Falcon Footnotes

Service learning. What does this phrase mean to you? I find it easier to break it down a little before trying to understand exactly what is meant when the words “service” and “learning” combine. To me, service is the act of giving of oneself in order to benefit others. You could do a service to someone by spending time with them, or you could do a service by raking their leaves or babysitting their kids. The important part of service is not the act that you complete, but the intention behind it. If you are acting selflessly chances are you are participating in an act of service! The next part of our key phrase is learning. In this context I think learning can be defined as gaining knowledge from your experiences. Therefore, service learning is gaining knowledge from selfless acts. (more…)

For the typical college student, missing home is an inevitable part of the post-high school venture. But what happens when you miss your college? This emotion, though unexpected, is one I have experienced during each of my first two collegiate summers.

Now into the final weeks of my summer “vacation,” I am steadily anticipating the transition back to life at Messiah. Suddenly, I will jump into a world of 2,900 students who have been excitedly anticipating a similar transition, many of whom will return with stories of their own. These stories will be shared over late-night hamburger grilling, late-morning pancakes, weekend soccer games, and salvation army shopping trips, allowing us to realize that we simply love this place. While the freedom and flexibility of summer is certainly something to recognize, the pure excitement that the Messiah community shares – specifically during the opening weeks of the fall semester – brings us back to childhood.

24 days….

At Messiah there are a lot of different classes that students are required to take, which are called General Education courses. My favorite Gen Ed. was most definitely my First Year Seminar class. I was in one titled What Little Girls Are Made Of and it was taught by Dr. Kris Hansen- Keiffer. I think a lot of times FYS’s are either a hit or miss on whether you love it or hate it based on the professor and subject matter. Fortunately, I found a class with both a great professor and great topics to discuss. This course opened up my mind to different ideas like feminism, relationships, and how the media affects how girls view themselves. It was through this class that I realized I wanted to be a Human Development and Family Sciences major instead of an English major. That is why I am really glad Messiah requires students to take courses from all ends of the spectrum because it helps students to be more open-minded.

1. Highlighter- Helpful for emphasizing the important notes!

2. Rewrite- Once you have studied for awhile rewrite the most important notes on a separate piece of paper!

3. Roommate Quiz- Have your roommate quiz you with questions so that you can make sure that you can come up with the answers without looking at your notes. Speaking the notes is helpful in remembering too!

4. Quiet Place- Find a quiet place to double check everything and reread all your study notes 5 more times!

5. Supplemental Instruction Sessions- Some classes offer study opportunities where another student who has already taken the class designs study guides and is a great way to make sure you are fully prepared for a test! Take advantage of this awesome opportunity!

6. Preparation- Get a good nights sleep. Take a shower. Dress for success. Eat a good breakfast. Be Awesome!

*Most importantly… relax! Do your best and forget the rest!

One of the awesome things about going to college is getting to enjoy all the athletics on campus. Whether it be participating in a rec (or intramural) sport or going to watch a varsity or club sport game, these events allow students to bond with each other and take a break from everything else going on. One of the advantages of going to a small school, like Messiah, is that you are likely to know some of the players on the varsity teams. This helps foster school spirit and adds to the amazing atmosphere surrounding the games. This is also one of the reasons why so many sporting events here have great attendance and it allows everyone to enjoy the success of our teams. Still, if your looking to take part in a sport but not at the varsity level, Messiah has amazing club teams and very competitive intramural leagues. These options allow you time to focus on your schoolwork while still enjoying the sport of your choice and being able to make new friends. So, whether it is watching a game or taking part in a sports club or intramural league, I strongly encourage each of you to take part in our athletics. It is fun, allows you to meet new people and provides a great break from studying.

When the weather is right – which happens quite often around here - we never hesitate to destress through the calm waters beside us. As we walk toward the yellow breeches with our rubber tubes half inflated, we know that hours of homework, club meetings, and challenging exams will suddenly be forgotten. For this moment, life is about the stillness of nature. Call it “stress releasing” or “relaxing” if you will, but this activity provides the break we need to survive the rigorous work week. As we sit comfortably inside our tubes, with our feet dipped into the merky breeches, we know that it is all worth it. For now, though, we savor the moment of freedom. We know that emails and projects and late nights await us; we know that there is more to be done that floating from one side of campus to the other. But it just doesn’t matter. This is how we destress, and were running with it.

Procrastination. Everybody’s doing it..come on, you have plenty of time. Maybe ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ is on TBS? But hold the phone, Ray Romano jumped the shark years ago. If you’re going to procrastinate, don’t settle for TBS.

If I start thinking about classrooms and then a little about professors, eventually I’ll be obsessing about the next exam or assignment..inevitably leaving me disconnected from all useful thought and on a one way track to justifying procrastination. But for me, that always either means 1 of 2 things; Discovery or a Documentary.

The Discovery Chanel could educate an alien. Really, if an alien came to earth and we needed to tell them all about our planet, you just sit the thing down and give it Discovery, Animal Planet, and the History channel. In two or three weeks you’d have something like a ten year old. It is by this accreditation that I justify watching the Discovery channel whenever I can, especially when I just need to zone out on the life cycle of butterflies: very relaxing.

Documentaries are another option. Unlike actual ‘movies’ with stories and actors and fake blood, Documentaries have the element of reality, regardless of the propaganda typically being spread by the idea behind the screen. For some reason it is much easier to watch these films and not feel a sense of deteriorating brain cells. Documentaries will be controversial, colorful, or boring. It’s rather a hit or miss activity, but identical to the Discovery Chanel; very relaxing.

Documentaries will give you opinions, Discovery will keep you learning.

Hermit crabs are fascinating creatures. Think about this, a hermit crab changes bodily homes every other month. That’s like playing musical bedrooms with your life. That’s like moving your bedroom into one of your friend’s bed rooms every other week. If that was the case, could there ever truly be a feeling of being  “at home”?

Wikipedia defines “Home” as simply being, “the place in which one lives”. But no, home is more. The word home triggers a sense of belonging. It is by no means constricted to one place or one time..home can be the cozy living room of the family house or the little study nook on the 4th floor of a collegiate academic building. Home’s change, expand, disappear, and can be nothing more than a memory by itself.

College changes the place and understanding of home for many students. Studying abroad will stretch and provoke query in even more unique ways. Home may never be the same again once college starts and it may end up in a thousand other hermit shells before graduation. But that is no cause for alarm. It is in fact a stupendous challenge to us students and our hearts. In the end, we are bound to breath until our dying breath, and where we intrust our love for places and people will leave our trail of homes..always calling back to us but placid in our wake.

The first few weeks of college everything is new and exciting, including the dining hall. I know I was impressed with Lottie Nelson Dining Hall and almost overwhelmed by the variety of food available. But, after awhile you begin to decide which foods in Lottie are your favorites. There were a couple things that Lottie provided that I really really loved. First, there is the yogurt bar. It is amazing!! There’s different yogurt flavors and all these different toppings like toasted coconut and chocolate chips. Yum! I also really loved the burrito bar. This was my go to food when nothing else seemed appealing. You pick your own meat or beans and then add in any other toppings you want like guacamole, pico de gallo, corn, lettuce, etc. That is my favorite thing about Lottie. The fact that you can make a lot of food the way you want it to be whether it is in the pasta line or using the deli line to make a panini. The possibilities are endless if you know where to look.

Messiah has some of the best food amongst all colleges!! The variety, quality, and flavor of Lottie (our cafeteria) is superb! My favorite Lottie food is definitely the Mac n’ Cheese! Every Friday at Lunch they make and serve delicious Mac n’ Cheese! If we are lucky there will be leftovers for Sunday Lunch!

A complete list the entire Messiah Dining locations and menus can be found here…Messiah Food Awesomeness!!!!