After Jason was accepted to a number of Optometry schools we finally decided on Southern California College of Optometry. We liked the weather, we were close to my aunt, we were close to Disney Land, we were close to the beach and surfing (which is Jason's new goal to learn), and there was cheap airfare from Idaho Falls to Long beach for convenient trips for us and family. It seemed perfect and we were content.
One day we were checking up on the apartment we were suppose to live in and suddenly found out that because of our second child they would not let us live in a one room apartment and the two room apartment had a waiting list of two years! This was a huge blow. We'd been counting on this housing because it was subsidized through the school for optometry students and was conveniently just down the street from the school. We started looking into other housing arrangements only to find that there was nothing as close and cheap. We realized we hadn't looked into a lot of things that we should have. Student loans and scholarships were going to barely pay for anything. It was very frustrating and scary.
Out of the blue Jason had an idea to call one school he had been accepted to and see if it was too late to be given an interview. The school was the University of Houston. When Jason called we were surprised to hear that because of the amazing student Jason is they wouldn't need to interview him and put him first on the alternate list. Just like that! Then it was a frustrating game to decide- do we decline SCCO and just wait for Houston? What if we don't get in for this year? Do we wait a year and get that much more behind?
Then my sister got married... to an awesome young man from HOUSTON TEXAS! We were able to talk to his parents and siblings about the area and the school. This helped a lot but we were still struggling because our minds had been set on California and going that far away from home was hard.
We decided the best way to settle our minds and answer a lot of questions was for Jason to go for himself and see the campus, the area, and talk to professors. Jason and his dad took a weekend and was given a special tour from the school. During that time Jason was told that he had been accepted, given a scholarship, and they had waived the out of state tuition fee!!! We also found out that there was a special PHD program for research that Jason has been wanting to do. He was told that he would most likely get into it. If he does then it adds a few more years of schooling but they would pay for it and pay him for the research he did. It was amazing, a huge answer to prayers. We decided that the difference in tuition, cost of living, and housing made it silly not to go to Houston rather than California. A new perk was also that my sister was living there too and we were reminded of several cousin's of Jason's who live there also.
So now our plan:
1. work for the summer and save money
2. have a baby and family support during the transition
3. move to Houston in August, and live there for then next big chunk of our lives.
I am grateful for our family support during this time of decision. We feel so blessed!
4 comments:
Wow! That is so cool, gives me chills :D Congrats guys!
Wow, big changes! That's exciting. It's amazing how the Lord's hand manifests in our lives.
Great news! A similar thing happened to us with Landon's master's program. It can be so scary to make these huge life decisions. Love you guys! I hope we get to see you before you go.
I am sorry that California didn't work out. The weather is a lot better there than here in Houston. However, I am excited to hear you are moving down here. We will have to make a date to see each other when you move down. Houston has a lot of fun things to offer if you keep yours eyes open.
Post a Comment