The manila envelope stuffed into my mailbox this past Saturday said "Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program" in the left-hand corner. I hesitated just a moment before opening it--what if I wasn't accepted? What if the envelope held a form letter politely telling me "no"?

Enough doubt. I ripped open the envelope and skimmed the letter quickly, searching for the word "congratulations" in the first paragraph. I panicked a little when I didn't find it and then forced myself to read the paragraph carefully. In rather subdued language, the letter stated, "The peer review commitee has recommended you for an exchange if a match is found."

I've been accepted! At that moment, I wanted to run next door and across the street to tell my neighbors, none of whom I know very well, to share my news.

Instead, I read the rest of the letter:

We are currently in the process of matching U.S. and international applicants and will notify those candidates for whom we find matches beginning in March and continuing through early May.
...
If you have not been matched, we will send you written notificiation in early June.

My enthusiam fizzled when I contemplated the long wait and the possibility of not finding a match. But then I soothed myself with my mantra: "All things are possible. I have a good chance." And that mantra, that thought, that hope, inflated my elation once again.

And that's where I am today: hopeful, elated, waiting.