Tom is extremely lucky to have been born into a family that loves education. I’m not sure I would have fared any better if I had come to Earth in Tom’s era or my own, but I know that CFIDS would still be my nemesis. It probably would have hit at the same time in life, but that would have been WAY in my future.
Still, I’m grateful for my parents who believed in education, though my mother only went to the 9th grade, and my dad may or may not have graduated from high school. I will have to try to find out if the records go back that far. He has no birth certificate, so we only have other records to verify it. Same with my mother.
My mother had only a high school education. She took a lot of professional training over the years ... real estate, income tax, investment planning ... but never got a degree.
Dad was valedictorian of his high school class ... of 7 students, in a tiny rural school. He got all his real education after he joined the Navy.