In 2007, I heard about the Honor Academy internship from my Mom. I was talking with her about my future one night on the phone. I was telling her how I wasn’t sure what I was going to do after high school. She told me about Honor Academy. A girl from our old church had gone there years before and apparently had a good experience. I immediately looked it up online and saw that they were affiliated with Acquire the Fire. My youth group had been there several times and although I never attended, it seemed like something that was good. I was excited to see that there was a campus in Minneapolis so I wouldn’t have to go all the way to Texas. I applied right away.
I waited for what seemed like forever to see if I was going to be accepted. I was also applying to Mission Year, an urban ministry program. I figured that if I got accepted to the Honor Academy, it would be God’s will.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2008 I finally got the phone call. I was accepted. I immediately made a pro/con list. Here were the pros: I’d take a year off to focus on God and His purpose in my life, I’d have structure, it would prepare me for the future, no secular music or tv – I was trying to cut that all out anyway, it was only 7 hours and 25 minutes away from home, holiday breaks and five days of vacation, I would grow as a person and in my faith, and finally, I would get away from my dad.
The cons: Expensive, maybe too strict, far from home, early mornings and late nights, and not much privacy for a person that relishes their privacy. However, I crossed out the cons, and basically just decided I was going. I did pray about it. I told God that I wanted to do His will. But I just figured that since that was the only thing that was working out, that that was His will.
From March to July of 2008, my life was filled with school and endings and new beginnings and avoiding my dad. I was at my aunt Mare’s house almost every weekend and every Wednesday night for church at Faith Church. It was so different from my old church. I loved the sermons and I loved learning more. I had been going to church all my life but I never really learned from the sermons and was able to apply them to my life. I always had the Honor Academy in the back of my mind and tried to do as much research on it as I could. The website explained the programs but it always felt like I should know more. If I’m remembering correctly, I never saw a statement of beliefs or anything. I always found that odd.
July 14, 2008- I was searching online late one night in Florida. I wanted to find out more about the Honor Academy North campus. It was hard to believe that I would be there in a little bit more than a month. I swear my heart stopped for a minute when I clicked on a link that read “Honor Academy North closing down” or something of the sort. I felt a cool rush of shock and I sat there frozen in the desk chair for hours. Reading and re-reading the website again. It was on the Bethany School of Missions website, which is where the Honor Academy north interns were housed. It said that the Honor Academy north would be closing as of July 2008 and all the interns would be going to the Texas campus. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t sleep that night. I told my family. My mom was as shocked as I was and assured me that she would call the HA later that day. I listed some questions to ask my representative:
1.) Why is HA north shutting down?
2.) When was this determined?
3.) Why wasn’t I contacted?
4.) Will I be able to get my money back if I am unable to go to Texas?
5.) Could I possibly start in January of 2009 instead?
I never asked all those questions. I finally talked to someone about it and they said they tried to call me but I never answered. (I was on a trip in Florida at the time but I did have a cell phone. The one call I did get from them they were asking me if I had any questions and I mentioned stuff about the Minnesota campus but she never told me.) They never left me a voicemail and they definitely could have e-mailed me. I told them I would go to Texas, despite the fact that I would have to fly instead of drive, meaning that I’d only be able to take a few things with me and I wouldn’t have transportation once I was down there.
4 comments:
Bethsays:December 5, 2011 10:01 AMReply
Dear Noelle, I KNOW how heartbreaking having your focus set on one location only to be “baited and switched” without being informed. That happened to my husband and I in Aug. 1996. We arrived in Tulsa for orientation only for our parents to be told NOT us – that the ministry had bought a campus in TX and would with the month be moving to TX. Although this should have been a red flag to me I decided it was EVEN better for me b/c my family lived in Houston and I would be closer to them….
I look forward to hearing more of your story.
Blessings, peace, and health to you.
Beth McComber
Noellesays:December 5, 2011 9:06 PMReply
Thank you Beth. I wish that I had taken their lack of communication as a huge red flag, but there are a few more parts to my story.
Mariesays:December 5, 2011 9:08 PMReply
Noelle, that’s terrible and unprofessional on their part. Where is the “excellence”? I had heard something along the lines of there being a mold problem at the Minnesota campus, and that’s why they pulled out….
I look forward to the rest of your story. I hope you are doing ok now.
Esthersays:December 8, 2011 12:30 AMReply
How does what they did not fall under a bait-and-switch? It sounds illegal to me. I’m sorry you didn’t get what you were expecting. 🙁
