(Editors note: I’ll be on vacation for a few days.  My regular weekday commentary will return Monday, July 2nd)

Okay, so I don’t tear up very often.

Emotionally available?  Not really.  Tony Caridi says, only half teasing, that I’m “aloof and distant.”  Even those closest to me have to settle for a Hoppy who is “tough, but fair.”

Yet, yesterday afternoon at West Virginia Wesleyan College when we awarded this year’s West Virginia Scholarship to Jackson Carey, that unfamiliar feeling came over me and I had to wipe away the tears.

It wasn’t just me. Others at our table went soggy.

This is a tough competition.  The West Virginia Scholar program is open to every high school junior in the state.  The students are judged over several months on grades, public service, personal interviews, need and other criteria.

All ten who made it to the finals and attended Thursday’s banquet at Wesleyan were outstanding students and impressive young people.

Jackson Carey most deserved, and won, the top prize–a four-year full scholarship to Wesleyan valued at over $125,000.

The Brooke High School senior has an enviable resume.

He’s a straight A student who takes honors classes.  He’s involved in school clubs and plays on the tennis team.  Jackson has gone to leadership programs.  He performed 250 hours of community service over the last year and he volunteers at a daycare.

Jackson plans to study optometry.  His long range goal is to open a pediatric optometry clinic to treat disadvantaged children.

Pretty impressive stuff.

When the announcement came, Jackson’s mother, aunt and grandmother all burst into tears.  His grandmother hugged me and told me how proud her son, Jackson’s father, would have been.  He died from cancer seven years ago.

So, yes, I got emotional, as did a number of others at the banquet.  That’s somewhat foreign territory for me, but it felt so good.

Of course, Jackson didn’t get the scholarship because his father died.  He earned it, every penny of it, and he did not let the personal tragedy of losing his father keep him from achieving a remarkable goal.

I don’t know the boy well, but I admire what he has done after just a few years on this earth.  I love his grandmother for freely passing out hugs while wiping away tears.  I adore his mom for the way she looked at Jackson as the winners were announced.

The annual trip to Wesleyan is good therapy for me.  There’s no political spin or hostile debates.  The economic slump and the perpetual debt seem far away.  All I see at the scholar’s banquet are smiles and tears of joy.   All I hear is hope and opportunity.

One scholar wants to be an elementary school teacher, another plans to study medicine, and another wants to be an entrepreneur.  Who knows where their lives will lead or whether they will reach their goals, but they are getting out of the gate strong, even when faced with adversity.

Today, I’ll likely be back to my old self, a “human doing” who struggles to just let it be.  But I’m thankful for yesterday, and just a little bit more optimistic about tomorrow.

Congratulations to our ten finalists:

Jackson Carey, Brooke High School, winner.

Andrew Mellert, Ripley High School, first runner-up

Emily Stasny, Richwood High School, second runner-up

Mary Casto, Musselman High School

Jordan Danko, Ravenswood High School

Ann Flesher, Ravenswood High School

Kathalyn Maxson, Ravenswood High School

Summer Peyton, Logan High School

Rachel Ransom, Jefferson High School

Allie Roberts, Parkersburg High School

(Editor’s note:  Thanks to the sponsors of the West Virginia Scholar Program: West Virginia Wesleyan, Energize West Virginia with Natural Gas, Friends of Coal, the West Virginia Forestry Association and Metronews. Additionally, thanks to Colonel Marvin and Elaine Culpepper for their generous contribution to the scholarship program)

Hoppy interviews Jackson Carey and Mary Casto.