by Patrick Long-Quian

When I started senior year in high school, the number one thing people told me was to get my college applications finished early. I tried, but that just didn’t happen. The stress started piling up; the stress of deciding what I was going to do for the rest of my life at the age of 18, the stress of how I was going to pay for this monumental step in my education and life.

In the fall of 2015 my voice teacher told me that someone from a music school was coming to Houston for a master class and wanted to know if there were any voice students that wanted to sing for him. I decided to, since I was thinking about majoring in music. Going into this session I was never really considering the school since it was in Iowa, much too far away from my home in Texas and all the things I love about Texas, like Whataburger. After singing for this Scottish opera professor that lives in Iowa, he told me that he wanted me to attend his school. After doing my research, I decided to apply but it seemed unrealistic to me. The cost of attendance was $43,000 a year—a huge cost that I was sure I would not be able to afford. I sent off my application and was accepted soon after; however the cost still loomed ahead.

I grew up in the church, so I knew God would take care of things, but not to the extent that he did. While I was in Iowa auditioning for a music scholarship, my initial academic scholarship offer came and it was bigger than I expected; large enough to bring the cost of attendance to that of an in state school. I sat there kind of in awe and realized that God will provide for us when we most need it and least expect it. I trust that if I decide to take this offer, God will lead me through my college years and help me further his kingdom and provide me with everything I need in order to do so.