College is a home away from home. Any good home away from home requires a family away from family. People to support you emotionally, give you advice, help you grow--sure, the family can and probably should do all these things. But there's also the simple matters of having people to spend time with on the weekend or to go with to meals--the people who are consistent characters in chapters of our life (and we reciprocate in their storybooks as well.) Unlike my immediate family, which hasn't added new members since my birth, college families are more flexible. Dynamics can shift. New people can be taken into the fold. Those farther out on the limbs of the family tree can come closer and closer. The college family is a family that you have to actively pursue in friendship, a family that, often, it looks like you choose, even I think it's a matter of fortuitously falling into these right friendships--a blessing.
If you can't already tell, I feel as if I have family at college. Maybe even multiple families.
The campus organization closest to my heart, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, is an example of one of these families. I will not pretend that I know everybody in the organization super well, but many of my friendships have been found or developed through InterVarsity--including some of my best friends. Plus, there are always people in it to get to know better! I can liken it to an extended family, in some sense. Every week I have some time with this family--whether that's merely hanging out with friends from it, outside any structured activitise, getting together for our weekly large group meeting the Banquet (and then chilling after--usually for way too long, as my homework cries for attention in my room), or going to a small, Life Group where I can talk about the Bible or simply my life with fewer people. Just this weekend, InterVarsity had its annual Lock In, which is basically just a big hang-out session until everyone decides to go to bed. From around 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m, I hung out with InterVarsity friends, playing games, talking, etc. It was so much fun! Thinking about what a great time I had with all of my InterVarsity friends that night has helped inspire these ideas of family.
InterVarsity is definitely not my only family, though. I have great friends, also some of my best friends, outside of it. In particular, I think of two of my friends who I really became close to living in Hassinger last year. We all live in a row this year in the Scholar's House. We do a lot together--eating dinner or lunch, frequently ordering pizza on weekends, chilling and watching movies, etc. Even when I'm getting totally over-emotional, they are completely there for me--even if that involves tears and unintelligible ranting. They're a huge part of my life.
Don't get me wrong--nothing can replace the family I grew up in and love! But when you're away from home, I think having a family of friends is a neccesity. It is also one of the greatest things about college. Sure, the learning can be lovely at times, but learning alone just doesn't result in the same kind of hugs.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, November 7, 2011
A Weekend Overview
This weekend was Parents' Weekend at SU, meaning our campus was filled with a bunch of families. I was very happy that my parents came up on Friday evening. They took me to the mall and bought me 2 new pairs of jeans which I love. Then we went to Applebees for a delicious dinner before heading back to campus for an event recognizing University Scholars.
I started out my Saturday with a project for Alpha Phi Omega. Alpha Phi Omega was having a huge clothing drive for Haven Ministries in nearby Sunbury. Previously, APO membrs had distributed flyers around Selinsgrove neighborhoods instructing anybody who wants to donate to leave the bags outside their door that morning. Saturday we went off, mostly in pairs, to drive around different zones and collect bags of clothing. People were really generous! And some of the bags of clothes--really heavy!
When I got back, I grabbed lunch with one of my friends, then spent a lot of the day in her dorm room for a Movie Party. We watched 10 Things I Hate About You and The Lizzie McGuire Movie before I had to grab dinner with another friend and get ready for ushering for SU's current theater production, Funny Girl. This was my first time ushering so I was actually a little nervous! Ushers don't only pass out flyers. They're also responsible for watching the audience to make sure people aren't using cell phones, blocking the aisles, eating, etc., so I couldn't focus all of my attention on the show. I was able to focus enough, though, to get a grasp on how good it was! Afterwards I went back to my friend's dorm where Movie Night was still continuing.
Sunday was less eventful. After chapel and brunch, I spent some time hanging out in my room and then some time in the library, working on my sophomore essay.
Today I need to do more work on my sophomore essay so I can send out a draft to my advisor, though I don't know if the revisions will be as complete as I will have liked. I am also meeting with my group for a project in my Hebrew Bible course, going to an APO project, and attending an InterVarsity-related meeting, if I get the time. I'm hoping the rest of the week stays relatively unbusy!
I started out my Saturday with a project for Alpha Phi Omega. Alpha Phi Omega was having a huge clothing drive for Haven Ministries in nearby Sunbury. Previously, APO membrs had distributed flyers around Selinsgrove neighborhoods instructing anybody who wants to donate to leave the bags outside their door that morning. Saturday we went off, mostly in pairs, to drive around different zones and collect bags of clothing. People were really generous! And some of the bags of clothes--really heavy!
When I got back, I grabbed lunch with one of my friends, then spent a lot of the day in her dorm room for a Movie Party. We watched 10 Things I Hate About You and The Lizzie McGuire Movie before I had to grab dinner with another friend and get ready for ushering for SU's current theater production, Funny Girl. This was my first time ushering so I was actually a little nervous! Ushers don't only pass out flyers. They're also responsible for watching the audience to make sure people aren't using cell phones, blocking the aisles, eating, etc., so I couldn't focus all of my attention on the show. I was able to focus enough, though, to get a grasp on how good it was! Afterwards I went back to my friend's dorm where Movie Night was still continuing.
Sunday was less eventful. After chapel and brunch, I spent some time hanging out in my room and then some time in the library, working on my sophomore essay.
Today I need to do more work on my sophomore essay so I can send out a draft to my advisor, though I don't know if the revisions will be as complete as I will have liked. I am also meeting with my group for a project in my Hebrew Bible course, going to an APO project, and attending an InterVarsity-related meeting, if I get the time. I'm hoping the rest of the week stays relatively unbusy!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Yet Another Eventful Weekend
This weekend has, again, been action-packed, so to speak. Friday I went right from class to a service project with my Alpha Phi Omega pledge class. We hosted a prom at Graysonview, a nearby senior assisted living community. A group of us had to go a bit late since we didn’t get out of class yet. I didn’t get to help that much with dinner, but I did get to make a fool of myself dancing. Some of the residents who weren’t dancing said they just enjoyed watching, so I hope my poor moves entertained them.
Saturday my pledge class had our second group service project at the Campus Gardens, located at Susquehanna University’s Center for Environmental and Educational Research. The group of us met at the back of Degenstein, the student center, and walked to the gardens together. We spent about four hours de-weeding the garden beds so things can later be planted there. I focused on pulling out grass. It’s quite tricky to get grass out, including the root, so it was quite a triumph every time I succeeded. I was actually pretty into the gardening and would totally consider going back to volunteer when it’s a bit warmer.
Later that day my friends and I met up with Madison, the prospective student my roommate and I hosted overnight in the beginning of the year. She’s attending next year and was on campus for Accepted Students Day. We, then, headed over to the dance showcase, which featured dances by the SU Dance Corps and by different dance classes. One of my friends from my dorm, Hass, was in it, and it was great to get be there and see her perform. It was a very good show and made me wish I knew how to dance.
Sunday Weber Chapel hosted a Taizé service. Taizé is a style of worship involving meditative singing and centering prayer. There are many short, simple songs that are repeated, and there are many times of silence within the service. This type of service is based off the Taizé community in France, where thousands, mostly young people, make pilgrimages. During communion, we went up to kneelers, which is not normal procedure. There were also candles on the altar that could be lit as a prayer, an act of commitment, in remembrance, etc. I absolutely loved this service. It was very refreshing and unique. I would love to visit the original Taizé community one day—maybe when I’m studying abroad!
Immediately after chapel, I met with my parents and my brother for lunch. They came to visit for my induction to Alpha Lambda Delta, the freshman honor society. We had brunch at the cafeteria, and then we went to the ceremony. Afterwards my family and I went shopping, then had dinner at Red Robin. When I got back to campus, I headed to a biweekly bible study with two of the religion professors, then crashed in my room for the night with TLC and The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, a book for my Romantic Novels course.
Next weekend will also be busy because my entire Saturday is going to be taken up by volunteering at Lutheran Youth Day. I think the weekend after that is the Relay for Life. Hopefully I will able to find some time this week and the next for some ample relaxing!
Saturday my pledge class had our second group service project at the Campus Gardens, located at Susquehanna University’s Center for Environmental and Educational Research. The group of us met at the back of Degenstein, the student center, and walked to the gardens together. We spent about four hours de-weeding the garden beds so things can later be planted there. I focused on pulling out grass. It’s quite tricky to get grass out, including the root, so it was quite a triumph every time I succeeded. I was actually pretty into the gardening and would totally consider going back to volunteer when it’s a bit warmer.
Later that day my friends and I met up with Madison, the prospective student my roommate and I hosted overnight in the beginning of the year. She’s attending next year and was on campus for Accepted Students Day. We, then, headed over to the dance showcase, which featured dances by the SU Dance Corps and by different dance classes. One of my friends from my dorm, Hass, was in it, and it was great to get be there and see her perform. It was a very good show and made me wish I knew how to dance.
Sunday Weber Chapel hosted a Taizé service. Taizé is a style of worship involving meditative singing and centering prayer. There are many short, simple songs that are repeated, and there are many times of silence within the service. This type of service is based off the Taizé community in France, where thousands, mostly young people, make pilgrimages. During communion, we went up to kneelers, which is not normal procedure. There were also candles on the altar that could be lit as a prayer, an act of commitment, in remembrance, etc. I absolutely loved this service. It was very refreshing and unique. I would love to visit the original Taizé community one day—maybe when I’m studying abroad!
Immediately after chapel, I met with my parents and my brother for lunch. They came to visit for my induction to Alpha Lambda Delta, the freshman honor society. We had brunch at the cafeteria, and then we went to the ceremony. Afterwards my family and I went shopping, then had dinner at Red Robin. When I got back to campus, I headed to a biweekly bible study with two of the religion professors, then crashed in my room for the night with TLC and The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, a book for my Romantic Novels course.
Next weekend will also be busy because my entire Saturday is going to be taken up by volunteering at Lutheran Youth Day. I think the weekend after that is the Relay for Life. Hopefully I will able to find some time this week and the next for some ample relaxing!
Monday, March 28, 2011
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)