Not a promotion. Not a raise. Not even a Guardians World Series parade or a quadruple for the Arsenal.
I mean the thing you'd give up almost anything for. The thing that keeps you up at night hoping it happens, and a little scared that it won't.
For my son, that thing is England. Specifically, university in England.
He wants to study there. Live there. Build a career there, on the business and finance side of an English football club. Not playing. Helping run things. Contracts, budgets, transfers and balance sheets — the machinery behind the badge on the kit.
You can't build that career from Ohio. You build it by being there. Studying there. Networking, interning, and meeting the people who are already doing the job you want. Becoming part of that world instead of watching it from four thousand miles away, at 10:00 on a Saturday morning from a local supporters' pub.
So he set the goal. Then he did the hard part. The studying. The grades. The tests. The application essays. That's the part I'm proudest of. Not that his dream might come true. That he's the one making it come true.
Yesterday, the waiting ended. His first acceptance email landed. One school. One step closer to something he wants more than anything.
I won't pretend I was composed about it. My son is standing on the precipice of actually pulling off his dream. As a parent, there's no scouting report for that feeling. Just pride, a little relief, a screenshot of an email I'm never deleting, and, yes, some tears of joy.
He's not there yet.
Four schools still to hear from. One big decision yet to make. And a senior year to finish. But the door just opened for him, and he's more than ready to jump through it.
Here's what I read this week that you should read, too.
Samuel Adams Boston Brewery Front of House Staff Vote to Unionize — via Brewbound
My boss says the company owns all my personal time, not just work hours — via Ask a Manager
Why 'We Only Use AI For Marketing' Is Still A Bar Complaint Waiting To Happen — via Above the Law
Here's what employees really need during any change — via Ragan Communications
Dolly Parton Estate Asks for Restraining Order Against Fired Nephew Who Led Security — via Consequence
Heineken's New AI Project is a Monstrosity — via Beervana
Employees Know the Policy. They Don't Know What to Do With It — via Improve Your HR by Suzanne Lucas, the Evil HR Lady
Trucking Business Avoids WARN Act Liability as a "Faltering Company" — via EntertainHR
Equity Can Motivate Frontline Employees—If They See Their Impact on the Bottom Line — via Harvard Business Review
Religious bias requires more than knowledge of employee's accommodation need, court says — via HR Dive
Beyond AI Slop: Preparing Law Students for Responsible Practice in the AI Era — via ADR Prof Blog
Three Employees Refused the Same Drug Test. Only the White Employee Got His Job Back. — via Eric Meyer's Employer Handbook Blog
Bernie Sanders is right about the four-day workweek – but wrong about how to get there — via The Guardian