Remember how I said I got a full scholarship to law school. I omitted a few details. It wasn’t the school I had my heart set on going to. It wasn’t the school I prayed over and visited and acted like I was already attending. When I got that full scholarship, I was devastated that it wasn’t from my dream school. I said well. I’m a practical person and I just have to accept it. I sent an email to the admissions of dream school and asked them to raise the scholarship they gave me. They wrote back no, they cannot. They said that this year’s applicants were very exceptional and that they had no more money to offer me. I said ok, I will not be attending your school.
I spent a total of two days mourning over it. I moved on. I accepted the other school’s offer. Two weeks passed. I sat through a whole orientation like day and got a thermos with the school’s name on it. I was ready to attend the school. After the orientation-ish day, I am sitting at Think Coffee going over all the papers I received from this school when I get a phone call from an unsaved number. I answer it. Hi this is so and so from YOUR DREAM Law School. I know I said two weeks ago that we could not increase your scholarship. We have re-evaluated our budget and have decided to match your full scholarship.
LONG PAUSE
I was upset. I was downright angry. God heard me. He knows the desires of your heart. However, I was already technically registered at Plan B school. I explain that I’ve already paid seat deposits and sat through admitted students day and given immunization records etc etc. The admissions counselor goes ” Well I hope this makes your decision harder”. I do not know if I had the wherewithal to politely excuse myself or if I just hung up. It was a Friday afternoon. There was nothing I could do about it now. I had signed paperwork and paid fees. I called my brother, my father, my bible-study leader, a member of my prayer posse, and my boyfriend.
People were like: this is good news. You got what you wanted. What’s the problem? The problem was the timing. Two weeks before, if God had said hey here’s two full scholarships. This school has the international human rights program you want, pick this one. It would’ve been no problem. But I had already crestfallenly made other plans and put my hands to the plow. From my perspective, it was too late. I already had a new plan. Down to the hourly calendar.
On Monday morning, I started making calls to undo all the work I had done on this other plan. The dean of the other school got on the phone with me and personally tried to talk me out of withdrawing but after I told him the decision was made, he informed me that I was forfeiting the deposit because “there is no refund.” However, the elation I felt when I got off the phone is hard to explain. When your plans and God’s plans align, you can’t make it up. I’m not crazy. God is real. His power is tangible. It’s not something I came up with.