Shout Outs and Education

Finals are over, and we all made it through all the delayed flights, rerouted buses, carpools, and the eventfulness of traveling home.  At the airport I saw this obvious college student who pulled an entire box of Kleenex out of his backpack. Home for Christmas with a cold. I had to pity him.

We did make it through finals. I didn't understand how much coffee and lack of sleep that phrase would entail. There's a scene in Clueless where the teacher announces who has the most tardies in class. This kid named Drugs stands up and gives this speech thanking all the people including the crew at McDonalds for making him late. It's an amusing scene, kind-of satirical, and goofy. With a nod to that, I would like to do some thanking of my own for helping me get through finals week. Shout out to my mom. She sent me a box of gingerbread cookies. My school is pretty far from home, and gingerbread cookies taste like nothing else but home. Seriously, where else can you buy a good gingerbread cookie? My friend and I had a devouring session with them. Second shoot out is to my roommate and friends. Thanks for being there even when I got grumpy, and being people to laugh with on our free weekend. You are the only people I know who could spend an hour and a half in a bookstore and enjoy it. Third shout out would be to the Glitch Mob whose weird, electronic, futuristic music contains almost no words and amped up those study sessions.

"puts on a more serious voice", but really I am grateful for this last semester. Being able to get an education is such a gift. We watched a video in Education class about children in different parts of the world, and the obstacles they faced. I had never given much thought to how hard it can often be for a girl to get an education. One girl they showed who middle school age and only made it to first or second grade. Her life would now be herding goats and getting married, and to me that is so sad. She would hardly be able to read. That could have been me, but here I am for some reason allowed to learn and pursue my dreams. Man, what a gift. When school gets hard, I am really going to try to not complain. I can think about girls in Pakistan in the book I Am Malala who find it difficult or impossible to get an education. (Sidenote: I Am Malala is an excellent book. Her narrative voice is surprisingly sharp and clear, and she has a spirit that can speak through cultural barriers. Great read.) So here's to getting an education. Here's to doing the best with what we've been given. Now Merry Christmas and enjoy the break.

A Shocking Adventure

http://storybird.com/books/an-unlikely-adventure/

Here is a shocking adventure of my own. In education class I was ordered to do an assignment, but I had a lot of fun with this one. Some random person picked up my story weeks later, and it's been spreading around Storybird. I was shocked. This is crazy. This stuff doesn't happen to people, not the real ones at least. This is kind-of like the premise for the story, falling in love, that kind of crazy. That doesn't happen, right? Or maybe it does...."laughing" I don't know. Life's an adventure and I plan on keeping you all guessing.

22 (Read the rest for yourself. What do I look like, Sparknotes?)

    Right now I have an infatuation with lists. I have a sort of deja vu feeling that I read about a writer (one who actually publishes books) with the same infatuation.  Regardless, I am still holding on to this burning love for the listed.  At this very moment, I am in the most pleasant McDonald's I have ever set foot in, and I have been to a lot of McDonald's. This place is a work of art. It is brightly colored, and decorated for Christmas, not to mention the newly retro corporation art all over the walls. Someone, and I don't know who, should give them an encore or a standing ovation. There's just something fantastic about doing something with such excellence, whether it is a Van Gogh painting or a Big Mac.  Anyway, enough of my soapbox on excellence. Of course it's time for the lists, that's why we're all here right?
                                                                   First 3 Months of College Musings
                                      1. Going off on your own teaches you way more than you knew was out there.
                                     
                                      2. God's pretty funny about the people He places in your life, sometimes you didn't know you even needed somebody like that until they're there.

                                     3. Previously seeing another incoming freshman on Facebook and being like, "oh, we're not going to be friends", can turn into the ironic event of them becoming one of your best friends at school.

                                     4. The two weeks of freshman year were some of the most terrifying and embarrassing weeks of my life. I had not a clue of what I was dong. Now I know how to fake it.

                                     5. It's a good idea to actually go to those classes. It keeps you on your professor's good side. You really don't want any hatred aimed at you while your final exam is being graded.

                                     6. The education department at my school is amazing.

                                     7. There are a lot of couples at my school. My single friends and I maintain a loving hate filled relationship of them.
                                      8. John Stumbo is an awesome chapel speaker.

                                      9. Writing your own path is way better than following what you think everyone else is doing or what everyone else expects of you.

                                      10. The silent library section is the best place to study on campus. It is silent.

                                      11. Dressing up as a life-sized M&M and standing on a street corner in the Bronx, will remain etched on my memory for years to come.

                                       12. It's okay to make mistakes at college. (Someone told me that and I wanted to put that here.)

                                       13. Been learning a lot about what it means to love Christ holistically, as a full human being. You know that part where it talks about loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul?  Well, that means all three of those things: your emotions, your thoughts and intellect, and the very essence of who you are. We miss that a lot in Sunday School.

                                     14. Just doing the work at college for the sake of getting it done is fine, and we all do that to some point, but what about actually engaging ourselves in what we're learning? Wouldn't challenging and stretching your mind be right up there with loving God with your mind?

                                     15. I really, really, really, really, really, really enjoy learning. "sigh" alas that it strange. I need to rethink my life, or not. Savvvvy?

                                    16. Air, water, roommate.

                                    17. Dr. Who is......very....popular here. I've never watched a full episode.

                                    18. You get more confident wandering around here. One more thing God does when you let Him.

                                    19. It's okay to pay a fine in quarters. "cough cough" Hey! It's what I had folks.

                                    20. My honors cohort is more like a bunch of kids from the Breakfast Club, and that fact is nothing but awesome. Once again, God knew what He was doing with that, as He does with everything.

                                   21. Blue like Jazz

                                   22. It feels like a perfect night, to dress up like hipsters, something something, feeling 22! blah blah blah

                                   Here are the musings, folks. If you don't like them, well, I'm not getting paid for this so good luck firing me.