“What the heck were you two thinking!? Is that your demonstration of ‘doing the best you can!?”

The boy and girl in front of me stood with their heads lowered. They were ashamed, which is exactly what I intended.

* Jump back a few months *

You hear about people winning the lottery? Well, I won the lottery. Yep, it’s true. Nearly 500 million dollars after taxes in a lump sum payment. Not too bad for a two buck investment.

So, among a lot of other things, I bought myself an estate. Huge main house on 20 acres with a pool and two bedroom pool house. When I bought it, I really didn’t know what I was going to do with that much space, but I soon started forming an idea.

The money was obviously more than I could ever spend, so I decided to help out kids who had potential, but no way to realize it. I went to the principal of the local high school and asked him for the names of some candidates to pick from. Seniors who had great potential, but no resources. Kids who had been accepted at the local state college in my town. Surprisingly, there were quite a few. Many of them, believe it or not, were growing up in foster care. Those are the ones I focused on; ones without parents who could help them, ones who would end up flipping burgers for a living if someone didn’t step in.

Since I had a two bedroom pool house in addition to the main house, I decided to take on two kids at a time. I paid a visit to the local high school principal and told him of my intentions. He was more than happy to put together a list of eight candidates, who had recently graduated, and provide me with the non-private parts of their school records.

Two kids were immediately the front runners. One boy and one girl. Both were in foster care and would be turning 18 during the summer after their high school senior year. At 18, they will ‘age-out’ of the foster care system and get shown the door of their foster home.

I arranged to meet them, one at a time, at a local restaurant, where I could buy them dinner and get to know them better. What were they planning on doing after they turned 18? Neither had a plan. What if they could go to college? Did they have a plan for a career? Neither did. I also got a feel for what their social life was like. I didn’t mind people who had a social life, but I wanted to be sure that, in their mind, their social life would be secondary to their education.

The girl’s name was Mary. She was about 5’2” and maybe 110 pounds. She wasn’t overly pretty, but wasn’t ugly either. The boy was Carl. He was around 5’10”, maybe 160 pounds, wore glasses and didn’t look particularly athletic. Both impressed me as nice kids. Both said they dated very little and that the opposite sex members of their high school weren’t much interested in them. I gave both a short description of what I wanted to do and both were excited that they were going to have a future. I told them I would get back to them in a week or so.

When you win the lottery, one thing that happens is that you get to meet lots of lawyers. I had one and sat down with him to draw up a contract for my protégés. I wanted to be very specific so they would know what was going to be provided for them, what was expected of them, and, yes, what the consequences would be if they did not adhere to the educational regimen.

My brother, sisters, and I were raised by an old-school father and mother who believed that the best way to get a wayward child’s attention was to tan their butts. It was quick, effective, and got straight to the point. While some may not agree with that method, I will tell you that none of my sisters ended up pregnant, none of us got to know the local police, and we all graduated with good grades and a future. I hated my father’s paddle and it worked my ass many times, but I always knew he had it and I always did my best to avoid it.

So, I had my attorney write it right into the contract with the kids.

And, there it was. The deal I offered them, on paper. They would get room and board for four years, full college tuition, clothing, transportation, spending money, everything. In return, they had to do their best in college. If they were having trouble with a class, I would get them a tutor. Since I was providing for them, they had to follow my rules and do what they were told. No craziness and no bad acts. A complete focus on their studies. And, if they did something wrong, there was the paddle.

I invited both kids to my house so they could see where they would live, if they signed the contract. I gave them each a copy of it and told them they had a week to look it over and make a decision. I gave them a tour of the property including the pool house, which would be their home. Both were impressed with the possibilities.