The Titans Clashed

Yesterday, October 30, 2009, I went and saw the Clash of the Titans political debate. Yes, I splurged, decided to go without Starbucks for a while and buy the $30 ticket. It was money well splurged.

The four big prominent political figures Arianna Huffington, Howard Dean, Dick Armey and John Kasich showed up on Regent University’s campus to discuss the future of America. Joe Scarborough, the host of Morning Joe and The Joe Scarborough Show, mediated the debate.

Even when Pat Robertson waddled to the front of the stage to introduce the event, everyone already knew what they would hear for two hours. Capitalism will survive. It must survive. Still, it is much more fun to pay $30 and see important people in suits, ties and a black skirt say this for national television from our little, private campus. It makes it a little more nostalgic. It makes us feel a little more pre-eminent as we are inspired in the classroom to attack politics and all other spheres of society upon graduation.

In the meantime, I am still fascinated with all the speakers that come to campus. David Jeremiah, Vern Clark, the list this year goes on and on. It was a pleasure to see Arianna Huffington too. I first made my way onto the Huffington Post this last summer and realized it is no conservative hot-bed. Being the writer I am, I like to track popular blogs and I am sure that her blog is beyond the popular realm. It is more into the culture-shaping realm. It is definitely worth a minute of your time if you want to know where modern media is going.

To all the other debate attendees, what did you think of the event?

15 Cool Secrets For Regent Students

Let me start off by saying, if you have survived the last eight weeks of your life and you are a Regent student, I commend you. Whether it by the seat of your pants or not, you made it to fall break! Congratulations! You are a truly accomplished person.

Now that all the newbie’s, like myself, have been here for a full eight weeks there are some neat-o things we have found out about. This is the kind of stuff that makes Regent unique and not all of it is located on the website. Take a look at these 15 findings, maybe there are a few things you did not know:

1. There are free movies for rent in the library! The Communications school here at Regent has a running collection of Academy Award collections, cartoons and religious titles available for check-out in the library. Next time you are there check it out – 2^nd floor, S Room.

2. RU Ready? Luncheons. I personally found this to be a lovely surprise. Basically, these are free pizza lunches available to all Regent students that discuss life on campus, features of Regent and surviving at Regent. The information is helpful; the food is free - like class with free pizza.

3. Christmas Ball. The Christmas Ball is Regent’s one annual gala where all the girls and guys come out dressed up in their best formal wear to do one age old, forgotten past-time – dancing.

4. Ballroom dance lessons for the Christmas Ball. Because everyone wants to go to the Christmas ball, many people spend the three months leading up to the even in December attending dance class. Regent provides pro-rated ballroom dance lessons so students can learn to rumba, cha cha, salsa, swing, foxtrot and waltz. I believe it is $25 for 10 lessons.

5. Almost every event involves free food. There has been virtually no event I have attended on campus that does not involve a free lunch with some delicious hand-made items by the university’s chefs. They take feeding their students seriously.

6. Movies on the Lawn. Just a few weeks ago Regent students and their families gathered to watch Night at the Museum 2 on a projected screen in front of the library. It’s a good thing to do on a Friday night under the stars.

7. For Commons residents, free laundry. Let me say this one more time, FREE LAUNDRY. I believe if you do your laundry once a week, that would save you somewhere between $3-6. That means $12 – 24 dollars a month can be saved or recklessly spent on an impulsive item you most likely don’t need.

8. Carpenter’s Apprentice. This is a great online resource available to students that helps them manage their studies. It is designed to help students with goal-making, planning, and studying. With so many online courses at Regent, it helps to have a resource that helps a student manage all the work. And it is all FREE!

9. Free on-campus counseling from the Psychology grad students. I wish I this was a feature of all my schools in the past. Sometimes, school will make you loose your mind. If you haven’t lost your mind, you will want to loose your mind. It is much better to go and talk about it than to do other things with that feeling and at Regent it is free. You don’t have to spend $60 every time you want a buddy to bounce things off of.

10. Clash of the Titans. This is a debate event coming up at the end of October. Though it costs $25-30 for the Regent student, this is a once in a lifetime event to see key societal leaders debate all the hot issues.

11. Intramural football and the Chili Bowl. Nearly every time I turn around I hear someone ask about the football team. Unfortunately, Regent does not have one. The next best thing is intramurals. All the guys come out and if I am right, we even have a bowl game called the Chili bowl where they all duke it out coming in November.

12. An exclusive relationship with Bank of America. Regent has an exclusive relationship with Bank of America regarding student accounts. The small bank down the road at the Kempsville Shopping Center offers packages specifically designed for Regent students. This saved me a lot of worry time.

13. Visiting Speakers. It is not often that schools will see speakers like David Jeremiah, John Ashcroft, Rheinhard Bonke, American Idol contestants and many prominent people speak on campus.

14. King’s Pantry Food Bank. Created for students in need, this is a supplement for anyone at Regent who doesn’t have enough money to buy food. It is a very helpful resource if you are in need.

15. The fountain has special meaning. I did not find this out until my second or third week of school. The fountain students pass everyday on their way to class has special meaning. In one of the RU Ready? Lunches led by Joel Ladd, I found out that the way the water arches inward toward the center of the fountain is supposed to be a daily reminder of submission. This act of submission is intended to remind the student to continually submit to the will of God and his plan while learning to be at soulish peace during the time spent at Regent.

If you know of any additions to the list above, leave a comment :)

Pre-Conceived Notions: Lessons from Samoa

Many of you have heard about the Tsunami that hit the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific two weeks ago. If you haven’t then you can read about it here. In the Fall of 2006 I spent three months in Western Samoa doing missionary work. Three years ago today I was down in the South Pacific living with native islanders, visiting their homes, eating their roasted pigs, dancing island dances in their church services and wearing their traditional long wraps. Now, some of those people are hard to imagine. Some of them are dead.

No one I personally knew died but as I read my facebook feed, sad stories of family members and loved ones of the people I knew are rolling down my screen. If this thing would have happened three years ago, I could have been a casualty myself. My loved Samoans and YWAM companions could have been the casualties. Life would no longer be about pursuing youthful dreams. It would be about coming back home to the United States in one piece.

Samoa was a place of peace and beauty. Samoa destroyed my pre-conceived notion that God is only in the functional, the highly-spiritual and the overtly religious. God is in the deepest and furthest points of life too. He resides in midnight conversations under palm trees. He resides in the kitchen where people are making food. He stirs hurricanes and tsunamis from the depths of the ocean. He is in Samoa which is now cleaning up watery ash. More than ever when my ideas about the world are being challenged and re-aligned, I am reminded that I am not in as much control as I thought. In a time like this, when the aftermath of Samoa is staring at me in pictures I am reminded that the world is not in line with my pre-conceived notions. I am more on a puppet's string than I ever thought.

Inspiration: Fall

I attended Regent's fall Harvest Fest yesterday and it was great!

Harvest Fest, planned by Regent Undergraduate Council, is one huge let's-celebrate-fall party. There were pie-eating contests, bobbing for apples and free food. The only activity I participated in was bobbing for apples. There was even a costume-judging contest for everyone who came dressed up in fall attire. I went bobbing for apples. I got my hair, face and shirt wet. It took about twice as long as it should have for me to bite an apple. I bet I licked or gnawed on nearly every apple in the pail, it was not my most glamorous moment. Oh well. At least I hope I never see any of the photos on the Regent website!

Anyways, I hope this coming of fall is treating you well. Happy October!