[Breeze]

Bear - Academic Update

The final tidbit of information involves Bear's academics. Last week Bear registered for his Fall and Spring '23 classes. When he finished he realized he only had 6 hours remaining that were required before graduation. During high school Bear took numerous AP classes, and he did dual enrollment during his senior year, so when he enrolled at Berry he was basically a Sophomore. To try and extend his time on campus and allow him to get all 4 years swimming he decided to take minimum hours and to double major (Biology and Bio-Chemistry). However, because he now has some interest in potentially going to medical school, he's recently increased his rigor to show he's capable of taking a full schedule.

Having only 6 hours needed before graduation for an entire senior year, caused some soul searching on Bear's part, and the realization hit him hard. We listened as we worked his way through several options that might allow him that final 4th year of competition, but the obvious result was too much to overcome. It makes no sense to try and find filler classes to meet the 12 hours needed to retain his scholarship. Now the plan is for him to take 1 of the 2 additional classes over the Summer and other as part of his upcoming Fall or Spring semester, meaning he will be graduating at this time next year.

That also means this will be final year of his swimming and the final year of this blog. I've known from the start this could potentially occur. However, even with that knowledge, there is a small part of me that is disappointed this will likely be the last year I get to watch any of my kids swim.