The fate of the HOPE scholarship is on the minds of many parents and students in Fayette and the rest of the Georgia. Since 1993, nearly 18,000 Fayette students have received almost $120 million to attend college.
But this time of year it’s not just about the HOPE, it’s about other hopes as well.
College is a given for some students, a possibility for others, and an elusive dream for too many.
Not all life goals require a degree, but it remains an important foundation, especially in a global economy. It’s why so many work so hard, and why higher education must be a state and national priority for students from all backgrounds.
Only one of my grandparents, my maternal grandmother, earned a college degree, back in 1931. She and my paternal grandfather became elementary and secondary schoolteachers, respectively.
My parents both earned bachelor’s degrees, and (especially with educators in the family) there was never any doubt that my brother and I would go to college, where we each ultimately earned master’s degrees.
Now it’s my son’s turn.
His long process of taking tests, visiting schools, completing applications and agonizing over essays is over. Now, as Tom Petty put it, “the waiting is the hardest part.”
Everyone and everything in Fayette County that got him to this point is about to become secondary to what comes next.
Now not only are we hoping that the HOPE survives, we’re hoping for the mail (electronic or otherwise) to deliver the news that will change his life and ours.
Ultimately, like any parents, we’re hoping for his dreams to come true.
It’s probably the biggest shock of middle age, realizing that your child is now on the brink of moving out and moving on with his own life, one that isn’t going to include you nearly as much.
The kid you’ve been shuttling to school, sports and the orthodontist’s office for over a decade — the one whose bedroom floor has been obscured for years with games, T-shirts and Gatorade bottles — is the same one who won’t be living under your roof in another six months. He’s ready; I’m not.
But this is the culmination of all the hopes parents have as soon as their kids are born: that they’ll learn, grow, survive and thrive.
Whether they go to college or not, sooner or later the lives we gave them become their own.
I know that regardless of where he gets accepted, he’ll make lifelong friends, learn things I will never fully grasp, do things I would prefer not to know about, and emerge a different person four years from now.
I will pray for his safety, cheer for his success and love him no matter what. College will be the launch pad for the rest of his life, as it was for me, and deep down you just have to trust that a combination of effort and opportunity will carry him forward.
And really, isn’t that the best we can hope for?
Jill Howard Church lives in Fayette County. Reach her at jillptcblog@aol.com
About the Author
