I remember…

a long time ago, receiving a letter saying thanks for applying but your GPA and ACT scores aren’t quite what they need to be to get into BYU. (Ok, those weren’t the exact words but that was their meaning. My GPA wasn’t terrible, but it was far from what it needed to be to get into BYU.)
I remember not so long ago talking to a friend who was applying to graduate school and thinking, “Oh man, I want to do it, but I don’t think I can cut it.” The GRE test scared me because I flopped a few times on the ACT. I thought the courses would be ridiculous hard. And I really didn’t want to write a thesis.
I remember two years ago, almost two and a half, cramming for the GRE for two weeks because I said “what the heck” and signed up for the next available time to take the terrifying test. My brain was fried afterwards and my scores came back lower than I hoped.
I remember two years ago getting an email saying thanks for applying to the BYU MPA Program, but there are other candidates who are a better fit for our program. (aka your GRE scores and GPA aren’t quite what they need to be to be considered for even the waiting list.)
Well, look who showed them all…and myself.



I remember not quite two years ago sitting at work and getting a call from Catherine Cooper telling me that a place in the BYU MPA program just opened up, she had been thinking about me all night long and felt like she should offer it to me. “By the way, it starts tomorrow.”
I remember my stomach doing flip flops, praying really hard for an hour, going in and telling my boss that I wasn’t coming back the next day, packing up my desk, and never looking back…Because I had been a given a huge tender mercy and the chance to fulfill a dream.
I remember yesterday lining up with my classmates, walking across the stage, hearing my name read, and Dr. Hart telling me, “You did it.” And realizing I really did do it.