“But Mom! I EARNED it!”
“I don’t know what to say, Amy. What you did was unforgivable. I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“MOM!!! What am I supposed to do, now?” She cried, as she stomped her feet loud enough that I could hear it from upstairs.
“Well, we can’t afford UVA without that scholarship, I’m afraid and it’s too late to apply for financial aid. You could defer for a year and try again in the Spring, or get started at Community College and transfer.”
“Community College! Are you crazy! Never!” Amy shrieked.
“Well, you may be out of options.”
“I can’t believe my reference withdrew her letter of recommendation. It’s not fair! That scholarship was MINE!”
“I’m so disappointed in everything that’s transpired. You have nobody to blame but yourself. I don’t know what else to say, Amy. Your actions have consequences.”
Finally, it went quiet. Had I heard that right? Amy had lost her scholarship. The ultimate punishment had finally been inflicted. I didn’t even feel bad for her. I was too mad to care.
38
The next few weeks crawled by with daily trips to the empty mailbox. With field hockey done and Chris starting lacrosse, the afternoons were lonely, but that all changed one afternoon in early March.
“Something came for you today,” Mom said as she passed me two thin white envelopes when I came in the door from school.
Oh no. I had heard about these. The dreaded thin-enveloped rejection letters. Mom sat down at the kitchen table and waited impatiently for me to open them. The first one was from Hollins University. I had originally applied to play field hockey for them, but figured maybe I still had a shot at attending. I took a deep breath and ripped it open. As my eyes scanned the first sentence, my heart dropped.
Dear Ms. Wyatt,
We regret to inform you that we will not be able to offer you placement in our incoming freshman class at Hollins University this fall.
I stopped reading after that. I had no reason to read on. I passed the letter to my Mom and waited for her to read it. I could see her exhale quietly, trying to contain her disappointment as she looked at the other letter on the table.
“Well, go on, open it.”
I picked up the envelope and noticed the stamp in the top left corner. Virginia Tech. I held up the envelope to show her, and she shrugged in confusion. Why were they writing to me? Maybe it was an informational brochure. I turned the envelope over and ripped it open slowly, then pulled out the letter.
Dear Ms. Wyatt,
We received your application for admission to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s incoming fall freshman class. Here at Virginia Tech, we value innovation and thinking outside the box. In addition to your application, we received the most impressive letter of recommendation from Coach DeLaney, who highlighted your acquisition of a full-ride athletic field hockey scholarship to Wake Forest University, which is to be commended. She also explained your devastating situation and suggested that you would be an asset to our Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Program with a focus on Sports Development and Design. It is always our goal to reward outstanding achievements, and, as such, it would be our honor to award you with a full academic scholarship to this program as an incoming freshman this fall. We look forward to hearing your decision soon. Congratulations, Allie!
Respectfully,
The Dean of the College of Architecture,
Scott Parks
I dropped the letter onto the table. Had I read that right? I picked up the letter and read it again as my eyes welled up with tears.
“It’s okay, honey, there are always other schools,” she said with an encouraging smile.
“No, Mom. I got in,” I said, in shock, still staring at the page. I passed her the letter.
“What?” she said, as she quickly read it, then looked at me.
“Allie, you didn’t just get in; you have been offered a full academic scholarship for a very interesting program!”
“But mom, I didn’t submit an application to Virginia Tech,” I said, as I looked up at her in utter confusion. She looked back at me with a furrowed brow. Wait. Had Chris done this for me that afternoon as I took a nap?
“I am so proud of you, Allie, what an amazing accomplishment!” she said, as she got up from the table and hugged me as she stood behind my chair.
