One month till the end of an era

One month to the end of the last four years of my life: college. I posted the following on my Facebook page early this morning (12am) and I wanted to share it here:

When I was born, doctors did not know if I was going to make it at my small but mighty size of 1 lb. 7 oz. But God had other plans for my life. One month from today, I will be graduating from Trinity with a degree in Communication and an emphasis in ministry. I know that is going to bless me in the coming years and hopefully I will get to work with people with disabilities. Although I am mostly scared of the next chapter, I am starting to get a bit excited for the things I know God already has planned! ‪#‎SeniorYear‬ ‪#‎micropreemie‬‪ #‎Jeremiah29‬:11

As I continue to reflect on the past four years, I remember the scared young girl that came to college oh so long ago. I actually was going to quit college half way through my Freshman year. But there were many things that fell in place so that I convinced myself that college was still a good idea. 

I have grown so much in the past four years. I have made so many wonderful friends. I met my best friends in the fall and I love them to death. Brooke, Sarah, Victoria, Wendy, Cheyenne, and Hannah, y'all are the BEST. It has been an absolute honor to call y'all my friends and sisters in Christ. Thank you for being the answer to my prayers after all these years. Thanks also for letting me crash on your couch countless times this year, it is super comfortable :-) But seriously, y'all bring so much joy to my life and it has been amazing getting to know each one of you! 

I have lived with different people every single semester of college except for this year. Emylee, Hannah and Sarah have been SO much fun to live with. They are patient with me and listen to me talk about my fears related to graduation. They let me borrow their clothes and they taught me how to apply make up in like 5 minutes. I had been trying for years to learn and they made it super easy. Each of them is so giving, beautiful and kind. They make me laugh and they make me cry but only for the fact that I don't want to leave them in a few weeks. They have made my senior year of college beautiful. God knew what he was doing when he placed each of these beautiful girls in my life. Each of them is wise beyond their years and we have had many great times together. They accept me for who I am and pray for me which I am deeply thankful for. I will miss these three SO much but I am so excited to see where God takes each of them in their last two years of Trinity and then beyond!

I have learned so much in my classes about God and other subjects like graphic design. I think the subject that I have grown the most in is graphic design. I used to not call myself an artist until I took a design class last fall. I started to see that I did have a very creative side to me. It has been fun to see that come out. I owe a lot of my success to my professors, Julia and Brandon! Thank you both for pushing me and for believing in me. Thank you for telling me that you are proud of me and that you know that I can do it. You saw the potential in me that at one point I could not see myself. I have blossomed into a beautiful artist and I am excited to see where God takes me in regards to my artistic talents! 

As if awesome people like Brandon and Julia were not enough; I have one of the best professors on the Earth that has taught me all of my communication courses in the last four years. Her name is Dr. Lindholm. Y'all, this woman is the real deal. She is genuine, caring and compassionate. I could go on and on for hours about how she has blessed and impacted my life. She is always there for me when I need something and our conversations are the best. She is super patient with me and answers all of my questions even if they are dumb. She brings so much joy to my life. I know that I am going to be able to come back and visit next year, but it is going to be different to not be able to go to her office to chat or see her around campus. I have also learned a lot about communication from this amazing woman. She is truly passionate about communication and it comes across as she is teaching. It has been a joy to learn and grow under someone who loves God so much and has so much life experience. I am excited to see where God takes our friendship in the coming years. 

College has been filled with the good, the bad and the ugly. But I have learned and grown so much and for that I will forever be thankful. There were two things that people told me when I started college: The first being that college will be the best and fastest four years of your life. The second being that you will make lasting friendships. I am here to tell you today that both are absolutely true. 

I walked into college a scared, quiet young girl. I will walk out of college in a few weeks as a confident, beautiful (still) young woman.

Photo by Jake Preedin Photography