The Joy of Learning

This morning I went to my son's awards ceremony for his participation in the Naval Academy STEM program.  It was such an awesome experience.  When we arrived there was a slide show with pictures of all the activities the students participated in this week.  They did chemistry experiments, aeronautical engineering, robotics and more.  They learned SO much and had a lot of fun in the process.  My son was just grinning from ear to ear. He loved his week.  He is now more determined than ever to attend the United States Naval Academy. He has so much enthusiasm towards his end goal. I just love it.  This is every parent's dream - to have your child self motivated to be the best they can be. It is one thing for me to say, "you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to be good at this or that" and quite another to have your child say, "I want to do this and that so I can reach my goals."  I am so happy that he is excited. I am so happy he had such an amazing time. I am so grateful to the Naval Academy to make engineering and science so interesting for my son. It was great to see all the experiments set up around the auditorium. They really worked on some fantastic projects. The rest of the day will be spent listening to my son tell his stories of his week at the Naval Academy and my daughter tell her stories of her week of leatherneck training at Quantico.  It is going to be the best afternoon ever. Thank you Naval Academy - you continue to inspire and bring out the very best in your students. I have two happy students comparing notes and excitedly sharing all that they have learned.