Pace follows heart to Texas

by ELLYSA GONZALEZ, feature editor

 

South Plains College has students from a wide variety of locations.  One student made the transition from the northern United States to the south.

According to Julianna Pace, Puyallup, Washington was not the place where God intended her to be.  So she relocated to Levelland, Texas in hopes of following His plan for her life.

When Pace started college, she had a plan for her future.  As the plan started unfolding, she discovered that God wanted her at a different location. 

“The plan was, I would get an associate’s degree at the community college up in Washington, and then I would go to Texas Tech,” Pace explains.  “Well, things started not working out at the college up there, and my aunt and uncle who live here in Lubbock told me about this college, so we looked into it.  We started praying about it, and this seemed to be the place where God wanted me to be.  I moved down this last June, and I’ve been here since then.”

Pace said things were not going so well up in Washington, and all the arrangements to come to SPC just “fell into place.” 

 

 

 

“It was pretty clear this was where He wanted me,” Pace said.

So she went through a big environmental change as she moved to Levelland, Texas to attend South Plains College.  But so far, she says that she really likes it here.  Pace sees the change as a “big, new adventure.”

“My first impression of Texas was how hot it was…But there was a big open blue sky,” Pace says.  “It was nice.  I’ve come to love Texas.  I think the one thing I miss about Washington is the smell of the trees after it rains.  We’ve got a lot of Evergreen trees, so there’s a really fresh smell and it’s a little bit different down here.  Here, it smells more like beans and enchiladas, and like a musky kind of smell, which I’ve also come to love.”

Even though she has come to love the new environment that surrounds her, making the transition was not easy.  Like most newly-independent college students, she had to learn to live on her own.

“When I first got here, I was kind of in culture shock,” says Pace.  “There were many environmental changes, and my eating habits also changed.  I had to learn to budget.  There was a lot of new experiences and stuff, but I had a lot of help.

Since arriving at SPC, Pace says she likes to keep herself busy.  She does not have a vehicle, so she finds activities and events on campus, or within walking distance of the campus, to fill her schedule.

“I’ve gotten really involved in lots of stuff,” Pace says.  “I go do the lunches at the BSM (Baptist Student Ministries), I’ve got on-campus worship on Wednesday nights, I’ve gotten involved in the Bible study, and I took a job as the wing advisor for the apartments where I live.  If I can’t find something to do, I sit in my apartment and read, or go for a walk and take pictures or something.”

In addition to all of the activities she takes part in during her free time, Pace also makes time to focus on her studies.  She says that she has known what career she wants to pursue since she was about 12 years old.

“I’ve always wanted to work with kids,” says Pace.  “But then I discovered sign language.  I found one of my dad’s old dictionaries with sign language in it and started practicing and everything.  I realized I could use that and teach other kids.  “So I figured I love kids and I love sign language, and I’ve always kind of wanted to be able to teach kids sign language so they can be able to communicate with people who can’t use their words.”

So Pace set two goals for herself.  Her first goal is to work within a public school system.  She also wants to teach special needs children and help them to better communicate with the people who surround them.

“I’m hoping to get a degree in Speech Communications, and then get a bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology,” Pace says. 

She also is earning money while she works toward her educational career goals.  She accepted a job as a Wing Advisor for the Smallwood Apartments.  Her job is to help the dorm mother enforce rules and keep the girls informed about activities around the campus.  Pace says that she enjoys her job. 

“By being wing advisor, I have been able to interact with them and make a lot of friends,” Pace said.  “It has given me a little bit of a financial income.  And I have firsthand knowledge of all the events and stuff that’s going on.  I love it!”

Pace says she is extremely satisfied with the way everything has been working out for her since she moved to Texas.

“Depending on what God has in store for me, I might just end up staying down here,” she adds.