Encouraging Blessings

Today I have been contemplating the obstacles that I have faced over the last 2 years. I am amazed at how far I have been able to come, and how much I have been able to learn through my trials. Seth and I have been planning for a long time to graduate at the end of this semester. I have done 5 continuous semesters so that I could graduate with exactly 120 credits (the requirement) . I have gone to school through many months of illness, pain, sorrow, and disappointment. But I have made it this far, and I am about to graduate. These past couple months have been very happy, busy, and almost easy compared to what I have overcome.

Then 5 weeks into the semester, a letter from the graduation office arrived in the mail saying I could not graduate this semester because I was missing 3 credits of Communication electives.... I cannot express the wave of disappointment and fear that washed over me. I had practically lived in the advising center trying to make sure that I had everything I needed. 3 different advisors told me I had all I needed for Communications, so I chose to take a Spanish 321 class that is very challenging for me so that I could add to my language abilities.

I wasn't just going to take this lying down. I was willing to go straight to the President of our university if need be. I spent hours writing a letter of appeal to the graduation committee, and preparing a petition list of BYUI faculty to back me up. Then I went to a few trusted profesors, true friends, that helped me to feel confident that it would all work out. They told me who I needed to talk to. The person with the power to make it so I would graduate happened to be the same one who had helped me through some major issues because of my pregnancies and illnesses last year. He said he knew my situation, and signed the paper so I could graduate. Just like that... one redemptive signature. It was a miracle. He said, "You know I am just doing this for you because I like you." I don't think that is completely true because I know many people were praying for me, and because he has a good heart. What a blessing! It was like a 1000 pound weight was lifted off my shoulders. This means that on July 18th, I will be able to walk across the graduation stage with my husband and leave Rexburg to start a new adventure, knowing that I have accomplished what I came here to do.

I have recently finished reading the autobiography of Helen Keller. I urge all of you to read it. It will make you feel like your trials aren't so impossible, and that you aren't so alone. Helen Keller is an inspiration to me. Her story is one of hope and encouragement. She fought blindness and deafness all of her life, and yet did great things. She learned to speak, read, and write English, French, and German. She knew many types of Braille and sign language and defeated all of her obstacles. She graduated from college as a scholar and an avid seeker of knowledge. I am amazed at her determination, and her attitude makes me think that I can also accomplish anything. This is a picture of Helen, and her beloved mentor Anne Sullivan. Together, these two women changed the world. This is a passage from her book:


"Very few of the books required in the various courses are printed for the blind, and I am obliged to have them spelled into my hand. Consequently I need more time to prepare my lessons than other girls. The manual part takes longer, and I have perplexities which they have not. There are days when the close attentions I must give to details chafes my spirit, and the thought that I must spend hours reading a few chapters, while in the world without other girls are laughing and singing and dancing, makes me rebellious; but I soon recover my buoyancy and laugh the discontent out of my heart. For, after all, everyone who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal roads to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged , I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory. One more effort and I reach the luminous cloud, the blue depths of the sky, the uplands of my desire. I am not always alone, however, in these struggles. Mr. William Wade and Mr. E. E. Allen, Principal of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, get for me many of the books I need in raised print. Their thoughtfulness has been more of a help and encouragement to me than they can ever know." (Helen Keller, The Story of My Life, p. 101-102)

Like Helen Keller, I am so grateful to all the people who have made it possible for me to climb the Hill Difficulty, to my parents who taught me the importance of an education, and of family, and of working hard; to all the beloved leaders who have guided me through troubled waters; to the friends and family who have had listening ears and comforting words; to the merciful instructors who truly love their students and want to help them achieve their dreams; to all those who have ever said a prayer for me; to my husband who has stood by my side every step of the way, and has carried me when I couldn't stand myself; and most of all, to my Lord who has been there for me through every smile and tear, knowing it would all work out for the best in the end, and helping me to put one foot in front of the other.