Things Just Got Real

Applying to colleges has been a very surreal experience for us as parents...as well as for Caleb, of course. LOL Back in September, he began the process, which is predominantly done online now. After working with Jacob to research which universities had ties to Air Force ROTC programs, so that he could work towards his dream to be a pilot, he narrowed it down to his top three schools - Brigham Young University - Provo, University of Oregon and University of Utah. Unfortunately, none of them are in Washington, but we were excited for him. 

The applications for Oregon and Utah were relatively easy. They used the same website, so to fill out an application for one was to easily fill in the application automatically for the other. You could even cut and paste essays, although the only one he actually had to write was for Oregon. He wrote about being on the cross country team, which was bound to earn him points from a school that prides itself on being located in "Track Town USA". 

Once those "easy" apps were in, it was time for him to focus his efforts on the extensive application for admittance to BYU - Provo. This included TWO ecclesiastical interviews (one with the bishop and one with the stake president), THREE letters of recommendation from coaches, teachers, leaders, etc., and then SIX small essays! He chipped away at the process of it all, going to his track coach and favorite teachers for letters of recommendation, setting up his interviews and then getting started on his least favorite thing to do....write. 

He wrote up drafts of his essays, having to keep within rigid character counts, and then passed them to Jake and me for editing and input. It was a little bit of a team effort, but he had great ideas, and we were able to help him to express himself. It was a glorious moment for him to finally click the "submit" button and be done with the thing. It was a beast!

Shockingly, he didn't have to wait long to hear back from Oregon and Utah. By November, he had received acceptance letters to BOTH! It was very exciting to see him thrilled, knowing that college was definitely in his future. It is a big deal to be accepted to two such awesome Division I schools!

However, his excitement was tempered due to the fact that it would still be several months until he would hear back from BYU. It is a known fact that BYU waits to release all their acceptance letters at once in mid-February, so the wait was on. In the meantime, he continued to receive mail and emails from both schools letting him know he was accepted and should choose them.

Then, on Saturday the 15th, he was checking emails on his phone when we heard an, "Oh, my gosh!" He walked down the hall with his phone extended as Jake, Brendan and I all hurried over. He showed us the BYU header and the letter that started with "Go, Cougs! Rise and Shout!" He was accepted! 

We all knew how competitive it would be to get into their Provo campus, so we were trying to be cautiously optimistic for him up until then. However, at that moment, everything just got really real. I gave him a huge hug and couldn't help but have my eyes fill up with tears of joy for him. Jake also hugged him and Brendan congratulated him, his eyes also swimming a bit. Caleb had his pick of three great schools! We would be losing him soon. So much excitement and so many hard changes on the horizon. 

He has decided to pray about it to know for sure where he should go. We are so proud of him and all his hard work, that he has so many options available to him. Well done, kiddo!  

For reasons unknown, when I was asking him for a picture, he also wanted to take a "not thrilled" picture. The first one says, "Yay! I got into BYU!" The second one says (sarcastically), "Yay. I got into BYU." Silly guy.