Madeline Marie Jacobson, who liked to be called Maddie, arrived at Christian college one day. She came with a friend of hers who was a Junior, so she had her clique of friends already. Maddie never visited the college before, so was very naive to the campus. She entered a gymnasium where people were checking in, and she got all her information she needed to find her dorm and get settled in. She had three other roommates, and she was the last one to arrive. Space was hard to find. She could tell the others hoped she decided not to come so they'd have more space. Disappointment was in their eyes when she walked in.
She needed to do her laundry, and had to carry her laundry basket to an entirely different building, approximately 500 feet away. She went to class and studied in the library. She made a few friends, and went to a few activities. She missed her friends and family from home. She loved the college and the campus, but there's just no place like home...especially when your boyfriend is back home. She walked to her post office box every day in the center of campus to find out if she received any letters. She didn't have enough money to make a call home. E-mail and cell phones didn't exist yet. When she would get a letter, she would savor it! She would find a beautiful place to sit, such as a grassy hill, and open it up and read it over and over...especially when it was from her boyfriend William!
She met a friend in chapel one day named Emily who became her best friend. She sometimes wondered if she were for real, or if she could be an angel unawares. This friend was such a true friend, and came at a time when she felt the loneliest. When Maddie's birthday came around, her new friend celebrated it for a whole week! She often encouraged her with verses from the Bible. When her boyfriend broke up with her by letter, her heart was broken. Emily took her home for the weekend and they talked about it while walking through the nature trail. Emily's family had a simple but warm and welcoming home. Maddie could see where Emily got her charm. Her parents were very dear, and made her feel right at home.
The time had come for her to come home for the holidays. She got a ride home, and she thought it would be very awkward to see her boyfriend...ex-boyfriend. And it was! But they talked, and ended up getting back together. This was a major decision. Her boyfriend thought he wanted to "play the field", but when he saw Maddie, he realized she was the girl for him. He would take the plunge and be committed to her. Perhaps they would even some day get married!
When Maddie went back to college after Christmas break, she dreamed of her future with William. She would go to the mall and hang out for hours. She especially liked the furniture store. She would walk around it and pretend it was her home. She would get an Orange Julius, and eat at Chick Fil-A. She would browse at the card shop and convenience store. The pet shoppe was one of her favorite places. Then she would wait for the shuttle to come pick her up and bring her back to campus. It was getting darker and cooler outside. At last it came, and picked her up, along with several other students.
She decided to change her major to Interior Design, which was a change from Business Management. She really wanted to be a secretary, but the college didn't have that as a major. She soon realized that she only wanted to take Interior Design because she was so caught up in her dreams to have her own home with her husband. She decided taking out loans for thousands of dollars was not the best way to plan for her future when she really just wanted to be a secretary and a wife and mother.
One night she walked back to her dorm after watching a movie on campus called "An American Tail", and the song "Somewhere Out There" was resonating in her head as she gazed at the moon and the stars. As much as she missed William, she took comfort that they would be sleeping under the same moon.
She was so torn about what she should do. What should she take as a major? Should she continue at the university, or go home and take secretarial at the local community college and get married? Stay tuned!
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