By His Grace: The SLO Life

So I promised that this next blog would be an update on my life, and I fully intend to fulfill that promise. I am back in San Luis Obispo, and starting my third year at Cal Poly. It's definitely not where I planned on being this year, but God had a different plan.:o) I'm currently taking Ethics, Human Development, Cultural Anthropology, Pre-Calculus, and Soccer. It's such a different schedule from what I'm used to, but so far I'm really liking it. I don't have a single science class for the first time, which means I am free of ridiculously long labs twice a week. That is definitely something I don't miss. That that the semi-permanent "nerd lines" created by those awful goggles we had to wear... What I do miss, however, is being in the science section of campus. I don't bump into old friends as often as I used to, and I don't quite fit in with most of the people in my current classes. My math class is all freshman, my human development class is mostly child development and liberal arts majors, and my soccer class is athletic. Hmmmm. Athletic and Emily. Nope...those two words definitely don't belong together in the same sentence.:o) My ethics class is a bit of a struggle for me, because my professor has some very anti-Christian sentiments. It seems that almost any topic can be used as a way to disprove Christianity and the Bible. I will say that the class has been very eye opening for me, and it has been interesting to learn how the world views ethics. Without the Bible as a base, it looks a lot different! My prayers in that area have been for my professor, and that God would soften my heart toward him. It is easy for me to become cynical and angry toward him when he begins to misrepresent the Bible, but this is definitely not the right response. I look forward to seeing what God has to teach me through this class, and pray that I will keep my heart open.
Some of you may be trying to figure out what I'm doing back at Cal Poly, why I'm taking such random classes, and what happened to my plans for nursing school. The truth is I'm wondering the same things.:o) Actually, all of the classes I'm taking this quarter are either pre-requisites or co-requisites for nursing school. It seems almost every nursing school has different requirements, so I am getting through as many as I can while I continue to wait to be accepted somewhere. I did apply to a couple of schools in California, and was rejected from all of them for one reason or another. I am now waiting to hear from a school in Oregon, called George Fox University. Oregon is definitely not where I saw myself going to school, but God seems to be opening doors there, so we will see what happens. If I am accepted, I would start school there in January. A lot of things continue to be up in the air right now, and I really do look forward to seeing everything that God has in store for me.
I am living a little farther from campus this year, but it only takes me about 30 minutes by bus. I am in easy walking distance from church, and not too far from a big shopping center. I have three wonderful roommates (Junny, Kim, and Lorraine) who seem to be capable of putting up with me.:o) We all have very different schedules, so I actually don't get to see them tons. I definitely look forward to getting to know them better as the year goes on. My roommates from last year are all doing well. Two of them got married this summer, and I was able to attend/participate in both of their weddings. Kristen is now living with her husband Alex in Seattle, WA, and Carrie is living with her husband Kyle here in SLO while he finishes at Cal Poly. Cassie is living in an awesome house with five other Cal Poly girls. Most of them are/have been/will be on the track team, so I always feel a little out of shape when I'm over there... She and I still hang out a lot, and she's very gracious to continue giving me rides to important places like the grocery store. I'm so thankful to be able to continue my friendship with each of them. Can you imagine? They lived with me for an entire school year and they still want to be friends.:o) How wonderful are they?
I am excited to see what God has planned for me here in SLO. Obviously there must be a reason that He wanted me here a little longer, so I am doing my best to make the most of my time here. Cassie and I have all kinds of adventures planned. Things I MUST do before leaving. Of course, schoolwork is on the top of that list.:o) I'm including few pictures of my new place. My dad helped me move in and took them for me while he was here. Now that I finally have internet on my computer, I can upload them. I hope you all had a wonderful week. I suppose it's not yet the weekend for some of you, but one of the perks of being a college student is that it's possible to create a schedule in which every weekend is a three day weekend!:o)