I hope he learns that there are rewards for just showing up and doing the work.

My nephew, about to graduate from high school, was one of three finalists for his school's highest award for achievement in a subject. He was nominated for Family and Home Studies (the qualifying classes were cooking, child development, and environmental design) -- and that was a surprise, because his mom figured it would be for his Japanese studies.

He didn’t feel he deserved even being nominated. It’s a huge honor to be nominated – out of a school of around 4,000 students, only around 200 are nominated. Only around 35-40 are finalists. And my nephew was one of them.

He said, "all I did was show up and do the work." Well, dude, there are rewards for just doing the right thing.

I am so proud of him. He's going to get a job soon, and will go to JC in August. I love that boy. Ahem - young man.