Macayla—8D 8D 8D 8D 8D!!!

It is DONE. Accomplished. Over. Completed. =D =D =D =D

I looked up “excited face” on google because my computer doesn’t want to paste MY excited face into this blog for some reason… 

Anyway. I found this:
 
…hate to break it to the clever artist who put a smile on an egg….but this is not excited.
This….

…..This is excited.
This also sums it up pretty nicely. :)
Anyway, as you can see, I’m pretty elated. The culmination of a whole year of work was displayed in my ten minute jury, and for better or worse, I did my best. Of course, it’s definitely not fair to say it was just me, and it definitely wasn’t just me. I am so grateful for my wonderful accompanist, Amy, who has become such a wonderful friend alongside Dr. Penner, my voice teacher. And OF COURSE, Jesus, who supplies me with a voice and puts a song in my heart always. But, together, I think we did a pretty good job. :)

I studied and studied about my songs, composers, lyricists, contemporaries, and lots and lots of dates. I had no clue what I would be asked. Luckily, they did ask about things I knew. 

When I walked into the stage, I saw a lot of the music faculty interspersed throughout the room. They were all pretty quiet (which always freaks me out. They act super professional for things like this when in real life they’re supper effervescent, kind, and friendly.) First, one of them asked me what I was going to start with. I panicked a bit, thinking to myself “wait! I didn’t study this!!!!!” So, I just picked the one I thought I sounded best on. After that, Dr. Kibble mentioned the composer of another song. I waited for Amy to start playing, but she didn’t know which song that was. Hehe so, I finally figured that out and told her. After that one, they all started conferring together. I guess they were figuring out if they wanted me to sing the third song or not. They decided to just ask me questions instead. So, they asked me about Marie Antoinette and her song C’est Mon Ami and then Dr. Penner asked me about Rend’il Sereno Al Ciglio and if it was from a larger work (which it is. It’s from an opera called Sosarme.) They asked me a little bit about my major—which is that I don’t really have a major here….and then they wished me a good summer. 
And just like that, it was over. :)
Thanks to Marketing for letting me post this late to I could tell you all about it. I hope it wasn’t too anticlimactic for you all since you  couldn’t feel the pterodactyls fighting in my stomach. (Yeah. Pterodactyls. Fighting pterodactyls. Not flitty-floaty butterflies. No. Not at all.)
Last night I went shopping with Amy to get matching shirts for our jury today. Since she still had a lot of finals to study for, it was a wild evening of running hither and yon trying to find stuff in a decent amount of time, which of course, was filled with a lot of laughter and good memories. It was a nice break from school—even though it’s almost over—and a much needed reminder to have fun with life even when there are a million and one things to do.
In other news, that last psych test went really well, and I don’t have to take the final! However, I should add that my teacher was extraordinarily gracious to me. When I got the test, I started on the back, and answered the short answers. Then I moved to the fill-in-the-blanks, then I moved to true and false. Finally, I got to the first part of the test which was multiple choice. For that part, we fill in a little scantron bubble sheet thing. What I  forgot was that we also have to fill put our T/F on the scantron too. I didn’t. I just wrote them on the test. So, when I got my test back, half of the answers on the paper were marked out in red so I would have had an F. Luckily for me, my teacher saw the grade and recognized that it wasn’t the quality of my normal work, so she looked at it and figured out what I did, graded the T/F by hand, and gave me the points.  Praise God for amazing teachers and amazing grace! Oh the stupid things I do….
I finished those bible studies and actually got really in to writing them. And accompanying for the two pedagogy student’s students went well. (Ps. All of this is by the grace of God. No doubt! I can take no credit.) Last Friday, we had our last choir rehearsal. There’s a tradition in choir—bow tie Friday. A lot of the guys dress up and wear bow ties. It’s really quite adorable. x) For the last Friday of the year, the guys extended a warm invitation to the girls to wear bows in their hair. (Or to make their hair into a bow.) Afterward, we had a grand photo shoot outside of the church. Good times. :)  
(For those of us who had our hair made into bows, I guess you won’t see them. This is the only picture that has been put up on FB so far.)

We wrapped up choir in a beautiful concert called “Alleluia” on Sabbath night. I just love singing with people, and sometimes I forget how powerful it is to sing with a lot of people. It was a huge blessing, and I really grew quite a lot from choir this year. I also got to sing with my trio this last weekend with the addition of a violist! That was a fun experience! 
One thing that hit me this week, and now I’m just tangent-ing from one thing to another, is that, unlike going to a day school where you not only see mostly the same people school year after school year, but also throughout the summer, college is quite different. I’ve just recently been getting closer to a lot of my classmates and building good friendships with them, and now most everybody is leaving for the summer. Who knows if they’ll be back next semester or if we’ll have any classes together….it’s harder for me as a village student because I don’t see people in the dorm. So, here’s to reunion next year because I met some pretty awesome people this year. :)
Wow, guys. What just happened??
An entire year absolutely FLEW by…..I can hardly believe it. 
My experience at Southern has been absolutely wonderful. From the begging to the end, the teachers have been amazing, and I have learned a lot academically as well as grown spiritually and as a person in general. I mean, if I’ve come a mile, there’s a marathon left, but I’m growing. And I have confidence that if I keep being surrounded by this amazing atmosphere of love and support, it’s just going to get better and better.
To all you high schooler’s (soon to be graduating perhaps??—if so, congrats!!) I guess what I’ll leave you with is this:

It’s more about who you are than where you are or what you’re doing. Most of all, God wants your heart. Give Him that wherever you are, and He’ll lead and bless you.

It’s been fun! <3 Peace! 

Ps. If you do come to Southern and see me on the promenade, say hello. :)

Ian—A Year I Will Never Forget

The 2012-2013 school year of Southern Adventist University is only a few days from coming to an end. All that is left is a few more days of finals exams, and then we are all taking off in our own paths. I do not think that this school year is any different than the ones before it. Yes, I have only been here for one year, but I am sure that others have felt the way I feel as I think back over the year. The school year has been a time where people’s lives get intertwined with each other. You meet people for the first time, and then within only a few days, you have several good friends around the campus. Every day is filled with these moments where you meet someone new, and then you do not even realize that you became good friends within a short period of time. I hope you understand what I am trying to tell you, and if not, I apologize. The point I am trying to make is that personally, my life has been transformed by the people I have met over these past eight or nine months. Every single person I have met has touched me in some way all throughout the year. I have made so many great friends over the school year, and I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I hate to see them go as we all part ways. In my final post for the school year, I want to remember the friends I have made and also say thank you to them. I hope you all enjoy and if you are one of my friends reading this, do not feel bad if you are not in it or not, I still feel that you have touched me in some way.

                I would like to thank my roommate Prescott for being the greatest roommate, and only real roommate I have ever had. When we first started rooming together, I did not know how this was going to work out, but eventually we got use to each other, and have become very good friends. He has always helped me out throughout the year, and being a fellow Theology major, he has helped me through the word of God. There is so much I could say about him, but this post may get way too long if I stated everything. To sum it all up, he is more like a brother to me now than anything. I cannot wait to room with him next year.

                I would like to thank my best friend Mike for being a great and caring friend to me. He was not my first friend here at Southern because I consider Prescott to be that, but he is definitely my closest friend that I can relate to the most. We both have a love for videogames, although he is a computer gamer and I am a console gamer. We also have fun just acting really stupid and doing things that are crazy. He is definitely the friend I can act like myself around. If it were not for him, I would have never met so many other friends here, and I thank him so much for that.

                I would like to thank my good friend Daniel for being that guy who I can talk to about stuff, but at the same time another friend I can act crazy around. He was really the one who introduced me to Mike, so I really thank him for that. He always gives me advice if I need it, and at the same time, he comes to me for advice if he is looking for some. We may not hang out as often as I hang out with other friends, but we still have fun hanging out together.

                I would like to thank another good friend of mine named Tim. I met him through Mike’s room and even though our friendship did not start out that well, we have become very good friends now. He also is a computer gamer and we have playing games together as well. I really am in debt to him as he helped me with a situation over the semester I was struggling with. He has been a true friend to me and I cannot thank him enough for what he has done.

                I would like to also thank my friend Joel who has been a good influence on me, even if he does not think so. He is really into music and he is always the one who is singing down the hall or whistling. I also met him through Mike’s room. The reason I appreciate as a friend is that he has a tendency not to hold back on how he feels about things. I like that because there is sometimes I need hear something, but do not want to listen to myself, so he tells me point blank. That helps me a lot and I thank him for being a caring friend to me.

                I would like to thank the members of the House of Levi as well for being so supportive and having my back if I needed it. The House of Levi is what the freshman religion majors came up with so we could keep in touch and maybe hang out here and there. Out the group, I would like to thank Mindy, Evan, Andrew, John, Shelly, Silvia, Nick, Frankie, Lance, William, Prescott, Matthew, Joel, and Daniel. Every single member helped me in some way, shape, or form. No matter what, these friends will always remain with me because they have helped me so much over this year. I cannot thank them enough for their friendship.

                I would like to thank the lifegoup I was in called EPIC. I may not have been close to everyone in the group, but I looked forward to it every week. Everyone was so caring and they really wanted to hear how I was doing. Most of the friends I have listed about are in that group, but I thank the ones I have not mentioned for their friendship. All of them got me through some tough times, and I thank them so much their help.

                Before I start thanking every person I have met here on campus, let me just say that I would like to thank every single person I have met, and friend on this campus. There are little things that they have done that I will never forget. Even if it was a simple smile or opening the door for me, it made me feel welcomed here at Southern. So I give a shout out to all every friend and acquaintance out there, thank you!

                Above all, I want to thank God for bringing me here to Southern, bringing me through the year, and giving me all the great friends I have mentioned in this post. If it was not for God, there would be no chance I would have been able to make here and through the year. When I first came here, I had no idea how I was going to pay off the bill. Within only a few weeks, though, He took care of that and I did not have to worry about it so I could focus on my studies. He provided me with great friends along the way and I could not be happier with the friends He has given me. He gave me a job as soon as I got here, and then provided me with an ever better job as the semester has come to a close. He helped me through the hard times where I did not understand what was going on in my life. He has been there for me every step of the way and there is no way I can thank Him enough for what He has done for me here. He is my best, everlasting friend, and the great thing is, He will not be going anywhere.

                I would love to continue thanking people for the great year that I have had here at Southern, but it would take way too long to thank everyone. I want to leave all of you reading with this thought, though. I have this from the beginning when I first started posting: God is with you and has a plan for you. He did not put you here so you could waste money and in be in debt all of your life. He put you here for a reason and if you ask, He will help you figure out what that reason is. God is always here for us, and He has definitely showed that to me this year. For anyone who may be reading this that is planning on coming to Southern next year, all I have to say to you is this: Ask God and He will open the door for you if it is His will for you. When you get here, meet new people, get involved in ministries, and never stop forgetting that God is watching out for you every step of the way. It has been a pleasure being a student blogger this year and thanks to the people who have been following my journey over the course of this year. I pray that all of you return next year so I may have the chance to meet you. I hope the Lord has blessed you this year, and remember to thank Him for what He has done. Have a great summer everyone and may the Lord bless you in all that you do. BYE!!!

Alyssia—Giving Southern a Try

My high school bible teacher told my class during our senior year that we would change just as much during our four years in college as we did during our four years in high school. I will admit the thought terrified me as I graduated and came to Southern. The thought that college life was so different than anything I had yet experienced petrified me, especially when I considered how much I grew and changed during academy. Coming to Southern, I didn’t see how I could change much more, or how I needed to. And looking back on my first year in college, all I can say is….. Wow.


I’m really not sure how to describe how I’m feeling, but it’s definitely a mixture of happiness, excitement to have accomplished what I have, fear of the future, and anxiousness about my future classes and career. But I also feel more confident in myself, love from new friends, and faithful towards God.


I’ve been through a lot this year. Classes I took taught me that I am earning the right degree for me, and others challenged me in whether or not I have the skills to get where I’m headed.


I’ve also made several new friends while still trying to set aside time for my old ones. I’ve made connections with professors, professionals, and proactive students. I’ve eaten plenty of junk food and plenty of veggies. I’ve desired a car and the choice to become a child again. Some nights I asked God why He even made me and others I rejoiced in Him, thanking Him for the ability to come to Southern.


Everyone’s experience at Southern is difficult. No one has a completely positive or negative experience here, it’s always a mixture of both. I can’t tell you that Southern is the right school for you. But I can tell you that God will work with you to make your experience here or at any other school is worthwhile. You just need to make the decision to step out and attend college and better yourself as a person.


I’m really glad I came to Southern. I don’t know how to sum up my experience in the best way possible, but I just know that my time here was worthwhile, and I think your time here will be good too, if you decide to give Southern a try.

Austin—What an Incredible Year!

Well folks, it is finished! My freshman year here at Southern Adventist University is almost completed. Just one more (Chemistry) final on Tuesday, and then I’m DONE!!!

That’s really hard to believe.

I can still recall that SmartStart Welcome Party with such vivid clarity, it’s challenging to convince myself that that was nine months ago. College has been such an awesome experience! I guess it’s kind of like a rollercoaster. There’s times when you’re up, and times when you’re down, but when you’re done you just remember the fun times and want to go again. And that’s how it is with me; even as I’m finishing Round One right now, I can hardly wait for Round Two (AKA my sophomore year) to begin!

Biology has been such a fun major. I will admit, the colorfully-decorated Origins Exhibit in the biology floor hallways did play more than a minor role in convincing me to major in biology! Haha, but yeah. I just saw all the complexity and coolness of that stuff, and thought to myself, “What about calling this home?” My self then answered back, “OH YEAH!”

I just took the GB (General Biology) final this morning (I’m writing this on April 28), and it’s still hard to believe that I’m finally finished with that class. General Biology has been the hardest class that I’ve ever taken, yet at the same time the most fun. It is just so fascinating to learn about how everything works, from axons to stomata to mitochondria and more! Some people have the opinion that GB is so hard, and it’s absolutely no fun. Well, I think differently! Yeah, it’s challenging. My friend has even said that she think’s I’ve been desensitized to what “hard” is. But the problem (IS it a problem? I don’t know!) is that GB is so FUN!!! I love how the Biology professors teach biology from a Christian, creation-focused standpoint. I love the spiritually that pervades the entire department, and the in-class devotionals that both Dr. Snyder and Dr. Thornton have given. These people don’t just teach you biology, folks; they give you a real solid spiritual foundation! And I think that’s awesome.

The biology professors raise a high bar—sometimes, I have felt a bar that is too high for me!—but they always help you and enable you to reach that bar. And besides, they are just so FUN to hang out with! I mean, it is just so cool because I love biology, and they love biology, and we get to spend every day studying biology together! I’ve really made some great friends and deep bonds with both classmates and professors, and absolutely can’t wait till next school year when the fun will start up again. (And I’m not using the word “fun” in a sarcastic way at all!).

So yeah, I’m sad that GB is over. But I’m equally as excited for the new biology classes I get to take, starting next semester.

Speaking of next semester! I’m really excited about it. I’ll be taking Organic Chemistry, Genetics, and Computer Concepts. I’m really excited about all of those, but what I’m super pumped about is Adventist Heritage. Yes, I will be forced FOR COLLEGE CREDIT to spend time and learn about Adventist history from the legendary Dr. Samaan…and then on Fall Break, be FORCED to go on a field trip up to New England IN ALL THAT FALL COLOR to visit many of the Adventist historical sites up there where the Advent movement first started! Oh yeah, that’ll be REAL torture….

Haha. ;) I seriously can’t wait. I mean, it will just be an incredible adventure. AND I’ll be sure to take my video camera along, and film ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING….so around November time, go check my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/tnphotobug) for my footage of that trip! 

I really think that making these videos will be a very unique witnessing opportunity for God. You see, I already have quite a few people who watch my videos because they enjoy the historical places I visit, the geocaches I find, or both. Well, yeah, I’ll still be filming historical locations and maybe even a little caching, but I’ll also be slipping in a bit of Adventist history/spiritually/religion for people who may not be Christians or Adventists. These videos could really open up some neat witnessing opportunities.

Anyway, that’s next semester. Back to my reflections of this semester, and the school year in general. As I reflect on it, I feel that I have grown in three distinct ways: academically, socially, and spiritually.


Academically: Seriously, I have learned so much over this past school year. I now know the difference between annelid and arthropod, anther and antler, hagfish and lungfish. Comp has helped me improve my writing skills tons (hopefully you’ve noticed! Or maybe not…), and Fitness for Life has convinced me of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. Southern Connections did a great job on helping me get connected to the Biology Department.

There’s a quote in the library that goes something like this: “A man’s mind, once stretched by new ideas, will never regain its original dimensions”. And I really feel that way. Now I just know all this information, and it has forever changed me, I will never be the same again (this is all good, of course).


Socially: OK, I’ll admit it. I’m a huge social person! Going from seeing approximately 3 people on a regular basis (remember, I was homeschooled?) to a possible 3,000 people a day, well, that’s a whole different ball game! And a fun one. I have just had a blast getting to know different people, and God has sent me some incredibly awesome friends! At the start of the school year Dr. Snyder said something along the lines of “You won’t have time to socialize while in GB.” Well, if this year was the “no socialization” year, then I can hardly imagine what “socialization” actually looks like! And yes, I have been able to do quite a bit of socializing and still get A’s and B’s…the trick is, you just can’t socialize all the time. There has been many a time that there has been a fun social event planned on campus, or something else like that, and I’ve had to pass because of study. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t socialized…. ;)

As a side note, I am really looking forward to my social interactions of next year. Several of the Bio major upperclassman have been extremely nice and inclusive of me, giving me some great advice on which classes to take from whom, etc. And quite frankly, I honestly can’t wait to take my turn and kind of mentor some of the incoming freshman next year. To give them some advice, and be a friendly face who’s been around the block once before. Remember my very first post on this blog? How I want to be a mouth? Well, I still do!

Anyway. Back on topic! I also really feel that I have grown spiritually. I already had a strong faith when I came to Southern, but it has grown so much more in the past school year. There have been countless situations which I just could not totally control, and that I had no clue how I could humanly come out the victor. But yeah, did you notice that little word, “humanly”? Yeah, that word was correct. But with God, NOTHING is impossible. Nothing. He sees things as we humans can’t, and knows of ways through situations that we just can’t think up. There has just been time after time after time when I had absolutely NO CLUE how I was going to get through some tests, but in some miraculously way God always delivered. I’m not saying that I always got A’s, but He always helped me through. I keep a daily journal, and if I had the time could just tell you story after story of how God has performed miracles in my life. It’s just…amazing. Words don’t describe this stuff well. And now, I have come to not think about “how am I going to get through this”—because I can’t. Now, I think, “how is God going to show His mighty power and will in the situation?” Because I can’t begin to tell you of all the outright miracles that He has performed get me to Southern. And He certainly hasn’t left me once I got to Southern. He is always there, even when everything else has fallen away, and everything else is out of your control…HE is still there. Yeah, folks, God is awesome!

As celebration of my completing my freshman year, and in recognition of my birthday last week, this week our family is planning to take a trip up to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I had so much fun going there with my Biology class, I just had to go there again! Haha, I’m so glad that I convinced my family to take me. This time, I’ll be going to some different sites…AKA Clingman’s Dome, at 6,643’ feet the highest mountain in the park and indeed in the entire state of Tennessee. You drive most of the way to the top, and then there’s just a short half mile hike to the very tip top to the observation tower with an incredible view. Oh yeah, and Tennessee’s most popular geocache is located at the observation tower! I’m really excited about having the chance to find that one. We’ll be visiting some other locations too, and of course I’ll be bringing my video camera along. So be sure to check out my YouTube channel in a week or two for footage of me geocaching “On Top of Old Smoky”! ;D

I’ve been asked to in this last post give a few pearls of college wisdom for the incoming freshman crowd. And now, that time has arrived. So, without further ado, here is my list. It’s not perfect, nor complete, but is a collection of lessons I’ve learned.


Point #1: Self-Management. Self-Management really covers everything, but there are a few areas I’d like to cover. First of all, time management. Write out a schedule and stick to it. At the start of the week, write out on a piece of paper all the assignments due that week, and what tests you need to study. Then, print out a schedule and fill in what times you are going to accomplish what assignment. Some people may feel more comfortable doing this on some electronic gadget, and that’s fine. The point is, just do it (to quote my Mom’s favorite line)! I know that this method has worked real well for me. Once I’ve got my schedule all written out, I don’t have to worry about forgetting and remembering all my assignments. All I need to do is follow that schedule, and I’ll be fine. See my “Gopher Whacking” article for details.

Of course, academics isn’t the only part of college so be sure to schedule in some time for socialization, too. (Secret: I’ve found that Sabbaths are great times to have my “socialization quota” filled for the week!) Also, be sure to get enough sleep and exercise. One thing that I was really scared of was that I would have to pull all-nighters in college, but believe it or not, I am just a day and a half from being done with my first year and I still have slept a good seven hours every night! Even if you have to cut studying time out for getting sufficient rest, do it. God will bless you with understanding and remembrance on your tests, and your body will function better with proper sleep. 

Also be sure to exercise. At the start of this semester I was dead set against exercise—didn’t like it, didn’t have time for it. Then I took Fitness for Life, in which we had to exercise around five times a week, half hour a day. I learned that I actually did a surprising amount of exercising without even realizing it—for example, walking from Brock to Hickman takes exactly seven minutes. I’m headquartered in Hickman, and this semester I had Comp in Mabel Wood Hall (which is right next to Brock). That meant twice a week I got seven minutes down, and seven minutes back. So right there I had 14 minutes of exercise without even thinking about it. I also discovered that it takes 2.5 minutes to walk from Hickman to McKee Library, and five minutes even to transport myself from Hickman to the Hulsey Wellness Center. Point being, students do a lot more walking and exercising than they think they do. I found that to reach my half-hour-a-day quota, I only had to spend on average 10-15 minutes “extra” on exercise.

In summary, do things in balance.


Point #2: Make good friends. College is all about new experiences, and a big part of that is meeting tons of people that you otherwise wouldn’t meet. It’s an exciting yet at times daunting adventure. So much of college is social, and done with friends, I highly encourage you to get to know some good, spiritual, and mature people to be your friends. Right at the start you can’t quite tell what people are like, since everyone is new. But after a few weeks, maybe a month or two, of seeing them day after day, week after week, you get to see people’s real personalities come out, not just the person they are on Sabbath morning. So keep your eyes peeled, make observations, and put effort into your friendships with people who will bring you closer to God and who will encourage you in your academic pursuits.


Point #3: You’re not alone, and you will survive (even if you don’t think you will). That’s right, you may feel like you are the only one going through this, but believe it or not just about the whole rest of the freshman class is feeling the same way right now! I know first week or two of college was just absolutely crazy and hectic, as I tried to figure out what I was supposed to do, etc. etc. etc. But know that after the first few weeks, things get a lot more fun and you get a hang for what college is like. Also, keep in mind all the people who can help and advise you through this at times difficult transition. Your academic advisor and Southern Connections professor are great people to talk to, as well as all the Student Success Center people over in Lynn Wood Hall. You will survive, whether you think so or not!


Point #4: Make sure to keep that spiritual connection secure. As I’ve eluded to earlier in this article, college often presents crises which challenge our faith. It’s always a good idea to keep that conversation with God open and often, because He is ALWAYS there for you and He knows what you are going through (see 1 Corinthians 10:13 for details). Also be sure to attend some of Southern’s special weeks of prayer, weekend retreats, and other spiritual highlights. They really are a great way to strengthen your faith, and get to know other like-minded individuals. Find a good quiettime program that works for you. Check out all the awesome resources that Campus Ministries has available, like LifeGroups—which are on-campus Bible study groups that meet for weekly Bible study and prayer/praise time. There’s scads of different groups, so there’s bound to be a group that fits your tastes and that will meet at a time that works for you. Try Sabbath afternoon outreach. But these are just examples. Find something that works for you and do it!

So just relax, and have fun. At times you may feel like you have no clue how you will get through, but at the end of the year, like me, you will remember how much fun it is and want to do it all over again.

Well I hope that you all have enjoyed reading my posts to some degree or another, as you have hopefully learned a little bit what it’s like to be a student at Southern. It’s really hard to believe that this job is over, because I have enjoyed it so much. I do have a personal blog; it’s www.biomajoratsouthern.blogspot.com . I have entertained serious thoughts about continuing on writing weekly posts about life at Southern, so if you want to know what I’m up to then be sure to go check out my personal blog. Also, if you have any questions or comments, complainants (hopefully not!) or just want to compliment me on the fine writing that I’ve delivered to you each and every week for the past school year ;) , feel free to email me at: austinm@southern.edu :)

Southern Adventist University truly is a special and unique place, folks. It really is incredible. The academics are top-notch, the professors caring, and the students friendly. It’s no false advertising, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It truly is a spiritual, God-blessed institution. Please, please, please everyone come to Southern! 

Come to Collegedale, Tennessee, and

Be. A. Part.

THE END

Sarah—Th Most Important Blog Ever

So last week I thought it was my last week to post and I signed my blog as such. So sorry to disappoint all of you, but you get to hear from me one more time. But I assure you that this is the last time I will be posting as a Southern Freshman Blogger.

            Memories only do you so much good. If you’re always looking into the rearview mirror, you won’t get very far even if it looks prettier behind you. Let’s face it, the only part of your life that you have control over is the present and the future. And so I decided for this last post not to talk about any more memories but rather to talk about the future.

            And there’s really only one thing to say about my future, or yours: Make sure God is in it. And more than just in your future; make sure He is guiding your future. Let’s face it: a stellar GPA, a summer internship, or a perfect job at school does nothing for you when you realize that you have no idea where you will be in five years. (Or this summer.) Doesn’t it make sense to trust the One who knows the future to guide your life?

            And with God in your future, you never have to worry about things not working out because He said that He has good plans for you and He’s never failed before. Think about how great of a future (and a present life) you would have if you never worried about your future anymore. But the greatest news of all is that God wants to be your life-planner. All you have to do is let Him.

            So if you’ve read anything I have written this year, the main thing I want you to remember is: IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO HAVE JESUS AS YOUR BEST FRIEND. I pray that you discover His love for you and experience how wonderful His plans are for you life.

Sincerely,

Letting Jesus be My Life-Manager

Amanda—Fin.

Seven or so months it’s been since we started this thing, this EPIC CHRONICLE of life, filled with twists and turns, shocking reveals, harrowing car chases, and dragon-slaying—oh, sorry, wrong story! That’s someone else’s (more thrilling) tale; we were just talking about my blog, weren’t we?

Yep. You can’t even rightly call it a chronicle—this ended up being more of a “Amanda will attempt to write interesting things which may or may not directly relate to her first year at Southern” endeavor. But luckily the Marketing Department is broad-minded, and my (admittedly small) audience is accepting. I want to take this opportunity to thank you, dear reader, for—er, reading this, whether you’ve looked at the other posts or not. For what is writing that is not read? Someone just talking to themselves.
Here, have some rainbow cake on me.
(Side note: My friend actually made this the other day…it was glorious. :D )
Anyway, I suppose I should sum up the lessons I’ve learned this year:
Lesson #1—Sacrifices must be made. One cannot do everything, so choose what you want most to be done.
Lesson #2—Know what you’re getting into.
Lesson #3—Pasta Day is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Lesson #4—Uhhhh…I’m drawing a blank here…um, go to class? I kinda knew that already…
If I didn’t have a French final tomorrow, I’d for sure be able to come up with a lot more, guys. 
Anyway. This end of a blog is going to be kinda like this school year. Not incredible, just…good. And good is okay. Good is still good. I feel I’m finally in my element as a college student (as a middle grader and a high schooler I didn’t quite fit, was too scholarly and all :P). Raise your glass of Welch’s sparkling—here’s to broader horizons!
Sayonara!
-Amanda

Prescott—The Final

This will be the last post of the year. I would like to thank each of you for reading this post and faithfully reading each of the others, because I know that you waited with anticipation for each and every post. Ok, even if you didn’t, I’d still like to thank you even if you are only reading this post. It’s finals week here at Southern, students are busy all over campus procrastinating or studying, and the rare few are able to balance both. Finals are designed to be cumulative; (except for the rare few professors who show mercy) these tests are designed to encompass everything learnt in class during the semester. I think it is only fitting to follow the trend and make this post cumulative of the past year.

Arriving at Southern, I was unsure of what to expect. I had heard great stories of fun and friends and horror stories of terrible experiences. I was uneasy going into a new situation, but I did it anyway. Thankfully, I had the help of a good buddy from camp. He knew the ins and outs of Southern and seemed to know everyone on campus which made meeting the first few friends pretty easy. I guess this would be the first lesson I learned and the first piece of advice I can share: network to find a friend who can help you out. The advice I received from my friend as well as the connections I made through him helped assure my success my first year of college. When you first get to college, if you don’t already have one, find a friend that will act as your bridge into the college world.

In my Greek class this year, we would learn a new concept and then the next week we’d build off the old concept in order to teach a new one. In this same way I felt I built my friend group. The friend group played a tremendously huge role this year. No man is an island and this year especially I felt I was rocked by the waves of troubles. My friend group helped me through, and without them I think I might have been washed away. This would be the second lesson and piece of advice I can give: build a strong network of friends and appreciate them. I found when I was sick in bed unable to get up to eat my friends would bring me food and make sure I was taken care of. Find friends like these, they will watch out for you and save you from a whole lot of trouble, they will help you when you are in trouble, and then rebuke you because you got in trouble. These friends are priceless.

School is can be tough sometimes because of the workload and the stress. Take time to relax! Stress is great and can be a very positive motivator to get things, like school work done, but make sure each day you have time to relax and do something fun. Those who don’t relax go crazy. The key is to balance the time spent relaxing with the time spent working. A good balance will go a long way. Thankfully, this was one skill I had picked up before college, but it definitely has served me well here.

I’ve learned an incredible amount in this one year and I don’t feel I can quite do the knowledge justice by trying to summarize in a short blog post, I wish I had more time to share but I don’t. I guess this “final review” has come to an end. In this last blog post, I’ve shared what I feel will help and I hope that it does. I would like to wish each one reading this congratulations on finishing the school year, a warm welcome for those coming next school year, and a hearty thank you to all who have shared an amazing year with me at Southern Adventist University. 

Amanda—And Now…A Poem

Here’s a little piece I wrote just the other day:
Springtime at Southern
I see you, creature.
You in the grass
You with the nut
And the bushy-bush tail.
I see you flisk and misk
A whisk past a nose
Full of chiff.
Do you not see
The mass that is me
The cars that are my feet
Barreling down the highway?
No you
Didn’t, apparently
Until it was too late
And—
le gasp!—
There you were,
Out in the open
Out in traffic
Caught!
What will you do?
What would you say?
You can’t freeze forever, you know
I moved an inch
And watched you spaz
And flip and slip, 
Laughing to see such sport
(On an otherwise unremarkable
Trip.) 
You couldn’t believe yourself,
it seems,
And I
Couldn’t believe you—
Playing Frogger on the sidewalks of Southern!
‘Twixt classes no less.
Tsk, tsk, little misk
You should know better
Than to jump off the lid
And land in the batter.
That’s all for now, I’m afraid. (If you hate poetry, sorry about that whole thing.) :P
Sayonara!
—Amanda

Austin—When the Well Runs Dry….

Well hey there, Internet-world full of my faithful readers! Believe it or not, I am just two posts (including this one) away from finishing this job, and the well in my mind of ideas to write about has run dry.

ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!

Usually I try to write a really nice article about some aspect of college life, hopefully tying in a spiritual lesson or two. But this week, I just don’t know!

So. I shall just tell you about my week! First of all, I meant every word I said in last week’s article, but this past Sunday I sure wasn’t feeling like I believed what I had just written the night previous! Because I was studying madly for a huge Biology exam over eight chapters…usually I spread my study over several days, but in this particular case I only had Sunday for the test which was to be given on Monday. As you might imagine, Sunday was absolutely insane!

AND I had a mini-quiz on Monday in chemistry…not that bad, but still took up my time. I got out of chemistry at 8:50am, and had 55 minutes in which to study for Bio. Seriously, I had no clue what to study. There was so much to go over in such a little amount of time! I knew that what I really needed to do was go through the questions Dr. Thornton has kindly posted online, but since there are at least 160+ questions for those particular eight chapters, and my iPad seems to take five seconds just to change webpages!

And then, I saw them. A stack of papers turned upside down at the desk I was at, evidently someone else had left them there. I turned them over, and to my utter amazement discovered that these pages had all of Dr. Thornton’s questions PRINTED AND FILLED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What an incredible godsend. I pounced on those pages from heaven, and spent all my time going over the questions. I was able to get so much more study done because the questions were printed and filled out…it was wonderful. A definite life-saver, and something engineered by God for sure. All I can say is, don’t you tell me God doesn’t look out and after His children! Those papers, being what they were at the exact right time, and that no one had thrown them away yet, well, I don’t think that was a coincidence!

I got on the test, and there were certainly questions that I knew the answers too. However, I also had to guess on some, which I really don’t like doing…right now I’m in that blissful state of not knowing the grade that I got on that test!

And so hast passed this week…working on what seems to be an endless stream of assignments, knowing that finals are approaching but not having near the time I need to study for them! But even though I don’t feel it, I know in my head that God will help me through.

Not surprisingly, once again I’m writing this article on Sabbath night after sundown. Today was a lot of fun! I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this fact before, but every week that Sabbath comes I am so grateful for it! Whatever the state of unresolvedness that my life may be in, it is so great to take a rest and break. I film our church service once a month, and today was my week to do so. It was so fun! And it went really well, God really blessed. I’ve filled this position for over two years, and it is just such a neat way to be involved. Sabbath School, too, was really good.

This afternoon I held a Sabbath afternoon hike out on Bauxite Ridge, one of the ridges/mountains that border Southern’s campus. I invited several of my college student friends, plus through a geocaching event page on geocaching.com made it into a geocaching event and thus invited the area geocachers. See, Groundspeak (the company that runs geocaching.com) especially encourages CITO geocaching events on Earth Day weekend. For those of you who don’t know what CITO means, it is an acronym for Cache In, Trash Out. In other words, we geocachers spend all year hiking and caching out in nature. So at least once a year, we need to give back to the environment and help clean it up. So that’s what a CITO geocaching event is—not just to get together and talk, but to gather with a focus of picking up trash. This CITO type of event is what I held this afternoon on Bauxite Ridge.

The event went really really well! Ten people showed up, ready to have fun and pick up trash. We had a grand time hiking the ridge, and found a lot more trash than even I had expected. Several of my friends from Southern came, plus some area cachers. Some geocachers even came as far away as Atlanta! I thought that was really nice, and they were a really friendly bunch of people. Even my Sabbath School teacher came! I thought that was really kind. My dad shot some great video, and very soon it will be posted on my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/tnphotobug), so be sure to go check it out! (I’m hoping to post it on Wednesday, April 24…which also happens to be my birthday. Awesomeness! :D) 

Another cool factor was that I talked to Melissa Tortal, the lady in charge of community service here at Southern, and she said that any student who came to my event would get community service credit. I thought that was really cool!

So anyway, that ‘bout sums up my week. It was a lot of fun out hiking Bauxite this afternoon, even with the abundant poison ivy (I took a shower right after I came home just in case!). It was beautiful weather today, and an awesome Sabbath. And so I plunge into this next, and quite incredibly, final full week of school. I have a Fitness for Life final on Thursday, plus a few other miscellaneous assignments due at the start of this week. Bio and Comp finals are a week from tomorrow (on April 28), and then my Chem final is two days after, April 30.

And then I’m DONE with my freshman year at Southern!

I still I have no clue how I’ll get all the study in that I need to, but I do know that God will help me through.

Let’s go, folks! See you next week! And if you want to send up any extra prayers on my behalf, they would be much appreciated!!

Macayla—The Penultimate Blog

            School is wrapping up so quickly and yet everything seems to be coming full force. The main thing I’m working on right now is getting ready for juries (which, just a forewarning, unless I get an extension for my blog, you’ll never get to hear about Loops….if you’re an aspiring music major and have any questions about it, you have my email! macaylar@southern.edu) Getting ready for a jury is super stressful (for me. Especially since it’s my first one.) I feel like I should be singing all the time to make sure I have everything right. Of course, though, there are two problems with that. 1. I don’t have time to practice that much. As it is, I’m probably not even going to make 6 hours this week. (But, that’s to be expected with extra choir practices and singing engagements over the weekend.) 2. If I sing too much or too strenuously, I could mess up my voice. That would be bad….(on the plus side, I had a really productive practice this morning.)

            Aside from just singing, I have to make sure I learn how to pronounce all my French and Italian correctly. No pressure.

            Also, I have to learn a lot of trivia about each song, the translation, the composer, the time period etc. etc. just in case they ask me about it.

            But, on top of all that I still have to prepare for woodwind tests, an aural theory exam, write bible studies for Christian Spirituality, study for a theory test, study for a psychology test, practice piano for a recital, attend classes and work, and try not to die. All of this in a week. Oh! And yesterday was my mother’s birthday, so she wants to go shopping today….I’m not exactly sure how that’s going to work out. I was trying to prioritize everything, and suddenly it occurred to me that I have to have most of this done by Tuesday (if not before).

            Speaking of psychology. You know how I have had the worst trouble staying on top of my reading in that class? Well, guess who has a test Tuesday! This girl. Guess who has read most of the chapters already! This girl! Bam. J It only took till the last week of the semester—but I’m getting the hang of this! ( …mostly I think I read the book because I was procrastinating with writing the bible studies…..o well. Flawed motives, I suppose, can still bring good results. Still, be proud of me!)

            And, speaking of the recital two paragraphs ago, the voice pedagogy students have voice students. That suddenly didn’t make sense in my head. Anyway, my brother has been giving voice lessons to my best friend, Morgan. Somehow—and I really don’t remember how—I ended up volunteering (and that word choice is debatable) to accompany her for the little pedagogy recital they’re having. It’s really actually not that bad. It’s an extremely easy song. However, I somehow also got roped into accompanying for another girl whose song is harder. After I got the music and began to practice, I just had one thought: What am I doing??? I don’t play piano!

            Why I added that to my grotesquely large plate of things to do this week, I’m not sure…

            If you’re starting college next year, here’s a little tip for you: Don’t take too much. College is a lot of fun because you get to pick what classes you want to take, and if you’re anything like me, it’s not hard to find 10 classes that sound wildly fascinating. However, although I have a friend who has consistently taken 18 or 21 hours every semester, 16 hours is a full enough load. Don’t slack off, but don’t try to be a super hero. You’ll want time to do well in all of your classes, not just pass a bunch. And, you’ll want time to make friends, go to events, and probably work too.  

            I guess next week I’ll write about my jury (if I get the extension) and about my experience at Southern in general….and probably about the teachers too.

            But, in a nutshell of this semester for now:

Woodwinds was fantastic. Clarinet was the best and saxophone was the hardest, but the day be burst into a 4-part round on saxophone was just like 

Ahhhhhh!! (*angels singing*)

Aural theory piano was really fun too. I learned a lot and can play figured bass pretty well!

Aural theory sight singing/ear training was less beneficial, but kind of fun at times. It got better after the ear training part online stopped working…hehe!

Choir was a learning experience for sure. We sang some cool music and I made some good friends! I’m not sure I’d take the class if I wasn’t required to, though.

Psychology was so entertaining. I learned a ton, and seemed to always be interesting too. I felt badly because it was always right after lunch, so I probably looked like I was half asleep, but it was definitely my favorite class.

Pilates is like death. But…death that tones your body and makes you taller and stronger. Haha. It was a really good class to take. Even if most of the time I didn’t feel like working out, and yes, it is a work out no matter how many people come up to me and say “so…you’re….taking a stretching class….??….” And yes, my posture did improve quite a bit.

Christian Spirituality was not at all what I expected it to be,  but it was extremely beneficial to my spiritual life. I definitely had a lot of “aha” moments. Yay for spiritual epiphanies!

Music Theory was a pretty cool class too! I’m slowly learning more and more. Once I have time to sit down and breathe, maybe I’ll get to apply it and write some cool music!

Voice Lessons were kind of intimidating, but always a highlight of my week. And, just so you know, you lip-trill down the promenade, people will look at you like you’re insane. (Lip trilling is like….ok. keep your lips closed and blow air between your lips so that they vibrate….and then sing a pitch while you do that. Then do scales. That’s a lip trill. It’s a really good warm up for stretching your range.)

So, over all, classes were awesome!

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