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!

Famous Regent Grads

Lets talk inspiration from history. Regent University has some pretty impressive graduates that have been brought to my attention and I thought I would talk a little about them. Here are a few:

1.) Bob McDonnell. Bob McDonnell is running for Governor in Virginia's 2009 election. He was formerly the Attorney General of Virginia and graduated from Regent University School of Law in 1989.

2.) Jay Sekulow. Jay Sekulow has been named "One of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals" by Time Magazine in 2005. He has worked extensively in Washington as a lawyer and currently resides in Virginia Beach, VA as the Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a Trustee for Regent University and also a professor in the Regent's School of Law. He recieved his Ph.D. from Regent in American Legal History.

3.) Tony Hale. Tony Hale is most famous for his portrayal of the child-like and eccentric Buster Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development. Though the show only ran three seasons, Hale has gone on to be a guest on various television shows like Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia and ER. He recieved a master's degree from Regent's School of Communications and the Arts.

4.) Cheryl McKay. Cheryl McKay is a screen writer most famous for the 2006 film The Ultimate Gift starring James Garner and Abigail Breslin. Her screenplay Never the Bride has been adapted into novel format and was released by Random House publishers in June 2009. Cheryl earned her Masters of Arts in Film Aesthetics & Prodcution in 1995.

5.) George Thomas. For any 700 club fans, you may know George Thomas as an international correspondent and senior reporter for the Christian Broadcasting Network. He recieved his Masters in Journalism from Regent's School of Communication & the Arts in 1995.

I am suprised at how many famous people have walked the same brick pathways that I take to class everyday. Have an excellent week everyone!

Pho Sure

If you are reading this, I am assuming that you have been surfing the web for a few minutes now and probably need a break. Now would be an excellent time for my Pho Soup Recipe.

One night about three weeks ago, I developed a recipe for this delicious soup. I think the same day I set off the smoke alarm in my apartment because I tried to make pastry crème and burned a nice black ring in the bottom of my only sauce pan. Instead of feasting on burnt cake icing, I decided to move onto more savory things -things like Pho.

Pho is a Vietmanese noodle soup that tastes something like….palm trees, if palm trees had a flavor. It is a slightly spicy soup made with rice noodles and herbs. If you enjoy exotic foods, you have got to try this, it is delicious. I had some great pictures but accidentally deleted them from my computer, oops. Here it is:

Pho Soup

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1/2lb. of chicken breast or tenders

1 pkg. rice noodles

1 bunch cilantro

1 pkg. fresh basil

1 jalapeno pepper

1 head Chinese cabbage

salt and pepper

1. Fill a sauce pan half full with water and place it on a burner turned to HIGH. Bring water to a boil and add the chicken to the water. Boil until the chicken is cooked and white in the middle. Drain the chicken and leave it on some paper towels to cool. As soon as it is cool, pull it apart until it looks “shredded”. It will be in many different pieces.

2. On a cutting board, slice half the head of Chinese cabbage into pieces ¼” in width. Set aside to be added to the soup. Take half of the cilantro bunch and chop into small pieces setting aside to be added to the soup. Pull the basil leaves from the and set aside to be added to the soup. Chop the jalapeno pepper and set aside.

3. Fill another saucepan with the chicken broth and the 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the package of rice noodles and cooked chicken. Simmer until noodles are soft, most likely 5 minutes. Then add the Chinese cabbage and jalapeno pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Take the saucepan off the stovetop and add the cilantro and basil. Use salt and pepper to taste.

The soup should store well for 5-7 days in the fridge. If you don’t like hot foods, don’t add the jalapeno. It is great either way.

"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.