look in your heart and you’ll find

Today all of the junior Early Childhood and Elementary education majors went to Harrisburg and held a math fair with students from kindergarten to third grade. I was put in a first grade room with four other girls and had a blast. It was weird being in a school again since I haven’t been in one since last fall. I have had plenty of opportunities to observe and work with the kids in the Early Learning Center on campus, but being in an actual elementary school is so different. The day for the kids was a semi-hectic one since they were only having a half day and a large group of Messiah students had taken over their school, but they were definitely enjoying themselves.

It was so much fun for all of the Messiah students as well. Each of us was in charge of putting together a math activity for the students. We then spent the morning have the children rotate through our activities. My activity involved simple addition in thier heads and then using counters to check thier answer. With the incentive of “making lemonade” and a few hershey kisses, they were all very excited to be doing math. The children would then leave from my activity and travel on to another table where they would find another game and more goodies waiting for them. It was definitely a great morning for all of us.

When I wrote my post last week, I had no idea what was yet to come with the sickness going around Messiah. While I have still been extremely fortunate to not get sick, the entire campus had seemed to fallen even further into sickness. My roommate got the flu at the end of last week and was sent home and has still not come back, even though she is feeling better. I went away this weekend as well but to visit family. Walking down my hall to go out to my car, I read everyone’s white boards as I left. All of them had something to do with sickness: “DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE SICK!” “I’m sick” “Staying in my room and away from sickness” etc. etc. There is apparently no one who has been able to escape.

Not to exhaust that sickness idea though (which does seem to be getting better now that the weekend is over), I am actually going to be talking about music, specifically Jason’s music. Today is the release date for Jason Mraz’s new CD, A Beautiful Mess - Live from Earth. Because of my slight obsession (I will admit it now), I pre-ordered the CD two months ago which meant that I got the CD last week. It is absolutely AMAZING! Now being to two of his concerts (one being the concert directly before he recorded his concert in Chicago for the CD), it still does not do his concerts justice. There is nothing better than seeing him live. As apposed to many artists today, Jason sounds a great deal better live than on a recording. This CD definitely shows that ability and his pure musical talent, however. His love for the world and the people in it is also clearly displayed from the CD. There is a lot than one can learn from him in order to better thier life and outlook. I have been listening to nothing but the CD for the past week. I have also watched the DVD about 5 times since then. It is just absolutely amazing. You just have to take my word for it and go out and buy it…today!

I’ll leave you with these words from Jason:

Sometimes the sun shines on other people’s houses and not mine,
And the clouds can paint the sky in a way that takes away my summer time,
And somehow the sun shines upon you while i struggle to get by
But there’s a light in everybody so send your ray of sunshine

Messiah has come fallen into society’s latest trend…sickness. While this is probably one of the worst trends to follow, I feel as if it was inevitable. With all of the different flus and colds going around campus, everyone seems to be down with something or just getting over something. I find it surprising actually that this seems to be the first year that Messiah has really caught on to this trend. With just over 2,800 students on campus living together in a tight community, it would make sense that sickness would go around quickly and frequently. Looking back to exactly a year ago, I was actually too sick to get out of bed. At the same time though, the entire campus didn’t seem to be joining me in my sickness like people experiencing sickness this year seem to be.

In both my major and in gospel choir, people seem to be jumping on the band wagon left and right. With our first service for UVP on Sunday morning, a number of people were unable to show up because of being ill. A number of people in choir have gotten sick since then. Rehearsal on Monday seemed especially empty. The education major is definitely feeling the strain of sickness as well. With the workload of the semester really starting to pick up I can’t even imagine all of the work that is piling up behind them, which always seems to be the worst part about being sick: once you get over the actual sickness you feel worse coming back because of everything you have to do to catch up.

I am especially greatful for my ability to get out of bed and go to classes this year though. While I too have gotten sick, I luckily have just gotten a running nose and slight sore throat which is already gone. I pray that I continue to stay healthy and those around me do the same or get healthy!

Fall break is over and now the entire campus is back to work. As I said in my last post I spent my Fall break on a service trip at Youth Development Inc., a youth camp and retreat center, in Headwaters, Virginia. My experiences there were some of the best experiences I had ever had. The trip was absolutely amazing! I went with five other Messiah students on this trip. Before leaving none of us knew each other, but by the end of the trip it was as if we had known each other forever. The group of us also immediately became close to the YDI staff as well.

After leaving Messiah around 12:45 on Thursday, we arrived at YDI around 5:00. The trip there was about 4 hours consisting of I-81 and then winding mountainous back roads until we arrived at Cow Pasture Road and the Headwaters Lodge. That night they allowed time for us to just explore the lodge and relax before being put to work. The group of us then went for a hike and then on a 4-wheel drive excursion to the top of a mountain that overlooked the Alleghenies. The view from the top of the mountain was astounding. It was amazing to look out over the tree covered hills colored with fall and realize how great our God is and how amazing his creation truly is. Then we traveled back down to the lodge for dinner, ping pong, and Apples to Apples.

Friday, we woke up had breakfast a time of devotionals and went to work. Our group was split up with the YDI staff and went outside to either stain two bunk houses or clear brush. I went up with two YDI staff members and three others from our Messiah group to stain the bunk houses. After a few set backs with the stain, we were able to completely stain both houses before lunch. Once lunch was cleaned up and all of the kitchen work was done, we went back outside to finish clearing up the brush. Despite the threat of rain, we were also able to finish with the brush before getting rained on; however, we then decided to go play volleyball in the field where it immediately started raining and then pouring. We were able to get a good game played in the pouring rain.

That night a youth group came for their fall retreat. The rest of the weekend was dedicated to helping with their retreat. We went to devotionals every morning and evening. We played games with them. We served them their meals and helped in the kitchen and dishroom. During the day on Saturday, we also we able to participate in many of the activities with them including a rock wall, the high ropes course and zip line, building a house out of index cards, and a whipped cream drop.

On  Sunday we had to leave and come back to school.  We didn’t leave before going to church with a large group of the YDI staff though. After church, we continued our way through four states back to Messiah. It was so hard to come back. After a weekend of no cell service, laptops, etc. etc., I was really reluctant to come back to the real world. It was surprisingly refreshing to escape the pressures of the world and run into the woods. It was also especially hard to walk away from the five amazing people that I had become so close to. Spending four straight days with them it was hard to realize that I wasn’t likely to see them everyday from now on. I know that we will remain friends and get together every once in a while, but its just not the same as the close knit family we had become over our time at YDI. Now that I am back at Messiah and have a couple of days back over with, I am almost reaquainted to the world I left behind last week. I will never forget my weekend though and will probably always have a small part of me that wants to go back to last weekend and escape back into Virginia and the woods.

In strict contrast to my last post, it is a beautiful fall day at Messiah today. After having a very rainy and cold homecoming weekend, the past few days have been sunny and warm. It is nice to have one last little bit of warmth before the cold of winter (no matter how much I LOVE winter). The whole atmosphere is just sunny and cheerful today, and I’m sure that it has everything to do with the fact that today is the last day of classes before fall break. Once classes are over today students will all be leaving campus to go home or visit friends. After almost two months of classes, everyone is ready for a break including the professors.

This year I have decided to go on a service trip over my break. Tomorrow around noon, I will be leaving campus with five other students and heading down to Headwaters, Virginia to a youth camp. Even though we do not know exactly what we will be doing there, the thought is that we will be helping with a lot of the overall camp maintance and joining campers in activities over their weekend retreat. Last night, our group had a small get together in order to get comfortable with each other before traveling four hours in a van together and then spending four straight days together. Even in the small amount of time that we spent together, it looked like it is a great group and that we are going to have a great trip. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for our trip. I will am sure I will have a lot to blog about it when I get back to Messiah.

I am writing to you from a cold and rainy Messiah. This weekend is homecoming and the weather isn’t looking to get any better. It is really upsetting that such a big weekend at our campus is going to clouded over by gross weather. Homecoming is big at any school any year, but this year is Messiah’s Centennial homecoming making this weekend even bigger. There are so many events planned, it is crazy.With all  of the reunions, dinners, arts performances, athletic events, etc. etc. planned the list is almost never ending and the campus is sure to be buzzing all weekend long.

I am planning on helping out with Lil’ Falcon Zone again tomorrow which is a carnival that the Alumni Association holds for children (especially Alumnus’s kids) that come to visit Messiah for the weekend. I helped out with this event last year too and it was a bunch of fun. It is always fun working with kids and I’m sure a number of the kids at the carnival are visiting Messiah and seeing it as an exciting “vacation” of sorts making it even more exciting for them. Thank goodness that they have moved the event to inside instead of in Starry parking lot because of the weather. Even though I’m sure it would still be fun no matter where it was help, it will definitely be a much more enjoyable experience now that it will be held inside Hitcock away from the rain and cold.

I’m excited to see what all the weekend holds. Being home last weekend for IUP’s homecoming was filled with excitement for the most part, I just hope that Messiah’s is even better (and my now fixed car will not brake down again when I go to bring it back to campus).

As I sit here writing this post, I can not sit still and I cannot understand why. Today has been just one of those days where I have gone back and forth from being hyper and energetic to completely drained and then back to completely hyper. Sitting in my Bible class today, I could not sit still and was in the mood of laughing at almost everything (even those things that were not actually funny), which I’m sure was much to the chagrin of those around me. This action is currently continuing as I sit here in the office and I’m sure will continue as I go on to pick up things at the library and go back to my room to work on finishing my massive Children’s Literature paper that is due tomorrow.

Funnily, when I look back to a year ago today, I was in the exact same mood. On October 8th, 2008, I traveled up to Scranton in order to see Jason Mraz, and if any of you know me and my love of Jason you can assume I was pretty excited and needless to say…a little hyper. It is funny that a year later I am in the same exact mood, despite not going to see Jason tonight.
But despite my unexplainable craziness today, I do have things to be excited about…

1. The week is finally coming to an end. As I wrote in one of my past blogs, it has been a very busy past two weeks filled with papers, class presentations, tests, etc. etc. Even though the busyness of life will not end once I hand in my children’s literature paper tomorrow morning, it will be a definite relief to know that the past two weeks are over and all of the work that I had to do is completed.

2. Going along with school work…it is extremely exciting for me to say that I took the dreaded EDUC 301 Phonics test last night and feel pretty confident in how I did. Since I have done a number of my education classes a little out of order, I have always been in a class with junior elementary education majors in the fall and have heard their fears in taking this test, which is a two hour long, 120 question mid-term taken at night filled with a ton of information on phonics generalizations and early reading theories and practices. Knowing that I have never been able to understand phonics led me to have some worries about this test even two years before I would be having to take it myself. However, after all of the preparation that we did in class and then studying on my on for the test, I felt well prepared. So if you are an Education major awaiting this test…do not fear. You will be ready. But it is exciting to finally say, “I have survived the Phonics test!”
3. I am going home tomorrow for IUP homecoming. I have yet to be home since arriving on campus at the end of August and am not planning on going home again until Thanksgiving, so it will be nice to take a break and visit with family and friends. I love IUP homecoming too. Despite some of the cheesy things that we do, it is always fun to go watch the parade and  go to the football game. It is also just an exciting time in Indiana compared to the typical weekend in Indiana. Needless to say, I cannot wait.

So as I go off with the rest of my day…I am excited. There are lots of good things ahead of me and lots of worries behind me. Watch out world! Alyssa and her hyperness is about to leave the office!

It is now fall and October. In some ways, it is crazy to think that the first month of school is already done. In others, its hard to believe that we still have two months until finals. This month is going to be a busy one. As we fall into the month of changing leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, etc. etc., I see so many things that are coming up on my calendar. Not only do I have a ton of school work to do this month, but there are a ton of events going on as well. Next weekend I am going home for IUP homecoming. The following weekend is Messiah’s homecoming. The week after that brings fall break. We then finally come to Halloween and November. With everything that I have in front of me, I hope the busyness helps the month to go by quickly. Again, a paradox occurs though. While wanting everything to go quickly because of excitement and anticipation, I won’t want individual events to go by quickly. For example, I can’t wait to go home and see everyone again, but when I do I also know that I will not want to come back to Messiah only two days after leaving. I’m sure the same will be true for fall break. Even though I have decided to do a service trip this year instead of going home or visiting friends, I’m sure it will be such a great exerience that I wont want it to end either. Looking outside at the falling leaves, getting to watch football on tv, and hear stories from home about my 12-year-old brother’s successes in his first year of football excites me to no end, but I also just can’t wait to see snow and make it to the end of the month where everything will be crossed off of my calendar.

This semester I am taking my Bible gen ed class. Considering this is a class most Messiah students take as a freshman, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into class on the first day and see a number of upperclassmen including two girls from my FYS. After being in the class for four weeks, our first test is on next Tuesday. Having your first test or paper in any class is always hard. You never really know what to expect. How harshly is the teacher going to grade it, what does he/she see as most important in assessment, what type of questions are they going to ask and in what amount of detail etc. etc.

This class especially has been an interesting one. As many classes at Messiah do, this class has caused me to think mch more criticallyabout what I believe than before. I have felt the same way in CCC, theology, philosophy, etc. etc. It is interesting that even though Messiah is a Christian college and most everyone has the same fundamental beliefs in God, the more discussion that goes on in and out of class, the more you realize how many different beliefs there are. Throughout this first unit of Bible, we have gone in depth talking about the creation of the Bible: how it was written, God’s part in its origin, how we view the Bible, etc. etc. Through all of our discussions and listening to all different points of view it has really gotten me to think about what I truly believe about the Bible. Many of the things I would have thought to be my belief, I have realized didn’t make as much sense to me or didn’t encompass my full set of beliefs as well as another belief might. Now that I am more aware of my own beliefs as well as those of others, I can now take what I know and more completely try to form my own ideas. Hopefully studying for my upcoming test and writing my reflection paper on the unit this weekend will help me to do just that.

It is finally Friday. The complete motivation for getting self out of bed this morning was the thought that, “Tomorrow I can sleep in.” It seems to be as if this week has lasted forever. With the work load of classes picking up and the dreary weather we have had the past couple days, exhaustion has seemed to be the major theme across campus. While talking to people in all of my classes, I continuously received the answer, “Good, but tired,” to my question of “How are you?”

No matter where we are, what we are doing, or how busy we seem to be with work, it becomes extremely important to take the time to relax, even if just for a minute. Take a moment to recollect your thoughts and then start again. It was especially refreshing to be able to have Powerhouse last night and take that time to recollect myself. Whoever first planned Powerhouse to be Thursday had a great idea. At that point in the week everyone is just waiting for Friday to come. During Powerhouse though, I tend to forget what else is going on im my life and could care less what day it is or how much longer until the week is over. This was especially true last night when I focused on having my thoughts rooted entirely in God and not about the world around me. I can contribute this all to my friend, Adam, and his newest blog entry (http://acousticworship.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-is-at-stake.html) that I just happened to read last night before leaving my dorm to go to Powerhouse. Taking his words to heart, I made my whole focus be about creating a solid foundation in my faith before actually stepping into Powerhouse and worshipping. Throughout the hour of worship, I continued focusing solely on God and there was a huge difference in my overall Powerhouse experience last night. So despite the weary/drearyness of campus today, I have been refreshed enough to make it through today…and tomorrow I will be able to sleep in!