A couple of Wednesdays ago I got a late afternoon text from my college kid.
Could you bring my dress shoes, if not that's okay (The grammatical errors are his, not mine).
The next day was a date that's been circled on the calendar for a long time. It was the LA Tech College of Engineering and Science winter quarter 2025 engineering first-year project showcase. It's sort of like a rite of passage for all engineering majors at Tech and the gateway to being a real, grown-up engineering student. Yes, it's a "first year" project. And, yes, we're a year and a half in. But our path has always, and will always, look a little different from most everyone else.
What I hadn't told Mason was that I wasn't going. We'd been in Dallas the weekend before for Hannah Kate's first ballet competition of the season, but we spent more time in Urgent Care than on the dance stage. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. Seth had been working in Houston for two weeks. And I was just tired. So tired. It wasn't that I didn't want to go. I did. I really did. But I was exhausted.
I called him from the parking lot at church before choir practice. I asked him what shoes he had up there and if his boots would work. His group decided to wear khakis, not dress pants, so, yes, the boots would work. I finally asked him if he wanted me to come. He said yes. So that was it. It was done. I was going. The next day I went to work until noon and then drove up to Ruston. I took the dress shoes with me, but he didn't wear them. (And, yes, I know we have a situation with the hair. I have tried. And failed. If it makes you feel any better, he actually got a haircut that morning. I know. But if you would've seen it before the haircut . . .)
I'd heard all about his project as the quarter progressed. Basically you have to invent something to solve a problem. And then you have to demonstrate it. You can't just talk about it. You have to build a prototype, and it has to actually work. Look. I wouldn't even know where to begin with this. I'd been nervous for a year and a half knowing that Mason would eventually get to this point and have to do this project. I told him that it would be of utmost importance who he chose to be in a group with. And then I prayed the Lord would just do it.
The project. One of the guys in Mason's group had complained that he kept sleeping through his alarm. That could cause a problem for said college student with morning classes. Thus an idea was born. They created a silent alarm system that vibrates. They pitched the idea to their professor, and he was immediately on board because he said that would enable him to wake up each morning without the noise of his alarm waking up his wife and newborn. I could use that in my house, too, with a husband whose alarm oftentimes goes off well before I need or want to get up.
They had a plate that goes under your pillow. It begins vibrating at the time you set it to wake you up. The longer you take to get up, the more and harder it vibrates. The device measures the pressure on the bed so it doesn't stop vibrating until you get up and pressure is relieved off the bed. There was some kind of motor and circuit board and coding on their laptop to make it work. Just take my word for it. To demonstrate at showcase, they used a dollhouse bed and a small stuffed animal they purchased at Walmart and filled with fishing weights. It was the cutest thing!
I got there right as they finished setting up their display board and project for judging. I hadn't seen Mason since he left to go back to Ruston on January 2. When I walked in the room and saw him and his group (aren't they cuties?!) and their project, it nearly took my breath away. I was so proud. So. dang. proud. I immediately texted Seth and told him I wished he was there. He would be so proud, too.
What Mason hadn't told me was the name of their "invention." Viberise. Get it?! The vibration makes you rise out of bed! I thought that was absolutely genius . . . until he was like, "Yeah, that's what ChatGPT told us to name it." You don't want to know how I feel about ChatGPT, but I immediately told him that was disappointing and not to be telling people that. Anyway. Not too long after that, the judges came in and began going around to all the tables so the groups could present and talk about their projects. And then family, friends and other students had the opportunity to visit each group, too. Mason had already given me a heads-up on what he thought my favorite one might be (besides his, of course!), and he told me to be sure to visit that table. So I did. The amount of talent and sheer intelligence in that room was impressive and, quite honestly, mind-blowing. Let's just say I was way out of my league. But the thing that really stuck with me the most was how respectful, humble and down-to-earth those kids were. Mason was talking about two of them in particular. He said knowing how smart they are and what their grades are makes him feel stupid, but when he talks to them, he doesn't feel stupid at all because they don't make him feel that way.
As I was walking around that room, I felt so much gratitude. Truly the Lord has blessed us and brought us so far. I've had no expectations. I know the statistics. Half the kids who enter the engineering program at LA Tech are no longer engineering majors after their first year. And I'm well aware of what side of that our story tells me we'll likely be on. It's not been easy. He's had to re-take a class or two. That Mason is even there and wants to be there, especially after everything he's been through, can only be one thing. It's all the Lord's idea. It certainly wasn't mine. Not that I'm upset about it. It's just that sometimes, or a lot of times, I'm so weary from walking the hard road. Only the Lord could put that desire in Mason's heart and sustain him on such a difficult road, giving him the strength, endurance and fortitude to keep going even when he has to do it again and again.
As I watched him talk to the judges and interact with everyone who visited their table, I was in awe at how much he has grown and matured over these last couple of years. Mostly. And proud. Just so proud. And then it came time for them to announce the awards. Again, I had zero expectations. Absolutely nothing could've made me even more proud of Mason than I was that night. But when they announced that table eight was the 1st place overall winner, I was nearly undone. I realized it before they did because they didn't even know what their table number was. Once they finally did, they all looked at me, and I wish I could've captured that moment on camera. It was the very sweetest. I had to restrain and contain myself so as not to embarrass my son and his group, and I think I did a pretty good job. I just couldn't believe it. I don't think they could either.
I told Mason I'd take him anywhere he wanted for supper. He chose Chick-fil-a. The Lord's chicken. I'd had it for lunch, but I didn't care. I asked him if, going into this class at the beginning of the quarter, he was nervous about it and coming up with an idea for his project. His answer? No, not really. Well, I would've been in the fetal position, and maybe I was for most of the quarter. I dropped him back off to get his truck and then made the drive back home. It was the most fun day I've had in many, many months and the biggest I've smiled in nearly a year. It was THE BEST day, and I'm so so glad Mason needed the shoes he didn't end up wearing.
He's home now for spring break. He put us on notice Friday night that he didn't expect to pass his Calculus 3 class (supposedly the hardest of the calculuses) because he'd been so focused on his project and passing that class. Sigh. But, like I said, it wouldn't be the first time. So he got the "Well, it's gonna happen again, and you have to learn how to manage it" spill. Last night his final transcript was posted, and he actually passed that Calculus class! He is taking a class this summer because he wants to "catch up." I told him he doesn't need to focus on when he finishes but on finishing well (though my pocketbook would disagree). Only the Lord could write this story.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
Next stop . . . Shark Tank!
Just kidding.
