My Last Homecoming Weekend (As A Student)

This past weekend was Homecoming Weekend at Susquehanna. During Homecoming Weekend, alumni return for the Homecoming football game, dancing, and other activities. This year I have participated in Homecoming events more than I ever have. It was also the most excited I’d been about Homecoming.

Homecoming was a much different experience for me as a senior than it was as an underclassman. As a senior, there are actually alumni I know to be excited about seeing. We had two alumni who stayed at our house this weekend, and of course, we ran into other alumni as well. We even had some alumni who were seniors  when I was a freshman stop over at our house. It’s so strange seeing them and realizing that we’re actually seniors now. When I was a freshman, seniors seemed much older and more put together than I feel I am now.

Another difference was that I actually attended the Homecoming football game. During my freshman year, I attended the first football game of the season, then left out of boredom by half-time (or maybe even before ). I hadn’t been to a game since, so I’ve been determined to go to a full football game this year. I have to admit, I failed at actually seeing the whole thing. I was a little late after grabbing lunch with one of my housemates and two alumni and then left a little early for the Homecoming parade. However, the time I was there was fun—not that I was paying attention to the game particularly well. My strategy is usually just to “Woo!” whenever other people are.

I had also never participated in the Homecoming parade before. During the Homecoming parade, different organizations have floats or walk with banners fitting the theme for the year. This year’s theme was traditions of Susquehanna University. We walk through Selinsgrove while alumni, current students, and interested community members watch. The path this year was a short one, I’m guessing because it was raining!  The rain was unfortunate considering all the hard work people put into floats and banners, but I still had fun walking behind the Religious Life Council banner. The Religious Life Council is the umbrella organization for various campus ministries and religious groups, like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Pre-Ministry club. Our banner was decorated in the spirit of the Christmas Candlelight service, which is one of Susquehanna’s biggest traditions. Before winter break, there is a huge Christmas service at the chapel with singing and, as the name suggests, candles.  Each of us walking with the banner held a white candle that is used in the service. It was fun walking in the parade, but I wish I had been able to see all the other floats and banners.

The next big event was the Homecoming ball on Saturday night. It’s always fun to have a chance to dress up formally—especially since I did it cheaply as well; I just reused a dress I wore my sophomore year for the Alpha Phi Omega formal. The ball was also a different experience from the TRAX dances that I’m used to because alumni were there, it was in the gym, and it had a live band instead of a DJ. After the ball, TRAX hosted an after party with more dancing and breakfast foods. It was a strange experience to have bacon at TRAX around 1 a.m.—though not a bad one!

Yesterday things felt more routine. I went to church in the morning, then went to brunch with my housemates and one of our alumni friends. After, we went back to our townhouse and hung out for a while before both of the alumni staying with us headed home. The last event I went to this weekend (non-Homecoming related) was an evening Bible study at the home of my two professors.

It’s surreal to think that I’ll be an alumna the next time I attend Homecoming. I’ll be the one staying on the couch in some current student’s suite and reuniting with all my college friends. I really wish I could stay as a student longer—but I know that I’ll be so excited to be back on Susquehanna’s campus the first time I return for Homecoming. I am not sure, though, when that return will be. Next year I could be in Ireland or Scotland or England. I could be in grad school somewhere states away and not able to make it up for the weekend. Or maybe I’ll be an hour away, at home in Pennsylvania. Though I may end up a bit delayed in returning to Susquehanna, I know that I still will return (as soon as I can) —and I hope it still feels like home.

Drawing to a Close

The year really is drawing to a close. I'm excited for summer, but I have to admit, I'm not all too thrilled about this school year ending. Being halfway through my college experience is frankly terrifying. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to study abroad for a semester, but I'm also a little saddened about missing a semester with my friends here at SU (especially sad when I think about the juniors I know who I'll only get to see for one more semester). And this year it will be weirder to see people graduate than freshman year since I've actually had time to get to know some of them!

In spite of all that, some good things do come at the end of the semester.

This week I get to share some of my Scholars' House project at the large group meeting of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. My project, which was originally to complete a draft of a Christian YA novel, changed over the course of the year, as my creative focus, for some inexplicable reason, could not stay on novels and drifted towards poetry. I am now focusing on compiling a collection of writing that has to do with faith, which will include what I have of the novel and various poems.

I already shared some of the novel at the Undergraduate Literature and Creative Writing Conference. I'll be sharing poetry at the large group meeting this week. I'm especially excited that I'll be able to share this very personal writing on faith in the context of a discussion about faith--a very different context from that of the lit conference. The poetry is a large segment, but not the whole of my talk for Thursday. I will be sharing my writing in a talk about doubt, faith, honest expressions of both, and God's approach to human doubt in Scriptures. I'm very passionate about my subject matter and very pumped for this chance to present it!

This past weekend also provided plenty of fun though mostly of the busy variety. Last year I participated in an event called Lutheran Youth Day. I was able to do this again this year. Lutheran Youth Day brings middle and high school students from around the area to the Susquehanna campus for a day of worship and large group sessions and small group sessions looking at the Bible. I was a small group leader which meant I, with some other SU students, got to lead discussion and activities with these students. I had a small group of high schoolers--sophomores through seniors, I believe--who all seemed very mature, and we had some great and deep discussion! During Lutheran Youth Day, I also performed in an original skit with the organization Acts 29 about the batteries that fuel us in our everyday lives. Acts 29 is a ministry group that uses theater, puppets, etc. I've only very recently gotten involved with this group and was excited that my first performance with them went well. That Saturday I also got to play some frisbee in the rain and dance at a fake prom at TRAX!

I am hoping these last weekends will be filled with fun as well, though maybe, ideally, of the less busy variety. 

The Bounce Funplex and Other Weekend Events

Yet again I’m at the start of another week—the fourth week of classes! This semester already seems like it’s flying by. It’s hard to believe that after this semester is over, my next semester will be in Northern Ireland (a prospect that is kind of scary but also very exciting). After that I’ll only have three semesters left at SU.

There are still so many Susquehanna firsts I have left to explore. This weekend, I participated in something that must be akin to a Susquehanna rite of passage; I went to the Bounce Funplex. The Bounce Funplex is very close to our campus. Basically, it has this huge floor of trampolines to bounce on, with trampoline walls as well. There is also a foam pit to jump into, with a trampoline floor leading up to it. On Saturday, friends and I went for one hour of bouncing. We could’ve paid for two, but I’m glad we stopped when we did. It was fun but absolutely exhausting! I definitely left sore, and I hadn’t even dared to attempt flips or other hardcore jumping feats.

When we arrived back on campus, friends and I grabbed dinner and took it to the Open Mic Night sponsored by the literature and slam poetry clubs. This night was at Susquehanna’s coffeehouse, Charlie’s. The place was packed so we ended up sitting in the back. Though we didn’t stay the whole time, we got to hear a few great poems, a song, and some of a nonfiction piece.

Later on that night, I headed over to the Sock Hop at TRAX, Susquehanna’s nightclub. I wasn’t sure I would stay that long, but I had a lot of fun. The dance was 50s themed and featured older music to swing dance to as well as contemporary music.

SU Swings! offered a swing lesson in the beginning of the night. As a not-so-skilled dancer, I was a reluctant participant. I kept feeling bad for my partner about the stupid things I was messing up (I'm a bit directionally challenged)—but I still feel like I learned a little bit. I've discovered that I don't like being bad at things, which sounds like a trait everyone probably shares. However, I think I get particularly frustrated when I don't have a natural aptitude for something--so frustrated that I stop before I can learn the new skill. In that sense, I’m a bit excited for myself that I participated in the lesson at all.

Sunday was not as interesting, as I mostly just stayed in sweatpants or pajamas, did laundry, worked on an essay about the Bhagavad Gita, and generally ignored the Super Bowl's existence.

I am hoping this will be a good week leading up to an exciting weekend, as well. Already on the agenda is a reunion of my friends from my freshman dorm, Hassinger, on Friday evening. I basically see all of them but rarely all at once, so it will be great to have them all together.

A Boardwalk, A Band, And More

This weekend--my first full weekend back at school--was filled with a lot of fun activity with friends. I'll admit that the beginning of my Saturday was quite lazy, but hey, it's nice to sleep in after the first week of classes!

The day picked up when I went to the opening of the art exhibit Up Routed For with two of my friends. First, we heard the artist talk about her work. Then we were able to look at it all in the gallery. I'm far from an art expert, but the exhibit seemed fun and unique to me. It featured video scuplture, a medium that I wasn't very used to seeing. One of my favorite things, at least in terms of experience, was the boardwalk that we were encouraged to walk on. It incorporated a video of the word "foreigner" being written in sand. Another fun video sculpture was called "Jacob's Ladder;" it was a tower of televisions playing video of escalators going up. There was also some really great photography that included houses and bridges made of postcards set against architectural backdrops.

Later that night, I met with those same friends to head over to TRAX, where the band Kingsfoil played a show. They had performed as an opening act at the fall semester's Neon Trees concert which I hadn't been able to attend, so this was my first time seeing them. They were good and super nice when we met them. Overall, it was a lot of fun! After they finished playing, TRAX kept playing music so we stuck around to dance.

Sunday was also a busy day. It started out with a chapel service honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. The music was especially great. Some of his favorite hymns had been chosen for the service. Afterwards, I had a long brunch with friends; Sunday brunch is one of my favorite meals of the week. Later that day, I helped my friend Karen cook dinner for a young adult service we go to at the Selinsgrove Church of the Nazarene. I am not much of a cook, but I was happy to help; the meal ended up being delicous. That night, friends and I met in the student center lobby to have a homework party.

Now the school week has started, and I am still feeling really great about my classes! My religion classes, I think, are going to be the most interesting this semester. I feel as if I'm learning a ton in Intro to Asian Religions. Right now we're learning about Hinduism, which I knew a bit about from World History classes; however, this class is totally expanding my understanding. I am also completely interested in my Luther: Life and Thought course.

So far, this semester has been off to a great start, and I'm hoping things continue that way!

Homecoming: Sophomore Version

My thrift store Homecoming dress

This year's Homecoming weekend was much earlier than last year's. Like last year, I didn't become too involved in the Homecoming festivities. I had a busy Saturday and missed the parade, and I will admit to having zero interest in the football game. I did, however, attend the Homecoming semi-formal. I came later, just missing the announcement of the Homecoming court. The semi-formal was a far cry from the rave I had attended the weekend before. Besides the apparel being much different, it also became far less crowded as the night progressed. The vibe was a lot less crazy and a lot more chill. I hadn't been too enthusiastic about going out that Friday evening, but once I was there and got into dancing, I had a great time.

Earlier on Friday, I went to a service project with Alpha Phi Omega. This was a YMCA dance for kindergarten through third graders. It was interesting to hear some of the same songs played both there and at TRAX! The children were very cute (and deeply divided on the issue of Justin Bieber), and I'll admit it made me a bit wistful for childhood.

On Saturday, I attended an alumni reading located in the campus's art gallery, in the midst of the ceramic exhibit. All the writers were very talented. I particularly enjoyed the essay shared by Jay Varner, who has published a memoir, and a novel prologue by another one of the writers.

Sunday, the chapel service was larger than usual because of alumni being around for Homecoming weekend. For this reason, they needed extra ushers. I served as one for the first time. This mainly involved handing out programs, passing around the collection plate, and dismissing people for communion. I was a bit nervous about messing something up, but it all went pretty smoothly!

Though Homecoming was definitely a much bigger deal for others than it was for me--particularly alumni, who this weekend is really about--it clearly contributed my weekend in many ways. Perhaps next year will be the year when I fully immerse myself in that Crusader spirit.

An Eventful Weekend

This weekend was a bit more eventful than usual. 

On Friday, I finally found out that my Scholars House application was accepted, as were my friends Lindsey and Alexis’s.  It’s such a relief to know where I’m living next year without having to undergo that lottery process.  The three of us are very excited that we all got in.  Funny enough, we’re numbers 207, 208, and 209, which might mean we’re in a row.  

That night, my friends and I headed over to TRAX to watch the Battle of the Bands.   Four bands played.  There was really a range of different music, from covers of Lady Gaga, Pink, Blink 182, and Flyleaf to original compositions.  I noted a high percentage of Creative Writing majors among the band members, which is always amusing; really, Creative Writing majors are just crawling all over this campus. 

Saturday afternoon, I worked on decorating my paddle for Alpha Phi Omega.   In APO, you decorate a paddle for your Big, or your mentor-like figure guiding you through pledging, and present it to them during Initiation. 

That night, two friends and I went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What they do in these showings is play the movie but also have a shadow cast on stage, who acts along with the movie.  The audience is encouraged to interact by doing call-outs which involve shouting at the screen, “WHERE’S YOUR NECK?!” at the narrator or booing a certain character.  It was definitely an interesting experience for me.  I had seen the movie before (an interesting experience in and of itself, because it’s strange!), but I’d never been to anything live like that.

Sunday was not particularly eventful.  At 7 p.m., I went over to the Selinsgrove Church of the Nazarene for a Lent service.  There was worship, and then the choir performed the first three scenes of their Easter musical, which was really good.

Of course, I left my homework to Sunday, like the procrastinating being that I am.

This upcoming week, I have both of the pledge service projects for Alpha Phi Omega, one on Friday and the other on Saturday.  On Sunday I have induction into Alpha Lambda Delta, the freshman academic honor society.  My parents and my brother are coming up for the occasion, and afterwards, we will probably hang out, go to the mall, and head to Red Robin for some dinner.  I’m looking forward to that, especially since my brother is moving very shortly to Los Angeles, so it might be a while before I see him again.

I’m predicting that the month of April will be very busy for me.  Hopefully that means it will just fly by, though that may end up being bittersweet.   I don’t have that much time left as a freshman and not that much time left in Hassinger!

A Look at the Weekend

This weekend was a fairly interesting one.  I was in the midst of my little environmental-friendly experiment (for more information, see my previous entry; basically all you need to know is this meant reduced internet usage, eek!) as well as being temporarily roommate-less since my roommate had gone home for the weekend.  As could be imagined, with not much to entertain me in Rm. 301, I spent a fair amount of time harassing others with my presence in their rooms. 

On Friday, a friend from high school came up to visit.  It was a lot of fun to have him here.  At the same time, it was strange see someone from my high school world, so separate and distinct, mixing with my college world--my college friends.  We didn't do much while he was here, besides hit Benny's for some dinner, sit around in the hallway, and then move our sitting and chattering out into the lounge.  My college way of life seems to attest to the idea that you don't actually have to do much, or even go out anywhere, to have a good time.  After he left, I joined some friends in watching 500 Days of Summer, but I was feeling sick so I headed to bed a bit early.

Saturday, friends and I took the free shuttle service over to Wal-Mart, where I bought some Capri Sun, my personal college essential, water, tissues, and Ritz Crackers.  An added bonus to Wal-Mart: being able to get some McDonalds!  Nothing else exciting really happened until some friends and I headed over to TRAX.  I hadn't been there in a while, so it was a lot of fun to one, dress up, and two, get to dance.  Glitter was a part of the party theme, so a friend in the dorm helped glitterfy me.  Glitter is now all over my bed and probably elsewhere in my room.  But it was a really good time so maybe the glitter was worth it, as well as the ache in my feet as we trudged back to Hass.

Sunday, I went to chapel and then brunch (one of the greatest meals of the week at SU!).  I then headed to the library to make some changes to the draft of my memoir piece for Creative Nonfiction and then e-mailed it to Dr. Retief.  My conference about this piece is today, actually.  I'm pretty terrified--though not as much as I will be for workshop.  I've never really given anyone something this personal to read, especially not for critiquing purposes! Back at Hass, I watched The Little Mermaid with friends while finishing up some homework.  Then, finally, I went to InterVarsity's Super Bowl party, where I did a very poor job at paying attention. 

Overall, a good weekend, but I could've gone without the whole catching-a-cold component.

Approaching Thanksgiving Break

As I start this blog entry, I'm about 3 hours away from Thanksgiving break, which can seem a little unfair as I know people who got to leave on Monday or over the weekend.  Me and many of my fellow students have talked jealously of other schools, like Penn State, where break started on Friday.  As much as I might whine about the shortness of this break, however, all in all I had a pretty good weekend that I'm glad I didn't miss.

Friday night was the 80s party at TRAX.  My friends and I began getting ready early, mainly because we didn't have much else to do.  I didn't have 80s clothing, so I borrowed a pink Star Wars shirt and gray leggings from my friend Karen.  Annie lent me fluorescent socks to add to the 80s look.  The most quintessentially 80s aspect of my appearance was my hair, which Karen wrangled into an impressively enormous side ponytail (the enormous part came naturally, sans any teasing).  When we first arrived at TRAX, which was admittedly early, the place was pretty empty, but soon things picked up.  We danced our night away to 80s tunes and belted out "Living On A Prayer" and "Don't Stop Believing," among other songs.  

Saturday my friend Jill picked me up to go shopping, and we headed over to the mall on the strip.  I bought the most adorable pajama pants at Maurice's.  It was significant that I bought anything, since usually on shopping trips I'm the one who goes away empty-handed.  Later that night, my friends Karen, Lindsey, and I headed over to Charlie's Coffeehouse for a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."  This was my first time at Charlie's, much to the shock and dismay of my friends.  Somehow I had never gone any of the times other people on my floor had.  I was very impressed with the atmosphere and enjoyed having a soft pretzel as I watched Charlie Brown force his dog into making his friends Thanksgiving dinner.  That same night, I ordered some Dominos and stayed up late with my friends talking.

The low-point of the weekend occurred when I experienced my first fire alarm at Hass, approximately at 3:40 something in the morning.  I must have been asleep for about a half hour when it sounded.  It wasdisconcerting, though my first thought was that it was my alarm waking me.  We dashed out of the building.  I was wearing slippers and fell on the steps.  Luckily, we all got out alright, though it was pretty cold and spirits weren't exactly jovial.  On the bright side, I was wearing aforementioned adorable pajama pants.

Sunday improved from there and was, all in all, a relaxing day.  I went to chapel service at 11.  Chaplain Radacke performed a great one-person play about Christ the King.  Afterwards, a friend I sat by at chapel accompanied me to brunch in the caf.  Later, Karen and I went to see our friend Kathleen in her band concert, which was really great.  Then the three of us and a friend from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship headed over to the Church of  the Nazarene to help with Christmas decorations.  We assembled a fake tree and decorated it.  We also got some really great food while we there; the sugar cookies were delicious. 

Monday almost felt as if it was part of the weekend, since I only had one class, compared to my usual four.  I had a great time going to Lutheran Student Movement, and I also got to watch some of my favorite TV show Freaks and Geeks with my awesome roommate Sarah.

Even though I do wish our Thanksgiving break was longer, I had a good time with the days I was here that some other students weren't.  Now bring on break!

Catching Up: The Hodgepodge Post

Excuse this post for being a hodgepodge of things, but I wanted to catch this blog up on what’s been happening lately for me at SU.

One of the major things for me and the rest of my freshmen friends right now is registration (which happens to end today).  This was our first time picking our own classes at college and then navigating the registration process online.  I’ll admit to being pretty excited, especially about seeing which classes would be offered next semester.  The classes came out online and in a newspaper supplement students received in their mailboxes. My degree audit in tow (a degree audit shows you what requirements you still have left for your degree, including requirements for your major and Central Curriculum requirements), I began picking out classes.  After some contemplation about how many courses I should take, whether I wanted to take any courses for the Editing & Publishing minor I’m thinking of declaring, how I felt about night classes, etc., I came up with the following courses: Introduction to Creative Nonfiction, Applied Biblical Ethics, Principles of Sociology, and Thought & Civilization.  Two would be on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the other two on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  

Whether I’ll get into those classes will not be discovered until a later date, however.

I also didn’t get to share what my first Halloween at Susquehanna was like.  I had meant to be Wendy, to match a friend dressed as Peter Pan, but I had procrastinated getting a costume.  My friend Lindsey and I walked into town on the Saturday of Halloween weekend, hoping I could buy and piece together something from a thrift store.  Alas, we had slept in too late and the store was closed.  In the end, I simply went as a hippie, wearing a tye-dye T-shirt my parents had bought for me, my somewhat tattered, bell bottom-y jeans, and a scarf from Lindsey as a headband.  That Saturday we went to the TRAX Halloween party and had a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, actual Halloween, which fell on a Sunday, was spent doing schoolwork.  

This past weekend I went on the InterVarsity Fall Conference, which was at Refreshing Mountain Camp near Lancaster.  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is one of the religious life organizations on campus that I’m really happy to have gotten involved in early during my college career.  Though I love SU, getting off campus for a short period is always great.  I got to spend time with two friends on my floor in Hass and got to know other people from IV a bit better.  Of course, I also got to experience plenty of prayer and worship.

When we got back on Sunday, I hosted an overnight student who’s interested in Creative Writing and Journalism.  I tried to give her the inside scoop on Susquehanna life.  I’m hoping she had a good experience here and that I conveyed all SU has to offer.

As far as academics go, I recently had a workshop in Intro to Fiction that went really well.  I just had my conference with Dr. Bailey today to discuss my story (which is probably going to be one of the longest stories of the bunch for the second time; my inner novelist just isn’t allowing anything under 10 pages).   Soon enough, my dorm room will be turning into Rewrite Central.   In my Thought class, which I take for the Honors Program, I’ll be leading my class in discussion on a section of The Persepolis next Monday, a fascinating memoir told in graphic novel form.  Of course, I’ve also endured exams since last writing, but that’s not nearly as exciting.

All in all, things at Susquehanna are going well, chugging down that track to Thanksgiving break.

Homecoming: College vs. High School

When I returned to campus last Tuesday, the immediacy with which I was thrown back into college life made it seem like there’d hardly been a break at all.  Luckily, I got a relief from the work over Homecoming Weekend.

I'll admit I was curious for quite some time about what exactly college Homecoming would be like.  At my high school, the Homecoming dance was a big deal--at least to many girls.  Dresses and dates seemed to be a major topic of conversation as early as two weeks into the school year.  Corsages and boutonnieres were bought.  Elaborate plans were made beforehand on the group you'd go with, where you'd take pictures, where you'd go to dinner, etc.  

Homecoming here wasn’t an occasion of such drastic importance—or nearly as much contemplation.  Dates didn’t feel necessary, nor did any other real form of planning, besides a friend’s Facebook reminder over break to bring a dress and shoes.  The dress didn’t even require endless searching; I just used my Homecoming dress from senior year.  My friends and I prepared ourselves in dorm rooms and in front of bathroom mirrors, then tottered over (well, except for me, who had worn sensible but adorable silver flats) to TRAX, the on-campus club. 

My high school dances usually involved strings of sappy slow songs, but this didn’t occur at college.  The entire night was non-stop dancing.  It was fun and casual, and at least from my perspective, not the same source of drama that high school Homecoming can be.  Despite the Semi-Formal label, some guys even showed up in jeans, becoming symbols in my mind of the No-Big-Dealness of it all.

I realize that calling something No Big Deal may make it sound like a bad thing.

But it really isn’t.

It’s a good thing.  A fun thing can be No Big Deal.  It just means that it’s not something you have to lose any sleep over.

Thinking about the differences between college and high school Homecoming makes me think of the visit I made to my high school during break.  My high school started renovations my senior year and made its biggest changes over the summer.  Walking through the completely different lobby was nothing short of bizarre.  As I got further into my school, it began looking like my alma mater—but it was still strange, the notion that I didn’t go there anymore, that I shouldn’t have been in that hall.


I had fun visiting, but it’s not where I belong anymore. 

Events like Homecoming and that visit have emphasized that college is not high school.  And for me, that’s turning out to be a pretty good thing.