Missionary Kid Monday: The Promised Land

{For more on this series, click here}

In France, junior high lasts from 6th to 9th grade. Here I am in eighth grade (top left corner), absolutely miserable and knowing I had another whole year to go after this.

The plan for high school was to send me to an American boarding school in Germany to prepare me for college in the U.S. Now before you recoil in horror at the words "boarding school", you need to know a few things:

1. It was only a 5 hour drive from my parents' house.
2. EVERYONE there was a missionary kid, just like me.
3. The teachers were all missionaries too, and super nice (obviously not there for the money)
4. Some of my BFFs from English Camp were going too.
5. Anything was better than French schools.

Also, I was INCREDIBLY lonely and VERY independent -- my parents realized this and decided to send me one year early - in 9th grade instead of 10th.

They didn't know that I had been praying for that to happen... every single night of my eighth grade year. Downright pleading with God.

So when my mom broke the news to me (in a rather somber way -- it was obviously hard for her to think of "losing" me so soon), I muttered something and then went to the bathroom....

.... where I completely burst into tears.

Big, fat, happy tears of relief. 

And then I felt totally guilty for crying because I knew how hard this was gonna be on my parents!

Next week, more about this magical place:

What about you? Were you excited to go to high school? Or scared out of your mind? :)