Hey all:
So I am not really sure if I have mentioned it at all, but I am currently in a Graduate School Program! Yay me and Higher Education!!
I am only a few short weeks away from graduating, having just received confirmation that I had passed my Comprehensive Exams-- to all of those who read my blog and are in Graduate School Programs etc, CONGRATULATIONS.
With this news comes a series of questions from family, friends, co-workers etc, "What's Next?" Here's the thing, if someone had asked me when I was 16 years old and first hear about AU, if I would be at this end of the journey, I would have had answers full of doubt. My parent's had gotten divorced and with their divorce went whatever money they had saved for college. Along with that having moved across the country and not having a stable job, my mom and I didn't have much to save for in the few short years it took me to enter and complete high school.
When I first heard about AU, I knew it was a school I wanted to go to. There was something in my gut that said, I'll get there one day. Graduating High School finally knowing that I would not be attending AU post my senior year was tough to swallow. I had used finishing school as my escape from the crap I had to deal with. My education was my sanctuary. I still had setbacks, ones that I created, but despite those setbacks- being rebellious etc, I was on a path to continue to learn as much as possible to hopefully NEVER allow those setbacks to really put me in a hole.
So I graduated High School, and while my friends were either getting jobs right out, or going to 4 year institutions I enrolled in Foothill Community College. I paid my way through school. I paid for each of my classes, my textbooks etc. This probably began what set the tone for the next years of my life. I valued MY investment. I couldn't afford to mess up in a class because, well I didn't have the money or the time to make it up. So I didn't take for granted the moments that I needed to study or the time I sacrificed having fun for reading for class. I worked hard, balancing work, paying for school and may apartment and getting the grades I needed to graduate and transfer. Yes, I planned to graduate from my community college, I did not put in 2 years to not get a degree out of the experience.
It took me a little longer to graduate from Foothill then the normal 2 years. It took me about 2.5, why? I got sick , really sick and it set me back a little bit. When I graduated from Foothill, I spent a little time just working and not really sure of what I would do next.
I decided to move. Closer to my family, which meant traveling 3000 miles to the East Coast. I took a year off, taking online classes and beginning to prepare my transition to a 4 year institution. During my search, I kept coming back to AU. So when the time came to apply, only two applications went out. My application to AU and one to Ohio State University.
I got into both, but my acceptance to AU was the only one that I had physically received. The Ohio State information somehow made it to my dad's place in California. Going to AU was a dream come true, and I had made it. What set AU apart was their 5 year program and the opportunity for me to get my Master's as well as my Bachelor's degree.
I was thrilled and excited for this opportunity. Being at AU was not easy, it was tough. I worked, again, all through my time here. Again, I paid for school on my own. It was my responsibility to get the grades I needed because I couldn't afford any other option.
Doubt crept in, would I make it would I be able to continue. There were times where I struggled greatly.
But as I look back on my experiences realizing that I have been given the best gift ever, I look back with a humility and grace that has only been gifted to me by God. Through all the struggles and areas of uncertainty, I prayed to God that I would make it to the end of my dream. I wasn't sure how I was to get there, but I just knew that this is where I wanted to be.
Being so close to the finish line, I realize how BLESSED I have been and I am. God has seen me through my journey even when I didn't realize I needed Him or that He was even listening. I realize that even though I struggled, He was always there. I am so excited for His Faithfulness.
Ephesians 1:11-14 Says that it is in Christ that we find out WHO we are and what we are living for.
We find our purpose after knowing who we are in Christ and we can only get that with having Christ at the center of our lives.
So when people ask me "What's next?" I can only say, I do not know, but whatever it will be, it WILL BE GREAT and it will be FAITH Filled, because I now see no other way to get through the journey without God!
