Nerd Alert! =)

March 9, 2011

                Today is a great day.  I finally made it back to school and I got to see my Mom, Dad, and little sister!  They were in town because Ronnie was competing in the Regional Science Fair with her partner Scott and their project titled, “An Investigation of the Antimicrobial Properties of Selected Snake Venoms ”. (Say THAT 10 times fast!) Our hometown has a very well-known, respected science program, one which my older sister and I made our way through as well. 

I was able to make it to the Civic Center, where the awards ceremony took place, to find out how Miss Veronica Gillund and her partner did.  I was delighted to see my family and amazed to see my “baby sis” looking like a sophisticated professional WOMAN!  After a lot of waiting it was FINALLY time for the Grand Awards for the high school students.  Second place went to another team from Ronnie’s school.  That meant either first or third for my Ronnie.  Third place? Good job, better luck at state.  First place? Bragging rights aaaand and all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles and the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).  A nerd’s paradise.   “And the First Place Grand team project award goes to….Veronica Gillund and Scott Bye.” AH! She won!  Mom, Dad, and I relived the same excited feelings we felt when my sister and I won my junior year and my friend and I won my senior year.  It’s sort of a legacy in our family; team project wins at regionals to go on to ISEF.  A very nerdy, geeky legacy, but a legacy nonetheless.

As we were eating dinner after the excitement was over, Mom and Dad recalled the night they were eating with Ronnie after Brianna and I had won our trip to ISEF.  Ronnie, a fifth grader at the time, said to them, “Well, I guess I have some pretty big shoes to fill.”  Yes, Ronnie, you did, but you might have just stepped out of those shoes, rather than just filling them!

                To Ron and Colleen, you made some smart girls.  All three earned their way to ISEF!  To Veronica Ardelle Gillund, you beautiful smarty-pants, you!  Congratulations!