Falcon Footnotes

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.

It is safe to say that one chapel does not stick out to me as THE best chapel. However, the student lead chapels by our team of chaplains are unbelievable. Listening to fellow students talk about issues and topics that we as students are dealing with are so relevant to our lives! The chaplains like to do unique and exciting activities that truly engage the student body. Every student lead chapel service that I have gone to I have been able take something from it and apply it to my life. Those are Da’ Best Chapels!!

But when God’s Kingdom Steppers come to chapel it is Awesome!! Check it out. GKS at Chapel!

There is nothing quite like the first week of school. The mix of new people, schedules and responsibilities make it one of the most exhilarating weeks in a persons college career. My first week here was exactly like that. Not only was I in a new country, I was given the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and was being introduced to many new, exciting ideas and projects. During that first week I met some of my best friends and created bonds that will hopefully last for a very long time. The first week at Messiah is filled with activities that I would strongly encourage to every upcoming first year student to take advantage of. So to everyone who is about to begin their time at Messiah, don’t postpone getting involved. Start strong, you definitely won’t regret it.

I now understand why Phileas Fog, from Around the World in 80 Days, wanted to see if he could travel around the world.  He didn’t do it for a bet or even to run away from an investigation.  He wanted to see the world!  Now, my journey was not as action-packed as Mr. Fog’s or even filled with as many stops.  However, my May term cross-cultural to Nepal was about as close as anyone could get.

Messiah offers one of the nation’s top 12 study abroad programs.  They offer semester long programs as well as three week trips.  I was unable to spend an entire semester in a country because of my major/minor requirements but I did have the time to spend the three weeks after school finished traveling on a short term trip.

I chose Nepal because I have had previous experiences in India and I wanted to learn more about that area of the world…and boy did I.  The professor that took us on our trip was born and raised in India and spent many years teaching in Nepal.  He knew everything about the culture first hand.  He started our experience by having read a few books about the country.  We had three meetings and discussed the cultures, traditions, and history of the nation.  This helped us to have background knowledge so that we could be prepared for our time in the culture.

Once we traveled to Nepal (which is located on the other side of the world…where Mt. Everest is located), we spent our days studying the culture.  We would have a Nepali class in the morning so that we could learn the language (since the trip fulfills one of your language requirements).  Then, we would spend the rest of the morning learning about the religions, traditions, and cultures of the people…from the Nepali people themselves.  After we learned the knowledge, we got to go into the streets of Nepal and experience it.  What a great way to learn!

We got to visit the royal palace, a Hindu temple, a Buddhist stupa, many schools, and a Nepali home for a home stay.  We also were able to volunteer our time to paint a needy school and help at a field day.  What a life changing experience!  In my opinion, studying abroad at Messiah College goes above and beyond anything that Phileas Fog ever could have dreamed!

Is it a parasite that grabs hold of you and never lets go?  Is it an alien that has come to change all that we know?  Or, is it the three week term in January that students are allowed to participate in?  Actually, it is a little of both…just kidding:) It is a “semester” in January during which you take one or two classes for 15 days.  Sounds easy right? Well, it is.  For the entire month you take one class for three hours each day…simple.  Some of the classes are poetry, animal form and function, or guitar.

This J-term I am taking guitar.  I am learning about music history, guitar technique, and how to play.  I have never played a guitar before and it has been interesting to learn.  Since that is the only class that I am taking this month, I am able to find time to refine my guitar playing skills and have plenty of time to do my homework.  The class is only in the afternoon so I get to sleep in and then get to do fun things with my friends at night.

Oh, that’s right.  J-term is about more than just the class.  It is also a time when you can hang out and do fun things with your friends.  Since we have more time, we can do a lot together, such as go skiing, go to the local farm show, and have a dinner/movie night.  It is so fun and a good time to reconnect after Christmas break.

J-term, although not exactly an alien, is a month of differences and a time to focus and just have fun!

It’s cold outside. Probably too cold. And what almost always happens when it’s cold? No, not snow. Getting SICK.
You know I’m right. Whether it’s a simple cold, bronchitis, or some sort of exotic parasite-based disease (there’s not too much of that here, don’t worry), you’ll probably need to seek some sort of medical attention. I mean, sure, you could go to a hospital, but do you really want to drive all the way there for something little like a cold?  Of course not!  That’s what we have the Engle Center for.  It’s really convenient to have a fully-staffed medical center on campus.  There’s a nurse on call 24 hours a day, and you can see a doctor by appointment.  They can prescribe medications, give shots, patch up injuries, and all sorts of other stuff.  Keep them in mind during this chilly time of the year.

Hey Everyone!

Well, it’s that time of the year again.  No, not Christmas.  The end of the semester, of course!  Even with all the final projects, papers, and tests I’ve been taking this past week, I find that I’m really beginning to appreciate the campus life and classes at Messiah.  Since I’m studying abroad next semester (in Japan!), I won’t be around campus until next September!  As in 2011!  I don’t know what I’m going to with myself now that I won’t be walking around Messiah and seeing my friends every day, at least until next year.  I’ve definitely gotten used to the awesome Christian community we have going on at campus, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without it for a whole semester.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still so psyched for studying abroad.  It’s absolutely going to be one of the best experiences of my life.  But I still can’t help feeling a little reluctant to leave, just because I’m going to miss daily seeing the friends I’ve met here.  Next September seems like a long way off, but I’m glad I get to come back here.  I really do hope you find the home that I’ve found in Messiah.

Hey everyone!
So, have you heard about dorm life and residencies on campus? I know I’ve talked about it a little bit in previous posts, but I’ll talk in depth about the housing options Messiah offers. Because Messiah values Christian community so strongly, all of our available residencies are on campus, and there’s guaranteed housing for all 4 years. So that’s always great! Starting off, you’ll be in one of our 3 first-year dormitories. The floor life is especially great on first-year floors, and you’ll make a lot of great friends. From then on, we offer both upper-classman dormitories and apartments. The upper-classmen dorms are so nice, I’ve lived in them for 2 years now. The apartments are great too, they’re tailored to either groups of 3 or 5 individuals, and come with a kitchen, living room, and personal bathroom. No matter what you’re interested in, Messiah offers a ton of options when it comes to housing. Feel free to check out our website to see details about the residencies on campus!

One of the questions that I hear asked the most from students who want to come to Messiah is…How do I get off campus to do things?  How do I get groceries?  Can I have a car?  Well, I am here to tell you that transportation should not be something to worry about.  Messiah does a great job of making sure that all of us are taken care of.  I am currently a senior and I just got my first car.  I have gone through three years away from home without the need for my own wheels.  How did I do it?  Well…

1. How did I get home?  I live four hours away but Messiah has a program called ride share that hooks students with cars up with students who don’t have one.  I have met so many different people this way.

2. How did I get to the store?  Well, there are always friends who have cars.  They gave me rides to the store.  Messiah also has a bus that goes to Walmart or Target once a week.  You can sign up to go and it is free.  There is also a store on campus where you can buy your basic needs.

3. How did I do anything fun if I couldn’t leave campus?  Who said you had to leave campus to have fun?  However, when I did want to leave campus, there were always people here to give me a ride.

So, it is possible to come to college without a car.  In fact, freshmen are not even allowed to have cars their first year (unless they live a certain distance away).  It is all about creativity and using the resources around you.  Through this, you can go any place you desire…

It’s that time of year. The time of year when there’s a major assignment in every class within three days. The time of year when sleep eludes me and I wake up before the sun rises or go to bed afterwards. The time of year when the rejuvenation of fall break has long since worn off, and Christmas, even Thanksgiving, seems years away. The time of year when I think…”Why (and HOW) am I doing this to myself?”
I tend to be quite a procrastinator (understatement of the year), and this becomes especially evident around now, when I have lots to keep track of. Tests, papers, projects, presentations: everything piles up and I’m just barely hanging in there. It’s times like this when I realize how important it is to take some time to rest. And by rest, I don’t mean sleeping in or taking an afternoon nap. I mean rest in the sense of slowing down, reflecting, worshiping, praying, and simply spending some much-needed time with God.
The tricky thing is: the crazier things get, the more I need to spend that time with God, but the less time I have to do it. I have to be more intentional about my rest and worship time and take advantage of the little opportunities that I have. For example, if I have a 15 minute block of time, I may REALLY want to take a nap, but how much good is that 15 minutes of sleep really going to do me? An extra 15 minutes in scripture would provide not the sleep, but the rest that I really need. Or, if I’m pulling another ridiculously late night and about to go to bed at 6…why not stay up just a few more minutes to watch the sunrise and marvel at God’s creation with some meditation and worship? I may think I need that extra few minutes before an exam to stuff all the information I can into my head, but spending those few minutes in prayer proves to be far more beneficial, time after time.
The Sabbath is especially important: dedicating an entire day each week to rest is one of God’s greatest ideas for sure. It’s crucial to step out of my busy schedule and just…slow down. Even if I do decide to attend the classic Bedside Baptist after a particularly sleepless week, I make sure to spend time in prayer, worship, and Scripture every Sunday. And I have a very strict no-homework policy for one day every weekend: sometimes Saturday, sometimes Sunday, but every weekend I make sure to just take one day off, no matter how much I have looming over me. And no matter how busy I feel or how much I need to do…the rest is ALWAYS worth it.
“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”