Back By Popular Demand

“Why don’t you blog anymore?” I was asked way too much last semester. Normally when I am hit with this question I am in a public place waiting for coffee or fresh out of a government class and the only response I can pull from my brain is the truth – “I am just too busy.”

Being too busy to write is being too busy to think – too busy to eat, too busy to sleep. Eek. Good thing last semester is over. Here I rest, a brand spanking new 23 year-old (as of January 1) descending into graduation and back to writing my blog because people have requested it. That feels good! Its nice to know at least some people read my stuff!

This year at Regent has been entirely different than last year with new experiences editing the Daily Runner. I have learned an incredible amount about people and industry and what careers I am likely to never enter.

Life changes. As my friend Kristen tells me, “It doesn’t get any better after you graduate. From here on out, things just continue to constantly change.” This golden nugget of truth divulged over ceasar salad at Panera Bread did not particularly calm my inexperienced self, but none the less confirmed what I have learned living in four different states and two different countries in the last four years – things change.

Instead of quoting some consoling bible verse that eases the sting and anticipation of change, I would rather leave this blog open ended, as if change is worth allowing. It is wave worth riding. I don’t know if I am ready for this next phase of life, but I didn't think I was ready for Regent. Regent was ready for me.

And I think that is the perspective I will choose when searching for jobs – the world is with opportunity for the one who is open to finding it. Opportunity exists for the man who looks for God's will as he searches for that one open parking space at a packed amphitheatre 20 minutes after the concert has started.

I am so excited for what God has in store.

Sneak Peak: May RUN

So here is a sneak peak at my article in the May edition of the Regent Undergraduate Newsletter (RUN).

Thank Goodness for Mom

For a split second, and I really mean a split second, I thought I was going to be an RA in the Regent Commons next year. For those of you who do not know what the Regent Commons is, it is the undergraduate/graduate student housing Regent provides to its on-campus students. The few moments I thought I was going to be an RA were exciting. Of course, they were followed by an unexpected afterthought of anxiety as I realized that for nine months I would be playing activity planner, hall-monitor, confidant and friend to about 15-20 girls. This requires a great deal of maturity; it is sort of like being a mom.

I thought a good way to begin being mature would be to ask the girls I knew what they would like to do for fun activities next year. A number of ideas came up – ugly sweater Christmas parties, weekly bible studies and door decorating parties. The list of fun things to do was endless. I had my list nearly complete and highly professional written in orange colored pencil on piece of paper I tore from a notebook when someone said to me, “It would be nice if you would do something to recognize good deeds, like give awards or gift certificates somewhere for people who do nice things for each other.” The same girl followed up with a comment suggesting that sometimes she felt like no one ever recognized her or saw her.

A part of my heart sunk to my intestines. No one should feel invisible, especially not at Regent where there are so many opportunities to be noticed. Another part of me, the cynical part, cynically thought, Isn’t this life? Meaning, we all have to try hard to engage and get noticed and yes sometimes it is hard. It is not an RA’s job to make sure everyone feels secure and plugged into their individual niche where they will be appreciated for who they are – that is like asking them to play God.

After this conversation I sulked back to my room. I knew the feeling the girl was talking about and I think a lot of people know how it feels to be invisible. It is hard to feel unique when everyone shops at SuperTarget and works in a state-of-the-art, grey cubicle. I have felt invisible before but never did I extend myself past my own self-centered bubble to realize that a lot of other people feel this way too. The invisible feeling is an isolating one; it makes you think no one feels the same way you do.

This week I was not invisible. I won an essay contest. I got to read my essay in front of 20-30 people in the Regent University library and then sit on a panel of professors to discuss the essay topic. Things like that make you feel like life is moving forward and the invisible feeling fades for a moment. No one person has stood by me as I have developed my writing talent as much as my mother. She knew me when I was a squirrely seventeen year-old emitting teenage emotion all over MySpace in blogs. She knew me when I had my first journalism course at college that I nearly dropped because my grades were so bad. She is there now, when my writing is beginning to develop into something good, something that I can use.

The morning I won the contest, she was the first person I called. On the phone she said, “Julie, you have a gift here, but no one said it would be easy.” The wise words were a little searing to my ears. No one did say it would be easy. Now I understand what that means. It means working day and night towards your goal, being secure in both failure and success. It means staying with things when there is no recognition for your efforts and learning to wait when you have done all you can and there is no indication that anyone will ever see you.

When I become a mother, I will tell my children that no one said life would be easy. If my split second as an RA would have lasted nine months, maybe I would have said this to some girls, not as their mother, but as someone who was trying to conjure up enough maturity to act like a mother. I am lucky I have a mother to say this to me. My mom is really good at what she does, if she wasn’t I would have quit writing a long time ago. Thank-goodness for mom, right?

Spring Break in the Dorm?

Regent University just finished Spring Break 2010. Students arrived back on campus after a much needed 10-day break before another eight weeks of grueling coursework ending with everyone's favorite finale - summer.

I found myself on a plane flying home to Denver to recoup from January and February's class load which was particularly challenging and included terrors such as British and American literature classes. I am sure someday when I am a 40-year-old deep in a riveting career it will be British literature that I look back on and realize it changed my life. Just kidding, as my mother used to say, there are somethings that if you don't laugh about you will probably cry about. I am sure that deep analyzations of "Porphyria's Lover" and other British poems are most definitely what she was referring to.

Denver was happy to receive me for a few days where surprisingly, the weather was much better than it was in Virginia Beach over Spring Break. What was even better was that when I left Denver I was happy and rested and full of new ideas about life. Some of these ideas were crazy like "I should try to finish 36 credits this year to graduate in May of 2011" and yet others were a little bit more rational like "I think I want to go to law school."

I don't know about you, but I have the next twelve months carved out for me. More than I like to admit, in college this is a really good feeling. One that is rare and should be treasured because personally, I don't think I have felt in four years. On toward the LSAT! And happy spring break to you whether you have had yours yet or not.

NYC: A Picture Story

Ok, my secret is out. Maybe I went to NYC on New Years Day this year. I turned 22.

And maybe it was wonderful. The best birthday I have had yet. (And this above was the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

New York City is a very special place. If you have not been, I sincerely encourage you to go. It makes you think and feel a little bit like anything is possible. Who knows? Maybe anything is possible.

Happy Endings

I hope that your Christmas season is incredibly happy.

Merry Christmas friends.

‘Til Next Year.

I've Got a Feeling

I've got a feeling....that tonights gonna be a good night.

The hot Black Eyed Peas song blared over the speakers at around 10 p.m. and people headed out dance on the marble floor of Robertson Hall.

It was a good night. Last night, December 5, 2009 was Regent University’s 2009 Christmas Ball. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Christmas ball, it is an annual dance held for Regent’s students both graduate and undergraduate.

Some people have been preparing for the ball since September when the ballroom dance lessons began. Regent offered a series of ten dance lessons for $25 hosted at a local dance studio.

The dance started at 8p.m. and was hosted in the lobby and three floors of Robertson Hall, a.k.a. the law building. There were a few waltzes, a few swing dances and much to my dismay – not many rumba dances. Then 9 p.m. rolled around and the crowds were pouring in the door. Everyone knows it is best to show up fashionably late.

The event’s theme was “Old Hollywood” but dresses of all kinds rustled on the floor and there were even a few glimpses of a tux or two – a very prestigious event.

Before coming to the ball I heard from my roommate there was a special dessert planned. Much to the wisdom of the party-planners, this special dessert was located on the third floor of the building right by the elevators.

It was a chocolate mouse-filled decadent cake. I could only eat ¼ of a slice and my friend had to finish the other ¼. Good thing we only took a half-slice. The cake was even decorated with flowers.

At 10p.m. the Regent dance team did a performance. It was a swing dance. I watched from the second floor, oohing and ahhing with the rest of the crowd as the boys swung the girls every which way around the floor - very exciting. Then the real dancing broke out. All the hip-hop you could imagine. There was an electric slide thrown in the mix too.

We have some talented break dancers at Regent. Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but they were bold enough to part the crowd into a small circle around them as they “broke it down.”

You definitely get a fair share of dancing culture at Regent. It is not a typical Christian college in the sense that they shy away from dancing or even hip-hop dancing for that matter. It makes for quite a varied crowd.

The Christmas ball was great. The only thing missing was champagne. This was a champagne kind of event. Then I remember we are a Christian university and don’t drink champagne - at least not on campus.

Anyways, it was a great night. If you went to the ball, you know what I mean. If you did not go to the ball, I suggest you go next year. It is definitely a defining moment of Regent culture and the Regent experience. ‘Til next year.

And for now, Merry Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I sincerely hope that if you are reading this you had a delicious Thanksgiving, ate way too much, got your fill of family and are ready to finish up the semester....and of course go to the Christmas Ball!

Yey! See you there!

Ida: A Picture Story

Hello Ida!

Hurricane Ida hit Virginia Beach this week. It went a little bit like on Monday I was warned a storm was coming. On Tuesday I figured it would just be torrential rain. On Wednesday I tried to walk through this storm to class and my umbrella was completely torn inside out and I got wet. On Thursday class was cancelled and I stayed home. And on Friday I drove in the pouring rain to Harris Teeter and ate free salami, cheese and cake samples.

The storm was more than expected. It involved rain, killer wind and broken trees. Unless the Regent University lawn crew has recently decided to tear down well-established trees for no apparent reason, then Hurricane Ida is left her mark. Eek. She even blew a kiss to Walmart.

Good thing for Walmart that kiss is easily fixed. In Colorado we call these kinds of things flash floods but they don't have the wind. I tried to leave the Regent Commons on Thursday but the foot-deep puddle of water on Centerville Turnpike was a little bit disheartening. I asked my little Honda Civic if she was up for an adventure through the puddle. Partly due to the instructions of my Old Testament professor not to drive through standing puddles but mostly due to common sense, she said "Absolutely not."

As much fun as it would be to spend all my Christmas gift money on getting towed two blocks back to the Regent Commons and having my engine saturated with water, I opted to go back home and watch television instead of dropping off my passport application at the Post Office. It is a good thing that I decided this because when I made it to the Post Office on Friday, there was a paper sign with orange magic marker scribbles saying, "Closed due to Power Outage." Darn for my passport.

When I woke up on Friday morning, there were little leaves like this one plastered all over my car. Best of all, though, was that my car was not a victim of the tree pictured at the top of this post. That would have been a dilemna slightly larger than getting stuck in the Centerville Turnpike puddle.

Life is still good, even with Ida.

"I Don't Know What I Want To Do"

I am hearing it all over campus from various different people in various different studies.

“I don’t know what I want to do.”

College has a way of pressurizing people. I think somewhere along the line we all thought that we were supposed to know what we want to do. Like knowing what you want to do for the next 50 years when you are eighteen years old is a normal thing.

I don’t think it is normal. I don’t think it is normal one bit. When I first started college as an 19 year old, I applied to Regent Undergrad as a psychology major. After being accepted and rejecting the acceptance, I reopened the application two years later as an English major.

Will I be reading books, analyzing philosophy and writing essays two years from now? Maybe. Is it more likely that I will be doing something completely different than I ever thought? Absolutely. Sometimes the open-ended, answer-less questions in our lives like What do I want to do with my life? Are the ones that leave the most room for God to work.

If you don’t know what you want to do with your life, wait. Give it time. These things come to us. After all, its not like your parents are still wallowing in front of the television with a bowl of popcorn, a nose ring and 4-5 friends saying I don’t know what I want to do with my life.

These things have a way of working themselves out.

Things They Don't Say in Orientation

I am already beginning to hear whispers around my classrooms. Its about the time when school gets tough and the sound of tears from the room over are not rare. The first year students are missing home…alot. The work load is starting to pile up as the realities of college life set in for all students. Here are five things that helped me get through freshman year and my years as a transfer student that they don't tell you in orientation:

1. Give it Time. Many freshman students leave after the first two weeks. Then some leave at Christmas. College life is a huge adjustment that can take up to a year to be comfortable with. When home-sickness is strong, reach out to others. The best places I have found to meet people are the laundry room, the fitness center, class, clubs and through just being a charming and out-going individual not afraid to shake a hand or smile. Friendships will come. Whatever you do, get your mind off of the fact that this huge life-change has thrown your life into a frenzy. Part of college is learning to be outward and intentional about social life. Its ok to take a time to adjust. In the long-term, you won’t regret it.

2. Decorate Your Room. If where you are living does not feel like home, it is likely that you won’t stay there. Try putting up some posters, or my personal favorite – curtains. The little things like funky cups, homey blankets, sweet smelling scents make a world of difference to how comfortable you feel. Its worth the splurge at Target or Walmart to make sure that you feel at home and are living in an environment that is comfortable enough to allow focus to be on studies.

3. Reward Yourself. College studies are grueling. They possibly equate to the most reading you will ever do in your life. According to the book Light on the Path, an undergraduate student typically reads as many as 150 pages every week or more! When the week is over and you have finally finished all the reading, discussion posts and papers, don’t forget to reward yourself. It can mean buying a candy bar the size of your arm or planning the world’s largest all-floor sleepover in the hallway. Just don’t forget that you matter and taking care of you is as important as reading is to college success.

4. Buy Good Food. Ultimately we are what we eat. If you fill your stomach with sugar and processed food, it will make the brain foggy and confused. If you fill it with foods that are part of a balanced diet, it will provide for more energy and mental function. If you are having trouble studying, try cutting out sugar, it will change how you feel. Good food is worth the splurge at the grocery store. Sugar will always be a staple in the college student’s diet but don’t forget about fruits and veggies, meats and dairy. It will make a world of difference.

5. Visit the Profs. Professors can seem so intelligent and intimidating even though they are paid to help students. When a professor holds office hours, don’t hesitate to visit. If you need help with an area in the class, go seek advice. Go and talk to them about why they chose to be a professor and what super-cool reason led them to Regent. This is supposedly the nation’s pre-eminent Christian university. The professors here did not come because no one else was hiring. College professors have great stories too. You never know, it could turn out to be a smart networking move for your future.

I hope these all help. They helped me. Best of luck this week J