an update. ...sort of

I just wanted to take this opportunity to quickly share with you some of the things that have been happening in my life lately.

First of all, this is my fifth week of classes. Papers and tests are quite regular now, and our first set of grades come out at the end of next week. I am nearly halfway through my first semester of college! Woohoo!

Second, volleyball is going full swing, as is basketball. There has been a little change of plans in this area however. A couple of weeks ago, and with my coach's full support, I resigned my position on the basketball team and took up a position as team manager. There were a variety of motivations for this big decision. One reason was the fact that, due to my inexperience and also my commitment to volleyball, I would have next to no playing time for two years. The biggest reason, however, was the conviction that playing basketbal would not effectively move me toward my telos. I made the hard choice to drop my weaker sport in order to pursue things that would shape me into more of the person I want to be in four years.

In light of this goal, I applied for and was honored by an election to the position of student senator. I am one of eight students chosen for this position. We will meet weekly to organize school events and strengthen our individual and composite abilities as leaders on campus. This is a lot like the prefect position in which I served in high school, for those of you who are familiar with that system. We will start meeting this week, and I am super-excited for this aspect of my school year.

Also in reference to the Kimberlee I would like to be in four years, I pledged a service club this week. The service clubs here are essentially fraternities and sororities that have been "converted" to a Christian worldview. Part of this twist can be found in the name service club. The focus of these groups is first on serving their own community--the community of young men or women in the club--and second on serving their larger community. Each club will be regularly volunteering for small and large community service projects throughout the year, as well as doing fun things like camping trips together.

There are three female service clubs here and two male. Each one threw a party last week to inform the new students of their unique purposes and missions. These distinctions included things like club virtues and verses, traditions and personalities. We then reflected and prayed, selected a service club that best fit us and performed the necessary pledge requirements, or chose not to join a service club at all. The last choice is by far the minority, with most new students pledging one of the service clubs. We brave club-pledgers will all go through a process of induction this weekend, starting tonight.

I am very excited about my service club, phi alpha sigma. I already love many of the girls in the group and can't wait to formally contribute to this new subcommunity as well as all the larger communities of which I am a part.

Finally, as part of another program in which I am involved, I was assigned a mentor for this year, with the recommended option of keeping up that relationship for the rest of my years here. I was happy to find that my mentor is one of my favorite professors here. Of course it is hard to say that he is my favorite professor, since all of them are fabulous. I love how small this school is, because I literally have conversations with my professors every day. They all know my name, at the very least, and those who actually teach me know much more about me. One day when I was particularly homesick my amazing history professor pulled me aside on the way to chapel and just built me up and encouraged me. He had no idea that I was missing my family and friends, but I know God directed him to me that day. This professor will sit and eat lunch with me and talk to me about theology and life and volleyball and education. I really love the fact that everyone here is so willing to reach out to you, serve you, and encourage you. I am already trying to follow these marvelous examples. I want to serve my fellow students and teammates and my teachers in every way I can.

I want to illustrate the loving spirit of this college with just one story. Early this week I was struggling a bit with life. My RA stopped and talked to me while we were brushing our teeth and when she realized that I was upset she offered to pray for me. The next day I came back from class to find a little card stuck on my door. My RA had written me a note full of encouragement from herself and from Scripture. I felt so blessed that I nearly cried.

This college is certainly not for everyone, but I do feel that this is a place where I can grow immensely in all aspects of my life. God was watching out for me when my shoebox full of college letters was overflowing last year. I am still surprised that I left all those other fantastic colleges in favor of this one. Looking back, the story of how I chose this college is pretty astounding... it is pretty much a God thing.

In ninth grade, when I was stressing out about college choices (yes, already), a teacher advised that I pray, pray, pray. (Anytime I am stressed about anything, by the way, her first direction is to pray.) I prayed constantly about which college I would attend, and I believe that this college is the answer to those prayers. This seems to be where I belong.