He's Mine!

When my son was little, like 3 years old, he would say things like "Oh, you gave me a fright!". He often used words well beyond his years. And he used them in the appropriate context. We knew he was bright. We were fortunate for him to be able to attend Broadway Baptist for Kindergarten. Lisa Wooten was his teacher and Joella was the assistant. There were only 13 children in the class. I am proud to say each student from that class has done exceptionally well throughout their schooling in Sand Springs. The blessings kept on coming in Elementary with Mrs. Deb Lee for 1st Grade, Mrs. Conley for 2nd, Mrs. Kayre Pryor 3rd, Mrs. Talesa Hilton 4th and Mrs. Shannon Bussey Davis for 5th. In Jr. High and High School, Ty has also had outstanding teachers. They are dedicated and genuinely care about their students.

 

Ty has been a sports freak since he was very young. He would throw stats at us about players we never heard of. He loved Shaq and would get so mad at me when I would say I wished that man could make a free throw! He loved all things sports. He also loved to play. He began playing football and basketball in Kindergarten. Because of the way the birthday falls, he changed football teams several times before starting tackle in 3rd grade. He was coached first by Britt Reeder, later by Jeremy Tolbert and Kieth Hilligoss and by Darran Harger and Bryan Benton thru the tackle years. Dad traveled a lot, but Dad was always an assistant and was there as often as possible. Basketball was different. His first and last league coach was Tom Askew. Tom coached Ty for 8 years. They broke the mold with Tom. Thanks to all who spent uncountable hours with the boys. It is not an easy job.

 

Ty has excelled in school, tested off the charts and made top grades. I can only recall one time getting a call from a teacher saying that he was misbehaving in class. This teacher actually called me to tell me that Ty had been warned. He laughed in her class. I let her know I would certainly be talking about the situation with him. I won't say the name, but this teacher didn't like anyone. Enough said, it was sort of funny. After about the 8th grade, Ty started making choices that drove us crazy. If he was given an assignment that he thought was a waste of time, he didn't do it. This went on even through high school. I talked to teachers, counselors and the principal. I threatened and cried and yelled at Ty. Every time this would come up again, I would talk about scholarship dollars flying out the window. Troy and I knew he had the ability to do anything he chose to do. We know it even now. Some of his choices did come back to bite him in the hiney. But, they were his choices and now he has to live with them.

 

Ty has always been a passionate athlete. He is not an aggressive person as a rule. When he steps onto the field or the court, he totally morphs. He wants his team to win. We have loved watching him play. For me, football was the big one. He has always loved both football and basketball. Ty isn't the "stand out" who always has his name or picture in the paper. Ty has always been at the heart of the team. Solid, consistent and knows the game inside and out. Never missing a workout or practice and giving 110% always. When Troy had his stroke, it was in September. Ty did miss a couple of days of school being at the hospital. He did not miss practice. He went to practice and back to the hospital. Ty's Jr year he was seroiusly injured in the 5th week of the season. A JV game at Union. The injury required surgery to put everything back as it should be and put him out of sports for 6 months. That included basketball season. Yet, as was mentioned at the basketball banquet this year, he never missed a practice or game. He wasn't able to play or workout, but he went to everything the rest of the team did.  This year, 2012-2013, Ty's senior year, the football team had a great season. Ty played left tackle and deep snapper. He doesn't care where he plays. He just wants to play. He desperately wanted to end his Senior Year with a win over Sapulpa. They got it. They made it to the playoffs, losing in the first round to Broken Arrow. It was a great game. They never gave up. It was a heartbreaker and many tears were shed by players, parents and fans. They lost to a good team. Part of the heartache and tears were due to it being the "end". The end of high school football. This Momma grieved the end of it all. I can tell you that for certain. This years team was a TEAM. I am very proud of each and every one of the boys, trainers and coaches. Basketball had a tough season, but again, the boys never gave up. I am proud of that group of boys and coaches as well.

 

The time came to begin to apply for college. Ty has said since he was very young he was going to go "away" to college and never come back. (LOL) We have learned that the "plan" for Ty was not to go away. Ty scored very well on the ACT. He took the test several times and the result remarkably was always the same. Each section varied, but the composite the same. Ty used the Common Ap for most of his choices. On a sort of a whim, he applied to the University of Tulsa. Truthfully, he had no intention of going to TU. He got mail from more than 80 colleges and universities. He would go through the mail and glance at it and set it aside. He got a packet from TU and didn't even open it. A few days later, Troy did. It was an acceptance letter. Every couple of days he got mail, emails or a phone call from TU. Have you made a decision? What can we do to help with your decision? And another letter came with a scholarship offer. We have since learned their scholarship offer was just under the max they offer other than a Presidential Scholarship. The more info they sent, he more interested he became. TU actually made Ty feel like they wanted him and he was liking what he was seeing about the university. US News ranks TU 83rd in the nation. 77% of their Chemistry major grads go on to a Master's or higher. Class sizes are very small. Private colleges are very expensive. The scholarship was important. We make too much money to qualify for grants, but not even close to enough to simply write a check!

 

At one point this year, I was very frustrated with Ty. I sent an email venting those frustrations to the HS Counselor, Stacy Duncan. Ms. Duncan has been working with our family since Sophomore year and knows Ty very well. She responded to my email with encouraging words. Not a quote, but something like this...... "I believe God has a plan for Ty. I believe Ty will end up exactly where he is supposed to be and it will all work out. I truly believe this." Ty applied to quite a few colleges. All of them top, private colleges. Colleges that are very selective and highly competitive for admission. As it turns out, TU was the only school he was accepted to. Honestly, it was disappointing to receive the "regret" letters. The good news was, the whole time Ty knew he not only had been accepted by TU, but he had also been offered a scholarship to attend. And it was flattering that they were still actively pursuing him, wanting him to attend their school. So, the decision was made to accept the offer from TU. Troy, Ty and I attended TU Preview Day on Friday, April 19th. It was a very good day.

 

Ty spoke with his HS Head Coach, Dustin Kinard about walking on at TU as a deep/long snapper. A position that Ty has always been very good at. He isn't a small person, but he is not big enough to play on the line in college football. While we were on campus we decided to go by the football offices and find out details of the "walk on" process at TU. Ty actually had the opportunity to meet Head Coach Bill Blankenship. He happened to be in the reception area. He introduced himself to Ty and was very kind and helpful. He asked reception to find Special Teams Coach Downing or Coach Clint Roundtree to speak with us. We met Coach Downing briefly and sat down for a talk with Coach Roundtree. Ty is now going to be a walk on at the University of Tulsa.

 

Many other things happened on this day, we spoke with the Financial Aid Office, The Office of Admissions, we have to get an appointment soon for Ty to enroll for the Fall and also for one class in summer school. Ty has to be an enrolled student to be able to work out at the university. NCAA rules. We still had questions about financial details and such. It was overwhelming. Ty was going to have an opportunity to make his dreams come true. As his parents, were we going to be able to work out our part? We had a break before our appointment with the Admissions Counselor. Troy and I were stressing out and I remembered what Ms. Duncan said. "I believe God has a plan for Ty". I mentioned this to Troy and Ty and told them to hang in there. I believe this is God's plan as well. TU is a great school, they are selective too and they want him to attend! The meeting went better than expected. Ty will be allowed to live at home this year. That alone will be a savings of approximately $10K. Everything fell into place. Ty will be able to attend TU and Ty will be given an opportunity to walk on the football team. All of the scholarships are renewable. Being a part of the football team, even as a walk on, he will be required to have study time, etc. This will help him keep the grades he needs to maintain the scholarships. The other side is, being on scholarship will allow him to be a walk on and the coaching staff was pretty darned excited about his ACT and the academic scholarship. A win/win. Thank you Ms. Duncan for your faith in God and your faith in our son. You helped us in a way you didn't even know. God is good and he has made a way for our son to work toward his goals and make his dreams come true. Now it is time for him to do his part. Troy, Trina and I do have faith in God and faith in Ty as well. We believe and we believe he can and will do this.