Here it is, straight from Sarah!....
_______________________________
It seems fitting that I should start my own email update list as I graduate from college. Yes, already, I have graduated. On May 15th, 2010, with a BA in Psychology and Linguistics and a certificate to teach ESL, I graduated from Rice University…in the rain. (It was the first time it had rained on a Rice commencement ceremony in 27 years!)
To me the time seems short, yet full. And each year had its own distinctive flavor. Freshman year everything was new and exciting, I chose what to be involved in and lived in a tight community of friends on 8th floor Brown. Sophomore year I started my first dating relationship and figured out for real what I would major in. Junior year I gained valuable experience living off-campus, and my brothers joined me at Rice. I struggled through the end of the dating relationship, while my other relationships grew deeper. I also began to enjoy and appreciate my classes more. Senior year I decided to apply for grad school, and much of my year was dominated by this process. I experienced pretty serious burnout at Christmastime and gradually reclaimed joy in the spring semester. My major commitments shifted a little, with a lesser focus on Agape activities and more time spent enjoying the close community that emerged amongst my frisbee teammates.
Saying goodbye is hard, and it rarely fails to produce profound sadness in me. Now having left, I have a little sadness but feel that far more is looming on the horizon and will reveal itself when my brothers head back to Rice at the end of the summer, and I head somewhere new.
For now everything is still normal. I am based in Colorado Springs for the summer with my family, living at my grandparents' house, I'm working at Mission Training International for the third summer in a row, and I'm attending the same small group that I have the past two summers. And I'm realizing that Colorado feels like a bit of a home to me, for those in-between times. I love it here, except I miss my friends.
The good news is that I have a place to go next year. The Father helped me through the grad school application process and I am headed to Texas A&M University in mid-August. I will be starting a Counseling Psychology PhD program that is supposed to last 5 years, year-round. Hello [home of the Aggies, no major airport] College Station! I'm happy to say it's only 1.5 hours from Houston, where my brothers will still be at Rice. Thankfully the Father has provided housing for me with two recent Rice grads (one of whom is in the same program) in a very nice condo. Also, He has provided me with a graduate assistantship, which may allow me to break even on grad school, if I live frugally enough.
So another part of my summer is just taking some time to relax before grad school. I'm working a much freer schedule at MTI and hoping to figure out things like health insurance, budgeting, and getting a car. Thankfully Colorado Springs is a great place for the relaxing part!
It's hard to believe that I am where I am now, not married (and I think that is good), 22 years old, and headed to grad school. I would never have imagined that in high school (except the 22 part).
Thanks for reading, Sarah
PS I probably won't send out updates that often, but who knows? And I'd love to hear back from you! [If you want to be on SARAH's email list, write her at sarspin@gmail.com.]
Dr. Steve and Laura Spinella, Sarah, Joey, Robby
Da Yi Street, Lane 29, #18, 2F-1, Taichung 404, TAIWAN
011 886 4 2236-6145, wk 2236-1901, fx 2236-2109, cell 9 2894-0514
USA: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 719.528.1702, cell 719.355.4809
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187, 800 343-3144
<www.team.org.tw/spinella>, <www.team.org.tw/ccg> <spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>
--
This is an email list for friends of Steve and Laura...
To reply to a posting, send email to steve.spinella@gmail.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to TEAMspinella-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
To see past emails, pictures, et al, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/TEAMspinella?hl=en
