Apparently we skipped that chapter.

In the parenting handbook on Teaching Your Child How to Present Himself Well.  Seriously dropped the ball on that one.

My darling son has decided, after much consideration (about 20 minutes), that he wants to go to med school and become a doctor.  This is after taking, and loving, and performing quite well in his anatomy class.  This was quite a surprise, as he has always, only made plans to become a meteorologist.  He absolutely loves weather and storms, and follows each very closely.  I'm not sure exactly what changed his mind, but having him decided to go into medicine is enough to thrill this nurse's heart.

A couple of days after he announced he wanted to be a doctor, he informed me that he wanted to attend Vo-Tech next year.  Vo-Tech?  Can I tell you how much I love telling people that my son wants to attend Vo-Tech AND med school?  I can barely get the words out of my mouth without laughing!  It wasn't quite so funny when I found out that the program he wanted to attend was actually a bio-med program that gave you AP credits and actually was a college-prep program, but I don't tell people that.  I'm having too much fun.

I got a call about a week later from the Vo-Tech informing me that in order to be considered for the program, Garrison would have to come in for an interview.  I set up a time, forgot it, and set up a second time that we actually attended.  We found our way to the school and entered a room with the instructor who was waiting to conduct the interview with Garrison.  The instructor told us that typically there was a panel of teachers who interviewed each student, but that the other instructors couldn't attend for one reason or another.  She let Garrison know that this interview was very informal, and he shouldn't feel stressed about it.  In hindsight, she probably regretted saying this.  I know I did.  Garrison didn't let out any sigh of relief.  He never even looked the least bit uptight.  He answered, "Alright."  After getting through the initial questions, most of which he answered with a "huh?" or a "yeah",  (with which mom slumped lower and lower into her seat in embarrassment after each question) she asked Garrison, "How much non-school-related reading do you do?"  He didn't answer.  He just held up both hands, each hand formed in "0's".  Not, "Oh, just a little."  Not, "I do so much reading for school, I don't really have time for casual reading."  Just, "00".  None, nada. Then he added, "I hate reading.  I don't read anything unless I have to."  Just what they want to hear in the bio-med program.  Kids who have lots of curiosity in things they aren't forced to read or learn in school.  She asked, "How much time do you spend doing homework each night?"  His answer, "Well, when I HAVE homework, maybe 20 or 30 minutes or so."  Oh yeah.  Great ambition here.  What took the cake was when she asked him, "How much time do you spend studying for tests?"  I was afraid to hear the answer.  I was right in being afraid.  He answered, "Well, I usually cram for about 20 minutes, then right before class."

It's not like he was applying for med school.  I just couldn't for the life of me imagine his trying any less to make a good impression.  We certainly aren't sitting around waiting for an acceptance letter.  Especially after she told us that the morning slots were full, and there were only a couple of afternoon slots open.  You might have thought that would put a little pressure on my darling to make a good impression.  Might have.  Um, no.  It didn't.

He told me later that it didn't sound like something he wanted to do anyway.  Too much work.  Shocker.  Med school?  Hmmm. We've got a little work to do.