summer plans=done.

In a matter of two phone calls within twenty minutes of each other this past week... summer 2012 was made.

I've been crossing my fingers for a summer internship for a long time. I thought the chances of me getting a solid internship this year were rather slim because I still have not taken any of the core food science classes yet.  This year my goal was just to try to get as many interviews under my belt as possible. The practice with the interview process would be good, if nothing else. 

A couple weeks ago, I applied for a position as a research and development intern at Land O'Lakes. I made it past the first interview, and a second interview was set up. Tuesday at 3:30. They would call me.

It was 3:25 on Tuesday and I was sitting on my bedroom floor, literally shaking from nervousness. I couldn't sit still. The phone finally rang and I scrambled for it desperately. 

"Hello, this is Emily," I said, making an effort to sound as professional as possible. 

And the interview went from there. 

On Wednesday, I got good call #1. It was Nick from Land O'Lakes, offering me the internship. I couldn't believe it. I could have screamed. 

Turns out, I'll be in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from the beginning of June to end of August. I'll be working in the research and development facility. It pays well. The area looks beautiful. And plus, I'll be needing a car. So I'm buying a car! I'll be driving out there from Provo. Hellooo twenty-hour road trip. By myself. But I'll have a car. And a great internship with a solid company. I cannot wait. 

As soon as I got off of the phone with Nick, I saw that I had a new voicemail. It was from Jeff, telling me to call him back because he had some really great news.

Jeff is heading up a student-led trip to Zambia this spring. I've been planning on going ever since he told me about it. We'll be working with Scholarships for Zambia. A group of 6-8 of us students will be bringing and distributing medical/educational supplies, teaching classes, and setting up a micro-loan program. The thing is, all of this takes money. We needed to raise at least $10,000. I had no idea how we were going to do it, so it's been something that I've been praying about. 

I called Jeff, and thus, good call #2 commenced. We got a $10,000 grant from a foundation.

I literally had no words. I was ecstatic. This is HUGE. I mean, I've been learning about Education in International Development all semester long. Our 20 page group paper is about education in Zambia. This is something I'm passionate about. $10,000 might not look like much when you're looking at the entire country, but in terms of the lives it will happen to touch, it will mean the world.

The trip is on. I'll be in Zambia for all of May. 

May: Zambia. International development work.

June, July, and August: Minneapolis. Internship.

Both will be amazing experiences. 

I AM SO EXCITED.