Musings at the Start of the New School Year
This fall’s back to school season has been more stretched out, I feel, than in previous years. Whereas in the past, it seemed that all students in San Antonio were back to school within a week of each other, this year, some patients of mine were starting school in the first week of August, and at the time of writing this, I know of some that didn’t start until almost the end of August!
When you work with kids, or have school-age kids, your perspective on how time passes is framed almost more by the school year than the calendar year. You sometimes don’t realize how much time has actually passed, because it’s the same cycle over and over, until those big milestones come up, like graduation for example.
Every year, I’ve gone through high school graduation in the spring with various families and patients, but this year it’s going to be different because it’s happening to my family, too. My daughter, Emily, has started her senior year, and by this time next year, she’ll be a college freshman (hopefully!) somewhere. But the college application process is so different for her now than it was for me thirty years ago. Haha, for one thing, my applications literally consisted of physical forms that had to actually be typed on to fill in! In all seriousness, though, it’s a huge step, and even though I experienced it myself, because of changes in this process that have happened over the decades, my experience really is quite irrelevant. It’s a scary thing as a parent to not be able offer my daughter any concrete guidance for such an important life milestone; I feel like I’m supposed to be stressed about it, but I don’t even know enough about any specifics to know what to aim my stress at! Luckily, the college counselor at her school is extremely well-versed at navigating the nuances of this maze, and amazingly seems to be able to single-handedly mentor each individual senior in the class in his/her individual post-high school plans and goals. As for my daughter, her goals for her future literally are a 50/50 blend of my and my husband’s backgrounds in medicine and music. Go figure! I’ll keep y’all posted as to where she’s going to be going, once applications have been submitted, multiple (hopefully) acceptances and scholarships offered, and decisions have been made.
This is a big time for milestones, since my parents have also finally made the decision to retire and move from Maryland to San Antonio. I’m thrilled to have them close by, and can’t wait to help them move in to their house (that Emily likes to keep reminding me was the one she found on Zillow) this winter. They won’t even have to travel to come to their first grandchild’s high school graduation! It’s kinda poetic, actually, since after I left Maryland to come to Texas for college, I never resided in the same state as they lived in again. Of course, we visited periodically, but lately due to COVID, that hasn’t even happened, so this is a really, really big deal for me!
The last big change happening is a bittersweet one. Many of you have gotten to meet Nurse Kataya, who joined the Cevey Pediatrics family in March. She has been a wonderful addition, with her nursing skill, quickness to learn, and cheerful nature. She had already been in the process of getting her RN when I hired her and will be done with nursing school this week. Actually, by the time this email goes out, she may already be all the way done. Originally, the intent had been for her to continue at Cevey Pediatrics as an RN, but when she was doing her clinicals, the folks at University Hospital got to see how wonderful of a nurse she is, and unfortunately for me, offered her a position. As much as we are going to miss her, it would be selfish of me to not be excited for her to take this crazy awesome opportunity. Heartfelt best wishes to you, Kataya! I am excited to introduce to my families Nurse Dominique, who will be starting before Nurse Kataya leaves so that the transition can be as smooth as possible. Hopefully, you and your children will quickly come to love her just as much.
