4. A Visit to Monterey Bay Academy

I spent the summer after my sophomore year in the colporteur work. This was a great learning exper­ience- trying to sell Seventh-day Adventist books to non-Adventists. I was told when I signed up to colporteur that I should be able to earn enough money for my tuition at MBA (Monterey Bay Academy), and that is the main reason I submitted an application. As it turned out, all I did was wreck the front fender of Dad’s car and put many unproductive miles on it with Dad and Mother paying for the gas. At the end of the summer I had nothing to show for my work except experience, and a little more knowledge about sales.

Dale and I corresponded during the summer, and one weekend he came down for a visit. We went to Soquel to the Adventist campmeeting. While there, we visited the beautiful Monterey Bay Academy campus and walked through the halls and into the chapel. We kissed in the chapel, knowing we could not do this if we were students. We said, “Let’s do this before we are students!”

Monterey Bay Academy is a co-educational board­ ing high school, in Watsonville, California, situated on 360 beautiful, coastal acres with a half mile of private beach frontage. Just being on this campus was an inspiration. On the floor in the center of the lobby is the school motto: “Where Land and Sea Unite to Inspire.” Students often turned this around saying, “Where Land and Sea Inspire to Unite.” I was thrilled at being able to attend this school, and was trying to get Dale enthused.

When we got back to our house in the evening, we went for a walk. Dale was being very quiet. I said, “A penny for your thoughts.”

Dale was quiet for another few moments and then said, “Do you think we’re too young to be engaged?”

I was surprised and elated that he cared this much for me. I too, was silent for a moment, then answered, “Yes, I think we are too young. When I get engaged I want the whole world to know, and right now, I don’t feel like shouting this from the housetops. I do love you, though.”

“Then could we agree to be engaged to be engaged?” he asked.

I was thoughtful for a few moments, then I agreed, and we sealed it with a kiss.

I was working hard at trying to encourage Dale to attend MBA with me, and he was working hard, still supporting his mother. Toward the end of the summer Dale’s mother accepted a teaching position in Napa. Dale was now free to enroll in MBA, but would he?

The letters were flying back and forth between us. I was ecstatic the day I opened his letter telling me he had been accepted as a student at MBA. We were both juniors now. I was delighted with the thought of our being able to spend time together on the same campus.

Dad and Mom still agreed to let me go to MBA even though I did not have money for my share of the tuition. They were in the process of moving back to the ranch in Cornville when Mother took me to MBA to register. We spent several hours signing up for the classes I would take. I hadn’t seen Dale yet. Was he really there? I was just finishing registering when I looked down the hall­ and there I saw a tall, blond, wavy-haired, hand­ some guy. My heart gave a flutter or two, and Dale and I greeted each other without a kiss or hug. This was 1954. This was MBA. We were now students and we knew we must comply with MBA’s very strict rules. However, this didn’t lessen the joy I knew we both felt in seeing each other. We were both extremely excited to be at this five-year old school. Gladness filled our hearts—we were only teenagers and had already seen a dream come true!

My Cup Overflows. Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Ratzlaff. All Scripture quotations—except where otherwise noted—are from The New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1994 by the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. All rights reserved. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.

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Carolyn Ratzlaff

Carolyn grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian home attending SDA schools through high school. Many years later when she was taking a class at a community college she was offended to read in one of her textbooks that the Seventh-day Adventist organization was listed with the cults. When arguing this point with her teacher Carolyn was challenged to write a paper defending her position. She was happy to do this as she firmly believed in and closely followed the teachings of the SDA church and wrote a paper reflecting her beliefs that the SDA church was not a cult. However, a short time later when she was employed by the SDA church as a Bible Instructor, she and her husband were shocked to learn that they had been deceived by the church they loved regarding its teachings. They soon left that organization and became strong evangelical Christians. Carolyn wrote about this experience in her book, My Cup Overflows.
Carolyn has always been a positive person enjoying life and outdoor activities such as hiking and gardening, and she and her husband currently raise a good portion of their own food in small grow boxes. She also reads many health journals and is often surprised at the contrast between what was taught through the writings of Ellen White on forbidden items of diet and health, and the beneficial evidence of these same items which is supported by a plethora of scientific studies.
She and her husband Dale Ratzlaff have two married sons and four grandchildren.

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