Nearly There

Ok. So, this morning I added my reference letter to my UCAS application. One more step and the application is done! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!! Today, my goal is to get my essay typed up and get it emailed to some people for proof reading. I have gotten rather behind on things lately. With school and stuff, I've hardly had a moment to think about anything. I really want to get this all in though. Going to school in England, and getting to be near my friends and family there, even for a season, has become an intense longing. I miss them all so much, even the ones I haven't met yet! It sounds crazy, I know, but it's true.



I'm feeling insanely optimistic about the future. More optimistic than I have ever felt before. It feels strange to feel like the future is so bright. I never thought I would ever be brave enough to attempt to chase after my dreams this way. God has changed my life in so many ways. I am constantly in awe of his goodness and love. I find it difficult to believe that he loves me so much. Every day I feel a new measure of his love, and every day it surprises me. I feel totally dumbfounded by it. But I am so thankful. I am truly blessed to have God as my father.

Um, Yeah

Hmmm. It's been a while... Sorry! Things have been totally nuts around here...

So I got the rough draft of my admissions essay finished. And that's about all I've had time to do. I haven't looked at it once since then. Between work, Bible school, homework, and keeping in touch with friends, I've barely even seen my family. :o(

I found out yesterday, that the reference letter I need, isn't just a basic reference letter. So two other people have been trying to figure out what it is I need. While looking up more information online for me, Ben discovered that I possibly need to get some kind of US to UK school equivalency letter. If I do need it, that's another hundred bucks out of my wallet. (EEK!) Needless to say, I was feeling a bit down about it all.

But today, the day looks brighter in so many ways. I have faith that God is in this decision, so I know that He'll help with the details.

Flip Flop

The past few days have been kind of rough. My lack of inspiration on my essay, has had me second guessing my decision to go to school. I mean, if I can't even write about why I should be accepted, should I even be going? I can list the reasons, I can list my qualifications, I can list the dreams that fired the decision...But I can't write the essay. Ugh! Please pray for me! I know, despite my recent doubts, that this is something that I'm supposed to do. So I need God's help!

Yesterday, in the hope of spurring myself on, I sent the reference information to my Pastor. He had agreed, when I asked him last week, to write a reference for me. He seemed like the best choice. He's known me for 16 years, he's my pastor, I work in a business owned by the church, which makes him my boss, and he's the head of the School of Eagles Bible School that I am attending part-time. See what I mean by "the best choice?"

So, today, my goal is to finish a rough draft of my essay... Even if it kills me! I can't stand this flip-flopping around in my mind. My decision is made. So now, I am determined to charge ahead like I did in the beginning. I want to get this application process done, so I can move on to the next phase of the journey. What's the next phase? Waiting... Waiting to see if I get accepted to school. Then I begin the process of applying for my visa and for financial aid. Then I'll get to wait some more...

Plugging Along

Well, I'm nearly done with the application process. All I have left, is to write and post my Personal Statement Essay, get my referral, and pay the application fee.

I write all the time. I journal 8-12 pages a day. I blog, obviously. I'm half-way through writing a novel. I have written countless poems and short stories. Can I write an essay about why I want to get into a Zoology course, and why I should be chosen? No. That's a big, fat, NO. I followed all of the UCAS tips, such as, listing interests and qualifications. It didn't help. I read over the one my friend Ben wrote, when he applied through UCAS, did I get inspired? Nope. hmmmm.... Here I am, writing away, and I can't even string together one sentence about why I should be chosen to attend a Zoology course. I can talk about it to everybody, no problem, but the instant I try to write or type about it... Well, let's just say, my mind goes blank. (That's one way to put it anyway.) What to do? If anybody has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. Writer's block is a new experience for me. Typically the problem is trying to stop writing.

Aaahhhhh!!! I don't know what to do!

Forms You Fill Out, In Order To Be Able To Fill Out Forms

So, this morning I started the school application process. In the UK this is quite different than in the US. For starters, you don't apply directly to the schools you want to attend. Instead you fill out one application on UCAS. UCAS is a university data base thingy. They receive all the applications for all the schools. Then you tell them which schools you want to apply to. They then make sure that copies of your information go to each of your potential schools. After that, there is an interview process, and then the schools decided if they want to give you an offer. The system seems great. I mean, you have one application and one application fee. Not like here, where you have to fill out hundreds of applications and pay hundreds of application fees.

Now, in order to be able to apply through UCAS, you have to register into the UCAS system... Well, that particular registration takes between 15 and 20 minutes, according to the website... So, I spent forever this morning, filling out forms online, so that I can fill out more forms online later. Yeah... Just the kind of way I like to spend my morning. Filling out forms, to be able to fill out forms. Not to mention the fact, that several of the questions they asked, didn't translate into American English. So, for many of the questions, I had to push the "help" button and read a full page in order to figure out what information they were asking for. Fun times.

After finally finishing the registration process, I was ready to begin the application. Yay! I managed to complete one whole section, before the words on the computer screen started to blur. After an hours worth of concentrated effort, I had gotten the "Personal Information" section of my application finished... hmmm. Not as much progress as I would have hoped, I mean, after all of that work, they now know my full name and my address... Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get two more sections done! (I've always been a big dreamer.)