The College Search Has Ended!

So I've been waiting almost 12 months to type this post. When I told Mr. Mercado (my English teacher that it had been a year in the making, he looked at me and said, "No, Kelsey, hasn't it been 12 YEARS in the making?" Guess he's right (except that it's really 13), but it's hard to even imagine being back in kindergarten...

But this is it! I'm blogging about where I'm heading next year. It's kinda a funny story.

Camille helped me set up my first college journey picture. Truly, I was overwhelmed and could never have guessed where I would end up. I really thought God would make it crystal clear, but boy, was I wrong!

So all the acceptances came. Abilene Christian, University of South Carolina, Wake Forest, and NC State. Denials came too. That was no fun, but I'll get over it.

This left me with 4 choices. Texas, South Carolina, or North Carolina. Medium-sized Christian school, liberal arts school, or technical school. Far or near from home. In serious debt or not. In small towns or big towns. There was so much to consider!

Come End of March, this is how I felt:

I had NO CLUE! (Well, okay, I had a hunch, but I dismissed it for a while.)

This is how I elimated down to make my pick:

Abilene: I was given a 16K/yr scholarship which brought it down to about a Chapel Hill cost but travel is absurdly expensive. And I wasn't sure I could be that far from home, in a town with absolutely nothing, at a very traditional, conservative Christian school. And my lifegroup leader assured me that I'd be much more fit a non-Christian school.

University of South Carolina: So if I had stuck to my initial plan of going to the least expensive school, I'd be going here. They offered me in-state tuition + 4K/yr. This school had potential to be the perfect college for me. But, for being so similar to NC State, but not in Raleigh, I decided to mark it out.

Wake Forest: They pulled me along until last Friday, promising scholarship was on the way. I wasn't expecting much but I needed to know before I could commit elsewhere. Let me just say this: $5,000/yr to a school that costs $60,000/yr isn't really scholarship. That definitely closed another door.

So what does that leave us?

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

WOLFPACK

RALEIGH, NC

GOING BACK HOME!!!!!!!!!

It made me sad that Camille wasn't hear to take the last two pictures for me. But...who needs her to take one pic when now I can see her WHENEVER I WANT! Camille, you better be giving me a key to your new house!

How'd I get here?

From the moment I knew what being a fan was, I wore the NC State cheerleading outfits and smiled when I heard about a State victory simply because my parents did. Then Camille went to Chapel Hill and everything changed. My UNC apparel officially outnumbered my State clothes, and I could've sworn I'd join Camille there. Then she transferred, and I convinced myself that I could never go to a school that sent my sister packing, and thus I didn't even apply. So now what? Ummm... I guess I just threw my eggs in several baskets and hoped for the best. I kept waiting for God to shine the light right on the school. Or drop a carton from the sky with a special message that says "Go Here!"

This whole process has taught me that He doesn't always step in to tell you the way, even when you beg and plead for Him to make it clear. Even now that I've decided, I still feel like it is a Kelsey decision, not a God thing. And I never would have thought this would be the case. I thought I was listening, but I never heard anything. He closed doors (some softly, but some quite harshly) and opened others, he molded my heart, and changed my opinions so that I could make the decision. Most importantly, He allowed me to move to Charlotte just long enough to make me miss Raleigh and long to be back. In His very subtle way, he guided this whole process. Yes, very subtle way.

So I've come full circle. Right back to where I began. An NC State fan. Everyday I say to myself, "All that led to this?" It was a LOT of work just to end up right back where you were in the first place.

And to be honest with myself, even now, I have struggled with my decision. When I told people that I was considering NC State, I got the same response EVERY TIME. "Really, NC State? You're so much better than that?" And I'm ashamed to admit that I kind of thought it was true, too. I know peers who have 2/3 my GPA and slack off on every assignment that are going there. But then the rejections started coming in from my reach schools (that my counselor insisted weren't really reaches) and I didn't advance to the 3rd round of the Park Scholarship; thus, I started losing my pride. By this point, I was so fed up that I just wanted to know where I'd be going.

And when I sat down to think, "Kelsey, where do you want to be?" my answer was simple: Raleigh. You'd think that would be enough, and the whole thing would be said and done. But I wasn't convinced. I guess I had aimed so high and didn't really want to make it official that I had fallen short of my goals.

Then Daddy took me to NC State to make me "Fall in Love." And I must applaud him; he did that very well. We toured campus for over 5 hours... there's a lot to see. Then we toured University Towers (the dorms I will be staying in) and I was sold! I wouldn't just be willing to live here; I want to live here. Knowing that all odds were lining up for State to be my home, I started thinking about all the reasons to be back in Raleigh.

I can go to Nana and Papa's on Wednesdays for home-cooked meals.
Camille and Quint can tolerate my company for dinners, movie nights, and some sister shopping dates.
Uncle Bob will drive me around in his golf cart. Who knows? Maybe he can even teach me a few tricks of the trade.
I can run over to the Shermans whenever I need a little bit of exercise: Just Dance 4 is always calling my name.
I can invite Blaire and Micah to go to State games with me. I can hear Anthony preach on Sundays and continue to be inspired by the wonderful Mary Ann.
I can finally babysit for Mrs. Young- a long overdue promise!
I can join the college group and attend services at Hope Community Church!
I can shadow Jen Francis and learn more about the medical field.

And after dreaming of all the people I could stay in touch with, I could never convince myself otherwise. I needed to be home!

Then I saw that Hannah O'Conner had committed to NC State. Note that this was the EXACT day I prayed to God saying "If it really is NC State, find a way to make me excited about it." I facebooked asking her where she will be dorming. Just my luck she is staying in UT and does not have a roommate. I continue to pray that God will arrange things for the best, and I have to trust that He will place us together if He sees fit. I know without a doubt that I would love to room with her. When we went to the beach together for a week one summer, I remember getting home telling myself that was the funnest time with a friend I'd ever had. We never had a dull moment and got along great. If Hannah can handle me, I'd be honored to be her roommate! We haven't really talked in our 3 years apart, giving us lots to catch up on. Great things await, I'm sure of it!

Raleigh, here I come!!!
K