My HIStory

It all began on a rainy day when everything went wrong.God-stories begin that way a lot, don't they? Journeys to unimaginable spaces (good, bad, and well-just-different) usually begin with disappointments, somehow.

We were signing up for concurrent enrollment classes at CPCC. We waited for a while, only to discover we had left a critical document at home - shortly before registration opened (if my memory serves me, that was actually the second document we had left at home that day...) We had been first in line. Mom rushed home to find it while I let one, then another, then another ahead of us... as spaces in classes disappeared with every passing minute. Finally, everything in hand, we raced to the registration desk..... and found every single class I had planned to take was full. We headed home quite discouraged; I was even crying, as I recall, from the stress and disappointment of it all. But a friend of mine was taking a precalculus class. Halfway home, we decided to turn around - joined the very end of the line - and got into precalc with probably the nicest teacher (excepting Mom and aunt of course :-) ) that I have ever had the pleasure of taking a class from. Little did I know that that day, though... and even less did I know that now, three years later, I would see that mostly-miserable day as a day of beginning, a day of God.

You see, I could do precalculus. I took part two in the next semester, fall of my junior year, I want to say. I began to think and pray and study about what I wanted to study in college. I was leaning towards a bachelor's in English or philosophy or psychology or history or something like that, maybe (maybe!) even chemistry (I liked it, but you know...too much math :-) ), with a master's in library sciences to make the degree at least partially practical. Or perhaps one of those one-year teaching programs. But God sure wasn't finished with me yet!

I had planned to take business math (practical math :-) ) as my fourth high school math course in my senior year, but something in my parents and I thought that would look strange after A's in precalc, so we decided I would take calculus my senior year. Meanwhile, I, wishing to have broad exposure to all the general areas of knowledge I could, had borrowed a physics book from a friend, intending to read it over the summer. Physics is saturated with math. I would have little benefit from the reading, I discovered, without the math... and so I uncharacteristically chose to do math :-). And, by the way, fell in love with physics, if you can call it that ;-). This deep newfound interest opened the possibility of a math/science degree, but I was definitely hesitant. Indecisive. To my chagrin, applications to the university and for scholarships (especially scholarships) more-or-less required a declaration of a major. My dad counselled me to choose engineering, saying it would look good, and I could switch later if I chose. Incidentally- about that class I took at CPCC-? The recommendations from Mrs. Tucker pretty much made our scholarship applications possible. God used her in a way we could have *never* imagined. But back to the story... :-)

I wrote a series of essays about myself (o joy...) and, more importantly, my future in (electrical) engineering. I researched its possibilities. Came up with a plan I could believe in (otherwise I can't write :-) ). I talked to engineer friends and heard, several times, confirmations - one that flabbergasted me: "if you are creative, you should try electrical engineering." (Creative? And Engineering? In the same sentence?????) And slowly all my other options were whittled away, for various and sundry reasons (that is often, perhaps strangely, what you call guidance). And always I prayed (my favorite prayer, second only to "God would you please just write in the sky and end all this!?!?" :-), was "God, guide my thinking" as I evaluated options). At last, I decided engineering deserved a chance (and anyway, I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to study --in college at least :-) ). And so, here I am - where I believe God has placed me, for now - trying again to decide 'do I stay here? where else would I go?'

And God will surely be faithful again :-)