And for our encore

As our second child neared the end of his home education, his passion was clear.  He wanted to study music in the jazz focussed performance program at MacEwan College in Edmonton.  We checked the MacEwan web-site and their printed calendar and found little help with the admission requirements for a non-diploma student.  Then one day, I was chatting with a neighbour who works in recruitment for MacEwan and he told me that there is an admissions test for the English requirement, which is the only specific academic requirement for this program (sadly, MacEWan very much limits the programs in which you can use this exam.)  Ben studied some grammar terms as a refresher and signed up for the test.  

He not only passed the test, he received a high enough grade that he qualified to take "real" English and not the music-program specific adapted English course.  So that solved the academic challenge.

The real deciding factor for the music program is the audition process.  This required writing a music theory exam and an ear training test, playing a prepared piece of music and a sight reading piece.  All of this was well outside of my ability to help and Ben was very blessed in having an excellent bass guitar teacher who worked with him to prep for all of the requirements.

My role was limited to hearing him practice his performance piece so much that I can still hum his line along with it every time I hear it on the radio ( if I don't instantly change stations!)  Hearing that song will always remind me of his diligence in pursuing his dream.