A Great Gift

I had a great gift given to me the other day. A young woman e-mailed me that had gone to the program at UNC-Wilmington during the summer of 2006 called “Summer Ventures in Science and Math.” It was a program (I think they still do it) that a high school student had to apply for if they were qualified academically and if accepted they were sent to one of a few universities in NC to focus on those subjects in different forms. Kaitlyn went there the summer of 2006 when she was 16. I think Kaitlyn’s area was the molecular structure and function of sea creatures or something like that. Kaitlyn was sent to Wilmington (only an hour from us, near the beach).

Anyway, this young woman said that while she was there she felt a little intimidated because all the other students had extensive learning in calculus and she did not and the students were questioning this young woman’s qualifications for being there. She said that Kaitlyn spoke up and said that all schools had different curricula and she may not have had the opportunity to be in calculus the way everyone else there did. Privately, Kaitlyn offered to teach the girl anything she wanted to know about calculus. The young woman said Kaitlyn was SO nice and they became friends. They kept up with each other for a long time and then as things happen, their lives went off into different directions and they no longer kept in touch after a time. I don’t know where the girl was from. These students came from all over NC.

As happens, life is ironic. This young woman wound up in the same medical school that Kaitlyn did, Wake Forest School of Medicine, after Kaitlyn died and is now in her first year. It was there she found out about Kaitlyn’s death and it saddened her greatly.

This young woman took the time to email me about this. She told me about their time together. I absolutely LOVE it when someone comes from Kaitlyn’s life and tells me about things and experiences of Kaitlyn that I didn’t know about. But I do know that was how Kaitlyn was, kind and considerate and never to let anyone else put down another. That’s my girl.

She also told me that she was in “the lending library that is in Kaitlyn’s name” at Wake Forest Med School the other day. I did not know there was a lending library in Kaitlyn’s name and asked her if they had a sign saying it was in her name and she emailed me the pic below:

Below is a pic of Kaitlyn at Summer Ventures. I don’t know if that girl is in this pic because they were all separated into different groups. I’ve had this pic for years. Kaitlyn is the girl with the long blonde hair, sitting in between two other blonde haired girls that were twins.

Thank you to that young lady for her generous gift to me…..a glimpse into Kaitlyn’s past.