Senior Year
It is the beginning of my senior year; well technically we are already three weeks in. WOW I cannot believe that time has gone by so fast. I still remember my first day of college. I drove up to Witmer with my parents and an absurd amount of things packed in the back of our SUV. Honestly, I don’t know why I thought I needed all that stuff! I went into the front lobby to get my key to my room, and by the time I came back outside, all of my stuff had been moved upstairs. What service! I still think it is a great idea to have all the upper classmen help with first year move-in day. I remember meeting my roommate for the first time. Making friends and thinking that it felt like I had known them for years, even if it was just a few days. Eating in lottie. Walking into a class that wasn’t mine…accidentally. Learning the campus, and slowly learning to call it my home. Mud sliding. Late night excursions. Ohh what fun I had being on my own for the first time! But it is senior year now. I have been waiting for this moment for awhile. I am so excited for what lies ahead, but I am also nervous because I will truly be on my own for the first time. I am ready to embrace it though…ready to find out who I really am. Where ever you are in the college journey, just remember to enjoy it. Don’t worry, it will fly by. Enjoy it while you can.
Many Months Later
It has been SOOO long since I have written something. I am sorry. My junior year in college is over now and I am officially a senior. Summer is ahead of me and now I do not have to think about school work for awhile. The year ended well and I truly enjoyed a lot of my classes this past semester. I would HIGHLY recommend Ethics and the Family. It challenges you beyond belief and it really makes you think about difficult issues. I also enjoyed my Science, Technology, and the World class. Sic, Tech, and the World is a general education class. All though I have complained about taking general education classes before, I truly have enjoyed some of them. Messiah does a good job of making you a well-rounded student when you graduate. In the end, I can appreciate that. One option that I would like to talk about, though I have never participated in it, is the summer classes that Messiah offers. This availability is relatively new, but definitely a great option if you want to get some extra credits in. Each department offers certain classes based on what students would be most interested in taking. I really think that it is a great idea! If you can save some money, by maybe graduating early…summer classes can help you! Next year will bring a lot of work. My Senior Strategies project will need to be completed by the end of the fall semester. This project includes a 6 hour lesson plan that I will design, based on what I feel is an issue that needs to be addressed. For instance, past seniors have designed a 6 hour marriage seminar for newly-weds, a course for family members dealing with a member who was diagnosed with cancer, and a pregnancy planning class. It is wonderful because you can pick what you want to do and really become passionate about a topic within our field of study. I cannot wait to work on it! Well summer is here and I am excited to work, spend time with family, and enjoy a little time off from school. I hope you enjoy as well!
January Term (J-term)
One nice thing that is available at Messiah College is the division that exists between our January term (J-term) and our Spring semester. Financially and credit wise they are all considered “Spring Semester”, but you are able to divide your available 18 credits between the two. Usually a student would take a 3 credit course during J-term and then take 15 credits during Spring semester to equal 18 credits total. Does that make sense? I hope it does. As a First Year I took a J-term cross cultural trip to Costa Rica. I spent a month there with a bunch of other students from Messiah and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I was able to see the jungle, go zip-lining, eat authentic Tican food, and see some beautiful places. I highly recommend doing some kind of cross cultural experience while you are at Messiah. During my sophomore year and currently my junior year I have stayed home to enjoy a month break between the Fall and Spring semesters. Not many people do this on campus and after taking to many of my friends who have done a J-term during their college careers, I have found that it seems to be a positive experience for them. For some it is good because you spend three weeks on one subject. The class is about three hours a day Monday through Friday. This allows some people to truly focus. Others say that they cannot keep themselves focused through that whole time. My thing is that I enjoy having a breather from academic work between each semester. My suggestion to you: Try it, see what works best for you, and work your hardest! 
End of the Semester!
I am sorry that I haven’t posted in awhile…SO much has been going on. Oh the life of the busy college student. Since I last posted we have had Thanksgiving break, two weeks of class, and we are now entering final’s week. The week that we have been working towards all semester. It’s interesting because you can start to see people changing as finals get closer and closer. At any given point you can find someone studying somewhere. The library becomes packed with people, including those hoping to find a quiet place to study to those who are trying to finish up end of the semester papers. Every-once-in-awhile you come across the rare student who has embraced the chaos and feels completely calm about the things that are to come. Those are the ones that you want to be around because they bring you a sense of peace and help you to put things in perspective. All in all the semester will end with midnight screams (the Messiah ritual where any student who wants to, pokes their head out the window at midnight during finals week and screams at the top of their lungs to relieve stress), finals, and of course the end of the semester goodbyes that are bittersweet. Going home to family for Christmas, but leaving behind beloved friends for a couple of weeks. Last Sunday we had our annual HDFS Christmas party at Dr. Hamon’s house. It was really nice to get off campus and enjoy time with my fellow department members. We had yummy subs, chips, and tantalizing desserts. We were able to meet and have fun with our professor’s children and to interact with our professors themselves in an informal setting. We then had our white-elephant gift exchange, where mugs were the desired item of the year, and all headed back to campus to our warm rooms thinking about the fact that exams were around the corner and our own homes were waiting for us in a week-and-a-half. I would highly encourage you to attend!
NCFR Conference
Hey everyone! This past week five of us from the HDFS Department student board headed to the national conference hosted by NCFR (National Conference on Family Relations). This year it was held in Little Rock, Arkansas and the theme was “Lenses on Family.” We flew out Wednesday morning and returned on Saturday afternoon. While we were there, there was SO much to do! We attended different sessions where various people presented their research and explained the impact it could have on our field of work. We also were able to meet some really important people and do a little networking. The conference seemed to challenge all of us to step out of our student roles and become professionals for a few days. It was a wonderful learning experience, and really gave us all a taste of what it is like to be a professional. I felt really encouraged in my professional development and gained some valuable insight into my future. Overall we all had a great time and we all commented that we had obtained some much needed information about what it is like to be a family science professional. On Saturday morning I presented at a round table discussion. My topic was “Advocacy as Service Learning.” A used-to-be Messiah Professor, Dr. Deb Berke, and I presented our research based on a required class taken as part of the HDFS and FCSE curriculum. We presented on the pros and cons of using advocacy as service learning. In other words we tried to encourage others to include advocacy in their curriculum. Advocacy is characterized as “fighting on behalf of another.” An example would be someone who tries to petition to have a certain service offered to those on welfare. When you advocate for an individual, you give them a voice that they may not otherwise have. This presentation was a wonderful chance to learn what it was like to present and work hard when it comes to doing something like that. There are many hours that go into writing the proposal, the paper, and then putting together the presentation. I learned SO much about the process through this opportunity. I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who is interested. We also have some available scholarships to those who are interested in going on the trip. Next year it is to San Francisco, California! Please contact Dr. Hamon if you are interested in going!
Homecoming Weekend…the Return of Alumni
This weekend was homecoming weekend!!! I couldn’t believe how many past graduates came with their families to walk around the campus and participate in the various activities that are offered throughout the day. There were SO many fun things to do, and I really enjoyed participating in a few of them myself. On Saturday there was an alumni luncheon for the HDFS department (my department), so I went to that and had a lot of fun talking to the alumni that attended and answering any of the questions that they had. I am so grateful that our department gives us the opportunity to participate in such an event. It helps me to really gain a better understanding of where our department is in proximity to where it was in the past. It appears that we are making leaps and bounds! I also think it really encourages the alumni to hear that their alma mater is doing well. It also gives them a better understanding of which ways that they can help out. Another wonderful opportunity that I had was to volunteer as a station worker for the Lil’ Falcon Zone. This is basically an activity center that is set up for the young children of the alumni. There are approximately 15 stations and the kids are free to participate in whatever ones they would like. My job was to supervise the bracelet and necklace making station. Two other girls and I helped the little ones to put the beads on the string and then it was our job to tie them around the appropriate body part: wrist, neck, or ankle. They turned out SO nice and the kids LOVED it. The parents liked it too because it kept their kids entertained while they were able to catch up with any friends that they came across. I was also able to socialize with some alumni and hear all about their experiences here at beautiful Messiah. What another wonderful, entertaining weekend here at Messiah.
My First Entry!
Well here we go! First of all welcome! I hope this helps to show you what it is like to be an HDFS major, and answers some of the questions you may have. This is for you. I’m going to start off with my story about becoming an HDFS major. After all I did start off as an International Business major and switched into the major my second semester of college. As a First Year I came to Messiah with the great goal of becoming this amazing business woman. My great-grandfather started his own business; my grandfather and dad have kept it alive since then. I had it in my mind that I was going to be the next one in line. Well let me tell you, God changed all of that for me. Through His small, but significant signs, I realized that I was not supposed to go into business. I couldn’t even make it through my accounting class, how was I supposed to spend the rest of my life working in business? So I started exploring in the handy-dandy Messiah College Catalog. I looked at various majors and read the list of classes that each one contained. Some of these majors were easily ignored: Nursing-I definitely couldn’t handle large amounts of blood, and Engineering-How does a bridge stay suspended?; others were pondered, and then also thrown aside. The only one that remained was Human Development and Family Science. Upon looking at the list of classes, I became very excited because they ALL actually interested me. Was this possible? Would I be able to graduate with a degree, from a major that seemed to be relevant to me in every aspect of life? Well it turns out it truly is possible. I have learned SO much through this major. I never would have guessed in a million years that I would be in such a major as this. Every class has relevance in my future life. I have learned about how people develop from a small infant to an 80-year-old adult, I have learned that families all function together and that if one person changes the whole family dynamic changes, and the lessons go on and on. I’m so glad that I am now in a major that has practical purposes outside of just the job market. I will graduate with so called “street knowledge” for the family I will eventually have. Think about it, what other major can offer that too? -Liz- I am so excited to get to share with you, some of my personal experiences and what it is like to be part of the Human Development and Family Science Department (HDFS). I have never done this before, so stick with me.