How It All Began

This post is long overdue, but I have been under the weather with a sinus infection. But let me tell you that I have just come home from a 7 day "Boot Camp" that has completely changed my life. I learned more about myself and others. Let me begin by talking about getting there. It started out with me losing an SGA Election. I was sad and extremely bummed out because I had lost because there were so many things that I wanted to do and change to make a difference at Samford. In hindsight, I see that God had a plan all along. God had planned for me to run for an SGA office position so that I would lose. Because I lost, the SGA advisor, wonderful Mrs. Janna Pennington, saw that I had great ideas, leadership abilities, and the desire to see and make a difference. This led her to invite me to apply for a summer leadership program for one week in June that would be held at Judson College in Marion, AL in the "Blackbelt" of the South. I was so excited because I had been hearing God calling me to do something with poverty, which has led me to have a desire to teach in high-poverty areas. Marion, AL is located in Perry County and is one of the poorest counties in the world! During my Senior year in high school, I did a campus tour of Judson College because a family friend who was an alumna from the institution wanted me to go there. I did enjoy the campus and all of it's simplicity and beauty, but I never felt God calling me there. It was my 3rd out of 8 choices of schools. But like I believe, God has a reason for everything. After that first exposure to this poor area, I couldn't shake the feeling. The summer after my Freshman year of college, I did mission work with the family friend who was an alumna from Judson. I, along with a girl from Auburn who was home for the summer, cleaned glasses that was going with some missionaries to Mexico and sorted through clothes and misc. stuff that we would be delivering to the thrift store in Marion. This just ignited the fire within me. My Spring semester of my Sophomore year, I wrote my issue paper on poverty of children in the elementary school setting. After doing research on children living in poverty, I have learned that it can only be changed with two things: a positive and encouraging role model and a high quality education. Unfortunately, both of this lack in high-poverty areas. Most students who graduate from colleges and universities that certify them as high quality teachers go on and teach in schools that already have great teachers. I'm not saying that this is bad. Sometimes God doesn't make people to teach in high-poverty areas. I just think that if more graduates who had a passion for children and for them to success in their lives, then they would want to teach in needed places. One thing that I like about these areas is that their are students that truly want the education and have a burning desire for this. Students in suburban schools take advantage of this and could really care less. They take for granted what they have. Sometimes I wish the government would let students switch for a week so that they can see how the other side of the world functions. With all of that being said, it excited me that I might get the chance to serve in Marion and learn how to become a better leader. As with God's plan, I was selected as one of three girls to attend the Leading Edge Institute. I was excited to see what it was about and to make an impact on an area that was speaking to my heart, but I was also expecting it to be like most summer leadership programs that I had attended where people quickly got into their groups and left out people and didn't really care. For now, I will leave it with that as it is getting late and I really want to add every detail possible. :)