Don’t Quit on the Road to Good Works

I just can’t give up now.
I have come too far from where I started from.

Nobody told me the road would be easy.

I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.

(Mary  Mary)

On Friday, my family traveled to Northwest Arkansas to attend the induction ceremony into the Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering (AAIE). The plan was for us to arrive early so that we had time to tour the campus, particularly Bell Engineering Center, and to locate my name on Senior Walk. By 5:30 am, the plans changed: Our local flight was cancelled without notification; the only flights available with three seats required us to drive to Houston, connect through Dallas, fly into Tulsa, and drive back to Springdale. At one point, I looked at James, ready to give up, when a still small voice said don’t quit. So we made the journey and arrived as the banquet began. Throughout the ceremony, I realized that this journey leading me back to the University of Arkansas began years ago.

 

The thing is, I never planned to attend any in-state college. If I had my way, I would have gone to Duke. I first started getting info from Duke in junior high school, based on standardized test scores. Later, in high school, after expressing an interest in engineering, I began to get correspondence from the School of Engineering. At that time, I had not considered the cost of going to Duke...I simply wanted to go to Duke because the school expressed interest in me.

Senior year rolled around and the reality of paying for college set in. I grew up in Stuttgart, a low-to-moderate income community, and I was first generation college. Thankfully, I had a dedicated guidance counselor who worked tirelessly to assist those of us who needed help finding scholarships (a big shout-out to Mrs. Ferguson). I had no idea how I could afford college, so I only applied to in-state schools... thinking I could not afford out-of-state tuition and unaware of any other options. On graduation day, I learned that I had been selected for the Ruth Reiger Scholarship, renewable for four years at an in-state institution. I started classes at the UA in June 1988 and completed my coursework by December 1992.

We make our plans, but God orders our steps. The road to good works has not been easy. There were a lot of nights when the load of you-name-it seemed too much to bear and I wanted to give up, but that still small voice would speak to me and say don’t quit. I am so thankful for the blessings and the lessons learned along the journey. When the banquet was over, I had the pleasure of meeting two very prosperous members of AAIE, who informed me that I was only the fourth person born in Stuttgart to become a member of the academy. (That makes me the first woman from Stuttgart to be inducted and motivates me to become an ambassador for more women to pursue Industrial Engineering.) To learn more about what’s happening at the University of Arkansas, visit http://www.ineg.uark.edu/

So, as I get ready for another workweek, I close this post with a verse of inspiration:

 

Don’t Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

To read the poem in it’s entirety, visit http://www.thedontquitpoem.com/thePoem.htm