- My son decided to abandon high school when he was 17 years old and to start community college.
- I supported his decision. Then, after his first semester, he was put to academic test.
- People in our lives judged him and me for his support, but it was what he had to do.
I remember how often we woke up in a clicking sound in the morning. My oldest son was playing with his Cube of Rubik In preparation for a cubic competition. Ever since he was a young child, he was curious about everything. He wanted to learn about Egypt, space and ocean and told me that he would be an explorer and astronaut one day. After finding something he was interested in, he followed him by force. When he was found nowhere on his 5th birthday, we discovered him in his room by joining a lego set intended for children twice at his age.
I was not surprised when my son did well at school and expressed the desire to go to MIT. My husband even got it Visit the campus Once he took a picture of him sitting in the front steps of the library. I was sure one day where my son would go.
My son left high school in his new year
Then, hitting the Pandemia in 2020. One evening on Sunday as I sat in my kitchen, I called the call that they would close the schools for two weeks. I cried, without knowing that this was just the beginning. As a teacher myself, I knew the impact that this would have not only my children but also the children everywhere. As the mother of two boys, then 14 and 6, and two daughters, then 13 and 8, I could not imagine at the time what would come in the years ahead.
The problem began for my oldest son during his new year in early 2022. While many of his friends had gone through mental health battles due to pandemia, my son was always so strong and run by level . I assumed he would be fine. Instead, he hit the middle of the New Year and left, which can be done in 17 in the Maine state without the consent of the parents.
My son lost so many milestones and instead graduated from high school with his story. When his peers were spending their old year, he attended a local community college. Pandemic children in Maine were given free education. At the end of his first semester, he was in academic.
I wanted to support it no matter what but people judged his decision
The hardest thing throughout the process was the judgment we received. He was amplified during his early battles in college. While some people realized that he had to follow his way, others were less supportive. Questions and advice were often intruders and were blamed, especially for me.
How could I let my son abandonment? He was very smart. I wasn’t as tough as I should. It was a shame. Everyone had an opinion, including his father, who thought finishing high school was the only way. Even if they understood it, they seemed to be sorry for me, for it. My aunt and my closest friend fell in this camp and only hoped that he would change his mind.
After his academic test, my son did not want to return to college. I told him he had to take some time to understand what to do, hoping that this was good advice. However, when we were to discuss his plans at family gatherings, people ask why he not only Return to school. He could be re-registered in high school, they said. I knew my child and knew he was doing what he had to do. And again, legally, I also had no solution. No matter what, I would stay with him and support his decisions.
So I waited. He got a job. He worked and saved. During that time, he translated books of philosophy from Russian and taught himself other skills of interest in leisure. He was looking for meaning. He was plunging into so many different things to find out exactly what he wanted to do.
Eventually he decided to return again community college. He spent his adult in computer science. In sixth grade, he had taught himself how to program, and he wanted to continue with him. He also thought that realizing that he would be useful. He is doing well and making the dean’s list. He wants to learn how to fly a plane, though he is afraid of heights. So, my child, the one who dives deep into everything, is learning everything he can for aviation.
For Christmas, we have bought him his first flight, which will be the first hours he will win to obtain his pilot’s license if he chooses. He continues to teach himself a million different things, and continues to do all the difficult questions, but he seems to be decided who he is and who wants to do. And while people may not have understood his or mine to support him, they were not in our country and they do not know my son. I am proud of who he is, even if the way to reach it where it was supposed to be no easier. I know he will continue to do amazing things.