look in your heart and you'll find

I had an absolutely amazing summer. In addition to working at the daycare back home that I have been working at for the past three summers, I got the opportunity to go on a trip of a lifetime on Messiah’s May-Term Cross Cultural to Germany.  Despite not knowing anyone on the trip and speaking zero German, I had a great time, met the most amazing people, and experienced things I never thought I would. Being able to travel is one of my favorite things and this trip was definitely one of my favorites. If any Messiah student is able to go on a Cross Cultural, I would definitely recommend it. Once I got back to the states, I then got to work at the daycare. I honestly loved every minute of it. Being here is also making me miss all of my children and co-workers. I was also able to spend a great deal of time with friends and take short trips to Pittsburgh and Washington DC to visit.

It is crazy to me that I am now a senior at Messiah. Three years ago I had just moved on to campus and had no idea what to expect. While I have had some good and bad times throughout my three years so far, I am so excited to be starting my last year here. This year is sure to bring with it numerous challenges as well as exciting times, since I will be completed my student teaching experiences: Morning preschool in the lab school for this semester and full day public school teaching in the spring. Because of this I am sorry to say that my blogging might be slightly more scarce than in the past, but I will try my best and I guarantee you that I will have fun stories to write about.

This week is that last week before spring break. I am super excited for spring break this year not only because I will be able to get a break from classes and hopefully have time to relax at home, but also because United Voices of Praise will be traveling to Canada. We will be leaving Thursday afternoon and missing classes on Friday in order to go into a Christian school in Niagara. I can not wait to leave. It is sure to be an amazing time. Last year our group traveled to Ohio and had a blast. Through the three days we spent together on the bus and singing with each other, we were able to become so much closer as a group. After tour it was amazing to see all of the positive changes to the choir. This year we will be gone from Thursday to Monday and in a foreign country, so I can’t even imagine how much better it is going to be from last year. After all of the planning that I have put into the trip, I am slightly worried about how it will inevitably turn out in the end, but I believe that it will be wonderful and that great things are going to happen to us and through us! In the next entry I write I am sure that I will have great things to say, and I will be thrilled to write about what has happened. I have to get through the rest of this week though with a few projects and tests still to come though before I can officially head out. It is sure to be an amazing time though and I can not wait to see all that is going to come my way.

I arrived on campus yesterday afternoon around 4:30 after being away for almost three weeks. While break went by super fast, I found myself surprised that I felt as if it was time to come back. Being at Messiah I have gotten used to being the first one to go back to school after Christmas and the last one to get back before. While all of my friends are still at home enjoying the Indiana snow, I am at Messiah, where snow is almost non existent. I absolutely love snow so having the snow stop falling during my travels across the state yesterday was upsetting. At home it had been snowing non-stop for three days and there were very few breaks in the snow the entire time I was home, allowing for a gorgeous white Christmas and some good times sledding.

Students are all back at Messiah going through their first day of J-term classes today. I, however, am not taking a class, but am spending my time at work and hopefully writing scholarship essays and working on being productive without any real deadlines and pressures upon me. I am hoping that this month becomes one that is extremely relaxing but allows me to be super productive at the same time. Even though I am jealous of my friends back home who still have a week or two to go until they have to be back at school and working, I am good with being at Messiah and working towards accomplishing some goals to start this new year of 2010. In three weeks, it will be break again and I will back back home and I can’t wait to see everyone in Indiana again, but until then I will be at Messiah enjoying my time.

This week was that first week back from Thanksgiving break. Coming back I am having the same feelings that many students are feeling: the hustle and bustle of the end of the semester. While coming back I felt as if the semester was already essentially over, there is still so much more to do in the two weeks before I get to go home to Indiana for Christmas break. The life of being a student at school is still alive and well. As I hear some students complaining about the loads of pages they have yet to write for papers, however, I feel pretty lucky to only have two papers and a project left.

Coming back from break also gave me something new. I have been moved from my office in the Office of Marketing and Public Relations on the third floor of Old Main to an “office” in Climenhaga. While I was sad to leave where I have been working for the past year and a half there have been a few pros to my situation. I miss all of the wonderful people, both students and staff, that I have gotten to work with while I have been upstairs. I miss the quiet atmosphere. I miss the familiarity and the comfort that I have gotten from working there. The past couple of months have been a little hard however since I have been working with Jim whose office is in Climenhaga and he took all of my files down there with him. Now that I have moved I have gained access to the files I need and am beginning to do work more easily. I feel over time I will be able to become comfortable in my new work environment just as I was able to do in Old Main. It just might take awhile.