On My Way

The story of my summer

Are you the same person you were a year ago? Occasionally I come across this phrase, or something similar and I think, “no”. I am not the same person I was a year ago, or even a month ago. This summer I have experienced several changes through opportunities that I have had such as visiting Chicago, going to Broadway Camp, and attending a conference for a program called Bridge Builders. Now this is not to say that through these experiences I have developed a completely new set of morals or denied my old identity to create another persona. Rather, I see it as God constantly developing me into the person I am meant to be; each experience provides me with the tools to grow myself.

I have never been out of the U.S., and I rarely even leave Alabama, so one can imagine my extreme excitement when I was presented with the chance to go to Chicago! I first heard about it while attending a pancake breakfast at a friend’s church. Their youth choir was going on choir tour in Chicago and I knew that somehow I would be there. We were looking to visit a new church anyway, so we started visiting there and loved it! I joined the choir at the last minute and practically learned the songs just before singing them in public (some lyrics were actually learned during the tour)! It was fantastic. While there, we did some sightseeing in the Windy City, and we went to see a Broadway show: Motown the Musical. Now I have always loved musical theatre, in fact, I grew up listening to opera, so this was a major thrill for me to get to finally see Broadway style music performed in person somewhere other than my school or a small community theatre! God allowed a way for my love of singing and theatrics to grow while praising him with my new youth choir!

This love of musicals led me on a search for theatre camps in my area. I found “Broadway Musical South” at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I loved hanging out back stage, spending hours in front of the mirror rehearsing choreography, suffering the blisters and callouses of all the dancing, gathering around the piano learning song after song in just a few days; it was all quite wonderful! Our performance was riveting to be a part of. With spotlights in my eyes, lyrics in my mind and music in my heart, spending a week at that camp only further affirmed my life goals: to go on Broadway and then become a musical theatre teacher. That week, God showed me how much prayer and a great deal of hard work can affect the outcome of an experience.

Another event that changed me this summer was the conference for a program called Alabama Bridge Builders. The Bridge Builders work all over Alabama to make connections (build bridges) with organizations and people, emphasizing their philosophy that no matter how different people are, we can set those differences aside to make positive changes in the world. That first day of camp, when I arrived on Huntingdon's campus, ready to face whatever sort of week lay ahead of me, I had no clue what was about to ensue. I made a great many new friends that I grew to love deeply by the end of the week. We shared our hopes, dreams, struggles and heartaches with one another; we learned to work together through challenges and unexpected events in order to reach a common goal. Ultimately I learned that love and trust should hold the utmost importance in any relationship in order for it to be successful, and I am proud to say that being a member of Alabama Bridge Builders has made me into a better person.

God is the master of our fate. He has had it planned since the beginning of time, and He will accomplish His plans at the right time and in the right ways to show us exactly what we should be doing. In Proverbs 3:5, Solomon states, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” We should be relying on Christ for guidance in every situation whether it be a trip across the country, fulfilling a passion or building strong relationships with peers.