When Nick and his plane collided with the earth, his teeth smashed together with such a force, he nearly severed his tongue. That saved his front teeth, but his molars fared worse and (once his broken jaw had healed) he spent a whole lot of time with his mouth open wide, looking up (dentist) Courtney's nose. Most people count the minutes until they can escape from their dentist's chair, but Nick isn't most people, and his thought was, "This is what I want to be when I grow up."
Just four months post-crash he was enrolled at Durango's Fort Lewis College - and that was when I first heard about all this. Yes: post-enrollment. (See anniversary post - 11/24/12.)
His first degree from Trinity was in Political Science and didn't include the advanced chemistry and biology courses needed to apply for dental school. So he spent the last year completing 10 courses and 9 labs - a very full load even for those students without a family and job. He performed brilliantly.
It's been a busy, exciting and sometimes tough year, with Nick flying and studying, me starting up in real estate - and both of us trying to keep the girls' lives as undisrupted as possible... And we just found out it's paid off.
Both Phoenix schools he applied to and interviewed with accepted him this week. They each received 3,500 applications for 75 spots, and Nick was chosen in the first round (the schools' top picks). What smart schools.
So starting at the end of next summer Dad is going to be 8 hours away. Not much different from when he flies, but dental school lasts four years!
I'm extremely proud of the dedication he's shown and his success so far...
but I miss him already.
One day at a time...
Here the pomegranate seeds soak in Grand Marnier before being slipped into our champagne the evening we shared the news with Michel and Ilona.
Here's to you, Nicolas!
How exciting!! Congrats to Nicolas and to you. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all!! Veronica
ReplyDeleteCould we have a recipe for the Grand-Marnier-Champagne-pomegranate seeds ? Can we drink it with the Eggnog (that we tested last year with Sophie, great memory…) ?
ReplyDeleteAs for my big cousin, he's now gone on the Other Side, the Dark Side, with all those people who put their shiny little tools in our mouths, make strange noise with and ask us if we like it… I don't know if I will ever speak to him again… and if he chooses to study orthodontics, our girls won't speak to him ever… When I think he could have studied Medieval French Literature and get a normal job…
Congratulations to both of you for that amazing year. We wish you to go on with all these successes and to profit from your last "quiet" months.
Je vous embrasse
Corinne
Congratulation Nick :-) - what a great decision. I never ever had ideas like that being in the dentist chair LOL
ReplyDeleteGood luck to the whole family & the new life.
one thing is for sure you provide constant entertainment for all of us. ♥ ♥ ♥
Merry Christmas