A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils

Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

Ahhh.... "You've Got Mail". Don't you just love that movie? Don't you just want to be Kathleen Kelly? Don't you want to wear those cute jumpers and be able to pull off that cute short hair? And isn't her apartment just to die for? And the charming bookstore where she and her mother used to twirl. Be still my soul. I just adore that movie.

Ahem. I didn't get on here to talk about one of my all time favorite movies, but I am clearly easily distracted. I logged into blogger to tell about my newest endeavor, which will require some new school supplies, and maybe, just maybe, a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.

Yes, I'm going back to school. I've been out of college for four years now. This is just enough time where I don't convulse when I think about opening a text book, studying for a test, or writing a paper. And while I admit I was not a model student, and studying was not my forte, I am genuinely thrilled to be going back.

At the end of my senior year in college, I started looking into the possibility of seminary. I picked the school I wanted to go to and even started getting letters from those hungry admissions counselors, but I knew in my heart I just couldn't do it. Not that I wasn't capable or didn't want to, but I had paid for my own college and already had a decent stack of student loan debt, and I just really couldn't justify going to seminary. That would mean getting farther in debt, and honestly, I don't know that I could have handled much more of the poor college student stress of trying to come up with money for gas, or anything for that matter. So, I put the idea on the back burner and put on my cap and gown.

Since I graduated from college and joined the grown-up world of working, I have every few months surfed the 'ole world wide web to see if my dream could somehow become a reality. Due to finances, the lack of a seminary I could or would go to near where I lived, and my needing to work while I went to school, it seemed very unrealistic.

But this time, after another dead end internet search, a friend of mine mentioned online seminary. Mind you, I found a fair share of ".com" seminaries - those sketchy schools that don't have a ".edu" at the end of the website. But, after I kept looking, one of my top seminary choices had just started a fully online program last fall. And it's definitely a ".edu" school.

My first question was about finances and scholarships, so before I really told anyone about my idea, I emailed our church to find out if there were any scholarship options. As soon as I found out there were, everything happened really quickly. I got two more scholarships, and within about two weeks of starting the process, I was accepted, and as of yesterday, I am enrolled.

So what degree program am I doing? Well, I will be working toward a Master of Arts in Theological Studies. It's a forty-five hour program. I plan on doing nine hours a semester, so it should take me about two and half years to complete. I am so excited, and nervous at the same time. I hope I still have the brain power to pull it off. There will be lots of reading and writing, and I even have to get proctors for my tests since I can't use notes/books/etc.

So, you could definitely say that this fall I will need a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils. Or at least a new Mac Book. (-: That's what I'm hoping for - that and some Bible study software.

So, that's my new endeaver. Class starts August 22. (-:

~Kathryn