As I think about this, I can't help but know there is a specific reason why I am supposed to be a Spanish and French major at Western from 2008-2012.
1. I should have entered college in 2009.
2. I NEVER planned on that college being Western. Actually, I swore it wouldn't be.
3. I never should have been able to go on to AP Spanish and fall in love with the language the way I did.
First- number 1.
For any of you who don't know- I skipped a grade. I missed the cut off to start school in 1995 by almost 3 months. Lucky for me, my elementary school's primary program consisted of split classes. So, my first and second years of school in a K/1st class. Then my 3rd year I moved into Jackie Hogue's (then Kilgallin's) 2nd/3rd split class. Again, coincidentally, Jackie was my neighbor, went to my church, and knew me and my family really well. She noticed that the 2nd grade work was too easy for me (mostly because I would be done in about 2 minutes then be at her desk bugging her.) So, she started letting me hang out with the 3rd graders and do their work instead. Meanwhile, she fought to make the school district let me take the CTBS test. And they did. When my test results came back, they really had no choice but let me go on to 4th grade.
But going from 2nd to 4th grade could be a huge social issue. Again- lucky for me, nearly ALL of my friends were a year older than me. Meghan Mulvaney (my BFF, Jill) was a year ahead, and Caitlyn Boyd (who I met that summer) was as well. So not only was I prepared academically for the transition, but also for the social. Hence, I graduated in 2008 rather than 2009.
2. Oh, Western. Around April of my senior year, I was still super bitter about going to Western. I didn't want to go to Western. I wanted to go to Berry. This is a dorm at Berry College:
Why would anyone not want to live in a castle for 4 years? I went down there three times. Once with my mom and aunt, once with mom and dad just for a visit, and once for the defining day in the rest of my future: The Presidential Scholarship Competition.
See... there's this thing at Berry... they call it tuition. It's sort of upwards of $30,000 a year. I knew that the only way Berry could become a reality is if I were to win the Presidential Scholarship: full tuition. So, in February, I competed. In late March, early April, I found out that I wasn't one of the 5 to get the scholarship. I got the next one down. Not enough. So, I traded in my navy blue and silver for red, black, and white. I was a Hilltopper. Whether I wanted to be or not.
Disclaimer: By the end of the summer, if someone had walked up to me and said "We will pay you 10 million dollars to go to Berry, pack your stuff and let's go!" I would have said "You can take your crappy money and go back to Georgia 'cause I'm a HILLTOPPER NOW!"
3. Spanish: LOVE OF MY LIFE.
I didn't start spanish until my junior year (because I didn't think I would like it or be good at it) and going through the whole program at WCHS required 5 semesters. I only had 4. The highest level I would be able to get to would be Spanish III, and I would only be able to do that if I quit band- something I didn't want to do (at that point in the game, at least).
Yes, I was in band in high school. I was actually field commander my Junior year. Turns out I ended up hating every minute of my life when I was stuck inside that room, and decided to quit at the end of the year. Hallelujah, praise Jesus! That's the best decision I ever made.
So, now I have 2 extra blocks to take other classes my senior year. So I'm thinking to myself, ok- I'll take Spanish III and just get as much spanish in as possible. Then, my mom suggests that I talk to my teacher and see if there is any way I can skip Spanish II, and go on to III.
Wow. Talk about timing being everything. It just so happened that they were changing the cirriculum around so that they were going to teach everything in II that you normally learned in III. And since it was in the middle of the transition, the kids who were going to be in III that following semester were at about the same level of Spanish I was.
So, I went on to take (and dominate, if I do say so myself) AP Spanish, and now I am a Spanish major.
So, as you can see, TONS of things had to change to get me to be a Spanish major at Western in 2008. I can't help but think that God, in His infinite wisdom and power, has some reason that I am supposed to be here this year; today; right now. I feel like there is something I'm supposed to do here that could only happen this year. Maybe there is someone that is going to have a huge impact on my life that I could have only met in 2008. I don't know.
Basically, when I say "Luckily", "Fortunately", or "Coincidentally", what I mean is "Then God decided that...." Nothing was by luck, fortune, or coincidence. It is all in the His will that surpasses anything I could ever dream of or ever hope to know.
But what I do know is that for some reason, while it still may be unknown to me, God really wants me here this year.
0 comments:
Post a Comment