By then Lily had already made honor roll twice, started earning college credits in high school, and learned something I never intended to teach her so young: that sometimes the people who love you in public will still underestimate you in private.
She never forgot what her grandmother said.
Neither did I.
By the time senior year arrived, Lily had become the kind of student guidance counselors brag about to each other.
She had a near-perfect GPA, strong AP scores, twenty-four college credits through dual enrollment, and a state-level science research award for a project on antibiotic resistance. More importantly, she had discipline. She did not drift.
