The Countdown begins….Twelve Days…. and I will be in China! That’s right, it’s time for the 2010 International Leadership Seminar For State Officers, otherwise known as the ILSSO. I have been looking forward to January 2nd from the moment I found out about this amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to experience life in a foreign country for the very first time, figure out how to fit two weeks of my life into a suitcase weighing less than 50 pounds, and make some unforgettable memories with other Current & Past State Officers from all across the United States! Lets back up for a second though, before I was excited about the trip, I was definitely very nervous and even more unsure… Why though? Well you see, part of the “leadership” experience of this trip required each individual to raise their own funds to cover the cost of this international experience. O MY! That is a rather intimidating task for a 19 year old college kid!
When the time came and I finally got news that I had been accepted into this program(YAYYYY), of course my brain hit the ground running. How in the world was I going to raise this large amount of money??? Who was going to be willing to donate with the current financial times being so tough? What if I get half way there and am unable to raise the rest of the money?? What if, what if, what if... Needless to say, a million different thoughts and ideas were running through my mind, 24/7! Almost to the point where I couldn’t even focus on school and everything else I currently had going on in my life.
What I needed to do: relax & take a deep breath, make a list of faithful supporters & begin sending out support letters, and last but not least, have faith.
In the fairytale world, someone would just right me one big check and I would be done right? Well, I can assure you that unfortunately, sometimes it seems like I live in anything but a fairytale world. With that said, here’s how my story began:
I was sitting on my bed one Sunday afternoon, attempting to study, windows open, cool breeze flowing through my girly room, thinking about the million things I needed to do… and the phone rang. When I saw the caller ID on my Sprint cell phone, my face lit up with a huge smile as I answered with a very cheerful “Hello!” Any opportunity I had to visit with this very busy, wise, & loving individual was a treat for me. However, let’s just say that I was definitely caught off guard when that person on the other end of the line began talking. To be quite honest, I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. But to make a rather long story short, No longer would I even have to worry about raising money to go to China. This GENEROUS individual, who I have such a respect for, was going to make my dream of going to China… A Dream Come True. In the blink of an eye, I would have a check in the mail, with the memo section designated to “Macy-2010 ILSSO.”
If this isn’t a fairytale, I don’t know what is! The sad part is, the story doesn’t end there! Each participant was responsible for securing his/her own flight to San Francisco, prior to the trip for an orientation. Was I going to pay for this flight myself, let my parents pay for it, what was I going to do? It wasn’t but just a few weeks later that a generous lady who I have recently grown very close with, told me she would like to support me in my trip to China. She had frequent flyer miles that she would like to use to purchase my flight to San Francisco. WOW!
Now here I am, just two weeks away from my fabulous trip, wondering to myself what I have done to be so incredibly blessed. One thing I know for sure is that my luck didn’t just magically appear to me one Sunday afternoon. Through my experiences in the FFA and other life events, I have been fortunate enough to have met so many wonderful individuals who I know will be life-long friends of mine. However, there was definitely a handful of times when being an officer wasn’t easy... nor was it the “cool” thing to do. Sometimes I felt like I was missing out on the so many things that Texas A&M had to offer me as a college freshman, but I knew that in the end, this was more important to me. Being faithful to the people and the things I loved and cherished the most, have made for the Fairytale Life of Macy Eaves to become a reality. I realize that words alone cannot begin to express my true appreciation to these two individuals, but from the bottom of my heart, I truly hope they realize what an impact each one of them has made on my life. Without their faith in me, I know that my trip to China would have been far more difficult. Sorry for the super long post (even though I could have detailed the story a lot more), I tried to choose the important parts! The dates of this trip are January 2-15 and a daily blog journaling our experiences abroad will be kept at www.ffa.org. Feel free to check it out! As for now, Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Be Blessed,
Macy
