things I learned this week

1. Most of my classmates went to RCA schools.  I, in contrast, went to Knox College, the polar opposite of said RCA schools.   
2. The Greek alphabet's lower case.
3. The earth is, according to one of my professors, approximately 5015 years old.
4. Martyrdom, in ancient times, referred to the actual testimony given before a court that resulted in death, not the death itself.
5. Nero really was crazy, and even his own subjects thought so.
6. In Zambia, cornmeal is a dietary staple.
7. A semester system really is much less intense than a 3-term system.  The heaviest reading load I'll ever have for one of my classes is 40 pages.  I can deal with that.
8. 1 out of 7 people will get my name right on the first try.  The rest will either look at me like I'm a little nuts, or make jokes about being "JUICED!" 
9. My advisor's name is Sue, and part of me swears that I know her from somewhere.
10. There are far too many people here that look familiar.  And at least half of the people here have been to Fulton, are related to someone in Fulton, or know a pastor that once lived in Fulton.

As you can tell, most of this is useless information.  I have learned useful things, but haven't really found a way to put them in a short, pithy sentence.  There will be more of these, rest assured, but for now, I'm just going to go eat dinner and try to tackle part of this mountain.

Ahead, Behind, and In Between

Today has been a good day.  Despite being late for both of my classes this morning (by about a minute each time, but still late), and drinking far too much coffee, today is a good day.

I have to admit, being in a place where God is not taboo is really refreshing.  I can happily trot up to one of my classmates and say "God is so good!" without having them look at me like I have three heads.  I loved (and still love) my time at Knox, but it's nice to be surrounded by other Christians. 

We sang my very favorite song in chapel this morning, and there's nothing quite like being drowned out by a thunderous crowd singing In Christ Alone.  The male-female ratio here is exactly the opposite of Knox, with at least twice as many males as females, so it's a very different dynamic. 

Besides my favorite song, two more awesome things just happened in the past half hour.  First off, the seminary president (Tim Brown) just walked by me in the atrium (where I'm currently sitting) and said "Sarah!  How's it going?", and proceeded to have an actual conversation.  To know that the president actually cares about who I am and how I'm doing just gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling that I liked so much about Knox.  Not that Roger ever did remember who I was, but it's nice to walk around and see friendly faces. 

Not ten minutes later, the circulation manager from the library walked through the atrium looking for some coffee.  I had interviewed two separate times for positions in the library (one at the front desk and one doing cataloguing), and she then proceeded to offer me a both jobs!  So I go in on Thursday for training, and I'll be working a couple of afternoons per week, some hours over lunch, and probably one Saturday per month.  I wanted this job so badly, because I really deplore my current job.  [For those that missed this, I currently hand out free samples at Walmart for a living.]   So I'll probably send in my letter of resignation sometime this evening, and see whether they still want me to work at Walmart on Saturday.  It's such a relief to have that burden gone!

And, finally, I think I might have an internship site in the works!  I haven't heard anything from them yet, but one of the administrative staff from Western emailed on my behalf and I sent an introductory email this morning.  So hopefully that will work out, and I'll have an internship soon. 

That's the life update for the day.  Check back tomorrow for a 'what I'm learning' update!

Alphabet Soup

Can you imagine what Greek alphabet soup would look like?  Ridiculous, that's what.  I'm currently trying to memorize the lower-case versions of the alphabet, and my handwriting (which is already atrocious) is now even worse.  I would show you, but, well...

In other news, classes start tomorrow.  The week starts off with Entering Christian Ministry at 8 am, followed by chapel, then Church History.  Sounds like fun, right?

Tuesday's schedule is even better: Greek at 7:45 am, chapel, then Intro to Theology and Worship, followed by a four-hour break until Congregational Studies begins.  Wednesday adds Old Testament Survey to the mix. 

Believe it or not, I'm actually excited for most of those classes.  I'm especially looking forward to Greek, despite the horror stories I've heard.  Maybe by the end of the semester I'll have changed my tune, but I'm reveling in my blissful ignorance for now.

Friendship House is wonderful.  The community here is great--just walk down the hall and you might find a movie night, an ice cream run, or a 14-mile bike ride at 7 am.  (All of those things have happened in the past 48 hours, by the way.)

To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the seminary at all when I first arrived.  But this place might just grow on me after all.  I told my mother this morning that I'll stay here until graduation, or until God tells me to leave, whichever comes first.  I don't know what God has planned for me, but I can finally trust that it will. be. epic. 

So, what's new?

It just fit.

Everyone's been asking me "why seminary?" since I've moved to Holland.  To be honest, that whole discerning process is very much a blur right now.  I've managed to come up with an answer every time, but explaining how I got here is difficult.  All I can say is 'well, it just fit.'  It felt right.  I haven't managed to get a straight answer out of anyone else, so who knows what the 'proper' reason for coming to seminary is.  I sure don't.  All I know is that I'm here, and I'm going to give this my all until God sends me somewhere else. 

Living in the Friendship House is getting a lot better.  I finally have all three of my roommates here, and the newest one is a first-year student, who also came here straight from college, so it's nice to have someone to share that experience with.  I'm still in that awkward phase of trying to meet people, but so far I have met some really nice guys, who happen to live downstairs.  The Friends are really sweet, and I think this will be a good way to keep me grounded.  To be honest, I was really nervous moving in here, and I'm still a little nervous, but I'm hoping it will be good.

I also saw some good friends from Knox this weekend, and tonight.  (I keep forgetting it's Monday.)  The InterVarsity crew went through Holland on Friday, and Jamie stopped by tonight.   It's so nice to see familiar faces, and speak the Knox language.  I didn't realize how much of a bubble I had until I got here, and everyone speaks differently and acts differently.  It's probably sad to say this, but I think I'm going through a little bit of culture shock right now.  I'm the only one here from a secular school [that I know of], and it's a little disconcerting. 

All in all, I think this will be an interesting experience, to say the least. 

It all fit!

That's right.  All of my belongings [minus my guitar, which I forgot] made it into my car and all the way to Holland with me!  If there's one thing I'm good at after state-hopping for four years, it's packing.  =]

Saying goodbye today was hard, and mom and I both cried (we're criers, what can I say?).  But it was a good summer at home, and I think I needed that after being gone for so long.  Could I have done without parts of it?  Sure.  But overall, it was good. 

On the way here, I managed to stop for lunch in Chicago, where I got to see the lovely Kat, and almost got lost in Indiana directly afterwards.  This is what happens when you use your phone as a GPS, and its battery dies in the middle of your trip.  Luckily, I've made this drive enough that I recognized some major landmarks and found my way to Holland without my GPS.  I also had some help from a random guy at the Michigan Welcome Center, and found out that I really wasn't lost, and in fact had been on the correct road the whole time! 

I also stopped at Sherman's Ice Cream in South Haven for dinner, and ran into one of my Knox professors!  Sometimes, I feel like things like this only happen to me.  Story time!

I had been driving for close to 5 hours, and there was a line out the door of Sherman's.  So when I finally got my ice cream, I went to sit down, and I heard someone say "Sarah??"  And, no joke, there sat Daniel Beers, my Russian and East European Politics professor.  Not even kidding.  Although random, it was nice to chat with him and his wife for a while, and see some friendly and familiar faces. 

By this time tomorrow, I'll be all moved into Friendship House, and hopefully will have seen some of my favorite Knox people, who will be on their way to Cedar Campus! 

All in all, I'm really glad that God brought me here. I think that He has some tricks up His sleeve with this one, but I think today I learned that even though I'm far from friends and family, and I might feel lost sometimes, there's always a purpose.

So to my family and friends that might feel left behind, I do love you ohsomuch!  And that's why this blog is here, to keep you in the loop on what's going on in my life.  But I don't want this to just be one-sided, where you hear all of my stories and I don't get to hear any of yours!  So use the comments box below each post, send me an email, call me, or Facebook me.  But keep ME in the loop too!  =]

Still Packing.

Remember when I said I wasn't going to procrastinate this time?

I failed.

In my defense, I do have two boxes and my backpack packed, plus my files.  I've also taken 5 bags of donations and three giant bags of trash out of my room since the start of this, so I don't think I'm doing too terribly.  I still have tomorrow, right?

Yeah, you're right.  Time to get back to work!

Welcome!

If you're reading this, I'm guessing you've figured out that this is the place to come to see and hear what's happening, what I'm learning, and how I'm doing at seminary!

As of now, (Sunday evening), I'm still procrastinating packing by watching the Food Network.  I can't seem to peel myself away from The Next Food Network Star.  The boxes will still be there in the morning, right?

I leave on Thursday at approxmately 9 am, so look forward to lots of pictures and other updates next weekend!