My son skating
Yesterday could have been just another day in a not-so-good week and ended up becoming one of the most important days of my life in the last few years.
Those who have read my blogs for some time, know how proud I am of my son. And that there is no one in the world more important in my life than him. He is the sunshine of my life and has been for the past almost 18 years.
He is a loving, studious, responsible boy and we have an incredible relationship. And although in the last few months, as I was telling him these days making jokes, the little rebel in him has exploded and our arguments and fights have become more frequent. He always fills me with pride and in the last few months, he has also made me feel a huge admiration for him for his tenacity to pursue his dreams.
For months now, through his own merits and effort, he has been dedicating a great part of his time to applying to universities abroad. The situation in Venezuela has affected all aspects of our lives to a greater or lesser degree and one of the sectors that have been terribly affected is education. My son is a very studious boy and not only because of a duty of responsibility to get a good grade but he is also a person eager to learn and acquire knowledge. In the deterioration of the educational system in Venezuela, which once had nothing to envy to that of the developed countries, but that today as everything in the country has been dragged by the crisis. A person like my son would feel more frustration to be immersed in it than anything else.
So even though the odds were not in his favor, competence for being a foreign student who needs full financial aid is huge, and very hard to be admitted to a university for academic merit under that condition. He didn't stop at that. He put his heart, sweat, and mind into it. He sacrificed many outings and parties with his friends in his senior year of high school. While his friends formed gaitas bands to celebrate the Christmas season as seniors traditionally do in some high schools here, my son studied to take tests to prove his English level and knowledge. He studied on his own, without tutoring. We couldn't afford to pay the absurd fees charged here to prepare students for tests like the SAT.
The results of those exams were outstanding. However, even though that was an accomplishment, it did not guarantee that he would achieve his goal. It was simply an obstacle that he had managed to get out of the way.
He spent weeks filling out college applications and writing essays, making videos to supplement those applications. And I just supported him with the financial aid applications. He did everything on his own.
Of all the universities he selected to apply to, he could only choose one to be an early applicant. And in this one, he put his best effort into it. His choice is a very competitive university. The odds of being admitted in his circumstances were very low. But that far from discouraging him, made him try harder in the application essays.
Last night when I went to pick him up at the skate park where he was with his friends. Getting in the car he told me he had received the email with the notification. The answer to his application was ready on the University website. At that moment, he told me that he wasn't prepared to see the response and receive the blow, thinking he would be rejected. Since I have not been in my best days lately, due to some facts that are not relevant by now. I suggested that we go for a ride. So we did, we took an ice cream and talked for a couple of hours as we had not done it for a while. It was like in the days of the lockdown that we spent so many hours together, talking.
When we got home, we opened my laptop to see the response from the University. His application was accepted. I can't find words to describe how proud and full of admiration I am. My son has given me, despite his age, one of the greatest lessons in life.
I feel huge joy, but I have not been able to stop crying. I tossed and turned so much in my bed during the night that I preferred to stop and write. In a few months, he will be gone far away and our life will change. It will be the biggest change I have had to face in the last few years. I am happy, but at the same time nostalgic and terrified. I am proud and full of admiration. But most of all, I am grateful to have him, to be his mom, and to have him as my boy.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading.
All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.
Pictures were taken some days ago in the skatepark my son use to visit with his friends
© CoquiCoin
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February 12, 2022