The Day My Life Changed...

I had a feeling that Friday would be a life changing day.

After April 15th had come and gone, I knew that the first round of graduate school acceptance decisions would be made. The first round of applicants would either confirm or decline their spots at any given university, and the second round of acceptances would be released to a lucky few on the wait list.

Last Monday, after some massive Grad Cafe stalking, I found that my current university (USF) would be releasing their second wave of acceptances on Friday. I tried to keep my cool all week long, but truthfully, I was just sick of waiting. I was ready to hear a "no" so I could move my hopes on to my last two schools, and so I could possibly start figuring out the next step in my journey. 

Friday morning, I woke up business as usual. I took my pre-workout and had a decent workout. And by decent, I mean I was refreshing my email between burpees and trying to keep calm. By the time I pulled into my job's parking lot to work a quick lunch shift, I was a ball of nerves.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," I texted Ryan. "I'm coming off my pre-workout and I'm super nervous about hearing from USF and I'm hungry. I think I'm dying."

I walked into work and tried to look busy while waiting for my section to fill up. Shortly after my first table arrived, I took another quick glance at my email feed. Sure enough, I saw an unread message that was about to change my life. 

USF CSD Graduate Admission Decision.

I'd thought about this moment for a long time. Actually, I'd had this moment already. Last time I opened this email, I found out I wait listed. I wasn't upset; frankly, I thought I'd be outright rejected, so it was a pleasant surprise. But this time around, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I thought maybe I would keep it unread until after my shift. Maybe I'd have someone record my reaction. I knew it was going to be a big moment, so why not?

Being the patient person I am, I waited all of 34 milliseconds before clicking it open:

Dear Samantha,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been recommended for admission to the Masters of Science degree program in Speech Language Pathology at the University of South Florida for Fall 2016...

Actually, "Congratulations!" was all I read before running into the bathroom to call Ryan and then my mom, and parading around the restaurant in my happy dance.

I got accepted into graduate school.

For anyone who is familiar with the SLP field, you know that getting into a grad school program is very competitive. Since the beginning of this little journey of mine, I've told Ryan to "prepare for a move, because I'm probably not going to get into USF's program." But I worked my ass off, and here I am.

It still doesn't feel completely real just yet, but I feel...lighter? Like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I know where I'm going. AH! Brb, gotta study for finals for the rest of my life.