Academics, General Education and National Geographic

Action #3

I realize that I might have been giving off the impression through previous blogs that I am only interested in history. While it is true that history is my primary academic focus, I am by no means disinterested in other subjects. When I think back on my years in high school, most of my favorite classes were English and theater classes. My interest in both of these

areas were sparked through these classes (and a really amazing teacher) and I continue to be interested in both of these areas. I love reading "classic" books, and I am sure AP Lit senior year helped instill this love. I most recently finished reading "Tess of the D'urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. What a great, frustrating, depressing book!

Though I often rant and rave against certain general education requirements, I have gotten to take some great classes because of these requirements I might not have taken otherwise. For instance, I had to take a science class to fulfill my general education science requirement last semester. I chose to take Biological World, with Ryan Sensenig, not really knowing much about the class. I ended up loving the class and learning a lot. This class dealt a lot with evolution and forced me to really evaluate what I believed and why I believed that way. In a way, my Christian faith was strengthened through class discussions and individual reflection. I read several books about evolution and how it relates to Christianity and I would still be interested in reading more on this subject.

On a slightly different note, Ryan's class also taught me to think of subjects as interrelated, not separate areas of study. I created a project for myself that allowed me to link the history of the settling of the Great Plains to current environmental problems we are facing in that area of the United States. It was very interesting.

Outside of classroom settings, I still do find myself interested in areas outside of history. I remember getting very excited whenever we recieved the newest National Geographic when I was young. I still love reading National Magazine and similar magazines - and yes, I do read them cover to cover!

"Work on Good Habits"

Action # 3

I appreciate the fact that this topic was titled "Work on Good Habits", not "Good Habits" or "How I Always Have Good Habits."  I am far from perfect when it comes to maintaining consistent good habits, but I have been working on and continue to work towards this goal. 

I have always been fairly punctual, since both my mom and dad are sticklers for punctuality.  I am actually not as strict about showing super early now as I used to be, which is somewhat surprising considering the fact that I used to live in a country where "on time" usually meant three hours later than the time written on the invitation.  I guess I am just more busy now so I can't afford to leave for something earlier than I have to.  Regardless, I still do try to be on time and feel bad when I am late for anything.

As for thoroughness, I think I am very thorough person.  I am hardworking, and a perfectionist, and often go the extra mile on a project or an assignment just to make it a tad bit better.  I hate leaving out details or not including interesting information in my work.  Being in a college setting like this has only increased my desire to perform well and be thorough, though I have learned not to be so demanding and tough on myself when it comes to grades. 

Organization is definitely the habit I struggle with the most.  I like to think of my personal space as "organized-cluttered."   I realize it may be a little messy looking, but I do know where everything is!  I'll admit that organizing my personal belongings is a lot easier than organizing my time, however.  I have never been very disciplined time-wise, but in high school, procrastination really doesn't have the same consequences as it does in college.  I found this out the hard way.  After many late nights and days spent desperately trying to stay awake in my classes, I realized something needed to be done.  I began using an organizer for the first time ever so I could get a better idea of exactly when upcoming papers were due.  I began to make a concious effort to get things done as soon as possible and not wait till the last second.  I think I am gradually getting the hang of being productive with my time and it is a lovely feeling!

Reading...

A rather staged picture of me reading.  But it really was a good book.

Action #3

I love to read.  I remember reading my first chapter books back in first grade - The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis.  I felt proud at having read such "big" books, but more importantly, I felt like I had just come back from Narnia myself.  Reading allows me to excercise my imagination and travel back in time, to other worlds, into other people's minds...  From first grade on, I was hooked.  I read voraciously, quickly growing bored with books tailored for children and craving more substance. Sometimes, I think my poor mother had quite a hard time finding books I would enjoy reading yet were still appropriate for a 5th grader to read!

I still enjoy reading immensely, though I have unfortunately not had as much time to devote to reading since starting college. (Let me rephrase that - I am doing a lot of reading here in college, but not always what I wnat to be reading! ) I still try to make time for some enjoyable reading, however.  I realize that reading is not only good for my own emotional wellbeing and imagination, but I can also learn so much from the books I read.  For example, I don't think I will ever forget the year  Titus finally destroyed Jerusalem - A.D. 70 - because that was a pivotal event in a book I read back in 6th grade.  And this was a fiction book!  

Lately, I have tried to read more non-fiction books dealing with history because history fascinates me and I want to know as much as I possibly can about, well, everything!  I realize that this might be a rather lofty goal, but it never hurts to aim high, does it?  I work in the library, and often when I am shelving, I find myself staring at the rows and rows of books before my eyes and almost despairing because there is no way I will ever be able to know all the knowledge and information contained within those millions of pages and I want to so badly! I guess the best thing I can do is to just keep on reading one book at a time.  

 I often read books pertaining to to the subject matter being taught in a class.  If I find myself interested by that particular topic, why not learn as much about it as I can? When my Modern World History Class was doing a unit on Imperial Russia, I checked several books dealing with the czars, Russian history, Russian trivia, etc, out of my school library.  The teacher never asked us to do this, but I wanted to learn more so I took the initiative myself.  I loved it!

Books are great.  I am so thankful for books.  I hope to keep reading and learning for the rest of my life!

Since those were such cliche phrases, I will end this blog with a couple of quotes (I find them humorous) from one of my favorite "kids' books" authors, Lemony Snicket:  

"All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk." 

"Well-read people are less likely to be criminals." 

"Wicked people never have time for reading. It's one of the reasons for their wickedness." 

"Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them."

 

Celebrate Service Day

Scene from one of the dramas I was in for my high school's Servant Day in 2007.

Action #4

     One of the things that most attracted me to Goshen College was the fact that I would be able to participate in Celebrate Service Day.  My small, Christian school participated in a "Servant Day" twice a year, and I always looked forward to those days.  They gave me the opportunity to truly give of my time and talent to those in need and be a blessing to others. Aside from these more "noble" outcomes of participating in Servant Day, there was, of course, the fact that its just really fun to be able to hang out with your friends and teachers!

       Once, during Servant Day, a small group of us learned several skits and dramas with my theater teacher and then went out into the streets and performed them as an outreach ministry.  Afterwards, we would mingle with the audience and talk with anyone who wanted to.  It was a very stretching experience for me, but it helped me break out of my comfort zone and learn to share my faith in a different kind of situation.  We also conducted a small theater workshop with small local youth groups at a church.  It was a great experience! 

     I realize I have digressed a bit... ANYWAYS, I was excited about participating in Goshen College's Celebrate Service Day.  I was even happier when I found out that we would be going to our separate service assignments with our colloquium classes.  My Human Stories class, taught by John Roth, went to the fairgrounds to clean the grounds and prepare for the upcoming fair.  Though it was long and tiring work, it was really fun to get to interact with my fellow classmates and John and we had an amazing lunch!  (Dairy Queen mess-ups!) It was also nice to know that I was helping the Goshen community.   Celebrate Service Day was also a great experience and I look forward to participating in many more such days to come.

      

Sunday School

Me teaching Sunday school at age 7.  My brother, Danny, is the boy in teal.

Action # 4

      I may as well continue in my church-orientated vein while I'm at it.  

      I started teaching Sunday School when I was 7 years old.  Yes, I know that is very hard to believe, but you have to keep in mind that my parents had just started  this church in our Bolivian neighborhood and all the members were new Christians.  Having grown up in a Christian household, I was probably more spiritually mature than many of the adults, or at least a lot more Biblically literate.  I quickly became my daddy's "little helper" Sunday mornings - when the smaller children became restless during the church service, I would take them outside and read them stories from one of our many Bible picture books.  

      As the years went by, more people my age began to express interest in helping with teaching Sunday school, and after we moved our church services into our newly constructed building, we were able to split Sunday school into more appropriate age groups.  I took turns teaching the 9-12 year olds -one month I would teach, the next month another person would.  Though at times I got frustrated with the rather sporadic attendance of children - one week there would be 12 kids, the next, only 5 - I genuinely enjoyed being able to teach and help these kids better understand God's Word.  

      Teaching Sunday school let me teach me teach in a non-traditional classroom setting (there are no tests, homework, etc.) and taught me to be flexible in my teaching plans.  It was also good for me to teach in a language that is not my first language - Spanish.  Though this could be frustrating at times when I couldn't think of the exact word I would have used in English, I realize that it has helped better empathize with people who struggle with English as their second language.  I recognize that it was easy to fall in a teaching routine, however (teach the lesson, do an activity, learn a verse, play games...).  Were I to teach Sunday school again, I would try to add more variety in the lesson!  In any case, I miss teaching Sunday school. 

Sunday School

Action # 4

      I may as well continue in my church-orientated vein while I'm at it.  

      I started teaching Sunday School when I was 7 years old.  Yes, I know that is very hard to believe, but you have to keep in mind that my parents had just started  this church in our Bolivian neighborhood and all the members were new Christians.  Having grown up in a Christian household, I was probably more spiritually mature than many of the adults, or at least a lot more Biblically literate.  I quickly became my daddy's "little helper" Sunday mornings - when the smaller children became restless during the church service, I would take them outside and read them stories from one of our many Bible picture books.  My mom has a pretty humorous picture of me reading to a group of kids probably a year younger than me that I wish I had with me so I could post it on this blog, but alas...

      As the years went by, more people my age began to express interest in helping with teaching Sunday school, and after we moved our church services into our newly constructed building, we were able to split Sunday school into more appropriate age groups.  I took turns teaching the 9-12 year olds -one month I would teach, the next month another person would.  Though at times I got frustrated with the rather sporadic attendance of children - one week there would be 12 kids, the next, only 5 - I genuinely enjoyed being able to teach and help these kids better understand God's Word.  

      Teaching Sunday school let me teach me teach in a non-traditional classroom setting (there are no tests, homework, etc.) and taught me to be flexible in my teaching plans.  It was also good for me to teach in a language that is not my first language - Spanish.  Though this could be frustrating at times when I couldn't think of the exact word I would have used in English, I realize that it has helped better empathize with people who struggle with English as their second language.  I recognize that it was easy to fall in a teaching routine, however (teach the lesson, do an activity, learn a verse, play games...).  Were I to teach Sunday school again, I would try to add more variety in the lesson!  In any case, I miss teaching Sunday school. 

Correction

The "Sunday Mornings" entry actually corresponds to Action #4:  Becoming Active in Your Community.  Just in case anyone was wondering...

Sunday Mornings

Church building in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  My dad is standing on the balcony...

Action # 3:

      I thought it would be rather fitting to start this blog writing about church, it being Sunday and all.  I am the daughter of both missionaries and pastors, and thus,  church has always a very important part of my life.  My parents felt God calling them to serve Him in Bolivia and when I was 5, we left Pennsylvania and moved to dirty, hot Santa Cruz. (I spent the next fourteen years of my life there and now consider it home.) My parents started a church in Barrio Berea, our neighborhood.  

      The decision to attend church regularly was not a decision I or my siblings could make - after all, what kind of example would we set for the other neighborhood children if we did not go to church simply because we were tired or didn't feel like it?  The only times I remember not going to church Sunday mornings were when I was too sick to attend!  Attending church with a cheerful attitude was often a struggle for me, particularly as I grew older.  I would read passages in the Bible talking about how wonderful it is to go to the house of the Lord and I wondered why I felt none of the joy.  My mom once told me that sometimes she, too, did not always want to go to church but that she liked to view it as a sort of sacrifice she could present to God.  She told me that the she thought we should at least be able to give three hours of our time back to God, considering all He has done for us and all the time we have already spent on ourselves throughout the week.  Thinking of attending church as a sort of offering to God has really helped me, especially when I am tired or stressed. I think I can handle giving up two more hours of sleep to spend time with the One who gave His life for me! 

       Coming to college this past year has really helped me strengthen my views on attending church.  For the first time in my life, I was presented with two options Sunday mornings - to go, or not to go, to church.  I chose the former. I am so glad I did, too, because going to church not only serves as a reminder of what is truly important in life and who I am serving, but also provides me with a family of sorts.  I did not truly appreciate my church family in Bolivia until I left.  (I guess the saying "You never know what you have until its gone" really is true!) Regularly attending church lets you truly be a part of that community.  I spent countless hours talking with church friends, participating in outreaches with my youth group and growing in faith alongside other church members.  It feels so good to be able to walk into a place and recognize faces and names, and have them recognize you in return!  

      I have been attending Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship regularly since this January.  I love the college-age Sunday school class taught by either John Roth or Jan and Peter Shetler.  Though I don't know everyone who attends this church by far, I have loved getting to know some other students  I probably wouldn't have met had it not been for Berkey. I appreciate being able to learn more about God, worship and fellowship with other believers. Contrary to how I sometimes felt in high school, I now look forward to Sundays and the chance to go to church, even if it means sacrificing precious sleeping time!