After I graduated, I wasn't sure what I was going to do or where I was going to go. I thought I might volunteer at the Bible College and go back to doing what I did before. I was a preschool teacher in Palm Springs, so how hard would it be to find a job out in Murrieta. So I put together a resume and went job hunting. The first place I went to was a preschool down the street and got interviewed on the spot. It went well and it looked like a great place to work. They told me that they would call me in a few days if they wanted to give me a second interview. That day when I went back to campus I stopped into the coffee shop there on campus. As it turned out, they were looking for someone to hire and I got offered a full time job. Not only would this be a paying job (most of the jobs at the Bible College are volunteer only) but I would be able to have housing on campus. I was facing a dilemma. So after much prayer, I decided to take the job at the Conference Center working at the Overflowing Cup coffee shop.
I was there at the OC (Overflowing Cup) for about 3 years. During that time, a lot of great things happened. My job was to assign students to work in the coffee shop and work it around their school schedule. It was a stressful job, but I really like it because I was daily surrounded by my Christan family. During this time I became personal trainer and and started a little side business. I din;t make much, butI enjoyed helping people be the best they could be.
In the of 2008, February to be exact, the dreaded budget cuts came my way. I was like I got hit in the gut! My whole life was going to change. Not being full time meant that I was going to loose my medical benefits. That was something that I really needed. So I went down to part time and set off to look for a second job. That weekend I went to Starbucks to inquire about a position. I got an interview and a job offer on the spot! They following week I started as a Barista at Starbucks in Murrieta. Juggling two jobs was difficult and what was more difficult was getting up for a 4am shift!
It was around this time that I began to think about where my life was going. I mean, I didn't want to make a career out of Starbucks. Who does that? Well, someone might, but I knew that it wasn't for me. So I really only planned to be at Starbucks for about a year tops. As I was thinking and praying about it I knew that I enjoyed helping others and I was also fascinated by the human body. How it works and how we are all so amazingly designed.
Around August of that year I was sitting around one day and the word "Physical Therapy" popped into my head. I don't recall what cause me to think about it, but it just stuck. So I googled it and found a couple of schools that offered the program. To become a Physical Therapist required about 4+ years of schooling, on top of prerequisites. Now, I'm not of the old, but I'm not young either. I was looking at the job description of a PT (Physical Therapist) and found out that there were also PTA's (Physical Therapist Assistants) that work along side them. There were two schools nearby that offered a PTA program. One was a Mesa Commnity College in San Diego, and the other was at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda. As I sat and thought about the schools, even before I looked at the tuition I thought, "If I was in an interview and I was up against someone for the same position, who would they pick? Someone who graduated from a a Community College, or someone who graduated from a Medical University? I chose Loma Linda University. So I looked into their PTA program and into their prerequisites. It looked like I really only needed a few extra courses to fulfill what they required. So I signed up to take Anatomy 101 and Human Development Psychology in January of 2009.
In December in 2008, more budget cuts came my way and I lost my job at the Conference Center. Now what was I going to do?? I could stay living on the campus if I volunteer at the coffee shop 20 hours a week, but I had just signed up to go back to school. How was I going to work at Starbucks, volunteer 20 hours at the coffee shop AND go to school. I didn't see a way that was possible. So I prayed about it and on January 1st 2009, I left the Bible College after 5 wonderful years and moved in with a friend.
The entire year of 2009 was a horrible year that stretched me more then I thought I could handle. I started school in January, got some financial aide, but come April I couldn't afford living with my friend anymore. So I looked on Craigslist for a room to rent (don't do this by the way) and moved out. I lived in a room off the garage in someone's house in Menifee for the next couple of months while I was going to school and by God's grace I was able to pass all my classes. Signed up for summer school, I took College Algebra (don't take a math class over the summer) and just kept on struggling. I was in a bad place then. As I look back, the only word that I can use to describe it would be a spiritual desert. I had felt forsaken, even though deep down I knew that God would never leave me nor forsake me. But the Enemy loves to prowl on the vulnerable.
In September of that year I moved in with a very dear friend of mine who was also one of my roommates in Bible College. I had three last classes to take, Anatomy 102 , English 101 and Physics. Anatomy and English were great, especially since my English class was a hybrid class and the majority of it was online. I just had to go to actual class once a week. But then there was Physics! Oh I hated that class with a deep passion. Why did I have to take Physics? I did not see the point AT ALL. And the teacher....you needed a background in Physics just to understand the man!! But I was bound and determined to pass that class. I was starting Loma Linda the following June. (Keep in mind that I had not even sent in my application yet, but that story will be coming up next.) I did everything I could think of to make that class make sense. I was on my knee daily, Googled everything about everything that had to do with Physics, I even bout "Physics for Dummies." Nothing helped, because in the end I got an F...AN EFF!! That's like saying I didn't put forth any effort at all. Oh way I mad!! What was I going to do??? This totally threw a wrench in my plans. But this would not deter me.
That same month Loma Linda was hosing an open house. One of the reasons
I had not applied yet was because the application fee was $60 that I
did not have. If you had gone to the open house, the application fee
would be waived. So I went. I received lots of information about the program and was getting really excited. As soon as I got home, I filled out the application online and sent it in. I did not hear a word regarding the application till mid May.
Time was coming down to the wire. I searched high and low for any school that offered a Physics class. I stumbled upon Riverside Community College that had offered the exact class I needed, but it went from February of 2010 to late May. During this time I had been in constant contact with the director of the program at Loma Linda and she told me that I should be fine as long as I kept them informed of my progress. During this time, even though I had not even applied to the school as of yet, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was going to that school. So I took the money that I had gotten from my tax return and moved myself and my mother up to Redlands.
But the story doesn't end here..stay tuned!
Isaiah 55:8-9 "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher
than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
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