently taking a basic law class because
he thought it would be interesting; and he’s very witty and adored by his
baby brother.
It’s the bittersweet truth that children grow up in a heartbeat,
and I could never have imagined, all those years ago when I sat under the oak
tree discussing Shakespeare, that I would one day have a son who is poised to
go off into the world as a young man. It’s exciting, gratifying, heartwarming.
It’s incredibly humbling.
