Proud Mama

The other night was awards night at Maya’s high school, where the Seniors with awards of one kind or another are recognized before their families and their peers. The kids who are members of CSF (California Scholarship Federation), the kids who have received special honors from the school or district, the kids who have received outside scholarships, the kids with athletic honors. All are honored. We knew what some of Maya’s honors would be, but there was one (The Walnut Creek Women’s Scholarship) that we did not know about ahead of time. We knew she had applied…it was the scholarship I mentioned in an earlier post. So we’re sitting there, listening to all of the scholarship awards, and they came to this one. They said something like (I got excited, so I don’t remember exact words), “This award, we received many applicants. But when it came time to choose, we were unanimous. The winner has been a girl scout for 10 years. She has an accomplished GPA and academic record. She has volunteered for…and then she went on to list the many volunteer activities in which she has been involved. I imagine it’s kind of like being at the Oscars with your child, when they win an award. We were SO happy, so excited, and then they called her name! (of course they mispronounced it. She is Maya, but we pronounce it “May-Uh”, not “My-Uh” Who knows that? No one but friends and family.

Do you know what this means? It means that between the two scholarships she has received, her first year of college is paid for. That, my friends, is an amazing feeling. In this day and age, when costs have gone up SO MUCH, and we have saved so little. And it was so wonderful to see her receive the award, to go in not knowing, and then to come out knowing. Wonderful. I’m so proud of my hard working daughter.

And no, we have no pictures. We were pretty far back, and pictures we took came out blurry. There were official pictures taken later, which I’m sure we will have the opportunity to purchase later. We’ll see how that comes out.

Next week is graduation. I’m so looking forward to that. I know it’s a boring evening, until you hear your own loved one’s name called. But when it is your own loved one, your child, it’s suddenly not so boring to hear the speeches and the other kids’ names. At least I hope that’s the case.