We're Moving?!

WE’RE MOVING TO DENVER! I can definitely say I never thought those words would actually come out of my mouth, but here we are! So you may be wondering, what on earth happened since your last post? Jeremiah had an awesome job lined up in AZ, I was well on my way to staying in AZ for physical therapy school, we’d stay close to family and friends, our future was perfectly planned! …Well, God clearly had a different plan for us.

            Last August I began the long, tedious process of applying to physical therapy school. I chose three schools in AZ to apply to and three out-of-state. The out-of-state schools all looked like good, interesting programs, in states that I thought would be great places to live in with good prospects for mechanical engineers. But the whole time I was thinking, there’s no way I’m actually going to move out-of-state for grad school, besides for as long as I can remember I hoped, visualized, and basically planned to go to Northern Arizona University’s PT program in Phoenix. I submitted all of my applications regardless and waited to hear back about interviews. In December when I was up in Colorado for my family’s annual Beaver Creek ski trip we drove through the campus of one of the schools I applied to called Regis University. It was a beautiful campus; pretty close to the airport so we thought it would be fun to just drive around the campus. As we were driving around passing some really cute homes close to campus I literally joked to my parents and Jeremiah, “Hey, we could be living in one of these cute houses next year, Jeremiah!” and I laughed about it. Turns out that was a very accurate statement because next year I am going to be starting physical therapy school at Regis University in Denver, Colorado and I am so excited.  

            By mid-December I had heard that I had been offered a spot in Midwestern University’s PT program in Glendale, AZ. I wasn’t particularly excited about the program, but was excited to have secured a spot in an AZ school and in any PT school at all for that matter! By mid-December I had also found out I received interviews for both NAU and Regis! I was really excited about both, but a little bit nervous as well of course! My NAU interview was first, I prepared quite a bit, and was feeling pretty good. I usually do pretty well in interviews. The interview at NAU was structured as a group interview, so I was interviewing with two other girls and being interviewed by three people. When the interview started, quite honestly, I am not really sure what happened. I got in my head, was too focused on the other girls’ answers, and comparing myself to them. It was not good and I was SO disappointed in myself. This interview was supposed to go perfectly so that Jeremiah and I could just stay put in Phoenix. I had some good answers toward the end of my interview, so it wasn’t a complete bust, but when I went back to meet with Jeremiah I basically fell apart because suddenly the future seemed really scary and uncertain. But God was watching over me the whole time, I just know it, because just two days later I flew up to Denver for my interview at Regis University and the interview couldn’t have gone better.

            The interview at Regis University was a full day event and was extremely organized. There were so many people there for the interview, so it was just a little bit intimidating! But I was feeling strangely calm. Luckily, I was in the first interview group of the day. This interview was also structured as a group interview with two other people and being interviewed by two people. The interviewers were so kind and friendly, the three of us being interviewed played off each other really well and it was just very conversational. I was smiling the whole time. After that, the rest of the day I just had a great feeling about the school. Everyone I interacted with was so welcoming and felt like they wanted me there. We were able to tour the campus, sit in on a second-year class, get a quick lesson in the anatomy lab, ask questions of a student panel, and have lunch with faculty and current students. They talked about their commitment to service, developing leaders in the field, and built up our excitement for pursuing a career in physical therapy. It was also the highest ranked program that I applied to! Simply put, I had a great feeling after my day at Regis. Yet at the same time, I was scared to be excited because I couldn’t honestly imagine how it was going to work. Making a move to Colorado, and having to make Jeremiah start over on his job search, leaving both of our families, it was all not in my plan.

            By the end of the week I received an email from NAU telling me that I was an alternate for their program… Once again, I was extremely disappointed. Being an alternate meant I could still get into the program, but I could be placed on their Flagstaff campus, which Jeremiah and I had decided we wouldn’t want to attend because of few engineering prospects, and I wasn’t a big fan of the campus. Then a few days I heard back from Regis University with an acceptance into their program! It felt so good to see the congratulations! Then a couple days after that I heard back from NAU, saying I was off the alternate list and was offered a spot on the Flagstaff campus. At that point, Jeremiah and I both really felt like God was leading us to Denver and Regis University. Of course, it wasn’t just a simple, okay let’s move! We talked about it a lot, talked with our families, prayed, and ultimately decided that we were excited to take the opportunity. So, we are moving to Denver!

            Now, to fill in some of the details… We don’t know exactly when we will move, we just know it will be some time this summer. My program starts at the end of August. We also don’t know exactly where we will be living. The campus is in Northwest Denver, but both timing and location will depend on where Jeremiah is able to find a job. This is perhaps one of the best parts of this crazy experience is Jeremiah’s unconditional support. Despite having a job that he was incredibly excited for in AZ, he was behind me 100% and even excited about the opportunity. He has been reaching out to his network to try to find opportunities and has been applying here and there. Just a couple days ago he spoke with his boss for the job here in AZ that he had already accepted to tell them that we are going to be moving. We are hopeful that an opportunity just as exciting for him will come through and know God’s got a plan for him no matter what! Jeremiah is incredibly qualified and hardworking so I am very confident in him!

            We are excited to start our married life together establishing ourselves independently and exploring a new state and new stage of life together. Of course there are a ton of nerves and uncertainties as well, but we’ve got each other to get through those! I have a lot of other updates on wedding planning, school, etc. but I think this is enough to read for one day! Hopefully I will get another post up in the next week or two. We are down to 11 weeks to the wedding! So crazy and exciting!!

A beautiful picture of the campus!