Falcon Footnotes

As you may know Messiah has mandatory chapel every Tuesday and Thursday. Then throughout the year they have several Alternate Chapels that students can attend to reach their quota for chapel. Yesterday’s Chapel in Brubaker was amazing. We had a speaker named Stephen Gallagher who spoke about forgiveness and how it’s hard for some people to forgive when they have been hurt. It was a word from the Lord that not only ministered to me but also to a majority of the students. Then that night we had an Alternate Chapel run by the African Student Union and the Black Student Union on campus. It was just another worship experience. We sang songs in Swahili and Gospel tunes. It was great to have another opportunity to worship with the community. This was a great experience for me because the worship style was what I am used to. However, I can strongly assume that this was a different experience for several Messiah students and they enjoyed it as well. Throughout our busy day at Messiah, I am grateful for the times when we can slow down and worship the Lord not only during mandatory but during Alternate Chapels when you choose if you want to go or not. Take time for the Lord.

Spring break is only a day away! It is definitely well needed. My week has been pretty busy, 2 exams, and some short papers. Not my worst week this semester, but pretty close. Spring break is the greatest break ever! So many people going so many different places, so exciting. This year I have friends going to Peru and Northern Ireland for missions trips, Georgia and North Carolina for adventure trips with Outdoors Club, and Wisconsin, Tennessee, and New Jersey for services trips. I would love to do one of these, but I plan to just go home and relax. I may not be doing anything really exciting, but it’s so needed, hooray for Spring Break!!!

Nearly every weekend the campus is a buzz with sporting events; soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and baseball and lacrosse in the spring. Everyone around asks, “Are you going to the game tonight?” I often respond with, “What about the game this afternoon?” Generally, the women’s games are played before the men’s games. I get a little frustrated with people who only support the men’s teams, because, often the women’s teams preform just as well if not better than their male counterparts. This past fall, both men’s and women’s soccer teams won national titles, and have done so in the past as well. The only thing is, that throughout the season, the women are lucky if they have 200 fans at a game. Even if their game follows the men’s game, people leave the stadium after the first game. The same thing happens for women’s basketball, who is playing in the first rounds of NCAA’s this week, while the men missed out on a NCAA bid. And this happens all year; in the spring with baseball vs softball- which the women won a national title last spring. This issue doesn’t even consider men’s and women’s tennis- yes we have tennis teams, men’s and women’s swimming, and the mis-matched field hockey, wrestling, and golf teams. And don’t even get me started on women’s VARSITY volleyball vs men’s CLUB volleyball. This trend may never change, but I am a strong advocate of equal support of all teams.

Every spring, that same time rolls around – time to start looking for summer work! While the majority of students go home, there are plenty that stay on campus and work here for 14 of the 16 weeks of summer. There are lots of options for on-campus jobs, most including free room and board! Last summer I worked in the Admissions Office, while my roommate worked for Campus Events. The jobs range from working in Financial Aid, to working in Lottie (the dining hall on campus), to cleaning dorm rooms or academic buildings, to being a lifeguard at the pool, and many, many more! Anyone who is a student at Messiah is eligible to work over the summer, and it’s as simple as finding the job you’d like to do, and applying! It’s a great way to stay local if you’re an international student or live farther away, or to have a guaranteed 40 hour a week job if that’s what youre looking for. It is definitely one of the most fun experiences I’ve had here as a student!

Every year, Messiah has this fun tradition where we host a contest to choose which Messiah male is crowned “Mr. Messiah”. It’s such an exciting event! It’s hosted in the Union by Eyas (a club on campus that promotes school spirit!). There’s a talent contest, ’speeches’ and questioning of all the contestants, and even a ‘best dressed’ portion of the contest. Couple that with fun music and comical emcees, Mr. Messiah is a welcome break in the week–a wonderful time to hang out with friends and have a laugh or two! And of course, there’s always the crowning of the ever-popular Mr. Messiah title. I’m excited for the first contest tonight…we’ll see who is crowned this year!!

Yesterday In Eisenhower Commons there were several organizations and clubs at Messiah looking for new members and volunteers. There was the Admissions Office asking for host for prospective students, Residence Life looking for Residence Assistance, College Ministries looking for leaders in Bible Study and Prayer on campus, the Radio Station looking for students who want to run their own show and several others. Living on a campus for four years can be the best years of your life or the worst. Messiah is a very active campus and you can always find something to get involved with. Even if you are not sure about what you would love to do, there are days like yesterday that open your eyes to new opportunities. I am Sophomore and I am a member of the Multicultural council, the secretary of La Alianza Latina (Hispanic Club at Messiah), I play in chapel, member of the NEW Women’s Ministry and I volunteer for other organizations of campus. Name anything you love to do and Messiah can find the best activity for you to do. If you love service you can get involved at the Agape Center throughout the year. They visit the elderly at Messiah and give meals to the homeless. If you want your voice to be heard you can join Student Forum at Messiah and give ideas to enhance the Messiah community. If you want an internship that coincides with your major, visit the Internship center in Eisenhower commons and they have booklet full of internships in the area. If you love to climb and get dirty become a member of the LOFT club where you go on several trips and have a fun time with students on campus. Take advantage of all that Messiah has to offer. You get to interact with different people and grow as an individual, what a great deal. =)

There are four different places to eat on campus. You can eat at Lottie Dining Hall, which is located on the second floor of Eisenhower Campus Center. Lottie is your typical all you eat restaurant. You have the salad bar which is always available. You also have the Deli where you can make your own sandwiches with lettuce, turkey and even humus. For lunch you will find pizza, stromboli, burgers and then the main entree. For dinner there will always be pasta and burgers and grilled then you will also have a different entree evey night. In addition to having all these options during lunch and dinner we have the Mongolian Bar which stir frys vegetables and meat that you can then mix with rice. My favorite meal however is the Baby Blue salad that they serve. This salad consists of lettuce, strawberries, tangerines, peanuts, cheese, and some sweet salad dressing. Its completly amazing. This year Lottie started a new thing at the Mongolian bar on the weekends. On Saturday and Sunday nights they serve omelets that you can add anything you want to them. Then you add can pancakes, sausages, bacon and hashbrowns. This has to be my favorite meal on the weekends.

The second place where you can eat on campus is the Falcon, you can get breakfast and lunch from here. The Falcon is only open until 3:30pm. The make sandwiches,wraps, pizza, and stromboli. You also take this food out. They also serve breakfast sandwiches and coffee for on the go.

The third place to eat on campus is the Student Union, which is located in the middle of campus right next to Grantham dorm. They serve pizza, stromboli, taco’s, quesadillas, sandwiches, burgers, fries, chicken strips, philly cheesse steaks, smoothies, and ice cream sandwiches. They also have Starbucks coffee which you can take on the go with all your food if would like.

The last place to eat on campus is the South Side Cafe which is located underneath Mountain View dorms. The SSC is only open at night not during the day. You can’t really get meals here but you can get ice cream, cookies, coffee, juice and baked goods. In lottie you do not need to pay if you have a meal plan. For the Falcon and the Union you can use cash and your Flex dollars. In the South Side Cafe you can not use your Flex dollars because it is a student run organization, however you can use cash and your falcon dollars. Now you know all the options you have when you decide what you want to eat. xD

Last weekend was the busiest time for me as a music major. Though it was very busy it was truly a learning experience. On Friday, we rehearsed from 4 – 5:30pm for music that we would play for the concert on Sunday. Not to mention that during that entire week we were recording for the Centennial CD. Then on Saturday we had an orchestra concert with a call for 6:45pm. The concert was great there was a Trumpet Concert. We also played “Bolero” which was a piece that was written to never be performed. This piece has the same theme throughout the orchestra and builds up in different keys at the same time. It is such an amazing piece. Then on Sunday we had call at 1pm for the 3pm. We played piece that were recently written by Contemporary Classical musicians. We played a piece entitled “Variations” written by Professor Yurko at Messiah College. We also played a piece entitled “Ecstatic Waters” by Bryant. This was piece was the most unique of all the piece we played that night. This piece had computer parts as well in addition to the instruments in the band. It was so different but fascinating at the same time. Then after the concert was done, we had a break to go eat dinner and then it was back in the recording studio to finish our last piece for the CD. We recorded for 3 hours and a half. It was tiring for a while but it was great to mark the completion of our CD. Like my band conductor says “This CD will be around for a hundred years.” =)

As you may know Messiah has mandatory chapel every Tuesday and Thursday. Then throughout the year they have several Alternate Chapels that students can attend to reach their quota for chapel. Yesterdays Chapel in Brubaker was amazing. We had a speaker named Stephen Gallagher who spoke about forgiveness and how its hard for some people to forgive when they have been hurt. It was a word from the Lord that not only ministered to me but also to a majority of the students. Then that night we had an Alternate Chapel run by the African Student Union and the Black Student Union on campus. It was just another worship experience. We sang songs in Swahili and Gospel tunes. It was great to have another opportunity to worship with the community. This was a great experience for me because the worship style was what I am use to. However, I can strongly assume that this was a different experience for several Messiah students and they enjoyed it as well. Throughout our busy day at Messiah, I am grateful for the times when we can slow down and worship the Lord not only during mandatory but during Alternate Chapels when you choose if you want to go or not. Take time for the Lord.

I’ve taken classes in biology, chemistry, advanced psychology, social research, and much more, but the most terrifying of all? The art class. Because Messiah is a Liberal Arts school, we have classes that we take for our general education, and art is one of them. Never before have I taken an art class (I was more of a music person in high school) and the idea of having to take art was terrifying. I’m not a creative person, and I have absolutely no artistic talent! While taking music or theatre was an option, I knew that it was finally time to take an art class. I decided on ceramics (pottery) because it is something that I’ve always been fascinated with, and I figured that I would be able to learn the technical side of it even if I didnt have a whole lot of talent. Well, three weeks into classes and I can already say: I LOVE IT! I wish I’d taken art before this year, because it is AMAZING! While it does take up a considerable amount of time, I definitely enjoy it more than I ever imagined I would. I am so glad that I go to a school that encourages exploring other areas of study outside your own major. Our second project is due today, and I can’t wait to start on our third – a tea set, including a tea pot and 4 matching tea cups. This is going to be the best semester yet!