Lone Star State

Austin.
The land of the hipsters, the wild, the audacious, the diverse.

I go back to the question time and time again,
What would have happened if I went to Austin?

What if that $10,000 scholarship never came through, or what if my parents refused to let me travel so far from home?
Everything other factor was God's hand.

It felt like I knew more people in Austin than I did at Indiana.
And that large, sweet, comfortable community of Christian Asian Americans.

Being away from that setting for so long lets me appreciate the bubble of a world that was high school. The assurance that came with inevitably having a community to fall back on at the end of the day and the familiarity of faces I knew for so many years.

Definitely.

I reassure myself with the idea that I would not have discovered my own passions, my own identity, and my own confidence without the jarring culture shock from Indiana.
I would have loved UT. Especially the people, but maybe even the campus.

But I will say God has given me ample opportunity in the past two years to discover what it means to be a Christian and an Asian-American. Those two 'label's are not inherently tied together, and they shouldn't be. But I've discovered what it means to be both in a predominantly non-Christian and non-Asian-American environment. Maybe I might have discovered some of that nonetheless, but it's amazing how much God's shown me His power and His love since I left for Indiana. I rely not on the comfort of the norm, but on the unfailing nature of Him.

Texas will always be home. But sometimes it's good to get away. Get some perspective. Fully realize the blessings you had. Realize how God still provides everywhere, and through everything.

I think I'll be back in 2 years. But until then...

the end.
05.14.2015