So, this is one of those summarize a lot of big stuff posts.
Emma left to CA to serve as a missionary. She is speaking English and serving in a neighboring mission to where I served back in 97. I miss her. She is doing well and has acclimated to things as good as should be expected. Serving is humbling. Learning how to work with others is humbling. I am proud of her.
I have been mulling over if going back to school made sense for a very long time. I finally realized that additional education can only help me. So, with that mindset, I decided to go back to school. In looking at schools I was reminded of how my previous undergraduate experience went. I felt I had to beg for admission to TTU after being rejected from other Texas universities. Much of this was self inflicted from me not taking seriously the ACT and SAT tests. I was accepted on a provisional basis to TTU and when the dust settled, I ended up doing ok overall. I focused on ensuring my undergraduate GPA was over a 3.0 in case I wanted to attend graduate school later. I graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems.
As I reflected back to the admissions process to TTU, I was much more determined in the application process to graduate school. After whittling down the list of universities to those that worked for me, I ended up applying to two universities. The application process was very self-reflective. I was required to solicit two recommendations and I chose my current and former supervisors. I think this is an exercise that should be done by everyone from time to time. The application process asked searching questions and for me I feel I emerged knowing a bit more about myself than when I started. I had to do video interviews as well which put me on my toes. A question was asked, I had 45 seconds to prepare, then I could speak for 1.5 minutes. I had about 6 questions. I believe I did ok. When I finally clicked submit on both applications it wasn't until the next day that I realized there were parts I would have done differently. I feared I screwed up my chances. I applied during round 1 of both universities selection processes so I was hopeful I would have a fighting chance. With both submitted I had a day to get my stuff in order because Samantha planned a trip for us to go to Cancun, Mexico.
Forecasts said it would rain the entire week. I told her it was still worth it. Samantha and I have been so overwhelmed with the kids, their activities, and work that we have both been needing a break from things. She planned months in advance and boy, did this fall at the right time. We went through Delta Vacations. I have been very impressed with how everything was handled and the cost of everything was very reasonable. It was just as expensive to fly to Houston for a couple of days and while visiting family would have been nice, the beach in Mexico was calling our name. Both Samantha and I were just ready to take a week and sleep in a hammock. We enjoyed our time. We went to a resort which really took care of everything. We just had to get to the beach and our meals that were provided most anytime of day by the resort. It only rained two days and both times were passing showers. We read books, slept, swam, and generally recharged. Six days after I submitted my application, I was sitting in bed in Mexico. Our trip was wrapping up. It was early and Samantha was still sleeping. I checked my email and got a notice from one of the universities that I was accepted. I was in shock. Samantha was irritated with me that I didn't wake her but that is how I do things...I just needed to process any potential acceptance/rejection privately and I didn't want to have my hopes dashed by waking her only to find out I was wait listed or didn't get in. As most vacations go, no sooner than we got there we were leaving. Can I just say that traveling internationally with a pandemic is no fun? Getting there was easy but leaving back to the US was so overwhelming. I think Samantha and I had to go through the same line 3 times before we had all the Mexican paperwork in order for us to go through security. I arrived home and a few days later I received the second acceptance letter.
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After looking at each in detail and discussing this with others whom have attended both schools I have made the decision to attend Purdue. I start in January.
I am accepting the fact that my life will be different now that I will be attending school. I hope I can juggle everything.
There is more going on but for now, let's end on this - mission, Mexico, and school. That's the update for today.
More later -
