Baby Longhorn

So I'm officially done with my first fall semester of college at UT and I can say it has been an interesting adventure. Throughout this semester, I've met amazing people, grew with God, and experienced bits and pieces of what Austin has to offer. It's crazy to think that the semester went by so quickly and that a year ago, I was a senior in high school worrying about what university to attend. I would remember praying and stressing about it constantly. UT Austin was definitely not my first choice, because frankly, I had no idea where I wanted to go. I just know that I want to become a doctor and that I want to travel the world. I had no idea how to get there, but I knew God was the one in charge. Although it was different because I was the only one from my graduating class to attend UT right away, I knew I made the right choice. My parents hoped I would go to a university closer, but I knew that God was leading me to this crazy beautiful city. I remember going to the Longhorn Saturday the school hosted and thinking about how many homeless people there were and being a little intimidated by the Drag. Never would have I imagine that I would end up here. But here I am!

As I look back on this past semester, I realized that God really does have everything all planned out. All you have to do is trust him completely, which isn't always the easiest thing to do. At times, I questioned myself and I questioned God. Was I really supposed to go here? This city was so different from the small conservative town I was from. Was I really in the right place? Will I even succeed? 
Even though I had so many questions, I knew that I could only trust God and what His plans for me are. As a person who has known what she wanted her whole life, trusting God about the unknown future was kind of scary at times and then this verse hits me.

Proverbs 16:9 
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." 

I've known this verse for a while now, but I guess it didn't really impact me until I got to college. I had so many plans to do this and go there and I ended up completely opposite to where I thought I was going to end up. But in the end, it was all in God's hands. I just had to trust in what His plans are for me, even though sometimes it was confusing and unclear.

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I was blessed enough to have made a wonderful and amazing group of friends and church family in Austin. The people God has placed in my life to help me through this transition are truly a blessing. The adventures that I had with many interesting people truly made my first semester truly memorable. The late nights of studying and worrying about exams was stressful at times, but it only lasted a little while. In the end, we were all in this UT community together experiencing similar things.

I was walking to class one day and I guess I was just taking everything in. I looked at the beautiful campus and the group of diverse people attending this university and realized that I am in the right place. God's plan will always prevail and all we have to do is trust Him and know that He is working it out for our good. I would love to say this semester and college was super easy, but it was definitely challenging at times. I truly did enjoy the football games, free t-shirts, study dates, and concerts that came along with it. 

I'm super thankful for my family, my new friends, my old friends, and my church families for always being there to encourage and support me. I'm grateful for the laughs, the stress, the memories, and the adventures I experienced this semester. I cannot wait for what else God has in store for the next semester as well as the rest of my college experience. 


-Nicole

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