Brilliant … But Bouncy

That’s the WORST It Could Be.

It’s the end of the quarter. It’s the end of the semester. And once again, Shane is teetering on the edge of straight A’s even in his high school classes (and getting tons of accolades for it).

But for Dylan, it’s more serious. This time, it’s the end of the first semester of his junior year. This is the year he was going to “prove” to colleges that he could, indeed, get good grades. Instead, Dylan is struggling to finish the 47 assignments he never turned in.

Forty-seven may be an exaggeration. Having not counted, though, maybe it’s not.

With only three days left to finish everything, Dylan came downstairs last night and gave me the same speech he gives at the end of every quarter.

“Mom, I figured out my GPA and the worst it could possibly be for the semester is three A’s, three B’s and one C. That’s the worst it could be. I could probably get four B’s once everything gets graded and turned in. But even if I fail every assignment, I will still get B’s for the semester because of my really good first quarter.”

It’s always the same speech. It’s the last-ditch effort of a man dying of thirst, trying to convince himself that there is water just over the next sand dune.

He doesn’t see the grades from last quarter, which were exactly the same as the prediction he’s making for the whole semester. And last year, he had two C’s each semester instead of one – which, I suspect, will happen again this semester.

With three days left to pull himself out of the gutter, Dylan has three A’s, one C, and three failing grades.

And this is the year he was going to “prove” to colleges that he could, indeed, get good grades.