For the first time in my life, I don’t have another year of school to look forward to.
This past weekend, I graduated for the last time, after spending my last six years at Whitworth, first as an undergrad, then as a graduate student. It feels incredibly surreal to be able to say that I’m actually finished, and I drove off of campus after the ceremony with a lot of mixed emotions. The years that I spent there have been nothing short of incredible. It was at Whitworth that I met some of my best friends, and had many of my most memorable life experiences.
On one hand, moving on from that will be difficult. As someone who thrives on being around people and having a busy schedule, the hole that school leaves will be a hard one to fill, especially in ways that are actually productive. When I was a freshman, people would always tell me that the next few years would fly by faster than I was ready for, and I would have a hard time believing it. Now that I’m on the other end, I understand the warning all too well. I’m going to miss that school that was my home for so long, and in that vein moving on is going to be one of the hardest transitions I’ve had to make.
One the other hand, moving on means moving forward to the next stage in my life – one that I have been excited for ever since I heard about the World Race five years ago. In fact, I don’t think there has ever been an event in my life that I have looked forward to with this much anticipation, for this long of a time. It seems almost ridiculous to call moving out of school a big transition when I have this coming up in just seven short months. It is in this line of thinking that I say moving on feels wonderful, because I know that as memorable as these last few years have been, God has even better things in store for the next two years and afterward.
I still have so much to get ready before I launch in January, so here’s a quick update of where I’m at. First of all, I changed routes. The countries I will be going to are different, but the time I leave and the amount I need to raise all stay the same. I will now be going to Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, India, Nepal, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Romania, and Ukraine.
On the topic of fundraising, I am incredibly blessed to say that, with the support that I have raised and the monthly pledges that people have promised, I now have $12,000, which is two-thirds of the total support that I need. This has happened in just three months! I have $6,000 left to raise, which is still a lot, but it seems far less daunting than the initial $18,000 did at the beginning of this journey. God has moved in big ways, and I am learning over and over that I need to trust Him to get me the rest of the way. If you feel led, I would love for you to help me reach this goal. The sooner I hit my total, the sooner the stress of fundraising goes away.
Thank you to all of you that have already given, and all of you that have been praying for me for the last few months. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate your support.
