Can Somebody Give Me a Hooah!!

Savannah with her best friend and sister, Laney. We're hoping these two can go to college together next year. We'll see.

Today Savannah went on a fun date with a young man who lives on Fort Leonard Wood. His family just arrived here from Germany, and since he didn't get to drive while he was there, he hasn't gotten his driver's license yet. No problem, though. Savannah just needed to drive. After hiking at a beautiful nature conservation area and going through a corn maze, they grabbed a concrete at Culver's before Savannah dropped him back off at his home on post. She drove her cute little Mazda Miata convertible ... cutest car ever! As Savannah was making her way off post she passed by a group of young soldiers who were walking down the sidewalk. When they saw her super cute car and her super awesome red hair flowing in the wind as she drove by with her hood down, one of the soldiers yelled out to her, "Can somebody give me a hooah?!!" It's an army thing ... although I'm not totally sure what the guy was trying to say. Was the hooah for a great car or a great girl or was he simply feeling extremely enthusiastic about life in general and just needed some sort of affirmation from Savannah? No idea. 

Either way, I thought that comment/question was a great way to take a moment to share a little ... okay big ... Savannah accomplishment. 

Savannah took the ACT college entrance exam this month and received her scores this week. She ended up getting a 35!!! Hooray! What exactly does that mean? Well, I have no idea exactly how the scores are given, but a 36 is a perfect score. There are four sections to the test -- English, Reading, Math, and Science. Savannah got perfect scores in English, Reading, and Science. The only section where she missed points was in the math, and she ended up getting a 33 there. Taken together her composite score was a 35. The collegesimply.com website explained just what it means to get a 35:

Is a 35 on the ACT a good score? Absolutely. You're amongst the truly elite and should be able to get into any top tier school. A 35 places you approximately in the 99th percentile nationally for all students who took the ACT test.

Sweet! The best part is that her score definitely qualifies her for a full-ride scholarship to BYU next year, and it puts her in strong contention for the Thomas S. Monson Scholarship. This scholarship is given to only 25 girls and 25 boys each year, and it would cover tuition and a half. That would be absolutely wonderful! In last year's freshman class of over 4500 students, only six students had a 36 on the ACT and a little more than 60 had a 35. That puts Savannah in an elite group of students. We are so super proud of her and all she has accomplished academically. 

It is not surprising that she received such a high score. She got a 30 on the ACT the first time she took it in 7th grade as part of the Duke Talent Search. In 7th grade!!! She got a full ride scholarship to go to one of the Duke summer programs that summer. At the time her gifted teacher said that she could just drop on out of school and head to college right then and there. I'm glad we didn't take that route. There is a certain cool factor to being a real-life Doogie Howser, I'm sure, but I don't think it would have been the best thing for Savannah at all. The social and basic life benefits to staying in school here at home far outweighs any coolness that might be obtained by being able to say that you graduated college at 15. 

So anyway, it looks like Savannah will be heading to BYU Provo next year. We are still waiting to see if Laney chooses to transfer there as well from BYU Idaho when she returns home from her mission in the summer. We're hoping they can go to school together, but we'll see how things play out. I'm super proud of my sweet girl Savannah. She is a talented piano player, academic student, and tuba player, but she is also super kind and helpful. She has been tutoring students in her grandma's special education classroom this year, and after doing this she thinks that she would love to study special education as well. I think she would be amazing at this, and BYU has an excellent Special Ed program. The future just keeps flying in our direction faster and faster. Make it slow down!! Can somebody give me a Hooah?