WHO?

Richard Solli was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy in 1969 out of the U.Va. NROTC program and served a total of 30 years. After earning an MBA, he has held a variety of sales, marketing and operations positions.

“Hey Dad, it’s time to wake up!” rang out from my daughter Alex about 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning in October 2008. Was it time to head out to a volleyball tournament? No, the season didn’t start for another two months. Or were we headed off to college visit No. 10? No, that was the next weekend.

Then, I remembered: That Saturday was the first and last Father-Daughter SAT Challenge.

It all started over the dinner table the previous June when Alex, our youngest daughter and a high school senior, told us her strategy for taking the College Board SAT Reasoning Test for the second time. She had sat for the test in June with good math results but had been disappointed in her critical reading and writing scores.

Rich and Alex Solli on Alex’s high school graduation day.

Seeing an opportunity to motivate her, I told her about my SAT experience 44 years earlier. I actually had a similar challenge ahead of me that October 1964 day: to improve my verbal score before submitting college applications in November. Back then there were only two scores, verbal and math. I had scored a low 700 on the math, but was hoping for a high 600 or better on the verbal.

So, the seeds of competition were sown. Alex could continue with her SAT prep course and take full advantage of the College Board online resources. I, on the other hand, would be thrown into the simmering cauldron almost cold turkey. We did discuss about half a dozen College Board “Questions of the Day” at several meals, but I hadn’t taken a real math class since my night MBA program at Loyola College in Maryland.

So there we were. Oct. 4 had come and the Day of Reckoning was at hand. I headed south to the Gilman School, a private boys’ high school in North Baltimore, and Alex drove north to Dulaney High School.

I and 11 teens were sent off to Room 315 and assumed our game day posture. My first surprise was that the essay came first. I wanted a chance to warm up and get the juices flowing. I thought that the essay would be my best shot for success, given my extensive background in marketing.

I didn’t much love the essay question: “Take a pro or con position on the benefits of compromise and support it.” In retrospect, I shot myself in the foot because I proceeded with my wealth of knowledge of both the pros and cons clearly implanted in my head after years of embracing or rejecting compromise in work and personal situations.

Next, my new best friends and I in Room 315 proceeded to work our way through 3½ hours on various math, composition and critical reading sections.

I recognized pretty quickly that my vocabulary is much better today than in 1964. But I’m still a bit of a slow reader, and just like in high school I had to rush through the last few critical reading questions.

I knew that that the advanced math questions would pose a problem for me. But I’m still good with basic math, and I hoped I would not be embarrassed.

My exam roommates weren’t too chatty with me during our breaks, but when we were finished one of the boys walked out with me. He was very nice and said he thought it was a “way cool” thing to do.

So, the October SAT inquisition was over. Alex, Ann (my wife and Alex’s mom) and I drove to Charlottesville to watch U.Va. humble the University of Maryland on the gridiron that night. We chatted about the test and compared many of our answers.

Over the next three weeks, we lived in an increasingly enhanced state of anticipation until the results were finally available online. As it turned out, there were victories and surprises all around. Alex increased her critical reading and writing scores to make her competitive at her top-rated schools. And Dad didn’t do too shabbily either. Math, 570; writing, 650; and critical reading, 750.

Alex did smash me in math, but we expected that. I beat her in writing, but she actually scored one point higher than I in the essay. I guess I wasn’t supposed to take both sides of the argument in that compromise question. My 750 on the critical reading was a very pleasant surprise. To think that I would finally achieve my October 1964 goal 44 years later is a real hoot to me.

So Alex and I played the “challenge” to a draw: two for me (critical reading and writing) and two for her (math and essay). I hope the competition did motivate her a little; I know it was fun for both of us and drew us closer together. However, Saturdays are now reserved for cutting the lawn, golf, swimming at the beach and sometimes even sleeping in.

Ann, Alex and Rich in front of UMD’s Comcast Center on move in day.

Comments

• Gay on July 21, 2010

  You are one cool dad! What a great way to bond with and support your daughter!

HIGHLIGHTS