A good day to be a mom

Yesterday was "flight day" in the Carrier Dome where the senior aerospace engineers fly the model planes they designed as their senior projects.  Although there had been tense moments in the past week, my son and his team performed beautifully. Their plane flew well.  But, to watch the excitement of these 25 kids was the best part of the day.  The whole group was a bundle of nerves and the sense of relief and accomplishment afterward was palpable. You felt proud of all of them.  I can wish many things about my son; that he had a job already, that he had gotten better grades, that he had done some things differently, but to watch his face yesterday was a true gift.  I'm so glad that he has enjoyed college, made good friends, persevered through the challenges, and was able to have this experience. I know he will always remember it and I will, too.

Last year I supervised our sociology department's senior thesis projects. Working with a dozen young women, I got to see up close the joy and sense of accomplishment they felt as they presented their finished work to the department. The night before, as they emailed me their presentations, I could sense their nervousness.
Here are some of their messages, filled with exclamations and emoticons...

"Attached is the final draft of my thesis presentation!!!!!! See you bright and early :)"

"Here is my PPT. I have attached it as a PPT file and a PDF because I figured it is easy enough to attach both!
Thanks for all the help. I hope my presentation is worthy!"

"I have deleted the lit review slides. While I think these are of utmost importance, they just made my presentation so long! Sorry for the inconvenience! Taking them out allowed me to more thoroughly go through my own research though :)  See you in the morning!"

Like my son and his peers, they performed beautifully.  It was a day I know they will remember and I do, too.