Where do I even begin? I can't start with "I finished my bachelors," because I technically finished in December.
And I can't say, "I walked for graduation," because that was cancelled due to Covid. But I guess I can say I have
the pictures to prove I have my bachelors degree!
There was no fanfare, no switching the tassel to the left side, no singing the Scottsman, and no walk
across the stage with my name being called and being handed my diploma cover. But I did it!
There have been so many miracles that have led me to where I am. When I applied for college back in high school
I applied as a nursing major and that quickly changed when I took anatomy.
Interesting, but not good on my eyes. haha.
I then thought about an elementary school teacher because that was something I had always had an interest in
but I still wasn't 100% on board with that career decision. I was talking about career choices with a friend and
she suggested special education to me. I immediately turned down the idea because it never even crossed my
mind because it was something I never had any interest in.
Somehow this friend and I ended up taking an institute class (religion class for young adults during the week)
with adults with special needs. From day one I loved it and soon after that I found myself switching majors to
special education. A few weeks after I changed me major, I got a powerful understanding from God that I
made the right choice.
For the rest of my freshman year and my sophomore year of college, I took all the prerequisites I needed before
leaving on my mission. When I came back from my mission the special education department added one
additional math class that I needed to take before I could apply to the program. Since I had not taken a math class
in over a year I needed to take an additional math class before the one I actually needed.
This is where my college journey got really complicated
but also where the miracles started to come one after another.
For some reason I can't fully remember, I was not able to take the Math 1050 at Utah State, but I really needed
that ONE class! Andrew and I were married and I moved down to Provo. Thankfully I had applied to BYU earlier
that year and was able to take the equivalent math class there for the summer semester (which turns out is a lot
harder than the USU one).
I'm going to be honest, I did not do too well in that class. But apparently many people were in the same boat as I was.
Our professor said that if 20 things could go wrong in a semester, all 20 things went wrong that semester. If I
did not pass the math class it would have added another year to my major because the special education
department only accepted applications at the beginning of fall semester.
By some miracle, I got the EXACT grade I needed to apply for my major!
Andrew and I were going to move up to Logan for me to finish school, but that didn't pan out the way we had planned.
We looked at BYU and UVU (local universities in the Provo area) for my special education degree. BYU had
my graduation date a year later and had a lot more hoops to jump through and UVU did not have my emphasis.
Those options were out.
At the last minute, Andrew found that Utah State had a distance campus in the Provo area. At the time they only
offered classes for the special education degree every 2 years and 2016 was one of the years!
How in the world does this happen? Another miracle!
As I was applying to the special education program I had everything I needed except two things.
#1 My math ACT score was 1 point lower than the requirement. I needed to take that part over again. I was getting
my appointment set up to take the test and Utah State contacted me saying since it was just one point and I
have had such good grades for the past 3 years of school, they would waive it and would accept my original ACT
math score. (Are you keeping track of the miracles?)
#2 I had not taken the Praxis test, but they said if I signed up to take it and passed all 4 sections before student teaching
they would let me in. (Thank you and add that to the miracle list.)
I was accepted into the program and I got a job working at a school in a special education classroom which was
the perfect way to gain experience in my field. After work I went to class twice a week, often from 4:30-10:30.
I took the Praxis and passed the language arts and history sections. Which were the two sections I had actually
studied for. I only needed to pass the math and science sections and then I would be good! The Praxis test stressed
me out and I avoided it for 3 years (not my best idea). It was Summer 2019 and there was no way I could avoid
it anymore because student teaching was in the fall. I literally signed up on the very last dates I could and studied
my brain out with many, many tears.
I went in to take the first test (science) and I look at the first problem, and it was not even close to the types of
questions I had been studying. And I was studying from Praxis handbook! I did the best I could and really, I
just guessed. The next day I took the math section. Same deal. Nothing was even close to the problems I had studied.
I hadn't even seen most of this stuff in college and this was an elementary education test! Some of the problems I
couldn't even guess on because it was fill in the blank and I just left it blank.
Once again, miracles happened. I passed BOTH the science and the math sections with at least 10 points above
the score I needed! Even though it was my procrastination and stress that led to a last minute attempt, miracles still came.
I finished my student teaching in December and I was able to get a full time job in the middle of the school year!
Mountains seemed to have literally been moved me during my college experience.
I know God guided me to my career and I know that He helped me every single step of the way!
Special education has a special place in my heart.
It's been amazing to see how God has led me to where I need to be.
And last little miracle. Andrew and I went up to Logan to take pictures on the Utah State campus in my grad gear
at the beginning of August. When I was getting dressed in the morning we realized that we left the cap and tassel at
home (and that's a two hour drive away). Thankfully my mother-in-law had brought a spare graduation cap they
had but nothing could be done about the tassel. I don't know how other universities do it, but Utah State has
different colored tassels depending on your major and there are 9 different colored tassels total!
Andrew said to just go up to campus and make the best of it and we could possibly come back later with the
tassel and take more pictures on a different weekend. This is the amazing part. Graduation pictures are not a
thing because graduation day has already happened for spring semester and it's a little early for summer semester
graduates. There were two girls walking and Andrew saw they had the exact colored tassel I needed. They only had
a hat and tassel, nothing else. We asked if we could borrow the tassel and they said yes! I know how silly that
sounds, but it was something that mattered to me. We were able to get the pictures I needed and they waited for us.
No one was taking graduation pictures, and the one person that was, had the light blue tassel I needed.
Talk about God taking care of even the small things.
And just to brag about my university, it was ranked 29th in the nation in education!
I feel like that's pretty good standing when we're talking about the entire country!
I never thought I would do special education. When I was in high school I signed up for an elementary
school class where I would go to a local elementary school and work for a class period in the classroom.
I somehow got placed in a special education classroom and the teacher told me to never go into special education
because of how much paper work there is. I told her "Not a problem! It's not something I want to do."
But Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself. When I was young my favorite song in
church was, "I'll Walk with You." I would pick that song anytime I was chosen on to choose the song
to sing. Here are the lyrics for those who might not be familiar with the song.
"If you don’t walk as most people do,
Some people walk away from you,
But I won’t! I won’t!
If you don’t talk as most people do,
Some people talk and laugh at you,
But I won’t! I won’t!
I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.
That’s how I’ll show my love for you.
Jesus walked away from none.
He gave his love to ev’ryone.
So I will! I will!
Jesus blessed all he could see,
Then turned and said, “Come, follow me.”
And I will! I will!
I will! I will!
I’ll walk with you. I’ll talk with you.
That’s how I’ll show my love for you."
I guess it has always been in the plan for my life. I just didn't realize it.
