mf_workstudyblog

So it is almost time for spring break!  That means that everyone is packing up their beach towels and the suntan lotion for the beach…right?  Actually this year I have heard of less people going to catch the waves and more people going to use their time to help others.  The Agape Center for Service and Learning has coordinated a number of missions trips that are taking people outside of their comfort zone in order to reach others with God’s overwhelming love.  These trips are local, national, as well as international.  Teams are going to Camden, NJ but also to Northern Ireland and Peru.  Students are taking the time that they have to relax and putting it to good use.  These trips are provided through out the year, during the different breaks here at school.  They help students to break out of their protective bubble of comfort and interact with others who may not share their same views.  It is a stretching experience but it is also what God has called us to do.

Coming to college, many people know what they want to be “when they grow up” but I have come to realize how close that time will be.  College is all about having fun and getting to know people better…isn’t it?  What is all of this I hear about job interviews, resumes, and internships?  College is, in the end, the last step before you start your profession.  Your goal is to learn as much as possible so that you can be well versed in your profession.  I am an education major.  I have spent my days here learning theories, strategies, and even doing a little coloring.  However, this month I have realized that my teaching career is looming in the distance.  Messiah provides a large amount of resources for helping students to take that leap into their profession.  The process begins with Messiah’s Career Center.  They provide guidance in the areas of resume writing (they will even edit your resume), job interview preparation (with exemplar models), and professional ediquitte.  There is also an internship center, which provides the expertise and knowledge to find appropriate internship locations for students while in school and during the summer.  For education majors and nursing majors, there are also teaching placements and clinicals.  These provide hands on experience in the classroom or the hospital setting.  It is a time to “get down and dirty” with the material before being thrown into the workforce.  I am currently working in an elementary school 4th grade classroom.  I have the opportunity to teach lessons and apply the strategies that I have been learning in class.  There are a lot of opportunities given to Messiah students to calm the fears of impending employment.  When these are taken advantage of, the fears about the future lesson and sometimes disappear.

God has created a beautiful creation for us to enjoy. Everyday that I walk out of my Messiah apartment, I am hit with the realization of what an artist God really is. Messiah is a beautiful place to be. The campus is surrounded by woods filled with forest creatures all in search of their daily food. All of the flowerbeds are kept neat and the grass is cut short. All of these things are beautiful but nothing beats the sight of a Messiah College sunset. Yes, the sun reflecting off the fields of clean snow on Bittner Beach (the patch of grass outside of Bittner residence hall) and the squirrels scurrying all over campus are beautiful in their own way. As are the people who walk on the sidewalks of this campus. Every color, shape, and size…all are God’s design. BUT…nothing beats looking out Mountain View residence hall’s fourth story lounge window and seeing all of the colors of the sunset. As I look at that sunset, the chapel’s white illuminated steeple breaks through the color to remind me how significant God is within it all.

Messiah is known for many things…the soccer team, its excellent academic quality, and the study abroad program, just to name a few.  However, many students do not know about the treasure hidden right inside the walls of one of Messiah’s buildings.  I am going to let you in on the secret…it is the Oakes Museum of Natural Science.  Within Jordan Science Center lives Smithsonian quality animals from Africa and North America.  And this is no room with one or two animals in it, no.  This museum has a full size elephant, giraffe, hippo, polar bear, bison, elk, and ostrich and that is just scratching the surface.  On the weekends the museum is open for anyone to come and visit.  Messiah students are free!  It is a whole lot cheaper than driving to the next closest museum for the day…lots!  There are also opportunities to volunteer in the museum and help the visitors understand the wonders of God’s creation that are standing right in front of them!  So, I have just told you Messiah’s best kept secret.  What are you going to do about it?  (I hope your answer is come and see it!)

Ah, the Pennsylvania Farm Show!  During J-term, when we are only taking one class, one of the activities that many students enjoy is traveling down the road to Harrisburg to the State Farm Show.  To give you an idea, the Farm Show takes place in a large complex of buildings and it is where all of the best of the best from the previous year’s fair winners come to compete.  There is every type of farm animal from horses to chickens who look like their heads have exploded.  There is also food galore from potato doughnuts to, my favorite, chicken corn soup.  Then there is the vendor tent where there are free samples and everything you can think of to buy!  They also have a very large rodeo that is a huge hit!  Now, it may seem like a backwoods type of place to be but everyone (from all paths of life) can take a trek down to the farm show.  It is just one more way to spend J-term with friends exploring this land we call Pennsylvania!

As I sit at home, in front of my family’s Christmas tree, I am remembering what Christmas looks like at college.  Yes, amidst  the craziness of finals, the bustle of packing for home, and finishing classes, there is time to celebrate the one whom the college was named after, the Messiah.  There are mistletoe in Lottie and candy gram fundraisers, Christmas cards in mailboxes and wrapping paper covered doors.  There are Christmas concerts and Christmas music, parties and presents in the mail.  My roommates and I decorated our apartment with a 6 foot tree, lights, garland, and red and green.  We set up the nativity under the tree to remind us of the reason for the celebration.  Then, the last Saturday that we were at school, we celebrated our own apartment Christmas morning.  We had fresh baked oatmeal and then passed presents around.  At the end of the present time, I opened the Bible and we read the story of the greatest gift.  This was only part of the celebration that was woven throughout the studying and craziness that the end of the semester brings but it was an opportunity to help us all to focus on the true purpose of this time of year.

What do carol singing, a gingerbread house making contest, and Advent Conspiracy have in common?  Koinonia Christmas!  Koinonia is the name of the group in charge of the small group ministry here on campus.  Once a month they have a meeting called Underground so that all of the members of the small groups all over campus can come together.  This month it was a Christmas celebration.  We gathered together and sang Christmas carols and learned about Advent Conspiracy (an organization that tries to get people to care more at Christmas and spend less).  Then, to top it all off, we had a graham cracker house making contest with awards for the most creative, environmentally concious, and original house.  My group made a tree house out of candy and graham crackers.  We won most creative!  It was a great way to take a break from studying and spend time with others on campus.

When you get ready to go to college, everyone tells you how to survive away from home. You learn how to cook for yourself, how to manage your time, and how important it is to call home every once in a while. However, no one ever tells you how to choose a church to attend. Before coming to college, I went to the same church all of my life (I still go there but not while I am on campus). I never had to go through the experience of finding places to get plugged into, critiquing different sermons, or even going to a church without anyone that I know. Messiah offers students so many options when it comes to churches. I was a little overwhelmed when I first stepped out the door and saw ten or eleven church vans, each wanting to take me to a “good church.” Now, I am not going to say that picking is easy…not by a long shot. It has taken me two years and I have finally found a church where I feel fits. Some people are able to just get on a bus, go to a church, and they love it. That was not how it worked for me but I am so thankful that I was able to experience so many different churches along the way to the one that I am at right now. So, as you sit in church on Sunday, think about why you are at the church that you are at. How is the sermon? Are you growing? What is it about a church that draws you closer to Jesus? Think about all of that before you try to find a church away from home and I guarantee that your search will be rewarding!

When I came to college, I thought that I would learn how to be a teacher, do my homework, meet some friends, and then graduate.  I had no idea how important the “friend” aspect of Messiah would become.  I have met people that I will be my friends for the rest of my life.  It is hard to believe that I have only known my friends for two years.  The most important aspect of having friends is not the fun (although, we do have a lot of fun!), it is the conversation.  I have grown so much as a person and in my relationship with God through the conversations that I have with my friends.  To be challenged by these conversations has been hard but has strengthened me.  Not all of us are the same but through our differences, we are able to grow.  We stay up late talking, spend days talking, and talk in our sleep sometimes   When coming to college, it is so important to get out of the confines of your dorm room, step out of your comfort zone, and make friends.  We have laughed and cried; joked and played.  Find someone or a group of someones who can be your support and stay up until all hours in the morning talking you though life.  Find a friend…find someone to talk to and with…

I am a part of a small group through the Koinonia ministry.  About six or so of my closest friends and I meet together once a week to study the Bible and pray for each other.  It is a great way to stay accountable to each other and also to grow in our relationship with the one who put us on this campus in the first place.  It is hard to balance having homework, friends, family, activities, sleep, and most importantly God, when there is only 24 hours in a day.  By having an hour once a week to spend time with my friends, not having to worry about anything else, I am able to unwind and bring my focus back to what is important.  Now, I know that you have been reading this and wondering what Flubber has to do with a small group.  Wonder no more!  The leaders of my Bible study (aka my roommates) have organized a retreat for all of us to go on.  It is called F.L.B.R (First Ladies Bible Retreat)…which my roommate figured out sounds like Flubber.  We are all going to a mysterious location to spend time worshiping and studying God together…and have fun while we are doing it.  It is so great to fellowship with my friends and know that we are worshiping God and honoring Him together.