My friend John and I were talking last week, ahead of his trip to Gville to watch his only child graduate from UF. He asked me if I cried at any of the Ds college or grad school graduations, and I told him I did one of four times, but it really didn't have to do with the Ds.
D2 got 2 degrees from UF, and it was an awesome day. But UF, being the elite Florida school, has most kids being parents of college grads. All were proud, but the college thing seemed a given for most of our kids. In fact, of the Ds friends growing up, they can count on one hand the kids who DIDN'T get at least a bachelor's degree. And UF reflected that -- same thing when D1 graduated.
But FIU is the true immigrant families' U. At D1's MS ceremony, it seemed a majority of the families there were cheering on their first in the family college grads. Indeed, the featured kids told of overcoming the Haitian earthquake, and political prison in Cuba and Venezuela. Being around that ceremony brought tears to my eyes -- getting the degrees seemed sacred to these people, not just a pleasant, but assumed rite of passage.
So I really dig FIU. Indeed, Wifey is an alumna -- she the daughter from first generation immigrants herself.
When I was first to start making some nice coin, the first thing I did was put away money for the Ds' educations -- assuming both would go to pricey private places. They both went to UF on full scholarships -- D2 even earned a healthy academic for her Master's tuition. D1, more the princess, seemed headed to private grad school, but she opted for FIU, too.
It was 2010, and the firm had a nice year. So when D1 was accepted, I met with her program chair and asked how much the total tuition would cost. It was about a third of what a private program would have been. So I made a gift to the FIU School of Public Health -- essentially agreeing to pay for a student's tuition who couldn't afford it. To me, I was still paying only 2/3 of what I had expected, and I'd get a nice tax deduction, and, hell -- it was just the right thing to do.
It wasn't huge money, but FIU made a big deal out of it. Turned out, no one had funded a scholarship in that school before -- except a partial one, and that was born of tragedy. A young student named Medina came out as gay in college, and her parents rejected her on account of their religion, and the student ended up killing herself. The School funded a partial scholarship in her memory. So our gift was the only one born out of happiness.
The Director, an awesome lady born in Turkey, took me for lunch. She explained that rather than just pay for one student, they were going to invest the money until it got to a certain level, and then use it to help deserving Dietetics and Nutrition students who were great academically, and with true need. This was 7 years ago.
Well, earlier this year, the money had achieved the level they sought, and, being an academic institution, they formed a committee to pick the scholarship recipients. They asked D1 to be a member. They chose two young women who had completed their studies, but needed to do unpaid internships to get their certifications. Both came from working class families who couldn't afford to subsidize them. Yesterday was the School's graduation, and they invited us to the post graduation ceremony.
Students from other areas in the Public Health School were recognized. We were blown away. One young man, from Ethiopia, who looked to be about 15, was getting his PhD in Epidemiology. He had already published 5 papers in peer reviewed journals. He didn't smile much. You could just SEE his smarts -- he was headed back to Africa to help with disease control. Other students, from South America, were likewise amazing -- advanced degrees, volunteering to stop human trafficking -- that sort of thing. I got those familiar tears again.
Then the Dean put up a poster with our family name, and told the tale of our scholarship. We were asked to stand and the room applauded. One of the recipients, a Central American girl, wasn't there -- her best friend was being married in Tally, and she attended that. But the other was -- at our table.
She was born in India -- her parents were there, too. They live in Coral Springs. Dad spoke only Hindi -- he worked in a factory. Mom was a nurse at a Broward Hospital. "Our" student had graduated with a 4/0 in her MS program, and was beginning her internship at the Miami VA. She commuted each day from Coral Springs. She was delightful, and thanked us profusely for how this scholarship was truly letting her do it -- her younger brother was a computer science student at FAU, and the family's finances were totally strapped.
D1 spoke to her at length -- they will keep in touch, though it appears "our" girl is headed to academics --she wants a PhD and to become a professor.
The Dean and I chatted. He's a Miami bred, Cuban born guy -- Gables High, UF, and spent the last decades as an assistant Dean at Johns Hopkins and Columbia. He studies brain trauma in football players. I could tell he was quite a "get" for FIU -- bringing his Ivy League and arguably best med school in the US experience to West Miami Dade is impressive. He told me Miami has always been home -- his parents live 10 minutes from his new house. I told him I look forward to continuing to interact with him.
So Wifey and I left the campus beaming. I looked skyward -- endowing something like that, with his name, would have made my Dad pretty proud.
The night before, we were out with some friends -- Wifey's bud, and her retired doctor husband. He's a real toy guy -- just bought a boat, does other expensive hobbies, and has a tv and stereo system that cost well more than the amount of the scholarship money we gave. He really loves his stuff, and I applaud his happiness with them.
But Wifey and I talked about it -- I really can't stand stuff. When I hear someone buys a boat, my first thought is having to deal with it in an approaching hurricane.
Nah -- to me, enjoying days like yesterday is my true luxury. And FIU is a fine place to do it.
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