You gotta have Friends!

Last week I must say was the busiest week of my life. Projects, class, life in general, was filled with lots to do and not enough time to do it. Even through the busyness I was able to have some FUN. All week was the tournament for intramural volleyball. Volleyball intramurals take place for the second part of the semester. My team was with the floor of the dorm I live in. WESTY 4! Everyone plays with their hall mates on the floor they live on. It is always fun to represent your hall. My team made it to the championship game. We were playing another Westy team and they had beaten us the first time we played them. We were out for some clean Christian revenge. They gave it their best, but we were on FIRE. Everyone was playing great for our team. It was so much fun working together as a hall and building relationships with hall mates through sports. Winning a free champions T-shirt wasn’t too bad of a deal either.
Then it was Friday night and the night was full of excitement and an avoidance of schoolwork. It was our Brother / Sister hall event. Every girls’ hall is matched up with a boys’ hall to get to know them better and do events with them throughout the semester. Friday night was our Christmas party. First on the agenda was dinner so we went to the dining hall to have some taco salads with the fellows. Then we went back to the guys’ house (they got special permission because no dorm is co-gender) for a white elephant gift exchange (I got stinking Ramen noodles), piñata (Don’t use pool table sticks they break) and cookies. Then off to the boys’ basketball game where our hall cheered on the Lancers and a basketball player on our brother hall. Then back to the house for some hot cocoa and the movie Elf. It was getting late so we called it a night and headed back to our dorm. No matter the busyness, you have to make time for your friends! It’s always worth it.

In exactly four days I will be starting my last exam. Right now, those four days seem way toe far away from Christmas break, and yet, they seem like such a short time to finish everything. I'm not in too bad of shape. Four exams and one project are all that stand between me and Christmas break. I am so excited to be able to be home again with family and friends. It will be nice to be in a house again : ) 

This past week has been spent studying and then socializing. While the last few weeks are always crunch time for classes, they are also crunch time for hanging out with those you won't see for a while. I spent last weekend in Chicago with some girls from my hall to see a musical. It was an awesome time! The past couple of nights have been spent in our on-campus cafe studying and spending time with friends. It always turns into more socializing than studying somehow. That's is definitely one of my favorite aspects about here.

What has really hit me hard this week is that for some of my closest friends, this will be the last few days of seeing them everyday. One of my closest friends is transferring to a school back home. While I'm really sad to see her leave, I know that her time her at Grace is ending and a new chapter is beginning. Not a better one, just a different one. Someone else who is leaving is one of my suite mates, the every comical Christi Mann. She has the amazing opportunity to study at Second City in Chicago. Life in the dorm just won't be the same without being able to scare her out of her wits by walking, as she would say "like a ninja," into her room.  When the next week ends, I will have to say goodbye to some of the people that have impacted me greatly here at Grace. I know that there are amazing things happening and so the goodbyes are bittersweet.  

 

End of Semester

*Sigh of relief!* The semester is drawing to a close, exams will soon be over, and then it's off to California for me! Christmas seems to have crept up on me this year...no, not crept...more like SPRINTED and then TACKLED! :) This has been one long and hard semester, let me tell you. I don't even have time to feel any symptoms of senior-itus, but that's probably a good thing.

I wanted to share a truth I was reminded of the other night. I know for myself, when things get rough and I feel worn out and pressured beyond capability, there is a tendency for "Blah" to take over. You know what I mean? I see it on lots of faces this time of year. Maybe it's depression, maybe it's just not feeling interested in anything, or it's a completely pessimistic view of things...but it feels as if you just don't have the strength to deal. Wellll this kind of funk can go on for days, and you just survive without really LIVING! This is pretty discouraging and can happen whether you are still in high school dealing with high school pressure or maybe college decisions, or at college dealing with...well, college situations or maybe future plans; or even if you are well beyond college and are dealing with disappointing life or work situations.

The point is, a very dear friend reminded me of something the other night. I was expressing to her my feelings about it and she said "Elly, I'm going to be praying for this!" And with that she took a pen and wrote on my hand, JOY, and finished with the thought, "this will be your strength, and this is what you're missing." I didn't quite get what she was saying until after she left and this verse jumped into my head as I looked at at my hand: "The JOY of the LORD is your STRENGTH!" And with that reality jumped back into a true perspective as well! Saturate yourself with God's presence and the fire may singe, but it will not burn you. Great is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be GLAD in it! :)

I hope that's encouraging to some of you. Have a great last week, Grace College! I'm really going to miss a lot of you during break...but we will be back in no time! Merry Christmas and see you on the flip side!!!

Christmas Video

Members of the admissions team (counselors) host the ambassadors and the annual Christmas party held at CE National. The event was a great time of coming together as a team and celebrating the season. It also allowed for a lot of silliness from the staff, including this video of three of the new admissions counselors performing before the entire group. As you can see, we have a lot of fun at Grace and within the admissions department.

I warn you (before you watch the video) that I work with some crazy (and fun) admissions counselors. Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Grace

Because I am old, or, at least older than most in the enrollment division, it has taken me nearly a week to make this post to our blog. But last Friday night, the entire admissions team got together for a wonderful Christmas party at CE National. First, what a fabulous facility we used on their campus--which is adjacent to Grace! But what a great time it was to laugh and talk with the Ambassadors and admissions staff.

Of course, there was plenty of great food, which we all enjoyed. But the sense of this group being a team was very rewarding to me. And, the presents from the White Elephant game was truly special. I still can't believe I went home with an ice cube tray.

When I get the photo of the group from Katie, I will try to post it to this blog so you can see a part of the group. But until then, you'll have to trust me that it was a great night.

Oh, did I tell you that I won the game of Uno? It wasn't even close!

Christmas and Parties!!

I love all the holiday and the parties that go on. Even if you see people on a regular basis, it is still fun to get together and just laugh and relax. This is a picture of some of the admission staff at our office party last Friday night. The highlight of the evening was the white elephant gift exchange - where do people come up with their gifts? Of course some people had brought a nice gift which everyone fought over. I think I walked away with the prized worst gift award! Merry Merry Christmas! Hope all your white elephants are full of laughs!

Opera Performance!

What's up, Grace College? :)

Tonight I perform in our Opera Scenes Performance...I'm pretty excited for it, I'm hoping we will have a good crowd. So I'm pretty much just advertising that today, performances are tonight and tomorrow night, 7:30pm! It is a fun show with our own Christmas theme and characters (including a puppy dog, lol!) with awesome arias by talented singers!

AND I also want to say to everyone: these kids in the music department are something else. I am so privileged to be a part of this group of students, and also be close friends with such amazing people who hunger after Christ and excellence in their life, both freshman and upper classmen alike. I am so proud of each and every one of them, with the times of immense testing that have come our way this semester! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Break a leg, Opera!!! Come see us!!!

Have you seen?

Have you noticed the quality of the student ambassadors? They never cease to amaze me. Just today I saw several of the "guys" step in and help the office staff or a counselor on a project. Now, I could name names if I wanted, but I don't want to embarrass any of them. Well, do I? I guess not, but let me say this in closing, if I were a parent of a prospective student who was looking at colleges, I would want my child to be the type of students at Grace, especially the ambassadors. They are truly special!

Late nights on the Hall!!

So it’s 11:45 on Sunday night and almost everyone has returned from their Thanksgiving breaks to finish out these last two weeks of school. IT’S CRUNCH TIME!! Projects are due, there are papers to write, tests to study for; why does everything have to be due in the last two weeks? I guess if you are that person who works way ahead of schedule, then these weeks are a breeze for you. For the rest of us, these next two weeks mean little sleep, weight gain from late night pizza, and little social life. Ok so this blog is getting depressing, so let’s spice it up a little. You know what you need to do when your eyes are glazed over from staring at your paper for the past 4 hours? Take a break! No, not just eating a Kit-Kat bar. I have a much better solution. FACEBOOK. Well not just Facebook but Facebook video wall posts. They are AMAZING! If you have a webcam or a friend with one, then you’re set. Just start filming, make some ridiculous video, and then post it on a friend’s wall. My friends and I like to do this at around 1 AM when we are so tired our videos make no sense and are honestly just plain embarrassing. You could even be festive and enjoy the holiday season and record yourself singing Christmas carols to your friends. Now you may think I’m crazy, but next time you have that 20 page research paper that you are starting at midnight the night before, remember Facebook video wall posts will give you a little light in the darkness of the end of the semester :)