Choices

Two months ago, I had a choice to make between two options: Emory or Vanderbilt? I made out lists of pro's and con's. I swung from one pole to the other. I also led friends to believe I had sided one way, then did a 180 by the next time I talked to them.

As a concise recap - because neither you nor I are much interested in being drug through details here (relive the crowded thoughts? No way!) - Vanderbilt had money, prestige, and one particularly great faculty member to boast. Downsides: they held all their classes in one room; their graduates' placements weren't stellar; one Vandy drop-out told me she never felt connected there; I felt like if I went there it'd be for the wrong reasons. Emory's pro's: I am enamored with Atlanta. Not sure why. It seems to hold the same city mystique that drew me to Columbia. Emory was far more responsive to me in the beginning stages of applying. I started picturing myself as a scholar there. By the time Vanderbilt became a possible reality, my Emory baby was past the zygote stage. Hard to kill a life that's already gestated. Emory also seems to hold a little more clout among soc circles. Also their faculty are uber friendly and I have the one I want to emulate already pegged (hopefully she's not reading this blog!). So Emory's cons kind of never took form for me.

Two months after turning in my official decisions to both schools, I have repeatedly felt peace with my decision to go to Emory. I get excited when I'm on the phone discussing my master's thesis with my hope-to-be advisor. She gives real guidance! Woo hoo! I get excited by the virtual book club emails one faculty has set up with three of us (the other two students not in my cohort). I get excited, excited, excited..........

I'm thankful that choices come to a decision-point, and that God makes it so you can happily live with your choice. What would it be like if choices just hung around like flies at a picnic (hated guests), never coming to a crux? Or, what if decisions could kill you with regret afterwards? But thanks be to God, who keeps life in flux, who keeps time rolling, and who enables us to live with our decision, past regrets and worries. He's got us.