Dream With God: My Fully Funded Ivy League Grad School Story
There’s really no way to TLDR this because the details are too divine. So, let’s just get started.
It all started in December 2023, when I made this agreement with myself, before God. I said that in 2024, I would not kill my aspirations because of fear. Meaning that, if there was anything that I desired to do, and the only reason I wouldn’t do would be because of fear, then I would have to do it.
Of course, this immediately came with a challenge, as most vows do. I had an idea to host an encouragement/accountability group that would meet every quarter to give updates on our goals for a year. I’ll discuss that endeavor on another day.
A slide from the 2024 Vision PowerPoint night series. We met five times between Jan 2024-2025, to share our goals and ambitions, encourage one another and gain accountability.
After the first meeting, came the next thing: to plan a wedding proposal for my friends. I had done this before, so it wasn’t daunting. Done by March. Afterward, I teased the idea of doing event planning. I was 20% serious. But of course, the day after I said it, there was a wedding expo next to church. Then of course, a few months later, my friends asked me to help plan their wedding. For 250 guests. In three months. I remembered my vow and recognized the pattern I saw. I needed to do this. So, my friend and I did it. It was easily one of the most intense, demanding but rewarding things I had ever done. I didn’t grow up doing athletics, but I imagined the feeling I had the day after was how athletes felt after competing and getting a trophy. I could talk forever about this, but another day.
The logo for my friend and I’s event planning business. We created this just for the wedding, without being sure if we really wanted to pursue this business. We just took the opportunity as a sign to challenge ourselves and grow.
By September, once the wedding was over, I felt a strong conviction to apply for graduate school. It was as if God was saying to me, “Great job! This is what is next.”
And I completely ignored it. Because I thought it was crazy.
For context, my plan was to grow in my corporate job for a few more years, maybe get married and eventually do my masters part time online a year or two after popping out a kid. Maybe at like 33, 32 earliest. I did know that I felt called to be in academia, but I just always thought later. In 5 years, I’d be ready, and it would make sense. Maybe I’d teach at a local community college. Nothing too crazy. My undergraduate experience was intense, so I just wasn’t ready to go through the pain of school again.
For deeper, more relevant context: In the fall of 2023 (right before I made this promise to myself) a friend of mine came across a post on LinkedIn that reminded them of me. Someone in their network had gotten a full scholarship to attend the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to study City Planning and Systems Engineering. I remember reading the post in complete awe.
I’m from the DMV area so graduate degrees are not an anomaly, or anything to be gawked at. But something about the program, the scholarship, and the school just stuck out to me. It just felt so fitting. I remember saying to myself and God something along the lines of: “this must be a dream come true for them. How blessed are they.” I would think of it here and there, but as I said before, that was not the plan I had for myself.
While I was pretending that I didn’t feel the pull to apply, my conviction grew stronger. I still didn’t budge. Then in one week for three days in a row, graduate school would just somehow come up in my daily activities. Someone randomly left my job to pursue their PhD. Someone I met in public told me that they were going to grad school in a few months. Another person at my church getting an acceptance into graduate school. Something like this happened every day, for three days. And each time, I would feel my heart completely drop. I knew what was being communicated to me. So, I reluctantly agreed that I would apply, understanding the severe loss that often comes with not acknowledging doors that God is screaming at you to walk through.
In mid-October, I visited my mom in Texas. While I was there, I decided that I would visit UT Austin to check out the grad fair. Why not? I was there, UT was a decent school, similar to my alma mater but still different, I’d have free housing etc. While I was looking at which programs would be represented at the fair, guess who I saw?
Yes, Penn. But not really Penn, more specifically it was the Weitzman School of Design, which hosts their City Planning program. The same exact program I had seen in 2023. They had flown out a representative to the grad fair, that happened to occur while I was also in Austin?
So, I obviously go. And the rep invited me to a happy hour, which of course I happened to be free for that evening. At the end of the day, she tells me that the Weitzman school would waive my application fee.
Now the application is free. I have no excuses.
I spoke with another school during this fair and got very invested in their program. I thought I had better chances of being accepted there, and even though it was in Seattle, it just seemed right for me. My undergraduate GPA was not going to cut it for Penn. I’m also just not an “Ivy League” type of person (whatever that means). State school was definitely the way to go. So I invested most of my time into that app. I poured my heart and soul into it.
They rejected me in a little over two months.
Which was crushing. I invested so much time in that application. And if they rejected me, how would I get into an Ivy League school? (I knew very little about the politics and other nuances that go into graduate programs.) I began to make plans in my heart to start applying to local, more “realistic” schools.
Even if I did somehow by a miracle get accepted into Penn, who is paying $60k a year for a degree?
But some things happened with Penn that I couldn’t shake.
Convenient Connections
After the fall open house, I became very inspired by a faculty member at Penn. I reached out to have a one-on-one with her, just to learn more about her career, her story, and get any advice as a somewhat aspiring academic. Our meeting was encouraging, but something interesting happened.
The day before we met, I offered to accompany my coworkers to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference. My manager insisted that I didn’t have to bother, but I felt like it was important for me to support my job, even if I was just passing out flyers or speaking to people about what we do. She asked me to let her know ASAP if I wanted to be on the support team for Tuesday or Wednesday. There was only one more day to secure our team’s badges. I immediately felt the holy spirit tell me to say Tuesday. So I replied, and said I would be there for Tuesday, January 5th.
Then the next day, while wrapping up the conversation with this professor, telling her I’m from the DC area, she mentions that she’ll be in DC on Tuesday, January 5th for a conference called TRB.
My heart dropped.
I told her I would also be at TRB on Tuesday, January 5th. She laughed at the coincidence and invited me to the happy hour that was being hosted for Penn students. And obviously, I went. I was shaken by the “coincidence” and nervousexcited to go.
Then something even crazier happened.
Weeks later, I am at happy hour, but she is clearly the most sought after conversation in that room. I handle myself well in social settings, so I still was able to ask students about their experience, research, and aspirations. But eventually I was getting tired after a long day working, and the event was ending soon. I needed a strategy.
There was a man she would routinely connect with during the event, so I decided to use him as my in. (Sorry if you are reading this LOL.) I started speaking to this man, who seemed strangely familiar to me. I’m not great at remembering names if relationships aren’t established, and sometimes older white men look the same to me. And I definitely did not want to go through the awkwardness of asking why he seemed familiar…so I assumed I he just had One of Those Faces.
We were having a decent conversation when this professor came back to join us, so I started to wrap it up to pivot. As the conversation ends, I ask him for his name. He tells me his name, and I laugh and say “wow, I had a professor with that same last name! But he taught at UMD.”
“I teach at UMD.” My jaw drops. I have so many questions. Why are you here? (This is a Penn event.) Did you leave UMD? How do you know this professor? How are you doing? He laughs and tells me they have a long history of working together since they went to the same school. Somehow my jaw dropped lower. Fully extended. I ask him if he remembers how my close friend and I would meet up at 6/7am to study his lectures, try to do the homework and then go to his office hours before class. (We STRUGGLED okay!!) And he immediately starts shouting her last name! We laugh and reminisce on how often we would go to his office hours, completely confused, distraught, dissecting lecture notes, just in need of his help (and mercy). I tell him that we’re still very close and that we planned a wedding together in the past summer.
The professor is watching this all happen, completely gobsmacked. What were the chances? She got so excited that she wanted to take a photo to commemorate the moment! I left the happy hour with a completely different mindset. I was so encouraged. All these moments made me think that something was really brewing. And now I really wanted to get in. It’s always funny to me how I started so uninterested and intimidated by going back to school, and by January it was my biggest wish.
By February, I received the rejection letter that I previously mentioned, and I focused all my attention on Penn. I share with friends, I was praying about it every day, and they are praying with me! Sometimes because we don’t have enough faith for something, we keep it to ourselves, to save face. But the quarterly meetings and divine moments, and the clarity of what God was doing gave me faith to pray and share with others. I decided that I could trust God for big things too.
if I write it in my ipad its too real
I ended up also doing something I’ve never done – the Hallelujah Challenge with Pastor Nathaniel Bassey. One day two of my friends were just speaking to me about things they were hoping to see in their professional lives, and we decided we would all join this for the first time. We did one night, February 20th, where you dress for your miracle. I wore a makeshift Penn Alumni shirt. We praised, we prayed, and there were a few things God laid on my heart during that time to do. One of them was to start this blog. Another was to write this testimony down in full, before I saw the results, in full faith that if I believed it enough to write it down, God would honor my faith.
Here are some excerpts from what I wrote that night:
Excerpts from my first (unpublished) blog post written on February 20th, purely in faith before I saw the results. Also, the day this blog was conceived :)
And surely it did all come to pass. On March 6th, I received an acceptance letter, with the same exact scholarship I saw on LinkedIn in 2023. I believed I would get in, and that God would provide but maybe through me reaching out, crowdfunding, or some other way. But I got it all paid for. From my application fees, to my school fees, a housing stipend, and now fully funded housing. This has been one of the most joyful seasons of my life. And I am so grateful for God leading me to this promise, at this exact time.
I work in federal contracting, and though my company is great, it’s just too chaotic now in the government. Nothing is stable, and the freedom to research and share data has been stripped away. God knew all these things would happen, and that my job would see a lot of changes by the end of January. I feel so grateful that I’ll be stepping away to go to school.
And guess what else? That professor I made a connection with? Unbeknownst to me, she is temporarily the chair of the department, and the head of financial aid, since the official chair is on a one-year sabbatical. The timing was just right. That’s why He spoke to me so clearly and urgently in September.
Had to give my ChatGPT an update after using it to learn more about the Urban Planning and the graduate school process.
A few takeaways:
Don’t ignore God when He is urging you to do something. You never know what plan He has in store. Timing is so important. Our knowledge and perspective is so limited. Trust Him.
Obedience is in steps. Do the first thing. Start the group. Join the team. Whatever it is, even if it seems small, do it. Completing that is the first step to having the access, knowledge, ability and confidence to do the big things. Do not despise small beginnings.
I could write a book on faith and how it has been a huge theme of my journey with Christ. Without faith, we do not have any access to Him. Faith is the belief in what you cannot see. Faith must be strong and real and pass the tests of reality. Will you believe even after you’ve been rejected? Even when you don’t qualify? Even when there seems to be no way for things to happen in your favor? Trust in the God that parts the seas, empties graves, and restores lives to work on your behalf. You must first really, genuinely, believe. With Him, there’s no cause to hold back. Believe and trust with all your heart, even when you feel and look crazy. Because when it happens, not only will you inspire others to believe, but your bond with God will be so strengthened. Trust first to be able to trust more.
There is so much power in believing for big things with other people. The group I started as a challenge to myself has brought so many testimonies, degree completions, applications, connections, and businesses.
I want to say a huge thank you to my close friends and pastor for encouraging me and praying with me! I love you all so much.
This post is long enough so I’ll hopefully write more on all these things soon. But for now, my hope and prayer are that you will find it in you to dream again. To dream big and dream with God.
“With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:45
““Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” They replied. “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.” Matt 9:28-29 (summarized)
“For we walk by faith, not by sight [living out lives in a manner consistent with our confident believe in God’s promises].” 2 Cor 5:7
