Cee, I also identify well with your excellent thoughts. I went through
all of that 4 years ago. The awesome thing is April 30, 2010, my son
walked the stage and received his degree from the University of Florida
Warrington College of Business. I wish you and your son the same
blessing of the journey and a culmination with a degree from UF... Good
Luck and Go Gators!!!
On 9/21/2010 12:56 PM, Wanda Barry wrote:
Oh Cee... I got teary eyed just reading this!!! Made me remember the
first time I saw UF, standing in the Plaza of the Americas, and just
knowing 1000% that this was where I wanted to go. That feeling is
very similar to seeing your child for the very first time...you just
fall in love and never forget the moment :-) Good luck to your son!!
Wanda
----- Original Message -----
*From:* Cecilia <mailto:gator...@bellsouth.net>
*To:* Gatortalk@googlegroups.com <mailto:Gatortalk@googlegroups.com>
*Sent:* Sunday, September 19, 2010 6:26 PM
*Subject:* [gatortalk] A day trip to Mecca
I just have to tell y'all about this. Today is my dad's 80th
birthday (YAY... go, Daddy!) so my 18 year old son and I drove
down to G'ville and met my parents and three of my four siblings
and their kids (and my sister's grandbaby) for lunch. On the way
to the restaurant, I took a quick detour through the campus of the
greatest university on the planet.
My son has been to UF many times for football games, basketball
games, baseball games and gymnastics meets... but I had an
ulterior motive for driving him through UF today. He has been
muttering crazy talk lately about how he might want to go to [I
can barely type this] F... $... U. <choke, cough, sputter, hurl>
His SAT scores the first time around aren't high enough to get
into UF, although his GPA is great. He knows he will need to take
the SATs again and the ACT, and it seemed like he was setting
himself up to "settle" for a college other than the one he has
always always always said he wanted to attend.
Well... he practically swooned as we drove across campus before
lunch... so I decided a longer, more detailed guided tour was in
order after lunch. :-) I think it worked. He was as wide-eyed
as a little kid on Christmas Day and declared, "Man, I WANT to go
here SO BAD!" by the time our hour-long tour was complete. I know
it made an impression on him when I parked the car near the
College of Business area so we could get out and walked around a
bit. I pointed out the buildings where I spent most of my junior,
senior and grad school years, and he didn't miss it when my voice
caught a little and I got tears in my eyes. I am sure my
enthusiasm showed when I told him about a couple of specific
incidents that I remember in great detail, pointing out exactly
where they occurred, even though I graduated in 1988.
I am pretty sure I was able to finally convey to him how important
UF is to me and how it isn't just where I went to school. UF is a
PART of me! I mean... he has always known that I'm a die-hard,
rabid Gator. He knows I will get riled up if anyone is overly
critical of my Gators or my school. But... maybe it meant more to
him now that he is facing that decision.
When we came home, he said, "Mom, don't forget. I need to
register to take the ACT and SATs again. I know I'll do better
this time, and I really hope I do well enough to get into UF. I
know F$U and USF both have beautiful campuses, and I know UNF and
UCF are getting bigger and better, but there's just nowhere else
like UF, is there?"
::sniffle:: He gets it. He really gets it.
Now... I really hope he gets in because - having seen what he'll
be missing - he'll be even more disappointed than he would have
been if he doesn't. !!!
Cee
--
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny
Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
--
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel
(1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
--
GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
