Zach, Adam, Jamie and Josh Field at Florida State University College of Medicine “2016 Match Day” in March.
Besides marking the beginning of the summer vacation season, the month of May is typically a time for moving. As schools let out, families follow new career opportunities and graduating students prepare for the next leg of their educational journeys. As featured in this month’s cover story, high school seniors from private institutions, as well as thousands from Brevard Public Schools, are enjoying their last summer before embarking on their collegiate paths, be it at a local college, state university or other institution of higher learning across the country.
As parents, this transition is usually filled with emotions (both happy and sad), whether it’s the first to leave the nest or the last. My wife, Jamie, and I first experienced these opposing emotions when our first child, Adam, left for the University of Florida in the summer of 2008.
Two years later, when our other son, Zach, followed his brother to Gainesville, we became empty nesters, that confusing status where your kids are still dependent, but essentially learning to operate independently.
There was always that glimmer of selfish hope that the boys would graduate college and move back to Brevard to work side-by-side with me, but (like I did to my parents) their dreams were bigger and opportunities meant moving away from home. Adam had always wanted to be a doctor, and this month he will fulfill that dream, graduating from Florida State University’s College of Medicine.
While Tallahassee wasn’t too far away, and he spent the past two years doing his clinical rotations in Orlando, the next step in this journey will take him to a 3-year emergency medicine residency program at the University of Arizona (my undergraduate alma mater) in Tucson over 2,000 miles away. While Jamie and I couldn’t feel more blessed or happy for Adam, we sure will miss seeing him as regularly as we have these past few years.
(By the way, Zach is following in his brother’s footsteps, beginning his third year of med school at FSU . . . so we have two more years before going through all this again.)
Finally, speaking of moving on, I am saddened to see my long-time protégé Rebecca Shireman leave SpaceCoast Living, but couldn’t be happier or prouder of her growth and achievements over the time we’ve worked together and the opportunity to continue serving our community in her new role at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
To all those moving on — and to the families and friends who share in those dreams — good luck and Godspeed!
Josh Field, publisher
