This past weekend my spouse and I accompanied our high school senior on college tour. All I could think about is when she was two and would want to play stage with me. It was my job to say in a loud booming voice, “Introducing the amazing, the talented and the wonderful Susan!” She would then come out on to the ‘stage’ dressed in that way that two year olds think is fashion and entertain me for a few minutes with a dance or a song. I would clap and then she would be ready to do it again in a new outfit and new act.
It’s hard to believe she is now planning for college. She is an amazing and talented person. She was diagnosed with a learning disability in the third grade. She struggled with school and the label. However, she never let that label define or limit her.
In seventh grade she called an emergency IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting when she found out they would not let her take band. Talk about guts. She was ready to take on the whole school. She spoke in a very grown-up way at the meeting and explained that she knew what was best for her. They let her take band and she did great continuing on into high school when she lost interest.
Knowing how hard school was for her in high school I actually encouraged her to take easier classes but she had other plans. Against the advice of her school counselor and teacher of record she decided not to take any more LD classes. The amazing part was not that she decided not to take LD classes but that she decided she would be earning an honors diploma and taking AP classes.
All of the professionals that tested her, retested her, and reviewed her scores and advised her to do the opposite of what she did; she proved wrong.
Walking around the campus of that college and thinking about her being two I just wanted to scream out, “Introducing to the world the amazing the talented, the talented, and the wonderful SUSAN!”
Look out world.
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