The Last School Season

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Call it weird and bizarre, but if there's a season I enjoy almost as much as (if not more than) Christmas, it's back-to-school. I've always enjoyed the back-to-school season and energy.

The weather is cooler (at least in the morning), some trees start changing colors, the stores are extra colorful with new notebooks and folders, even the energy in the air feels like something is changing.

Some of my favorite memories with my dad are when he took my sister and I to Walmart to pick out our notebooks, pencils, folders, erasers, and then coming back home to put my name on everything and organize it nicely in my backpack.

My grandma used to take my sister and I to get new first day of school outfits, and for a while my mom took a picture of us in front of our house on the first day of school. I always loved the smell of a fresh school hallway, and the excitement people had after not seeing some friends since last May.

However, my favorite part about school has always been the anticipation for what I was going to learn that year. I have always loved learning.

Even in college, while the school supply list was shorter, and there were no lockers to decorate, I've always loved the season changing from summer to autumn, the more frequent sightings of yellow school buses (even though I get stuck behind most of them on my way to work now), and the feeling of life getting back to a steady routine.

This fall will be my last first day of school (as a student), and I'm honestly a little nostalgic about it. If I were to hold up one of those letter boards, it would read "first day of 18th grade" haha. Definitely not as cute as "first grade" or "kindergarten" but if all goes according to plan, next May I will graduate with a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing.

It's less than a year away, and I still have my entire thesis to write, but I cannot explain how excited I am (for both the thesis and this school year).

This last school year will be 95% devoted to researching, planning, outlining and defending my thesis. I feel so privileged that it's on a topic I am very passionate about, and I'm so looking forward to finally writing what I have felt God prepare me to write over the last two years.

I was not originally planning on going to graduate school, but when this opportunity was brought to me after very casually praying about it, I could not believe God answered that prayer so quickly. As I plan for my last first day (and school year) that starts in a week, I have been dreaming and praying about the opportunities that this new degree could give me.

It reminds me of Ephesians 3:20-21, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

God has blessed me abundantly with this opportunity to pursue this degree, and I know He can do the same once I finish it.

For a sneak peek into my thesis, check out Pretty Girls Don't Eat Pizza under my creative writing tab :)