Without a word to anyone, within a week, I sent a letter to Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta, India, asking her to accept me as one of her sisters. Many letters and two semesters at the University of Texas later, I found myself in the South Bronx, where Mother Teresa pinned this crucifix to my dress, and made me an aspirant, on my way to becoming a full Missionary of Charity. Aspirancy was like boot camp, total immersion, sink or swim. At the beginning of aspirancy, we were twelve young women seeking to become nuns. At the end, after six months, there were two of us left.