Flinn Scholars and Flinn Foundation staff have known that the moment would come eventually. And last night, we learned that it was drawing closer.

At the fifth of our six information sessions around the state for future applicants for the Flinn Scholarship, I was explaining the application process as I normally do--applications available in August, due in October, with semifinalist interviews in January and finalist interviews in March... And then a hand went up in the back of the room.

"That's a little different than it used to be, isn't it? I was in the first class of Flinn Scholars."

The other attendees at the session burst into applause for the speaker, who revealed herself afterwards as Rebecca Bruner, attending the session with her daughter, a would-be applicant for the 2011 Scholarship.

Rebecca was known to the Scholars Program in 1986 as Becky Kelly when she graduated from McClintock High School and took a leap of faith, accepting an unproven scholarship offered by a foundation that, truth be told, wasn't familiar to many Arizonans.

Twenty-five years later, the community of Flinn Scholars is nearing the 500 mark. Exactly when we will have a second-generation Flinn Scholar is anyone's guess, given the rigor and impartiality of the application process. But the day is approaching.