!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a rather long, involved story so if you'd like you can just skip to the punchline and get the exciting part without the boring explanation. :)

Over the past month, Hesston College has been going through the process of choosing RAs for next year. The RA (resident assistant) is a sophomore who is in charge of a mod (section of about 8 rooms). They plan mod activities, provide leadership, advice, spiritual guidance, and assistance to all the girls/guys in their mod, especially new freshman. Sometimes they have to be the bad guy too, and enforce Campus Lifestyle Standards. My RA, Tessa, is amazing! And so is my good friend Abigail, who is also an RA. Seeing them in action made me really want to be an RA next year. So I underwent the application process. You had to fill out an application and have an interview with Resident Life staff. They also evalute you and talk to your RA and other people about you. I applied, but I wasn't sure if I would make it. I felt qualified and I knew the Resident Directors all liked me (an important factor), but I also felt like maybe I'm not a big enough voice on campus. I'm not a student ambassador, I don't play a sport or sing in Bel Canto, etc. So I thought I might get lost in the shuffle - especially since twice as many girls applied as there were positions to be filled. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Friday they sent out the letters telling you whether you were selected or not. I didn't dare to open mine at first. But then Kendra, one of the RDs, asked me if I'd checked my mail yet. She had a big smile on her face. That made me wonder....so I went up to my room and opened my letter. And literally shrieked.

The punchline (in case you didn't want to read all that stuff before):
I'm RA of 2CN (the name/location of the mod) next year!!!!!!!!!! That's the mod I'm in now and it was exactly the mod I wanted! And my amazing roommate, Laura, is the RA of the mod across the hall from me, my sister mod! It could not have worked out any better.

Now here's a cool thing: I hadn't been feeling excited about coming back next year. Many of my close friends here are sophomores and won't be back next year. Other close freshman friends are transferring to other schools. I was depressed and slightly jealous all week. I felt like I was being abandoned and was not looking forward to coming back to school "alone" next year. But the whole time, I could never bring myself to consider anything but Hesston. I felt....I feel....like I am supposed to come back next year. So I asked God to help me with my depression and jealousy and to help me be excited about being here next year. And wow, He does not dissappoint! He answered that prayer in a huge way! Now I can't wait for next year!!! I'm so excited to be an RA and hopefully make as big a difference in my modling's lives as my RA friends have made in mine.

And that is my semi-exciting (if long) story.