One week ago today on January 23 I received a plain brown envelope that changed my life. It might seem a little over dramatic to say that but it is true. The letter had a stamp from the Old Boy's School, Oxford. As I walked back to my room with my cousin from dinner I remember saying, "I feel like I'm walking to my execution." For the last few years I had worked for this and for the last fifteen years I had dreamed about this moment. I could barely believe it was actually here. Finally, I got back to my room and my wonderful roommate was standing in the doorway. She was jumping up and down she was so excited for me. I took the letter and just stared at it for a few seconds, I don't think I was breathing. I opened up a corner, feeling rather like Grandpa Joe from the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as he slowly opens the candy bar to see if there is a Golden Ticket inside. I saw the word "impressed" and Lydia was saying, "Hurry up, hurry up!" I ripped the top of the envelope the rest of the way and the words "delighted to inform you" greeted my eyes and I screamed like a little girl at a teen rock concert.
Its been an entire week, a week of getting to stare at this letter, to see it in the morning when I get up and to try to let it sink in. Oxford is more than just a school for me, its more than a line on a resume, and the journey to get there began back in July. Well at least the first hint that I might make it started there. The semester before was a series of working for applications and going through excruciating interviews where I felt like a little girl playacting. In February I applied to the Rhodes and the Marshall scholarships, at that time they committee felt there were other candidates who would be the better choice than I. Mid-April I interviewed for the Manhattan district Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and that was a disappointment as well.
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Standing with friends the day of the
interview with Rotary Club. |
Finally, that summer I found out that my home district Rotary Scholarship didn't have its competition until July. So in an attempt to have one more shot I sent my application through the Dodge City Rotary club and through them to Wichita. In early July I went to Wichita and interviewed for the scholarship on Saturday. Sunday was a bridal shower for my sister in Lincoln, NE and after that was finished we were going to a garden to take more pictures. On the way there I saw that I had missed a call from a Wichita number. I stared at it, and almost hit my soon-to-be brother-in-law's car, thankfully I hit the breaks soon enough. That day I found out that I had received the scholarship and suddenly there was a chance, a slim chance for Oxford to happen. The next step was for Rotary International to decide to send me to my first choice school. In September, I received an email that Rotary had decided that they had assigned me to Oxford University and I set down to seriously work on the application. I needed a research proposal, writing samples, a CV, recommendation letters and a transcript. I spent hours going through the Oxford website, looking for the programme I most wanted and would offer the best opportunity. Finally, I submitted my application for the Master of Studies in Modern European and British History.
I look forward to sharing my experiences and the wonder of this opportunity. Elizabeth Tudor was rumored to have said, "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes." Although it was probably recorded by a flattering Protestant biographer, it does seem highly appropriate, both then and now. I still have to sit down and remind myself, this is real. My dream has become a reality.
Thank you so much to all of you who have helped me and who have invested in this endeavor.
This summer has been amazing and intense. I've learned to drive long distance with a vehicle full of high school kids. I was one of three drivers who drove my sister and brother along with their youth group out to Tennessee for a Bible camp, and then went on out to Charleston where the other two drivers and I visited Fort Sumter, Old Town Charleston, and Magnolia Plantations. The walls of Fort Sumter are, in some parts, the original walls from the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of mortars tore the top three layers off of the walls down to where it is today. I could close my eyes and hear the echos of those mortars pounding relentlessly against the walls. It was an amazing experience, I stood at the edge of the fort and looked out across the bay and into the Atlantic Ocean. Oh it gave me thrills.
Magnolia Plantations has sixty acres of the most beautiful gardens. There are Oriental bridges across ponds, the Ashley River is the boundary on one side. It was here that General Cornwallis landed during the Revolutionary War and was able to take Charleston. There were trees that seemed to go up forever, beautiful flowers and paths that would meander past the most beautiful sights, it felt like I was in another world. However, then I was suddenly brought back to reality when we saw an alligator in the water. The water came up to the path, I could take a step and be in the water. About twenty feet away a 4-5 foot alligator was floating. The other two ladies and I looked at each other and gave a nervous laugh. So we walked a little quicker, hoping to find the end of the path a little sooner. Then we found a part of the garden where there was bamboo plants growing so thickly that it was almost dark at times. We were a little worried about the spiders, the beauty of the gardens was quickly growing old. We saw one more alligator and then a snake and we were extremely glad to leave. So the conclusion was that the Gardens are amazing, they are gorgeous but just like a rose, breath-taking beauty comes with a few scary thorns.
