Monday, August 26, 2013

God is cool, I'm an upperclassman, public speaking is terrifying, and my new/old house

Howdy.

So 162 staff and somewhere around 600 incoming freshman invaded a small camp near Waco on August 9th for Impact. What's Impact? See this link for more information. That'll give you a thorough overview, but it's basically a Christian orientation camp for the A&M/Blinn class of 2017. Like last year, I was a counselor and was--for some reason--put in charge of 8 freshman with my goofy partner Andy. God continues to put me at the head of things I am not equipped to do, so there's that 2 Corinthians 12:9 popping up again.

My freshmen blew me out of the water, wanting to talk right off the bus. They opened up during serious time, weren't afraid to dance whenever the music was playing, and enjoyed taking selfies with me. So it was a recipe for success. Delta Gad (our camp), dominated the camp-wide tug-of-war and were just general pros at everything. I love my Gadsters. The Lord did serious work in the class of 2017 and I am pumped to see how he continues to work in the lives of my small group hooligans.


In other news, I'm a junior now. It's weird to think that eighteen months ago, I was still in my freshman year. But now I can whoop. And know things. Like what dining halls to avoid at what time (Duncan is a corps haven...but just for the corps). Or the secret passages to and from places (those are secrets). Or the fact that the financial aid office also has a restaurant that serves delicious hamburgers (who knew, right?). You discover these things, which is a blast. But also kind of terrifying that I'm a junior. Like, what happened to freshman and sophomore year? When did I get this old? The fact that college is flying by so quickly really challenges me to take the time that I have seriously and not bump around doing meaningless things. The decisions I make here have a lasting impact on how I'm going to live my life.

I'm not saying that I won't stay up too late marathoning a season of "Lost", or that I won't waste time seeing a movie in theaters...for the third time. But I am saying that I am aware of how my college days are racing past and how much I can be used in this place by my Savior.


Well, since I am a junior, I figured it was time for me to sign up for a freshman level class: public speaking. When I walked in today, my professor got on like six soapboxes and cussed probably double that amount. Today, I had to do a simple introduction to my 20 person class and my hands were shaking like nuts. So yeah this class will be an adventure. A terrifying, nightmarish adventure.


Last update: the little house on Fairview. Rachel, Joy, Myles, and I moved into a house that's a stone's throw from campus and love it (mostly). The AC is kind of janky sometimes and our garbage disposal is even jankier, but I kind of love the house. Keeping the same lovely roomies as last year (Myles says "say I'm the funniest"), we relocated our bodies, some throw pillows, and a lot of accumulated furniture into a 3-bedroom house. Rachel and I have bunk beds with matching comforters because we're 5-year-old twin sisters. The only downfalls of bunking up is where to put my laptop when I'm done using it for the night and the fact that my fan is six inches from lopping my foot off in the night. My big toe took a beating last night. Oops.

But really, I love having my own little house to pad around in. I got a fish--Randy--who has defied the odds and lived for a whole week (Rachel lost the bet). Myles and Joy think that he'll die in month. My personal goal is to keep him alive until November at the earliest. Long Live Randy! Who has the worst fish name in history (Joy's fault).


Moral of all of this? Life is good. God is better. So here comes junior year.

A A A WHOOP!