The Unimaginable.

We made the 2,140 mile trek out here, settled in, and I started looking for a job while watching the baby. It was pretty much the perfect setup for our situation at the time and we loved our condo, the neighborhood, friends, ward, and area.

I applied for a lot of positions and thought for sure something would come up soon - I was confident in my skills and my education and I was ready to go. However, as I looked at more and more jobs, I became somewhat disillusioned with what I was looking at long term. -- Now, what I share at this point is somewhat personal, and I hope it is taken with complete seriousness and respect. -- One day after receiving a rejection e-mail for a job that I was made for (Research Assistant for a think tank doing Latin American stuff), I became frustrated. I went to my knees and simply prayed that I would be guided to the right area/sector to find employment - obviously where I was looking was not right somehow. The answer I received shocked me. The thought, "Go to medical school" was clear in my mind. This was NOT what I was expecting.

During my undergraduate education I had a long battle with this career path. Many a chemistry class tried to deter me from my then goal of practicing pediatric medicine. Short only of a year of physics and one semester of OChem, I eventually decided to move on and focus on other talents and interests that eventually led me to the MPA program at BYU.

When that initial impression came to my mind, I honestly thought it was crazy and pushed it off. Now was not the time, and how would I go about doing it? This is a HUGE commitment for both myself and my family, would I put them through that? I already have a graduate degree, would I be taken seriously by admission committees? What about the classes, the MCAT, time line, and at least 4 years of med school??!? My somewhat incredulous reply was, "If it's right, pave the way." I left it at that.

Later that day, when Kenz came home from work we discussed how weird it was that I didn't even get an interview for the research position. She then turned to me and said something to the effect of, "Too bad you didn't pursue medical school." I turned to her, again shocked, and asked, "Why did you just say that?" She said that she had been thinking about it all day and I then told her about my earlier experience. We came to the conclusion that we should look at it, and if it's right it will pan out.

I slowed my job search and focused on what could be done here to take the classes I needed to take the MCAT. It all seemed impossible both logistically and financially. Not only would it be expensive, what would we do with the baby while I was taking classes and prepping my resume? Could I do night school? All of the pre-professional certificates (an option if you have already graduated but want to go to medical school) were offered by universities several hours away. Then I remembered Weber State University's pre-professional program and how on the ball the advisement team was.

I began my college education at Weber before my mission, and I remembered that shortly after I graduated with an MPA, they had sent me mail inquiring whether I would finish my bachelor's degree there and I had laughed at it. Now the puzzle pieces were starting to come together. I could finish a bachelor's degree at Weber. That would mean relocation to Utah - not something we necessarily wanted to do, or had ever imagined doing only months after we had moved across the country to start our careers. We had also felt that this is where we needed to be, why else move all the way out here to move back?

Utah seemed the most promising option, and I found I could start a second bachelor's degree at Weber, or transfer. I also looked at other universities - BYU was obviously out unless I wanted to pay grad tuition as a non-degree seeking student - and found that both UVU and the University of Utah offered second bachelor degrees. It seemed that I had found the way to do it. But would we have to go back to Utah? And what about Kenz's job that she just started and loves? Also, what would our parents think about this? What about friends here, and family? Was I crazy - am I crazy?

It all came to this: Kenz needed a job in Utah if this was to work out. So we looked casually, because for all intents and purposes, Kenz was not actively looking for a new job and was happily employed. Plus, the job market in Utah is kinda rough, and we are happy here.

But the question remained, do we put everything on Kenz finding a job in Utah?