Bonus post this month! There is NEW news.....

There was ONE more college tour that Todd and Mercer went on.   Here's the photo at that baseball field.  (that was one of the "extras" that he did at each of these tours -- check out the field.

There was a showcase that he went to at the beginning of the month at a nearby (large) college.  There were other college reps there.  We have to say - Mercer did this on his own....  he knocked it out of the park -- literally.  He said he hit 4 balls out of the park?!   

He's been to several showcases and usually he comes back and we say -- so... did you talk to any coaches?  Is there anything that came out of the showcase?  no.  Which feels a little defeating.  Why even do these things?  (they aren't terribly cheap either)

But - about a week after one of the showcases, Mercer gets a social media message from a "Coach Castle."  (He looked up the guy and talked to his high school baseball coach and talked to Todd about it before responding to the guy.)  It was an assistant coach from a college in north Georgia.  They set up a call for a Friday afternoon - Todd came home early from work / I eavesdropped and tried to stay busy just outside the door where they talked.  We tried to keep it low-key not knowing if this was just a conversation -- or if this was going to actually go somewhere.

Well, it DID go somewhere!  It was REALLY exciting... the guy said he wanted to offer him a position on their developmental (JV) team!!  This is a Division 2 school (even though it's a small school, they've moved up a division because the program is good.)  Mercer is stoked... he got an offer at a D2 school... at a much higher level than the JuCo he was committed to in New York!

Mercer had a list of questions for the guy. (he sounded really responsible!)  :)  Then, they discussed the "next steps" -- which was to go visit the college and check it out / meet the coach in person.... send up his unofficial transcript to see if there was any $ that could help off-set the tuition... and apply for the college after the coach got back to him about the tuition.

Todd and Mercer took a day off of work and a day off of school this past week. They went up for an "official" administrative tour of the campus, see the freshman dorms, have a one-on-one meeting with the assistant coach / look at the athletic facilities. They also got a personalized tour of the arts department and met with the head of the Graphic Design program. Afterwards, they attended a baseball scrimmage that was taking place in the afternoon.  (As it turns out, one of his travel-baseball team teammates was there the same day also meeting with the coach and attending the scrimmage!!  His teammate, Dalton, was already in talks with the coach to play and was up there to commit / sign some things.... so - Mercer would know someone at Young Harris.  yay!)  

The next steps after the meeting on campus was to apply for the college (which we did earlier this weekend).  He should get in.  He has a pretty good GPA - higher than what is required. So, I guess once he's officially accepted to the college - then it's going to be a done deal?  Don't know how long that will take.  But it looks like he will be a Young Harris "Bobcat."  (the uni's are purple though.... :/ )  He's OK with it!  He's never had a purple uniform.  Todd & I think we'll go with the gray sweatshirts with purple writing... haha!   

Mercer embraced and went "all-in" with the color and now has a purple tee shirt and a purple sweatshirt from the gift shop / book store.  (And - he wore his purple tee shirt the next day at school and told EVERYONE).  I had a couple of people at school this past week asking me about it.  

The day after he was at Young Harris and verbally committed to attending, he had the hard job of reaching out to the coach up in Corning NY to uncommit.  (good that there wasn't any paperwork yet.  I think he was supposed to get something from the Corning coach in November?)  It was tough.  He and Todd really liked Coach Skinner.  

There were going to be real challenges with him going to school in upper New York (near Canada) -- my fears of him getting home-sick / not having a way to get home. The logistics of us renting a truck to move him in at the beginning of each school year and moving out each May.  (trouble is -- Mercer is too young to drive a rental and Todd / I would have to tag-team the driving 16 hours +/- with no traffic / no stops and we'd have to take 4 days off at a minimum as Corning is a day-and-a-half's drive each way.  And airfare at Thanksgiving, airfare at Christmas, maybe or may not at spring break?   Air-fare / rental car / hotel for parent's weekend.  Then, we would not get to watch any of his games if he played in NY....   and...  and...  and.... 

After Mercer texted the coach in NY (and the coach messaged back saying he understood / to keep in touch & let him know if anything changed).... Mercer THEN publicly announced on his baseball social media page that he was committed to Young Harris. 

Hopefully the paperwork comes through?!  ha!   (he already received a letter from the coach with the academic scholarship offer, so is that enough in writing to feel confident?!) 

This journey reminds me of the TV show "the Voice."  You want someone to turn their chair around so you can play.  Coach Skinner believed in him first.... so Mercer knew he had the opportunity to play after high school... which was HUGE.  And, then, another judge turns their chair around.... and you have a really tough decision to make!  But - sooo grateful he has this opportunity for having to make decisions. 

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It is a real blessing that he will continue his journey at a more LOCAL school!  

Young Harris is only 2 hours away.  It's private and more expensive, though.  But - the "fears" and the hard things outlined above can go away.  whew.  And, we would be able to go to some of his games (assuming they play some of their games on the weekends.)   And - he should be able to have his car with him. We weren't going to let him take his car up to NY because of the long drive up -- heck we wouldn't even take Todd's SUV up to NY because it's so far -- and we weren't sure how his car would hold up in  / how he would be able to dive in the snow and cold cold winters. 

So, we know he's excited about having the freedom of his car up there with him. (and if he gets home-sick, he can come home!) I reminded him this weekend - when he was snuggling with the dogs - that he could come home and snuggle with them when he wanted! 

The dorm rooms aren't as nice at Young Harris. After the in-person tour, he said he wanted to stay in the older dorm that have rooms that are a little bit bigger.  Todd likes (and I like from the virtual tour) the newer freshman dorm. The rooms are a little smaller, but there is a common area that he could hang out in.... get out of the tiny dorm room and meet people.  A big common living-room type of area for the dorm building. I wonder who his roommate will be?  (His teammate, Dalton?  I think his teammate has a classmate also going to the school, so maybe not?) I guess we'll have to do all of the things to apply for housing / fill out surveys to pick out roommates / have a meet-and-greet / coordinate things to go into the room / etc.    

We emailed the college that he's been taking classes online (GA Highlands) and they already responded.  I was asking them to send a transcript so we could see what would count at Young Harris. The woman sent a message this weekend (wow!) with a link with the corresponding classes.  Unfortunately, we found out that most of his dual-enrollment credits will NOT transfer since Young Harris is a private school... so.. the "lighter load" with him being able to take one less class each quarter isn't really going to happen.  Boo.  Since they are a private school, they do things their own way.  

He has one more opportunity to pick out dual-enrollment classes for the spring semester at the high school, so we're going to choose those this month with transfer credits in mind.  He is actually quite farther ahead than most of the other seniors at school.  Whew!

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We'll post more things about October / halloween later, but just wanted to get this NEW news posted!