Learning to Fly

And just like that, college was over.

It's crazy to think about how much has happened in the past four years of my life...honestly, I can't comprehend it all so I'll keep it to a list of top 5 HUGE changes that have occurred since I packed up my bags and moved across the state that long-ago-feeling August...

1) Moved away from home and attended school with other people for the first time -  bit of a culture shock for the formerly home-schooled, shy youngest child, but it was necessary for this little bird to jump out of the nest and discover her wings and learn to fly. I still crash into trees and get lost in clouds sometimes, but one day I will climb high enough to clearly see the sun as I soar and it will be glorious.

2) Changed my mind a couple of times about my major, ending up as a Piano Performance Major and preparing both a junior and senior piano recitals...plus a vocal recital just for the heck of it! While my spontaneous decisions forever cause me stress and internal questioning of "what did you get yourself into...", it was all worth it and I'd do it over again in a heartbeat. My senior piano recital was a culmination of all that I've worked so hard to achieve in music over the past four years, and I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be able to play, much less perform, the repertoire that I spent hours upon hours trying to learn and perfect. It was a wonderful experience.

3) Slowly discovered more and more of who I really am, opening up to some people and drifting away from others. It's strange to think of how some people were necessary for growth at one point in my life, but later they might not understand who I am today. It doesn't change the fact that they were an influential part of my own formation, and that will always matter. The support I have received from my friends and family has been incredible, and I would never have gotten where I am today without any one of them.

4) Met, dated, and became engaged to my best friend - someone I met day one of freshman orientation and never imagined I would come to know so well. I could not have believed how blessed my life would become by meeting this amazing young man and learning how to love another with a self-giving, empathetic, and supportive relationship that forever reminds me of how truly incredible God's love is and how perfect His plan is. I am beyond excited and thrilled to be planning my wedding for next summer, and while the year of waiting will be hard, I smile because at the end of this journey I will get to spend my life with someone whose smile lights up my world and will enjoy this crazy adventure called life with passion, sorrow, wonderment, and joy.

5) Speaking of my Heavenly Father....we've had a few ups and downs, but every great relationship has those (I believe). While I know I'm nowhere near being done with my growing faith relationship, there have been many revelations and insights that have been developing over my college years and somehow I feel closer to the Father, even when I'm not consistently spending quality time with him. Because every moment I live is with Him, and even though I may forget that sometimes, He never does. He is ever forgiving, and ever willing to let me try over and over and over again. It's my job to never give up trying.

Of course there was SO MUCH more that happened in the last four years, but I think those five categories sum up a brief peek at where I feel that I've most developed...oh, of course the focus was often on assignments, grades, schedules, and wondering how in the world I was ever going to sleep again. But the truly important items of knowledge that I acquired were not learned in a classroom, and I think the most important lesson to take away is that we are forever learning from our surroundings and experiences, and it is a beautiful experience that we are blessed to endure.


"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." ~Laura Ingalls Wilder