Accepted.

Hello everyone, I have some very great news.

I have been admitted to the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business! :D

I'm not quite sure how to describe how I feel about it, but I guess you could say I am very happy, excited, satisfied, relieved, anxious, and thankful all at the same time. I am about 90% sure I will be attending (as long as I don't get a very tempting offer from somewhere else) and my heart is increasingly committed to the school already. Gah! I can't wait! :D

So I went to go check the mail yesterday evening by myself. Our mail is one of those where the whole neighborhood/community has all the mail in one place so I had to walk a distance to go get it. I opened up the mailbox and noticed a huge, thick white envelope crammed and stuffed into the mailbox. The mailperson probably had some difficulty getting it to fit because the envelope was pretty roughed up.

But that was okay because I got to see little bits of Maroon and Gold showing through, which got me extremely excited. I had a feeling I knew what it was but while I fought with the mailbox to get the packet out (I felt the mailman's pain at this point) I wondered if it was an acceptance or just some promo material.

I ripped the envelope, peaked inside, saw the letter and picked up everything and sprinted home. My mom and sister were eating dinner and when I told them, they both cried while hugging me quite violently.

Later, I showed my letter and stuff to my dad (with whom I have not spoken to for over a month after our arguement). I will never forget the way he embraced me and cried on my shoulder while struggling to form words of congratulations over his tears. This broke my heart. I had been in denial about whether he really loved me or not, and this smashed any doubts I had in a split second. In a way no words could have expressed, our mutual shoulder-bawling embrace was such a beautiful epitomization of our loving, respectful, but difficult relationship. I later received an email from him at 1:30am confessing to me he could not sleep because he could not stop crying tears of joy. He told me that this was truly a dream come true for him, and that he was overwhelmed with feelings of satisfaction and fullness that he could not explain. He told me to first thank God, then my mom, then my sisters. He left out any words telling me to thank him, but instead apologized for not making available to me all the resources I deserved. He also apologized for being so hard on me over the years and for disciplining me so harshly. Having not attended college, seeing his son go to college gave him indescribable joy.

I should probably send him a reply. I'll tell him how thankful I am, how much I love him, and that I'm sorry for the stress I gave him over the years.

This is such a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Not just that my first letter was an acceptance to my top choice school, but also that my father is happy and satisfied with who I am and what I have done. All these years of never being able to earn his approval has climaxed into one shining moment of complete satisfaction and content.

Hopefully we'll be able to talk now and have a better relationship.

I am so thankful to my parents and sisters for supporting me the way they did and continue to do. I really could not have done this without them pushing me from behind and also leading from the front. I love my family.

I'm also very thankful to God for providing me with this path for me. Even though I understand that the things of this world are all vain, I am still so deeply glad that He is empowering me to do much. I hope I can use this opportunity to further glorify Him.

"To much who is given, much is expected"
-Luke 12:48