Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will
make your paths straight.’
College has been a long and sometimes difficult journey. I
started out at Montgomery College in January 2011. I would have never guessed
that it would take me five and a half years to graduate. I chose Proverbs 3:5-6
as my key verse for this testimony because it helped me to get through some of
the hardest times in the last few years. As many of you know, I struggled a lot
academically in high school, so I was not sure how I was going to do in
college, especially since everything was in English. However, God was always
with me and allowed me to get a close to perfect GPA in my first semester in
college, which boosted my confidence. God also provided financially for me. I
was able to get Federal Work-Study aid and a scholarship at MC.
In the spring of 2012, I applied to the University of
Maryland as a transfer student and got accepted. I did not realize at first
that I was supposed to pay out of state tuition, which was more than $28,000 at
that time. I did not know what to do and became anxious. I was wondering if
this was God’s plan for me. I would have not been able to pay that much money.
I soon learned that there was a petition process to get in state tuition.
Nevertheless, when I visited the registrar’s office, the people were very
discouraging, saying that I would not be able to be approved. I decided to go
ahead with the process anyway because I did not want to give up. I can say that
I was able to do this only by God’s grace and mercy. It was also at that time
that I realized that I simply needed to put my trust in God and not in people
because God can make a way, where there is no way in our eyes. It took me about
two or three months to get everything together. When I submitted it, the
petition was more than a hundred pages long. However, it was rejected. I was
told that I needed to submit some more documents and make an appointment with
the registrar’s office for an interview. To make this long story short, after
the interview, which was one week before classes started, my petition was
approved, and I received in state status! Even beyond this victory, God
provided for my financial needs throughout my time at UMD. Not only did I get
in state tuition status, but I also got the President’s Transfer Scholarship, a
Pell Grant, and other grants and loans that covered tuition, fees, and books.
This took a great burden off my shoulders and also my parents, who still
provided for my other financial needs.
Once I started at UMD, my classes were going well. Yet, I
hit another roadblock in the fall of 2014, when I failed my internship and had
to leave the Early Childhood Education program. In the weeks and months leading
up to that point I had felt overwhelmed, exhausted, and stressed from taking
six classes, working, writing lesson plans, doing homework, and at the same
time going to my internship two full days a week. By the end of that semester,
I was drained and knew I had failed. During the final meeting with the
internship coordinator and program director, I realized that there wasn’t
anything I could do to make them change their mind and accepted that I would be
better off going a different route. It was hard to accept this at first and
involved many tears on my way home. I was confused because I always thought
that this was the path that God had marked out for me. However, through this
experience He showed me that He had an even better plan for me. During winter
break, I switched my major to Family Science, where I had to complete three
additional semesters of course work. I am truly thankful that God has lead me
this way because I learned a lot in the last three semesters that is relevant
to where I want to go in the future. I enjoyed studying and learning again and
did not feel overwhelmed and stressed anymore. Last semester, I had to do
another internship, which passed without any difficulties. I thank God that He
has lead me through my college years, without His guidance and wisdom I could
not have done this. If there is one major thing I learned during this time it
is that when I trust in God anything is possible.
I thank my parents, who have been so supportive, loving,
prayerful, and provided for my financial needs. I thank my family, the sisters
in and outside the prayer house, my fellowship, and Cologne UBF for their
emotional support and prayers for me every day. Lastly, I thank all of you for
praying for me and supporting me in many different ways. There are many
individuals I would have liked to mention, but I don’t have enough time and space
to do so.
Please continue to pray for me. I am in the process of
applying for jobs and hope to start working in August.
One word: Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart!
