Falcon Footnotes

Well, unfortunately money doesn’t grow on trees at Messiah. So, for much needed funds for those annual Sheetz runs, many students have jobs on campus. Mine is in the admissions office- as a telecounselor. I’m that person that you SHOULD talk to but probably don’t, telling you how great of a place Messiah is and why you should come here. Which is all true I love speaking to all of your prospective students, but I also love the people I work with. We have so much fun as we wait for one of you to pick up.

This weekend, the office was decorated for Christmas, and we are having a Christmas party. The people I work with are some of my favorites, and I know a lot of people who have met some of their closest friends through their on campus jobs. I want you to consider a work study while your here- not only do you get paid, but you make new friends too!

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but the typical stereotype of college student is real. Staying up until you can see the sun rise again, piles and piles of books surrounding you, all while you are wondering how in the world you can get this all done. When I am in this state, I begin to wonder why God didn’t just create 48 hour days so I could get my work all done.

While this might sound disconcerting, I absolutely love it. Although I might be severely exhausted and walking around like a zombie for half the semester, I feel like I have purpose. The things I have learned and are now able to do far exceed the sacrifices of my time I have to make. And, there is beauty in the fact that you are not alone. I love looking down my hall at 3 in the morning and looking at everyone with their multiple cups of coffee, slaving away at that 18 page paper. Messiah is all about community, and this definitely builds it. And, at the end, there is a significant sense of accomplishment that cannot be surpassed.

I am a junior right now, and the rumors are right, its the most difficult year. But I have comfort in looking back at all I have over come so far, and will continue to overcome. I am rounding the lap towards the finish line, and I know that Messiah has given me the education needed to succeed in whatever comes next.

Around the middle of October is when everyone realizes that things are serious now. Professors aren’t messing around, its time to get to business. At around the same time, Fall Break, in all of its beauty, arrives at your door step and gives you a couple of minutes to catch up.

Few students, although they love their fall break, choose to give it up in order to do acts of service through the Agape Service Learning Center on campus. This year I was fortunate enough to go to Newark, New Jersey and work at an organization called World Impact. For the first two days I helped out in a 5th grade class room by doing some grading, making a bulletin board, and even taught them long division! (yikes). We also helped tear down old furniture, and created long lasting relationships with the youth of the community. I got to meet new people I had not met on campus yet, got closer with people I already knew, and also got to meet people from a lifestyle I am not familiar with.

Many think I was a little crazy to give up my rest and relaxation for more hard work, but I would not trade that experience for the world. The whole purpose of service is to serve- all while learning. My viewpoint of the world God has created has been stretched beyond what I was previously aware, beyond the campus of Messiah, and for that I will forever be thankful. When you come to Messiah, I want to encourage you to participate on  service trip during you fall break, spring break, or the beginning of the summer. I promise you will not regret it.

Messiah is amazing and making sure you have experiences that you may never get to have anywhere else. One of the many things they offer is to study in an urban environment at Messiah’s Campus in Philadelphia (MCPC for short).  You live in the heart of the city and take classes at Temple University, one of the prominent schools in this area.

Some majors, like broadcasting and journalism, require you to stay at the Philly campus. But, the beauty of the program is that even if you are not those majors, you can still go. Two of my closest friends are studying at MCPC this semester, and I went to visit them last weekend to see how they were doing. Living in a house in the middle of the city is quite a different experience than staying in nice quiet Grantham, but in a good way. There are things to do everywhere, and you are a short SEPTA ride away from downtown. You gain internship experience within your major, and have a taste of what it is like to live in an urban area. I would recommend it to anyone! But its also nice to come back to the campus you are familiar with, with friendly smiling faces all around. You really can’t go wrong at any Messiah campus.

Well we are back! Campus is hustling and bustling with new students trying to get a feel of our awesome campus, and returning students reacquainting themselves with the great friends they have met here. One of the ways I have met some of the closest friends I have now is by getting involved on campus. One of the ways Messiah is awesome is that there are SO many ways you can get involved on campus. The Involvement Fair last week on campus proved just that. Over 60 different tables were set up in our Student Union, displaying the large of variety of clubs that we have here at this school.

Personally, I love being involved. It makes me feel like I am a part of what makes this campus great. I am quickly moving back into the various things I have continued to do over my time at Messiah. I am in Gospel Choir, which is one of my favorite things on campus. Its amazing to worship God in a way that lets go of all inhibitions, and also having fun! We have traveled on tour to Canada and Ohio, and I have met some of my closest friends through the mutual experience of worshipping God.

My friends from high school are astounded that I would get involved in something that contrasts so much to my personality. I never used to be the one to dance in public or worship God without wondering what others around me are thinking. That’s what makes Gospel Choir so great. I was able to become the person I was never able to be. I encourage you to look for things to do at school that challenge you to be the person you have always wanted to be. Step out of your comfort zone and find something new!

Now that the weather is warmer, the campus is so much more lively as people walk from class to class. One of the things that me and my friends do every Tuesday night, now that the temperature is warm, is go swimming! Granted, its an indoor pool, so we could have gone swimming in the middle of winter too, but its pretty miserable to walk back to your room when you are dripping wet and your hair is literally turning into icicles.

Because of this springtime tradition we have now started, Tuesdays have become one of favorite days of the week.  We jump into the pool, all decked out in our summer bathing suits that we never get to show off, and start our “water aerobics.” We grab water noodles and start doing exercises that we made up,  probably looking completely ridiculous. I’m sure the lifeguard finds great entertainment. We laugh as we have a treading water competition, and then comes the grand finale. The water polo game. We go into the diving well, set up the nets, and try to play water polo. We are actually pretty good.. if I do say so myself.  Actually, we get tired every 3 minutes and look pretty ridiculous, but we are definitely having a blast.

Experiences like that are so great to share with my closest friends, and are something that you can remember and laugh about together.