Wednesday, August 30, 2006
A Muddy Story
So, a quick, hilarious (in hindsight) story: I was biking down to KU (Kennedy Student Union) to attend the drivers education seminar to be certified to drive the University vans. Not totally understanding the landscape yet here I decided to take a short cut through a field to avoid the population of students just getting out of class. Coming down the hill I had gained quite a speed by the time I hit the field and was unable to slow down when I realized it was wet. Water began to kick up on my back, before I could do anything about it I hit a HUGE muddy SWAMP! No one told me that the KU field turned into a muddy marsh after a rain! My bike sunk in, I was unable to pedal, I was covered head to toe in mud! I had to step off my bike, when I did so I sunk ankle deep in mud. Now, remember I’m on my way to a seminar that I have to attend “professionally” to drive the University vehicles. I walk in covered in specks of mud, walking barefoot holding my flip fops that are drenched in mud. I kindly ask the woman if I have time to use the bathroom before the seminar begins. She THANKFULLY, or maybe sympathetically said yes! Let’s just say I just took my SECOND shower of the day and now I’m getting ready for class! You bet I WON’T be taking the short cut to class tonight!
Stuart Hall Community
If I’ve not shared previously a small fact about my living conditions then here it is now. My residence hall is the furthest hall from the center of campus and located on a hill that my New Jersian friend Andrea would call a mountain! When my parents came to visit me my first weekend here they kindly brought me my bike, which has come in handy many days. It makes getting to campus/class/campus ministry as quick as a minute compared to the ten it would take me to walk. Unfortunately God will not answer my prayers to have the earth tilt further on it’s axis when it’s time to return up the mountain! Ultimately however, my legs are looking good!
Because of this fact, the Stuart Hall community is by far the best community on campus. This is because once here, no one wants to leave and no one wants to come! BT (Brother Tom), Jim (another GA) and myself took a group hiking on Sunday. We had a great time! Unfortunately it rained the entire time and we came home soaking wet! But it was a blast! The trip really helped to start forming the core group of students in my hall that will be getting involved in campus ministry! This excites me! We even have a substantial group of guys, which I’m learning from past experience and now that every campus ministry has a problem attaining! One of the guys on the trip had the entire van singing Billy Joel’s Piano Man to the karaoke he had on his cell phone!
The down side to the hike in the rain was that Monday meant I was in bed most of the day not feeling so hot. I don’t know if it was allergies or the start of a cold, but I pumped myself up with vitamins and chilled for the day and now am feeling significantly better!
BT has asked me to go to Kentucky with him and a group of students for the weekend. . . I’ve not decided yet if I will be going. It depends on class this evening! He is taking a group down to experience the people and location of the UDSAP (University of Dayton Service Appalacian Project) that runs in the summertime from Dayton. It would be a wonderful experience but I have to weigh a couple things before I completely decide what to do with my weekend!
Because of this fact, the Stuart Hall community is by far the best community on campus. This is because once here, no one wants to leave and no one wants to come! BT (Brother Tom), Jim (another GA) and myself took a group hiking on Sunday. We had a great time! Unfortunately it rained the entire time and we came home soaking wet! But it was a blast! The trip really helped to start forming the core group of students in my hall that will be getting involved in campus ministry! This excites me! We even have a substantial group of guys, which I’m learning from past experience and now that every campus ministry has a problem attaining! One of the guys on the trip had the entire van singing Billy Joel’s Piano Man to the karaoke he had on his cell phone!
The down side to the hike in the rain was that Monday meant I was in bed most of the day not feeling so hot. I don’t know if it was allergies or the start of a cold, but I pumped myself up with vitamins and chilled for the day and now am feeling significantly better!
BT has asked me to go to Kentucky with him and a group of students for the weekend. . . I’ve not decided yet if I will be going. It depends on class this evening! He is taking a group down to experience the people and location of the UDSAP (University of Dayton Service Appalacian Project) that runs in the summertime from Dayton. It would be a wonderful experience but I have to weigh a couple things before I completely decide what to do with my weekend!
A Culture of College or a Culture of Alcoholism?
I have spoken to some of you about the culture that this university puts forth. For those of you who have not heard, the University of Dayton is not a dry campus and therefore has many problems concerning underage drinking as well as over drinking. Although I have not been challenged in too many ways upon moving, this is indeed a major way I have been!
The very first night the freshmen were on campus there were three hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning, one student ended up on a ventilator. I do not know the out come of that particular situation, unfortunately having students in the hospital is not that rare of a thing here.
My first weekend on campus threw me into culture shock. The student neighborhood was literally a scene from Hollywood! Seriously! I thought this stuff only happened in movies and maybe that shows my naivety but nonetheless it was a different world to me. My fellow graduate assistants have their ways of dealing with the situation. One young woman sits on the front porch of the duplex—this is where the none residence life campus ministers live, and as a general rule is our place to hang out—and exclaims, “We’re the modesty club, we’ve got you covered!” She wants to hand out t-shirts to poorly dressed girls. Another strikes up conversations ending in, “Well, you have a great night, enjoy yourself, MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!” To say the least I definitely fit in with my fellow GA’s!
It’s strange how accustom I have become in these past couple of weekends with the party atmosphere here. Thousands of students filling the streets on the weekend, police patrolling with a blind eye to the majority of stuff that goes on and walks to my room at night dodging drunken students.
The redeeming quality this university has over West Chester is the number of smokers! I felt like I was constantly inhaling second hand smoke everywhere I went on campus but here I rarely see it! It may be small but it is a redeemable quality for the university in my mind!
Plus, the campus ministry ROCKS!
The very first night the freshmen were on campus there were three hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning, one student ended up on a ventilator. I do not know the out come of that particular situation, unfortunately having students in the hospital is not that rare of a thing here.
My first weekend on campus threw me into culture shock. The student neighborhood was literally a scene from Hollywood! Seriously! I thought this stuff only happened in movies and maybe that shows my naivety but nonetheless it was a different world to me. My fellow graduate assistants have their ways of dealing with the situation. One young woman sits on the front porch of the duplex—this is where the none residence life campus ministers live, and as a general rule is our place to hang out—and exclaims, “We’re the modesty club, we’ve got you covered!” She wants to hand out t-shirts to poorly dressed girls. Another strikes up conversations ending in, “Well, you have a great night, enjoy yourself, MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!” To say the least I definitely fit in with my fellow GA’s!
It’s strange how accustom I have become in these past couple of weekends with the party atmosphere here. Thousands of students filling the streets on the weekend, police patrolling with a blind eye to the majority of stuff that goes on and walks to my room at night dodging drunken students.
The redeeming quality this university has over West Chester is the number of smokers! I felt like I was constantly inhaling second hand smoke everywhere I went on campus but here I rarely see it! It may be small but it is a redeemable quality for the university in my mind!
Plus, the campus ministry ROCKS!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Back to School
The start of classes went relatively smoothly. I am taking three courses this semester, all foundations courses to put everyone on the same level to continue our education in the religious studies department. This is a little nerve racking considering half of my class has an undergraduate degree in theology and I've never step foot in a theology classroom before this past Monday. . . But as the professors keep reiterating, that is why they have these courses.
Although I almost lost it yesterday after class, I was able to hold it together and have successfully gotten through my first week of class with NO TEARS! Daddy aren't you so proud. I have to say I was feeling great on Tuesday night, then I had Church History. . . Ugh! We went through history from Resurrection to the 20th century in a two hour session, no break! Of course I understood NOTHING as he whizzed his way through time . . . Thankfully he was just quickly flying through what we will be delving into all semester! I wanted to cry, but I didn't! I reminded myself that it's going to take time but I'll be okay!
As for the actual workload, I was quite surprised with it. People have been doing nothing but filling us with fright since day one about how much work we were going to be doing. . . Honestly it's not that bad! I kept telling people that the reading will not be too difficult for me because my undergrad was in Literature and I was quite use to reading, especially after my hellish semester in 20th century Native American Literature where we read a novel a week. The one thing that frustrates me is everyone's reaction to this statement. They usually start off with a chuckle and then tell me how reading theology is a bit different then reading stories. FIRST OF ALL THEY ARE NOT "STORIES" THEY ARE LITERATURE!!! Second of all being an English major consists of more than just reading Huckleberry Finn! In fact if I remember correctly there is an entire semester devoted to learning how to read and understand literary theory. One would just about be ready to give credit to Mark Twain for his work then comes along Michael Foucault who questions the validity of any work being solely produced by the author. In his essay What is an Author one learns that there is more to a text then the author, there is historical context and cultural context and more to be considered.
Okay, I will stop ranting about literary theory . . . I have to say that there is a small void in my life where I use to spend my days in West Chester discussing these topics. . . But soon I will be delving deeper into the world of theology and that will soon fill that gap in my heart! aaahhh.
In conclusion . . . Things are continuing well here in the great state Ohio!
Although I almost lost it yesterday after class, I was able to hold it together and have successfully gotten through my first week of class with NO TEARS! Daddy aren't you so proud. I have to say I was feeling great on Tuesday night, then I had Church History. . . Ugh! We went through history from Resurrection to the 20th century in a two hour session, no break! Of course I understood NOTHING as he whizzed his way through time . . . Thankfully he was just quickly flying through what we will be delving into all semester! I wanted to cry, but I didn't! I reminded myself that it's going to take time but I'll be okay!
As for the actual workload, I was quite surprised with it. People have been doing nothing but filling us with fright since day one about how much work we were going to be doing. . . Honestly it's not that bad! I kept telling people that the reading will not be too difficult for me because my undergrad was in Literature and I was quite use to reading, especially after my hellish semester in 20th century Native American Literature where we read a novel a week. The one thing that frustrates me is everyone's reaction to this statement. They usually start off with a chuckle and then tell me how reading theology is a bit different then reading stories. FIRST OF ALL THEY ARE NOT "STORIES" THEY ARE LITERATURE!!! Second of all being an English major consists of more than just reading Huckleberry Finn! In fact if I remember correctly there is an entire semester devoted to learning how to read and understand literary theory. One would just about be ready to give credit to Mark Twain for his work then comes along Michael Foucault who questions the validity of any work being solely produced by the author. In his essay What is an Author one learns that there is more to a text then the author, there is historical context and cultural context and more to be considered.
Okay, I will stop ranting about literary theory . . . I have to say that there is a small void in my life where I use to spend my days in West Chester discussing these topics. . . But soon I will be delving deeper into the world of theology and that will soon fill that gap in my heart! aaahhh.
In conclusion . . . Things are continuing well here in the great state Ohio!
Monday, August 21, 2006
The Art of Corn Hole
So, here's the deal. There's this game here in the Midwest called Corn Hole, if you know how to play you are an automatic member of the "in" crowd. If you're GOOD at it you automatically become royalty! I am somewhere between court jester and having relations with the prince. In other words I'm not terrible but I'm by no means a master!
How do you play, you ask. Well, it's actually quite simple. You have two roughly three by one and a half foot boards each with a five inch in diameter hole at the top. The boards have a stand that puts them at a small incline from the ground up to the hole. The boards are placed at about thirty feet from each other. Two teams battle it out to see who can get to 21 points first. You gain points by tossing bean bags . . . Each team member on her/his turn tosses four . . . Landing on the board gains you one point, landing in the hole gains you three. If you both score points you cancel each other out and only add points if one team has more.
Yes, it is a glorified bean bag toss! BUT, let me warn you--they take this game VERY seriously here in Ohio! Don't ever be caught mocking Corn Hole or you will surely have an angry mob of Ohioans chasing you down, pelting you with bean bags!
Actually in all seriousness, it really makes for a fun Saturday night!
How do you play, you ask. Well, it's actually quite simple. You have two roughly three by one and a half foot boards each with a five inch in diameter hole at the top. The boards have a stand that puts them at a small incline from the ground up to the hole. The boards are placed at about thirty feet from each other. Two teams battle it out to see who can get to 21 points first. You gain points by tossing bean bags . . . Each team member on her/his turn tosses four . . . Landing on the board gains you one point, landing in the hole gains you three. If you both score points you cancel each other out and only add points if one team has more.
Yes, it is a glorified bean bag toss! BUT, let me warn you--they take this game VERY seriously here in Ohio! Don't ever be caught mocking Corn Hole or you will surely have an angry mob of Ohioans chasing you down, pelting you with bean bags!
Actually in all seriousness, it really makes for a fun Saturday night!
Transitions . . .
So I've decided as much as I did not want to jump on the blogging band wagon, it was simply a more efficient means of communication. I feel very special that so many people have been emailing me asking how I've been doing and sending their prayers my way! I really appreciate all the love and support every one of you has given me.
Moving 500 miles from home is hard. Things I miss most from home--1) Sunday breakfasts prepared by Daddy. 2) Movie nights with Mommy. 3) Poker tournaments with the gang. 4) My pillow top mattress! 5) Daily Mass at the Newman Center. 6) Regina's smile. 7) The prayer meeting. 8) The proximity to Atlantic City. 9) Quiet. 10) AND Wawa!
Although I have attempted very hard to make my small suite my home away from home my mother is right when she says it will never be home. However, things are going really well despite these voids in my days. I am really beginning to know my way around Dayton and have ventured out on my own a couple times without getting lost! I have gone on two days of service so far which have offered me the chance to see neighboring areas of Dayton. One of these places is Yellow Springs, a small hippie town where on a Friday morning you can surprisingly see many people just out for a walk. I also did a day of service with a group of mentally challenged adults. We helped run a BBQ/picnic. . . We played many games like Corn Hole (I'll be talking about this later . . . ), and had great conversations. My favorite was an elderly man who approached me and said, "Hi, I'm doctor looovvee, I NEVER lost a patient." HA! He was great!
In addition to these days I have spent much time on campus getting ready for the first year students to move in. Move in day was hectic but I have to say Dayton has it down pretty good when it comes to moving in thousands of students in an eight hour period! You'd be impressed! That first day Brother Tom, who goes by BT, and I went around to all 18 floor meetings to introduce ourselves and say a little about campus ministry at the University of Dayton. It was, to say the least, an exhausting night!
I really felt like a part of the team last week, I volunteered to prepare a prayer for a dinner we were invited to where there would be about 200 people. This means I got to pray on a microphone, they wanted to tell me this to make sure I really wanted to do it. . . oh they have so much to learn, a microphone just excites me more!! They were all very "impressed" with my prayer and said that it was "perfect." This made my day!!! I really felt like I contributed to something here.
Oh, just thought of another thing I truly miss from home . . . The washer and dryer!!! It cost me $4 over the weekend to do my stupid laundry . . . ugh!
So, things are really going very well! Again thank you all for your love and support!
Moving 500 miles from home is hard. Things I miss most from home--1) Sunday breakfasts prepared by Daddy. 2) Movie nights with Mommy. 3) Poker tournaments with the gang. 4) My pillow top mattress! 5) Daily Mass at the Newman Center. 6) Regina's smile. 7) The prayer meeting. 8) The proximity to Atlantic City. 9) Quiet. 10) AND Wawa!
Although I have attempted very hard to make my small suite my home away from home my mother is right when she says it will never be home. However, things are going really well despite these voids in my days. I am really beginning to know my way around Dayton and have ventured out on my own a couple times without getting lost! I have gone on two days of service so far which have offered me the chance to see neighboring areas of Dayton. One of these places is Yellow Springs, a small hippie town where on a Friday morning you can surprisingly see many people just out for a walk. I also did a day of service with a group of mentally challenged adults. We helped run a BBQ/picnic. . . We played many games like Corn Hole (I'll be talking about this later . . . ), and had great conversations. My favorite was an elderly man who approached me and said, "Hi, I'm doctor looovvee, I NEVER lost a patient." HA! He was great!
In addition to these days I have spent much time on campus getting ready for the first year students to move in. Move in day was hectic but I have to say Dayton has it down pretty good when it comes to moving in thousands of students in an eight hour period! You'd be impressed! That first day Brother Tom, who goes by BT, and I went around to all 18 floor meetings to introduce ourselves and say a little about campus ministry at the University of Dayton. It was, to say the least, an exhausting night!
I really felt like a part of the team last week, I volunteered to prepare a prayer for a dinner we were invited to where there would be about 200 people. This means I got to pray on a microphone, they wanted to tell me this to make sure I really wanted to do it. . . oh they have so much to learn, a microphone just excites me more!! They were all very "impressed" with my prayer and said that it was "perfect." This made my day!!! I really felt like I contributed to something here.
Oh, just thought of another thing I truly miss from home . . . The washer and dryer!!! It cost me $4 over the weekend to do my stupid laundry . . . ugh!
So, things are really going very well! Again thank you all for your love and support!
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