brittany nicole

I enrolled in grad school for the first time at UNA Spring 2014. I should have known it wasn’t God’s plan because the entire admission process was rushed. I was literally accepted after classes had begun and had to receive special approval from the Dean of the College and the professor for the 3 classes I was trying to enroll into because I was late starting.

Yea 5-6 weeks in and I realized that it wasn’t the best fit for me. I withdrew that semester. I re-enrolled the next semester to obtain a 2nd bachelor’s degree. This time, secondary education was my major. I fell in love with the program and really started to see myself as a high school teacher.

Then God stepped in without me asking Him to do so. lol

See before I got accepted into the secondary education program, I was praying so hard and believing God earlier in the year for a full-time job doing something that I would enjoy and find purpose in everyday.

The one job that selected me out of 100 applicants for a phone interview. Then invited me for an on-campus interview as one of the top 3 candidates. Only to turn around and hire someone else. I started to feel like a “failure“.

So I had basically told God that if the job didn’t pan out in my favor, I was going back to school. Even though I felt strongly that God hadn’t forgotten about my prayers for full-time employment. I just needed something to happen now, not later. So I re-enrolled into school.

The “failure” feeling left because I was doing so well in my education classes. I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Then that same job (the one where I was a top 3 candidate) left a voicemail on my phone late September offering me a job in their office. (Someone had received a job offer elsewhere.) The recommended start date was October 1.

They literally reached out to see if I was still interested before they posted the job. That still blows my mind, but I see God moving on my behalf when I’m reminded of that part of the story. I had just interviewed in July on-campus. I started classes in August.

I was shocked and confused. Like why would God allow me to get settled just to require for me to walk away from it all. I went back and forth. Do I stay enrolled and turn down the job offer or take the job and withdraw from classes… AGAIN???

I couldn’t do both. The classes were not all online. And even the ones that were online had so many observation hours inside the school system for me to complete and pass the class.

I had to choose. I always think back to how differently my life would have been had I stayed…

You guessed it! I withdrew again. Except apparently, I withdrew too soon. And accumulated an outstanding bill at UNA.

I don’t discover this until years later…

Anywho, now I’m working and not thinking much about grad school or ever going back to school. I mean who withdraws from school twice…

Then, I get the opportunity to go and work for UNA as a recruiter. The idea crosses my mind and I start doing research, only to discover that I owe almost $3,000. How is it that I can now go back to school for basically little to nothing and I can’t afford to do so.

Every time someone asked me had I considered going to grad school, I felt like a “failure” and was reminded how disobedience will always cost you in the end. I never consulted God about if it was in his plans for me to re-enroll the 2nd time. I just did it because I assumed that was His plan for me when the full-time job opportunity closed in my face.

So I’ve worked at 3 different Universities (Jacksonville State, University of North Alabama, The University of Alabama), and UNA had the best education benefits for staff…

But I owed them money. And the funny part about it is that they weren’t paying me enough to pay off this outstanding bill.

Whew! #nocomment

So the account ends up in collections and I start paying the bare minimum because I knew one day, I may want to go back to school.

Fast forward…

At the beginning of 2019, I added grad school to my prayer journal and I also listed that I would receive scholarships. I prayed and fasted over this too. I probably named a tithe or two after my chance to attend grad school again.

Now I felt like God was telling me to prepare that year.

I went and met with the Director of the Marketing Program at UA. I went back and met with the Dean of the School of Business at UA. I was also invited to a few different opportunities to learn more about the Executive MBA program.

I even sat in on a night class for that particular program. Here’s proof that I don’t post all of the pictures that I take. lol

So I apply to UA’s Marketing program and I’m feeling pretty confident about my application, even though I knew there was a cap set on how many would be accepted into the program. I had the best write me letters of recommendation. I pay the $60 application fee. I also pay to have my transcript sent off.

I probably checked the portal daily. Just to make sure I didn’t miss an update.

Only to discover that I didn’t get accepted. I cried that day for sure. I felt like a “failure” again. I was so hurt that I couldn’t repeat the news to anyone.

I was like why would God tell me to prepare for something and then not allow for it to come to fruition.

Then it hit me, God never told me where I was preparing for…

Surprise and Roar Lions!

I’m back at UNA… AGAIN! Enrolled into their MBA program and my concentration is Marketing. Here’s how I know I’m right where God wants me to be.

I didn’t pay an application fee. I didn’t need letters of recommendation. I didn’t need updated GRE/GMAT scores. I didn’t even apply for the 2 scholarships that posted to my account this semester.

I just applied faith to my next move. And for me, that’s the hardest thing to do when you’ve already faced rejection once before in that area.

Late nights. Late nights. Late nights. Not complaining, but this is one of the main reasons why I have to keep my focus and can’t stay over at work past 6PM.

I’ve already taken (and passed) 2 quizzes and I have 2 more to go before my test on Monday that I’ve been prepping for.

This is my life. A life that I prayed for. The life that reminds me of what favor and grace looks like.

I have to go study, but in closing…

If you’re wondering how I paid off the outstanding bill that I owed to UNA…

Well apparently that little bit of money that I was paying monthly when I couldn’t really afford to pay anything was adding up…

When I called the University to see how much more I owed on the account this year…

The total amount given was $1275. So with my stimulus check, I paid the account off in full. Honestly, such a God thing.

My best advice to you:

If God says prepare, don’t do so in doubt. There’s purpose in the preparation stage and when you let God order your steps, you always come out on top. Always on top, never in the hole… provision comes through when it’s His vision coming to fruition for you. Remember that!

#BNspired2day