I never wanted to go to BYU in my entire life. However, in a Bishop's interview the previous November (aka less than a MONTH before the application was due!!!), he suggested to me that I should apply for BYU. A little reluctantly, I did. I halfheartedly filled out the application, cut some corners, and submitted it. I thought little of it.
After doing the requirements for the school of music here at the Y, I went out for a lesson with Bro. Smith, the bassoon prof. He was really chill and taught in a way that made sense to me, and I loved it. On my way out the door, he commented that he would take the lesson that we just had and would count it for my audition. (Which meant, I wouldn't have to fly back out to Utah the following April when all of my final projects and things were going on for my senior year of high school! I didn't realize how much of a tender mercy that was until April happened.)
Now, I also had to do that aural exam. Remember what the lowest score was allowed to be?
I got 29/64.
Not good enough.
No less than 2 days later (Jan. 30th, '08), I got a notification in my email telling me that BYU had decided upon my admission. I followed the link, signed on a thousand times, and eventually came across a letter telling me I was rejected.
Reading this in my first period of class was distressing, and I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day. My mom eventually came to pull me from school and I went home sobbing.
At the time, I didn't understand. Why was I so emotional over this? I didn't want to go there! It was a waste of time and a clichéd Mormon thing. I would be taking someone else's spot who wanted to go there more desperately than I did.
Well, my eternal and wise mother counseled that I should email Bro. Smith and tell him the news. Regretfully (at the time), I did. He replied within the hour, and this is what he said.
Before you give up all hope of getting into BYU, let me look into this situation. Sometimes we, on the music side, can have some pull with admissions. I won’t know until I do a bit of research. I will be in touch with you within a week or so about this.I'm so grateful he did what he did. He must've pulled a lot of strings to get me in here, and I can't help but realize how much influence my meeting with him did. I'm grateful my previous bassoon teacher told me to have a lesson with him *BEFORE* the audition - which turned out to be my audition in the first place.
Two weeks later, Bro. Smith told me he was submitting his letter of recommendation to the school of music for my acceptance. He estimated an official letter within two or three days, but that was certainly not the case.
March 12th, he sent me an email asking me about scholarship information. (Which, by the way, God knew was a huge deciding factor in my college decision.) I told him I had not yet received a letter from BYU proclaiming my acceptance. He told me to check the website, since he had been told a few days prior that I had been accepted.
FINALLY: March 19th was the day that I officially got my letter telling of my acceptance to Brigham Young University.
I accepted, got my scholarship, spent that last summer with my glorious friends (some of who just didn't understand why I was going so far away for school), and flew off that August with a heavy heart. Things in Illinois - and me, for that matter - would never be the same.
Now, I don't tell you all that to boast. I merely show this HUGE tender mercy in my life to you so that you can know as well as I do that the Lord lives, and that he answers prayers. I didn't know why he wanted me to go to BYU, and I still don't completely understand why I'm here. All I know is that the Lord knows what's best, and I can do nothing without him.
♥
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