Observations from a National Honor Society Induction

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The boy was inducted into the National Honor Society last night. He goes to the same high school his dad and I went to, and the only thing about the place that's the same is the auditorium. In the boy's three years there, I think this might be the third time we've been there.

Anyway, we live in a kind of nice area of town. Our particular neighborhood is older but established, but certainly the school draws students from some pretty fancy neighborhoods. And I've always had pretty low self-esteem, and being around some of those people just sets that in high gear. (My grandmother would say, "I wish I could buy them for what they're worth and sell them for what they think they're worth," but I've always just figured they were as good as they said they were.) So the dh leans over to me and asks, without me saying ANYTHING about my own feelings (but we have been married 21 years), "Are we achievers?"

That stopped me. We are, but no one would ever know by looking at us. We do it quietly. No one would know by looking that my dh, in his untucked shirt and blue jeans and stubble, has 3 Emmy awards. No one would know by looking at me, with my too-long hair and 2 year old purse that's not a Coach and a blouse from Stein Mart from about 5 years ago (but still in very good shape) that I have 2 published books and have finalled in the Golden Heart 4 times. So my self-confidence grew a bit.

Then during the ceremony, one of the girls spoke on character. I wanted to find her afterward to get the quote she used but it was something about who you are on the inside matching who you are on the outside. I really liked that quote.

The school has a HUGE string orchestra (when I went, there might have been a dozen). This orchestra took up most of the stage. What was neat to the former music teacher in me was when they called for all the NHS candidates to stand, a full third of the orchestra rose. Now, the inductees are juniors, and the orchestra is all grade levels, so that confirmed, to me, the connection between music and achievement in school. (Maybe I'm looking at it backwards, maybe the kids in orchestra have parents who push them more, but I like to think of it as the other way around.)

I did get the giggles when the principal was outlining why these children were chosen. Organization? Studies? HOW did my kid get in?

BTW, he's the only junior on the UIL team going to State! It's the day before his SAT and they leave the day of his last TAKS test (that was fine planning on the UIL committee, wasn't it?) but he's going to State!

Alas, he still doesn't know how to sort his dirty clothes - instead, he dumps them on the bathroom floor so you can't even walk into the bathroom!

The other night I wasn't getting ANY email from the MJ account - my loops overwhelmed the poor thing and locked it up! I had over 1000 emails in trash!

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAY on State Mary! What's he competing in? I'll be there with DD too!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to your son, Mary! That's a great achievement - to be in the NHS.

Loving and playing music is also an achievement. I played the clarinet in the band, from 7th grade until I graduated high school. And I've played the piano since I was 9 years old.

My mom would have liked all 4 of us girls (my sisters and I) to play the piano, but only I did it while she was alive. My younger sister always wanted to learn. I taught her what I could through the years, but about 10 years ago, she paid for her own piano lessons and one of the last performances was at Carnegie Hall in New York City!

Lupe

P.S. I tried to get my sons to join the band, or learn an instrument, but they didn't want to. Though my older son likes rap and writes his own lyrics and records them.

P.P.S. Talk about low self-esteem, Mary! I felt really dingy and unwanted one time I went into SAKS at North Star Mall. I knew I wouldn't find anything in there I could afford, but since I was looking for a Christmas party dress, I thought I'd just take a look. The first dress I saw which I didn't even like cost $3,000!! I skedaddled out of there really quick.

MJFredrick said...

COOL, Mary Beth! He's in social studies (he would do anything for his soc. studies teacher).

Thanks, Lupe! My mom wanted me to play piano, too, but I couldn't stick with it. That's AMAZING about your sister!!!

My son didn't want to be in "organized" music, either. It's a shame - they miss out on a lot of bonding, I think, in addition to the competition and the skill.

And I'm with you on walking into SAKS! I think I did buy one thing there...once. EEK on $3000!

MJFredrick said...

Meant to say - I went to the outlet mall in San Marcos and saw a dress marked DOWN to $3000 from $9000!!! It was cool, but, DANG! My wedding dress was only $300.

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MJFredrick
I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
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