It was destined to be the best day of my entire high school career right from the start.
For my eighteenth birthday, my parents had bought me a Universal Studios pass, and my friends Lina and Elyse had bought one as well. This was incredibly life-changing and earth shattering for us because Universal Studios had recently acquired the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The three of us are the ultimate fans; we take Potterheading to a whole new level of seriousness. It was literally a dream come true to be able to visit.
So on this obviously fairly normal day, the three of us clamored into my mom's van and drove to Universal Studios. Technically, Harry Potter land itself wasn't opened yet, but Lina had heard rumors on Twitter that the park was undergoing a soft opening. That meant that for a few random hours each day, Harry Potter World would open to visitors, allowing the workers to test run the rides and visitors to get a sneak peak. We were crossing our fingers and hoping that we would get lucky and be there for the soft opening.
One of us must've drank Felix Felicis in the morning, because as luck would have it, Harry Potter World was open in all of its gloriousness. We were literally having mental breakdowns being in the real Harry Potter World. I think we cried (well, I know Lina cried, but that's another story for another day). We excitedly went on the Hippogriff ride two times. We then headed to the Forbidden Journey ride, pretty much melting from excitement and pure joy. The ride's line alone was a dream come true, like the Harry Potter books in the flesh, and the ride itself exceeded any possible expectations. We ate at the Three Broomsticks... browsed products in Honeydukes... shared butterbeer... conversed with wizards... died of happiness.
The three of us were in line for Ollivander's when I got a text from my mom asking if I had heard if I'd gotten into BYU yet, since other people already had. My heart literally stopped. I battled between curiosity and fear as my fingers hovered over my mother's text, but curiosity won over. I shakingly scrolled through my phone and opened the mail app. After refreshing the screen about fifty times, I found a BYU email sitting innocently and sweetly in my inbox. Fantastic. Hesitantly opening it, I found a link with some instructions. At this point, I was practically hyperventilating, and despite Lina and Elyse's attempts to figure out what was going on, I was too nervous to say anything coherent. I just willed my spotty data service to work faster. Finally, finally, I saw the words, "Congratulations on your acceptance into BYU!" and I was filled with unspeakable joy. Here I was, in the land of my dreams, holding an acceptance letter to the school of my dreams, surrounded by the two best friends who are better than any dream. It was literally the best day ever.
I can honestly think of no better way to find out I got into BYU. It was magical. It was particularly special to share the moment with my two best friends. I took my first step into the future with Lina and Elyse, and I knew that that meant they were going to be my forever friends, no matter the miles or the years between us.
P.S. At Ollivanders, I was later picked to choose a wand. There was no ka oi, nothing better.
