And They're Off

School is in full swing again, and I have officially survived the first full week with only minor mishaps ranging from forgetting what time chapel started at (I was an hour early and without anything to study) to getting slightly lost while trying to find a class (not my fault, it was printed wrong). My survival was supplemented however by a midweek run to Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha compliments of my mother who gave me a gift card last week. Oh, and Chick-fil-A sponsored breakfast this morning too! The first week is usually the worst for me morning wise because I have to adjust to getting up early again, but since I had both mocha and chicken, all is well.

This is Just a Drill

So, we are sitting inside today confined because of tropical weather. It is seriously raining cats and dogs out there! My only hope is that by the time I fly out of here on Tuesday that all this rain has cleared out and that it didn’t cancel too many flights that will create a backlog. Actually, I don’t really see why they would have cancelled any flights unless there are some serious winds up higher. There’s just a stiff breeze on the ground, and that is exactly why I call this a drill. In the event of a true tropical emergency, electricity would be out, trees would be falling over, water and food would be stockpiled, and flights would have for sure been cancelled.

Random Fact, But…

My all time favorite movie to watch at the dawn of any new semester is “You’ve Got Mail.” I can completely connect with the “bouquets of sharpened pencils” that Tom Hanks’ character claims that he would send Meg Ryan’s. A new semester means new pencils, pens, notebooks, flashcards, and ultimately a clean slate, a fresh start. What’s not to like about a brand spankin’ new notebook?! Most of the time, I can’t wait until the beginning of the first class to write something, anything in it. Oh well, too bad I don’t have a copy of “You’ve Got Mail” with me in FL right now.

The Semester is Officially Over

Well, the semester has actually been over since Friday. I actually turned in my last paper early. It was due at 5, and I think that I had it in by 3. It wasn't perfect, but I was just ready to be done with it.

Some pictures of my last day:

As the Semester Draws Nigh

The semester is ending. Next week is finals week, and then, it will all be over. I will never again sit in an Old Testament or ethics class. It’s definitely bitter sweet. I can’t believe that the semester is already over. It has absolutely flown by! When I started back in January, I wasn’t sure that I would even survive this semester much less long enough to get my MA, but I have survived! That I am excited about. However, I hate the fact that I am leaving some amazing classes. I have learned so much under some amazing professors over the last 16 weeks or so. It’s funny. It’s only been 16 weeks, but I’m already to the point where I can’t imagine spending my week not sitting through 6 hours of Galeotti’s rabbit trails or 3 hours of Liederbach’s ethical challenges. They have both had an amazing impact on my life even if neither of them think that I talk nearly enough. Apparently, impacts are gauged based on class participation, something that I have never been overtly good at. Anyways, I can’t wait to see what next semester holds!

Just 4 Ya'll

Well, since I started my seminary venture a few months back, there is one question that I get asked quite consistently. Everyone that I run into wants to know what I’m learning. Most of the time, it’s meant to be a casual, quick question, but I’m learning so much on a daily basis that the majority of the time I get lost on where to even start answering. My brain starts running a mile a minute trying to figure out exactly how to put into words all that I have been learning. Inevitably, I settle on some miniscule amount of information to share that nowhere near answers their question, and to top it all off, by the time the information works its way from my brain to my mouth, it never sounds as good as it did in my head. I am definitely not an orator. I can organize and teach a lesson plan like nobody’s business, but informally answering an unexpected question is way out of my gifting. Writing however is an area where God really has gifted me. Some people are talkers and some people are writers. I don’t know that I’m a writer in the official sense of the word, but I’m at least proficient in it. My hope for this blog is two fold. First off, I want to keep anyone who wants to know exactly what I’m learning up to date, and secondly, I want to write down what I’m learning so that I can be more proficient in verbally explaining it. As I said earlier I can teach a lesson plan because writing helps me to organize my thoughts so that when they exit my mouth they don’t sound so…incoherent.