On the day of the CPS High School Entrance Exam

I played normally, but it was an emotional morning inside. He was acting nonchalant and listening to metal as usual on the way to school. To think that he is up to a battle alone - a battle, not in the sense that fighting against other kids for hunger game seats, but in the sense that tackling the system operating in this world whether or not you agree with it, and that facing with his own vulnerability and fear, - I cannot help but think of the day he was born.
As an educator myself, I fully know that any exam can measure only a part of students' intelligence. When it comes to a selection exam, it is a probability game. There is no absolute, and all you can do is raise a probability and pray for luck. No matter how hard you work, no matter how smart you are, after all, you are dealing with something beyond your control, and you never know what will happen in the end. We are so fortunate that we love our neighborhood high school. Still, we are put into this systemic current which is so hard to swim against. Watching him going up against this enormous challenge with dignity, I cannot help but think how much that tiny baby has grown to this day, and I am grateful that he has so many loves - friends, teachers, community, and music -around him.
I'm truly wishing all kids good luck. You are all smart, and you are all important. Good luck. Good luck.