Beautiful Berry

About this time 15 years ago, I was a senior in high school and praying for God to show me where He wanted me to go to college. I honestly had no idea. I knew that I was ready for a change. Some place new and different. My friends and I went to visit some colleges with our high school mentor, and one trip sent us up to Rome, GA to visit Berry and Shorter colleges. I had never been to Rome and never heard of Berry. None of my family members had gone there. When I stepped on campus, I was amazed. From then on, I was convinced that this was the school God wanted me to go to. My parents were not able to afford a private school like this. I honestly didn't plan to attend a private college. They were calling Berry to tell them I couldn't come (I was very upset because this was the only school I applied to...I was THAT convinced!), and the girl my mom was talking to said they had a work program and I could apply to do that and it would pay for my tuition. Wow! Talk about a God thing! So two weeks after I graduated from high school, I moved on to Berry College campus. It was a little scary at first...I didn't know anyone and wasn't familiar with the area. Plus I was almost 2 1/2 hours away from home. It was a big step. But soon after I arrived, I found that I had some sweet roommates (Hey, Amy!) and God just took care of the rest. My time at Berry, the people I met, the experiences I had, impacted me in a great way. I also love the way that the school was founded....Martha Berry lived in Rome and wanted to share Bible stories with the mountain children. That turned into wanting to provide them with an education, and for those who couldn't afford it, she would provide work for them to pay for their education (one of my jobs was working at the Martha Berry Museum :-D). It was neat to go to a school that got it's start in that way. I have so many great memories from there. Berry is on my mind today because it's the annual Mountain Day on campus. It celebrates Martha Berry/the school and was always so much fun. I, unfortunately, have been unable to go since I graduated. This year was my ten year reunion. I'm kind of sad I missed it. But, maybe some other year we'll get to go. I hope that my children will be exposed to such a beautiful place and who knows...maybe God will lead one of mine to go there! Hope you enjoy some pictures of some of my favorite places.