In the past couple of weeks, I've reached a couple of big milestones and I would love nothing more than to share them with you.

The first is that I just graduated from college. WHAT??

I spent the past four years studying Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies at UCLA, but on June 12 I finished my last day of testing. No more finals, no more midterms, no more required readings or writing essays.

I guess I'm supposed to be an adult now... whatever that means. But I think, more importantly, graduating simply means I'm no longer a student. That's weird because I have been a student for the past seventeen years of my life, and I don't really remember much from before kindergarten. Not having to return to school after this summer ends will be the beginning of an entirely new era in my life.

This new era is exciting not only because of what I WON'T be doing, but because of what I WILL be doing.

If you've read any of my other blogs, you might know that in October, I will embark on an eleven-month long mission trip called the World Race. And I will live in a different country every month, working with local organizations and churches to serve people in a wide variety of ways.

And to go on this trip, each participant has to raise all the funds required to get them through the year. The total is about $18,000, but there are deadlines to be met before the trip begins. The first deadline of $5,000 is due on July 21, but ... I just passed that amount!! YAY!

I'll be honest with you: fundraising was one of the things I was most worried about when I was thinking about doing the World Race. But, so far, God has proven that he is faithful, and I've been so encouraged to see Him providing the funds.

Although this first deadline is now behind me, I still have a long way to go. My next deadline of $10,000 is due in September, and I still need your prayers and support to get me there.

Thank you again to all of you who have already helped me so far. I hope you know what a blessing you are, and have no doubt that God has great things in store for the people my team and I will have the privilege to serve during the eleven months we will spend together.