Southern Adventist UniversityFreshman Blogs

Shivani—Deep Sabbath

I had one of the best days ever. And I actually mean that. Yesterday was Deep Sabbath Part 2, when Oakwood comes up and visits Southern and we show off to them. I went to Deep Sabbath Part 1 which is when Southern goes to Oakwood and absolutely LOVED it. I fell in love with Oakwood instantly, and it was so awesome to see my friends and just experience all that they had to offer.

                  Yesterday my best friends from middle and high school visited. You have to understand that these people were literally my family. They looked out for me, kept me safe, called me out on my crap, and supported me when I needed them. We’ve been talking about Deep Sabbath for months; we haven’t seen each other since December. We have only seen each other twice in the last year, despite the fact that we basically became the people we are and grew up together. So we have all been understandably excited, and the day of our reunion was FINALLY upon us.

                  Our former choir teacher from our junior and senior year actually lives less than 10 minutes from the campus and offered to host the small army of college kids at her amazing house, which  is no small feat. She knows us, she knows how we all love to eat. AND extra people were coming. But that didn’t deter her from inviting all of us over.

So after a pretty bland service at Collegedale church and a quick tour of the girls dorm where one of my Southern friends and I cracked up as they wondered hopelessly around the building, trying to naviage themselves out, a caravan of Southern and Oakwood students headed over to our teacher’s house.

Once there, I got to see even more people that I had literally not seen in years, and funnily enough, friends from Southern who I barely ever see. So not only did we have a mini Atlanta Adventist Academy reunion, there were even more mini Southern and Oakwood reunions going on.

We had an amazing meal fit for a king, and the conversations that followed were even more fulfilling. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that freely or that hard. These are the people that know me, know how I am. Have contributed to the person that I am, and still accept despite being there for all my mistakes.

We played games for a couple hours, some weird round of charades and a LONG crazy round of Apple to Apples: Bible Edition.

We all chilled out for a couple hours before heading over to Southern for the Studio 4109 show which was AWESOME. I wanted to show my friends something that I could be proud of, something unique to Southern. And the show didn’t disappoint. Bietz was amazing, the skits were hilarious, the music ON POINT. And the special music guest, cello player/beat boxed from Pentatonix. You can’t really beat that, can you?

They had an amazing time here which made me have an even more amazing time. It was wonderful to be around my people; to feel so free. God knew exactly what I needed. He knows that I’ve been struggling, and he sent me my friends at just the right time. So happy right now, and I hope I stay that way.

Shivani—Post

I have come to realize that I have made some of the most amazing friends I could ever ask for at Southern. I have people that truly care about me and want nothing more than for me to be happy and content with life.

I’ve had so many days and nights were I thought I couldn’t go on any longer, college is pointless, I’m not going to be able to make it. And God has for some reason seen to it that I meet the most wonderful people that the world has to offer to keep me sane and safe.

I have countless people praying for me, begging God to keep me safe and happy. And though I still struggle, I know that not only do I have the love and support of my God, I have the love and support of all my fantastic friends.

If I ever feel alone or as if I cannot handle things anymore, I have a squadron of people to back me up, to cater to my every need, to calm my anxiety and my fears.

And then there is God, “On Christ the solid rock I stand….” My solid rock will never weaken or abandon me. He shall always be there to pick me up when I fall, to remind me that I am more than the sum of my past mistakes, I am more than the problems I’ve created. I am his child, fearfully and wonderfully made. And no matter what I do, that will never change. 

Shivani—That One Class

We all have that one class that we despise. The one that we feel we would be so much better off without. The bane of our existence. The class we dread going to. Unless you somehow have the perfect schedule, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That once class that just ruins your day that you cannot wait to get out of. And it’s usually required for your major so you can’t just drop it and go on with your life.

I’ve had a couple classes that are like this for me. There is one in particular this semester. It’s a good class, don’t get me wrong. But it irritates me. I don’t like it that much, it feels like it goes on forever, and I feel like I’m not really learning anything in it. I feel like its generally a waste of time.

If anything, classes like those teach you patience and how to deal with things you don’t like. There are a lot of real life applications for that. It also teaches you how to learn and process different kinds of information. Even though the class is useless and you’re sure that you really don’t need it and its just holding you back and dragging your GPA down, it actually is helping you. If it wasn’t relevant, it would not be a required class for you.

Even with that gold nugget of advice, I still find myself not caring about the class, and not putting it on my top list of priorities with my other classes where it should be. I get lazy and ignore the class, I guess hoping that it will go away? But alas that never happens. No matter what, I’m always going to have at least one class that drags me down. It times to grow up and deal with it, just get through it. It might feel like a waste of time now, but I’m sure it’ll help me later on. 

Shivani—Bipolar Weather

I thought when I came to Tennessee the weather would be a little more agreeable. I WAS WRONG. SO WRONG. I thought that no other state could have weather as bipolar as Georgia. Again, I WAS SO WRONG. If anything, the weather here is more bipolar, awesomely warm one day, and discouragingly rainy and cold the next day with no reprieve. Literally no reprieve. At all. If Tennessee was thirsty, I’m pretty sure that thirst has been satiated 10 times over.

I love the rain. I do. I’m one of the idiot kids that still goes outside and dances in the rain for hours and then wonders what in the world could have gotten me this sick the next day. I sleep better when it rains, I love the sound. But when it goes on for days and days and it is freezing and everything is muddy and yucky and wet, the fun tends to go out from it.

I pride myself on being one of the very few girls who doesn’t freak out about my hair getting wet when it rains. I usually don’t even wear a raincoat. A hoodie works just fine for me. But I’ve found myself bringing out the raincoat, and even being desperate enough to bring out the umbrella, and making my snow boots double as rain boots.

SPEAKING OF SNOW. Why has it snowed more in Atlanta than it has in Collegedale? I am so disappointed… I get text messages from my mother all happy about the flurries and the snow sticking and yay yay yay while we have only gotten one day of snow, and it melted by the end of the day. My parents and I both expected there to practically be blizzards; I was looking forward to canceled classes. But alas, it seems that my dreams shall stay just that. Dreams.

So after a week of rain proceeding into a week of wind and cold, we are now in what seems to be a week of slightly warm, slightly windy temperature. I hope that it all stabilizes soon that I can keep either my sweatshirts of tank tops out, not both. 

Shivani—Second Semester Social Life

It’s a new year, a new semester, a new start. I made a ton of resolutions for the new year, including: Not missing any classes (sadly I’ve already failed that), getting fit (I’ve been really lazy, haven’t started that yet) Getting organized (If anything my room is just more messy) spend more time doing homework (I’VE ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED THIS ONE!)… blah, blah, blah. But the one I’m putting some real effort into right now is making over my social life!

Last semester was awesome (well, sort of) but at the end of it I was left feeling like something was missing. After a lot of thinking (and a lot of chocolate therapy) I realized that what I missed most last semester was having FRIENDS. It all really hit me when I realized I was spending more time in my room than out of it, not including when I was sleeping. I spent so much time in class, at work, studying, and sleeping that I forgot to add a social life in the middle somewhere.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not looking to party it up or go crazy every night (If I was, Southern would definitely not be the place to be…). But this semester I’m taking a conscious step towards SOCIALIZING. It’s time to balance out the work with a little bit of fun. I’m going to start with baby steps, like going to dinner with my friends more, becoming better friends with my new roommate, hanging out with my fellow law majors, and maybe even the occasional weekend outing. (Just if I’m feeling a little wild! Haha just kidding, I’ll probably go home and catch up with friends from high school) This semester is going to be FUN.

Shivani—Friends in High School Clashing with College Life

I’ve been noticing that it is getting harder and harder to balance my “before college” life and my “now college” life. It seems that they’re always clashing and dividing me into two different people.

It seems that whenever I get involved with someone from my “before college” life, i.e. high school friends, we revert to well, high school mode. We revert to being catty and dramatic and gossiping about people and being in the middle of drama with other people from the period in our lives.

I act/interact very differently with these different sets of friends from different times in my life. They aren’t separated by a lot of time, but the circumstances leading me to these people are very different and we have more grown up relationships.

Recently I was in a big blow up with a couple friends from high school. I was very upset, freaking out, just super unhappy. I called one of my friends from Southern and told them what was going on and they really helped me put everything into perspective. About how we were all behaving like kids and getting caught up in stupid things and not acting our ages.

It made me realize that I’m letting myself get upset by people who are not really even in my present circle of life right now, who while they have grown up and are college students themselves, when we get around each other, we revert back to how we were. And of course they are all very important to me, but I can’t let myself be upset by stupid kid stuff. I don’t even see these people in person anymore. As much as I hate it, they aren’t my best friends anymore. Their loyalties aren’t necessarily with me anymore, and it works both ways. We’ve moved on to new people, grown up, out grown each other. Of course its nice to be nostalgic and pretend that everything is as it used to be, but eventually we have to grow up and start acting our ages and stop throwing fits and pretending that we’re all buddy buddy when in reality we have all new friends, we’re in whole new situations, we’ve moved on.

I don’t know. I could be completely wrong. But right now I need to stick with the people that are actually with me now and are now a part of my present, not my past. 

Shivani—New Year, New Me

It’s a new year and a new semester. As winter break comes to a close, being a lazy bum is  no longer a viable option and I’m preparing myself for some new classes and a totally different schedule. Here are my new year’s college resolutions:

Never miss a class! Laziness got the best of me first semester and I missed a few classes (let’s just say I let sleep become my number one priority).

Get organized! I’ve been trying to revamp  my study habits and keep better track of my assignments. With so many notebooks, agendas and my laptop, all of my ideas and notes are scattered. I prefer to type my notes out, but some classes don’t allow laptops and the ones that do, well I hate carry around my bulky Lenovo. Hopefully I get my act together and actually maintain the organizing system I come up with.

    Start assignments as early as possible! I always struggle with procrastination (It usually works out! Most of the time…). But since I have more classes this semester than last semester I need to be on top of my work at all times! I’m a little scared for how that will turn out, but I’m ready for a challenge.

    Lastly, I want to start a new hobby. This is my one non-academic resolution because I really need something for my down time (if I have actually have any!). Maybe I’ll learn to play the guitar or start knitting. There are endless possibilities, but I definitely need something to use as a stress reliever instead of napping or eating.

We’ll see how these resolutions play out! I’m excited for the new challenges and experiences this year is going to bring me. What are your college resolutions?

Shivani—End of Year

I can’t believe that I’ve been in college for a whole semester. I still sometimes can’t believe that I’m even in college. I still have the moments where I feel like I’m in the wrong place; I’m too young for this. Oh wait, I’m 18. I graduated from high school. I’m supposed to be here.

I meet people in their 20s and my immediate reaction is, gosh, they’re old! But then I realize, oh wait, again, I’m 18. I’m a freshman in college.

Sometimes I feel like I’m still 16, still a little kid wandering around in the world not sure what to do. Everyone here seems to have it together and know exactly where they’re headed. Me, I’m still trying to figure out if the career that I’ve wanted since I was a little kid is still a viable option.

It’s been a really interesting year. I have definitely done a lot of growing and learned a lot more about myself and the world. I have made new friends, lost some old ones to the acquaintanceship status, fallen in and out of “like”, met amazing people, learned how to ignore the not-so-amazing people, and a plethora of other things.

I’ve learned to share my room and my space. To “play house” with someone. I’ve accepted that my past is my past. No matter how much I miss it or loathe it, it’s no longer prevalent. What matters now is the present and my future and what I intend to do with it.

I still have a lot of growing and maturing to do. If all goes according to plan, I still have 7 semesters left at Southern. 7 more semesters to make this the most epic college experience ever.

Shivani—Meal Plan Shenanigans

One of the funniest things to me lately has been the meal plan. Guys have resorted to practically begging girls for meals or gritting their teeth and going into their 2^nd, 3^rd, I bet even 4^th dip. I have a couple guy friends that have gone over meal plan and their expressions are so pitiful when it comes to meal time. I get big, pleading, puppy dog eyes, asking if I could spare some money for them to eat.

I don’t eat that much, so I’ve had a good amount of money at all times, and I don’t want it to go to waste, so I have no issue getting food for my friends. If I’m really close to them and know what they like to eat, sometimes I’ll stop by the VM, pick them up an entrée, snack, drink, and surprise them with a meal.

From what I’ve heard, this has been an issue at Southern for a long time. Girls usually, but not always, have more than enough money until the end, while guys run out of money mid semester and have to rely on others for meal plan, or go into their back up plan money.

This is a sign that was posted by a gentleman in the guy’s dorm. While hilarious, it’s a little sad that students are having to resort to this or risk spending a ton more money.

I feel bad for all the students digging a deeper debt hole because of the meal plan. I hope this system is upgraded and revolutionized in a way that works with the students and their budgets. 

Shivani—Relationships