May Term has come and gone.
We've started packing up and moving out. Wrapping up another year of classes and learning here at GC. What a year it has been. This summer will be a great relief from classes, but still full of hard work. I'm returning to my desk in the Public Relations office, and continuing to do some work for MCUSA up through convention this year.

I'm also visiting Phoenix in less than a month, to begin to think about a place to end up after college concludes for me next year. I've discovered through the last several years of living in a small town that I have a deep appreciation for the hustle and bustle of a big city, and the sunshine coated metropolitan area of Phoenix seems to be a nice place for me. (Let's just say that snow isn't my favorite thing.)

I've also got several weddings to go to this summer, and ideally, several other friends to visit. I can see myself being quite the busy bee and summer blowing through before I even know it. Where does that leave me? Senior year! How great that will be!

Tonight is a worship concert on campus. This concert is a premium example of the power of the students. There is very minimal departmental sponsorship of this event, and students managed to fundraise enough to bring in recording artist Coffey Anderson. (If you don't know him, you're missing out.) Goshen encourages great things in it's students. We're able to do big things because of our small environment, and that's not something many can boast about. Thankfully, that's something that has strengthened me for the future. The courage, strength, and knowledge to do whatever I put my mind to.

Have a great summer!
Tim
Posted at 11:34

Taking steps towards my future.
What a busy month it has been since we last chatted! I'm sitting here relaxing and anticipating the work I have left to do during finals week. Today I have a barbecue (despite the rain) and an SST reunion to go to. It's hard to believe that I have been back from Peru for a whole semester already.

The transition from Winter into spring is kicking into high gear as well. Mother Nature is trying to decided whether sun or rain is a good fit for Goshen, so we've been having a wide mix of weather lately. Later this week the forecast is calling for some sunny days in the 70's, just in time for commencement next weekend.

I'm building up my anticipation for this summer, and for my senior year. I'll be working in the Public Relations office at GC this summer and also helping do some projects for Mennonite Church USA in anticipation for the Convention this summer in Columbus OH. Are you going? I'm planning on heading to Columbus mid summer to volunteer in various capacities so if you plan to go, look for me there!

I also turned another year older on Thursday, adding to the continued growth towards the future. I've continued to think about what I plan to do next year when it is me graduating, instead of my friends. Right now, my heart is set on moving to the warmth of Phoenix, AZ, where I visited over my spring break in February. To my eye, it seemed as though there was good growth, and a lot of opportunity out there, and, Sun year round sounds pretty nice added bonus.

Until then, I'm focusing on keeping my classes in check and making sure I have everything I need to finish out my time here in Goshen. It's a fun time in Goshen right now. We're rolling out some pretty exciting new things, welcoming back the sunshine, and preparing to celebrate the graduates of '09. I couldn't ask to be at a better place.

-Tim
Posted at 11:29

Planning for the future.
I've started to plan my senior year out now. It's just another reminder at how fast college flies by! I'm beginning to get more and more confident in the skills and knowledge that I've obtained here at Goshen, and am looking forward to stepping into the "real world" before I know it. A lot of my requirements for graduation are mere digits away from being met, and that means that a degree is near by.

Until then, I am left to cherish the memories that I have here on campus. Last weekend was the International Student Coffeehouse. I also had the fun opportunity to do a photo shoot for a local business on the same day. I've not had the opportunity to work with models before, but this was something that was a great learning experience, and something that has stemmed from my exposure to photography at GC.

It's intense to think that we're nearing a mere month away from finals already when some people are still studying for midterms. I am excited about the prospects of warmer weather headed our way.

Until the next time, enjoy your March everyone!
Posted at 00:09

I almost forgot!

There are some other pretty awesome things happening this semester! First of all, I'm living with an awesome group of guys who know how to keep life fun and fresh. We're living in the student apartments in apartment 411 (Pronounced, "The four one one").

Grant, my roommate from last year, along with Steve, Allen, and Ben all lived on the same floor as I did my first year and we've been great friends since then. So far this semester we've had a mini dance in our place, thrown a HUGE superbowl party, and had various groups of friends over for some excellent dinners. Living on campus in this setting has brought many great memories and we're looking forward to trying to live in the same place next year as well.

There have also been several student activities on campus that have kept everybody busy within the past several weeks. Not too long ago there was Kick-Off, Goshen's semi-annual student talent and variety show. The majority of the student body fills Sauder Concert Hall for Kick-Off and it always promises to be an entertaining evening. We also had the privilege of hearing from a group of girls living in Aurora House this semester at their Hour-After event.

Campus Activities Council keeps the students busy with many other fun events and even passes out treats for days like Valentines day. Overall its been a great semester both in learning and playing. I'm excited to see what the rest of the semester has in store!

-Tim

Another thought intensive semester!

Its hard to believe that we are already half way through this semester! Midterms are in full swing this week, and I am thankful that break is a mere day away. My friend Clayton and I are going to Phoenix to visit another friend. It's 81 degrees in Phoenix and I can't wait to get some warmth even though we've had some pretty "mild" weather the last two weeks.

This next week will be a nice break from the busy semester I'm having. My classes are going quite well, but I've realized that I'm in the most intensive semester of my college career. This semester I'm taking American History, Expository Writing, Principles of Sociology, Photo Communications and I have an internship.

I've particularly been enjoying my writing class the most. In high school I never felt that I was a good writer, and while I know that I still have room for growth, I already feel that I have improved immensely due to my involvement in that class.

I've also been learning a lot about photography this semester. Below you will see some of the assignments I've turned in so far. Being a multimedia communications major, one of my many interests is photography and the photography class I'm in has given me the perfect avenue to express creativity and perfect techniques at the same time.

I've found this to be true for most of my classes here at Goshen. I get the most excited about a class when I am able to apply what I'm learning to my future. The professors really understand that and work hard to push students to engage in thought provoking conversation and make ties to their own lives.

I'll keep checking in through the semester to let you know how my classes are going. Until then, continue to have a good semester!

-Tim

Finding time to breathe in the busiest (and seemingly coldest) semester yet!
This semester is proving to be a pretty unique one for me. I arranged my schedule to hold all of my classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then my Tuesdays and Thursdays are used to intern with Mennonite Mission Network in Elkhart for my major. Not only am I keeping busy with classes, but I'm also finding time to stay involved with my employment in the Public Relations office here on campus, as well as several theater events, and editing staff for the Record.

I started off the semester by attending the American College Theater Festival up in Saginaw, MI with the cast of this years "Saint Plays." It was a great experience being able to perform our fall main stage for a crowd of theater goers and also hear feedback about our performances. Check out some pictures of our time up in Saginaw.

Classes are going well but they are proving to be difficult to keep up with. I am reassured in that, that I am being pressured to keep up to my fullest academic potential in what I'm learning both in the classroom and in work settings as well.

Things like the Night at the Rec Fitness Center that we had last Friday, and our upcoming "Kickoff" event are welcomed breathers and fun times to hang out with friends on campus. There's no doubt that this semester will be pretty busy, but thankfully there are plenty of ways to have some fun in the middle of even the most hectic days.

-Tim

A bit too much of a delay on this entry. Here are the long awaited pictures from Peru!
Posted at 21:26

Back in the states on break.
It's hard to believe its been about two weeks since being back from Peru. What a great experience it shaped up to be. My service time went superbly and I was quite sad to leave all my kids behind at the school I worked at.

On my last day on service, the school through a going away party for us. It was filled with dancing, snacks, more dancing, loud music and LOTS and LOTS of confetti. The kids loved to chuck hand fulls at our faces. Literally later that night I found tons of the stuff in my shoes, pants pockets, and down my shirt. It was sad to say goodbye to all the kids, but great to return to our group again and see friends I hadn't seen in a month and a half.

Before I got back to Lima though, I spent the night in a clinic after I seemingly caught everything imaginable and held it up inside of me. After being connected to an IV I began to feel better the next day but it wasn't until the group was together on the beach for our final retreat that I felt a lot better.

Our retreat was a lot of fun, though we did have to worry a bit about our presentations that we were giving, we were able to enjoy each others company, go swimming, have a campfire on the beach (with S'mores in Peru, who knew?), catch some great sunsets, and chase after crabs. It was an awesome ending to the experience.

Being home has been great. I got to see friends before everyone went home, started doing some work again, experienced a lot of COLD weather, and have dived right back into the world of American eating.

I've also done planning for my next semester and am extra excited about my internship with the Mennonite Missions Network offices in Elkhart. I'll be doing web design work there and also hopefully helping some with convention oriented activities where I plan to volunteer this summer! So, if you're reading this, be sure to look for me out at convention in July!

As promised, I fully intend to get pictures up over Christmas break but there are many to sort through! Enjoy your holidays. Until next time, Tim
Posted at 19:00

Halfway Through Service!
Hey everyone! It´s hard to believe that I´ll be back in the land of Goshen in just over three weeks! WOW this time is flying.

We´re currently smack dab in the middle of our time on service. I´m serving in a greenhouse project that is near Cuzco. The food in the greenhouses goes to feed the kids in a school in the project, and the parents of the kids, and the kids as well, help in the greenhouses to make everything happen. My main role is to teach English and help with computing and the likes in the school, but I find myself working wherever there is work to be done.

Here in our small hole in the mountains the weather can get pretty interesting. When we wake up in the mornings, the sun is usually out, but its a little cool. Come 9-10 o´clock we are usually pretty hot and ready for a break by eleven. Usually around lunch time (1:00) the clouds will roll in to cool off the afternoon and by three or four we can begin to here thunder rolling over the mountains. We have a thunderstorm daily (literally, so far I can´t remember a day we haven´t had rain yet) but usually it doesn´t last that long. Sometimes when the storm is especially strong the whole village loses power for a while. That makes things interesting because when it gets dark here, it is really dark. There is no street light bleed over to light the sky. It is literally impossible to see your hand in front of you. It also can be difficult to then find things to do in the dark of a storm, but we´ve made do just fine.

This next weekend one friend stationed in Cuzco is coming to visit us. Following that our leaders Alex and Julia are coming to visit. That following weekend we´re headed back to Lima for a night and then off to the beach to relax and present our final projects… (I never thought I´d throw finals and relaxing together on the beach… hmm)

While I´m sure I will miss some of the cute kids I´m teaching, being surrounded by wonderful mountains, and basking in the sunshine, I´ve got to admit, I´m excited to return home. During my free time in class when I´ve not always got something to do, I´ve had time to make lists of things that miss, things that I want to do, places I want to go, people I want to see (the longest, and ever growing) and of course, food I want to eat! With that said though, I´m still enjoying my time and making the best of my experience here in Peru.

Well, I´m about out of time online here. It´s harder than it was in Lima to upload pictures, so I´ll be sure to update my blog with photos when I get back in three weeks. Until then, enjoy your Novembers!

-Tim
Posted at 15:31

An update from Peru!

Hey everyone! Hopefully your fall is in full swing and your looking forward to whatever is ahead of you in your daily schedules. I certainly am excited for in less than a week our SST group is heading out to Cuzco for our mid-point field trip before the second half of our time on SST begins.

What does that mean? Two, very exciting things. Number one, I will soon be setting foot in Macchu Picchu, one of the NEW seven wonders of the world. And, as soon as I´m done scavenging around in the lost city of the Incas, I will be traveling an hour south for my service assignment.

There will be three guys from the group at this location. I will be teaching English to students, while the other two will be working in a greenhouse. We´re all quite excited about our assignments, and being up in the mountains with some CLEAN air to breath.

Service will be an adjustment too. I know that it will be a lot more rural than Lima, and big city life is something that I love. At the same time, I´m incredibly excited to do some hiking and be in another area of the country for a while. Some room to breath will be nice!

I´m looking forward to sharing some of my favorite pictures with you all upon my return in December. For now, I´ll leave you with the promise to update at least once more before I return home. ¡Cuidados!

SST in Peru
[www.goshen.edu...] -- Hey friends and GC family. I'm currently sitting in a "Cabina de internet" in Miraflores, Lima, Peru. It has been quite the experience so far and its hard to believe that we're quickly approaching being a quarter of the way through my time here already!

I arrived in Peru on Sept. 4th and the next day met my host family: Mother, Leonor, and father Victor. I don't have any host siblings, which for me being an only child back in the states, that hasn't been that big of an adjustment for me. My host parents are great. My mother likes to cook a lot and my father likes to joke about lots of things, though, its usually in spanish so I laugh at what I can pick up.

Our group gets along really well and I've made some stronger friendships and even some new friends too. Thats the beauty of being somewhere else with people you don't know as well. You become close with people you may not have had the chance to otherwise.

Being gone also has had its fair share of reminders of things I miss from home, friends, family, the GC campus and annual events, food, and other amentities (such as the ability to flush toilet paper). With that said, there are also many things that I am already realizing I will miss about this experience as well. Maybe I can open up a panadaria in Goshen, or help to emphasize the benefits to public transportation.

On top of language barriers and learning my way around a completly foriegn land, its not hard to keep a smile on my face and continue being the person I want to be in a land of differences. If there is one thing I am being reasured of its that different doesn't mean weird, or strange, different means unique and beautiful. I'm excited to see what "different" exeperiences SST has in store for me yet, and I can't wait to share them with you. Until then, your cyber blogging amigo...

Tim
Posted at 18:07

Returning to Campus and Leaving again
Hello everyone...

I've taken quite a bit of time to update, so heres the latest on what's going on with me:

I worked all summer in the Public Relations office here at the college on everything from small parts of the Elkhart County 4-H fair, to up and coming new parts of our GC website. (you may have seen small changes already). What a blast my job has been. I'm looking forward to continuing my work when I get back in the Spring.

Oh yes, about that. In less than 7 hours I'm departing for Peru for my Study Service Term. I’ll be heading to breakfast with my parents bright and early before heading to the school to say my final goodbyes and take off for three months. Tonight was a nice wrap up. Mom made a great meal that filled me up as it always does. Then I cheered my lungs off at the soccer game, before heading back to my (future) apartment with my (future) roommates to socialize with 70ish close friends and converse about good times. It was great to see so many people come by. I am constantly reminded of how awesome the community is at GC and am looking forward to witnessing that community in a new setting on SST.

That's me in a nutshell right now. I'm going to try and get some quick sleep in before I depart, but I also hope to catch up with you all some more on here as my travels progress. Until then, happy surfing!
-Tim
Posted at 00:28

But May Term just started...
We have somewhere around 12ish days left of the 07-08 school year. Some of my friends from high school have now returned to Goshen, and others have started their summer programs, be it work, or continued studies. It's hard to imagine what this summer will be like right now, but I'm sure it will go fast.

One of my friends mentioned that we are officially the next group to go to Peru. September is not that far away! It seems crazy to me that I'll be in Peru next fall. I've already gotten some requests from people at the college to help with some things. There are many things that I will miss about Goshen, but the current group's stories about their time in Peru so far is beginning to excite me. Check out the Blog.

Last night was one of the last big events that I will have planned as an RA. We had a jungle dance and it was a lot of fun. I played the music for it. We used lots of streamers to transform the connector into as much of a jungle as we had time for.

This week I'll be diving back into classes for one final full week in my sophomore year. Hopefully if you're reading this you're enjoying the wrap up of your term or year, be it in work, school, or just general social life. Until next time,

Tim
Posted at 13:47

May Term
May Term has just started and its already the weekend. Today didn't feel like the end of the week already, partially because we've only had 2 full days of classes this week. I'm in a new and possibly one time class called DVD Authoring. When I tell my friends what I'm taking, they usually say something like "What is that?!"

I also had that response when I first learned about it, but after hearing from my trusty advisor and professor extrordinare that the class was all about the creation of DVD's and all the in's and out's of the process, I decided I'd enjoy taking it.

The class has been pretty interesting so far. The fun thing about may term is that everyone is only taking one class at the exact same time(s) as everyone else. Likewise, everyone is out of class at the same time for the most part. This leads to some great opportunities, like intramural volleyball, and student thrown events. Today, for example, CAC through a campus wide photo scavenger hunt. On my way across campus I saw groups running/biking all over the place in the quest for the prizes that awaited the winners.

May Term is ton's of fun, but also hard work. Because its less than a month long, everyone is in the same class about 3-4 hours a day, generally 5 days a week. This means that there is a lot of information thrown your way in a rather short amount of time which sometimes can send your brain into overload. Fortunately, the fun we have usually counterbalances that.
Well, I've got some work to get back to. Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather!
-Tim
Posted at 16:33

Endings are always new beginnings.
Well, we've officially hit the first full day of finals. I've got my Spanish exam in about 2 hours, a transforming conflict and violence exam tomorrow morning, and one final project to finish up. The stress of crunch time is mounting and students are flooding the library and sometimes taking up permanent residence in some of the cubicles.

Last weekend student life, sodexo, CAC, and res life sponsored a huge night of fun at the Rec Fitness Center. There was a movie, Wii games, Basketball tournament, Wally Ball, Racquetball, Table Tennis, Watermelon Polo in the pool, Rock wall climbing, a live band, board games, and free food! The evening was a blast and a great way to celebrate the ending of a semester.

Also this last weekend were three good concerts. Friday night was the final PAS show of the season, the Swingle Singers. They did some really impressive things with their voices that I'm sure many people in the audience can only wish they were capable of. Saturday night was a very wonderful Earth Tones choir concert. A highlight of that concert was that male family members of the mens chorus and friends sang a song together, and likewise for the females. The music that evening was just spectacular. Finally, Sunday was a tribute concert by the gospel choir "Voices-N-Harmony." The choir picked selections by the artist Kirk Franklin for their concert.

Weather has continued to improve. I'm now sitting in shorts and a t-shirt awaiting the 75 degree high today, of which it has been the last several days. If there's one thing that really hinders the studying, its the gorgeous weather epidemic that has finally hit home here on campus.

The ending of this semester, while also bringing finals, brings a time to say goodbye to many friends. Some people choose not to stay for may term and either go on to may term classes elsewhere (like marine bio in florida), while others are beginning their summer SST units next week (like my roommate), and others choose to start their summer work early back at home to continue saving up money. Seniors are also graduating at the end of this week, and as always it will be difficult to say goodbye to them.

These goodbyes aren't really the end though. Next year there will be a new batch of faces on campus (hopefully you might be one of them) and more friends will be made. May Term is also a new, more current, beginning and will begin next week too. This brings a time to welcome in some new RA leadership in the dorms, as well as returning SST'ers.

The end of the year wrap up is always an exciting time. So much going on, and so much to be doing. But, we're not done yet. Back to my studies! Enjoy your day everyone!

-Tim
Posted at 11:06

End of Semester Madness

Spring is here!
It was almost seventy on Sunday. The day before was even nicer. Everyone was outside just relaxing, some studying, some jamming to some music.

The end of the semester always brings lots to do. But, since it's been so long since people have seen sunshine, everyone tends to head outside to get their fair share of vitamin D before getting to work.

Here are some pictures to show you what spring is like around here!

Projects, Presentations, and Papers.

This week is crazy! Easter weekend was a breath of fresh air. Thursday night, several of us were quite bewildered at the thought of having no school the next day, so we spent some time relaxing and hanging out.

On Friday, I was quite relaxed. I slept in quite late, and then went out with a friend to do a photo shoot. Later that night, I ventured downtown to New World Arts, to see the Vagina Monologues, presented by several Goshen College women. This was my first experience with the production, and it was very intriguing to hear the stories woven together into a theater piece. After the show, I went across the street to hear a friend from a band perform at the Goshen Theater. Unfortunately, he had already performed, but I was able to catch up and talk to him for a while.

Saturday morning I woke up and went to Chicago on my own for a fun day. I did some shopping and walked around the city to shoot some pics.

Easter Sunday I woke up and went to the church I've been going to. It's an Evangelical Free Church and a more contemporary service. When i got to the street that connects to the driveway, there were so many people going to this service (the second of three) that there were officers out directing traffic. The sanctuary was overflowing from so many people. It was quite awesome to be worshipping on such a wonderful day surrounded by so many believers.

After church I went home and ate lunch with my family. Mom cooked a great meal, and I had a chance to do some laundry too! Unfortunately, I had to go back to campus before too long because reality of projects, presentations, and papers was setting in.

Today I've been sitting here researching, planning, and organizing all of my numerous academic thoughts into an attempt at some sort of order or plan of action for all that needs to get done. Its quite overwhelming to look at each and everything, but I keep nibbling away at it one step at a time.

Here are some pictures from the wonderful spring weather we've been having, the relaxing weekend, and some random fun stuff that goes on around here.

Hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to email me timb@goshen.edu if you have any questions! :-)

March.
It was 45 degrees outside today. I wore a lighter jacket. Tomorrow might be warmer

Summer is beginning to come into perspective. Plans are starting to be made.

Plans for next school year are also in the mix. That means peru is drawing closer and this year's end is coming nearer.

Last weekend a lot of you all (perspective students) were on campus visiting. It was nice to meet those of you who I did. I was once again busy with all of my tasks. This weekend my roommate and I worked the International Student Coffeehouse. It was a lot of fun again, and once more the talent amazed me. Its always a lot of fun to see new art from other cultures. There was also a carnival this weekend. I missed a lot of it because of ISC rehearsals, but what I went to was enjoyable.

I've not been getting much sleep lately. It's too tempting to stay up and converse with friends and build community, than to rest and prepare for studies like I should be doing. But, with that said, I think it is time for me to get some rest.

Until next time,
Tim
Posted at 00:04

Spring BREAK!

Exactly want I needed.

Break could not have been better. I was with people I enjoyed, we stayed with a friend's wonderful grandmother who made us wonderful food, and of course, we had wonderful amounts of sun.

My car of five guys drove down to Sarasota, Fl on Saturday the 22nd and got there on Sunday around 4 in the afternoon. As soon as we got to Tyler's Grandma's house, we were treated to fresh popcorn, soda, and fresh squeezed Florida orange juice! After showering up, and settling in, we were treated to our first meal of the week which set the bar high for the rest.

Later that night we played some cards with Mary (our host) and her sister and then finally called it a night. The next day we packed up and lathered up and headed to the beach to get our first dose of vitamin D. We caught up with some other G- Towners and spent the majority of the day swimming and basking in the sun.

That night we were treated to a great Amish meal. I was pleasantly surprised to know that there is a large population of Amish and Mennonites in the Sarasota area. The buffet was amazing and we all left the restaurants feeling like we might just fall over from how much food we had eaten.

Tuesday we continued our day long visits to the beach. We packed up sandwiches every day and enjoyed lunch right out on the sand. By the way, the sand in Siesta Key is as white and as soft as powdered sugar. It was amazing! The ocean wasn't too cold, but the pool back at our house was much much warmer!

We made use of the pool on Wednesday after deciding the beach was much too cold and windy for us that day. We traveled to the mall after the beach to walk around for a while, and on the way there, a van pulled up next to us and the driver proceeded to tell us he was originally from Elkhart. What a small world!!

Wednesday night we piled in the car to go watch the men's baseball team play about an hour away from Sarasota. The game looked grim for the first few innings, but towards the end the guys made a huge come back tying it up. One of the umpires though, negated one of our runs due to a discrepancy, and we weren't able to make another comeback in the time left. They guys put up an amazing effort though. Though we were in Florida, the cold weather that day made us feel right at home and we all bundled up for the night.

Thursday was still a bit cool, but warmed up throughout the day. The 20-30 of us out on the beach joined up for some sweet games of volleyball. The guys I was with played some of the girls on the Goshen volleyball and won both times. In their defense, they had been out in the sun more, and I'm sure that the heat was taking its toll. :-) On our way out of the beach that day, I stabbed my foot on a stick in the sand. It went in between my sandal and my foot and I stepped down on it. It's still healing, but unfortunately I've been walking with a limp now!

Friday was our last day at the beach. We spent time cleaning out the car in the morning, then took off for some last hours in the sun. I ran out of suntan lotion and probably got a bit burnt from those last few hours. Once it was time to leave, we grabbed our stuff, cleaned off and hit the road for home.

Car travels aren't necessarily my most favorite trips to take, but both trips to and from weren't that bad at all. It was dissappointing to be back in the snow when I got back, but its been nice to hear people say "you're tan" especially because I never tan at all!

Anyway I've got bookoo amounts work to do, and a meeting in a little bit. Hope you enjoyed the update!

Primavera!
Spring comes and goes every day it seems like. Since the last time I wrote, we had one day where it was a nice 55 degrees outside. My roommate and I opened our windows for an hour and let the warmth and the sun shine in. It was great. Then, God sent the floods and it poured. Later that night it was back down to freezing again and now there are frozen puddles all over campus.

We're now half way through the week. Tomorrow I have my first midterm (which I'm expecting will be hard) and Friday I have another in Spanish which should be ok if I study enough. I'm constantly looking towards Saturday when I leave to go to Sarasota with a bunch of my friends.

I can't say that we have any idea what we'll do while we're down there, but I am certain that being in the 70-80 degree weather will be well worth the almost 20 hour drive down there. I'm quite excited and I'm sure that I'll have trouble going to bed on Friday night. I don't know that I'll blog during break, but when I come back I'll be sure to upload pictures and have stories to tell!

Until then,
Tim
Posted at 13:20

A fun weekend of music.

This last weekend was a great example of one of the reasons I came to Goshen College. Since being built, the music center has helped a music program flourish immensely at GC. Not only is the campus and its facilities a great incubator for such success, but the Mennonite musical routes of many who go here also engulfs the campus on a regular basis.

Friday's festivities started with a Performing Arts Series concert by John McCutcheon and Carrie Newcomer. John, a folk performer and friend of the Mennonite circles, put on a rising performance with many different instruments, and messages. His songs proved to me that music is one of the best ways of portraying a message.

In the second half of the PAS show, Carrie Newcomer, a GC grad, brought more folk music to the sold out crowd, also debuting her new music, and new quartet in a place where she comfortably referred to as home.

During the PAS show, one of my friends and fellow floormates was putting his musical talents too good use in a coffeehouse type setting down town. While I wasn't able to attend the event, it was something that I had been to before, and knew from experience that it was another classic example of people using music in very positive ways.

Right after the PAS show, a group of student's who had been preparing for a little over a month began performing their own set of music in the old Chapel across campus. This venue is frequently holding these "hour afters" sponsored by Campus Activities Council as a way for a large group of people on campus to get out of the dorms for an evening and again, hear some music. These are always a lot of fun and tend to be a good time for people to sing and dance and just enjoy themselves. (pictures will come soon)

Saturday night was the Concerto-Aria concert. Having been in orchestra during high school, it was easy for me to appreciate the magnificence of such a performance, without needing to attend. Instead, I opted to head of campus with some of my friends and venture into a church in a local town to hear some Christian Rock done by some different bands from the Atlanta area. Again we sang (or screamed) and danced to the loud music and had quite a good time.

The weather has been just as pesky as usual. Lots of snow on the ground now, and the roads were iced over when we attempted to make it home from the concert on Saturday night. That trip's travel time was doubled due to those hazardous conditions. Spring is getting closer and closer, and I can't wait to dawn the sunscreen and shorts and feel the sand under my feet, instead of the fluffy white stuff, even if it's only for a few days.

That's all for now.
-Tim

Ahhhhh February
Such a bittersweet month. There's certainly still a lot going on. On the one hand, we're certainly far enough in to our semester that we everyone has regained the stresses of studying. Tests are ensuing and projects are in full swing. And boy is the weather as crazy as ever. For the past several days we've had thunderstorms and snow storms, and then warm weather that melts the half a foot of snow away again.

Yes February has its ugly points, but thank goodness for the wonderful things going on on campus to keep everyone energized. For instance, last weekend was kickoff for the spring semester. It was of a lot of talent and many people did some pretty fun events. See GC Journal's most recent episode for a performance by this semester's winners!

After kick off I collaborated with Campus Activities Council to host a dance in the dorms. I DJ'ed and left kick off early to clear out the coffee shop and put up lights for the night. It was a lot of fun, and seemed to be widely enjoyed.

Every weekend up until the amazing conclusion of the beloved month (spring break! (yes, it's in February)) is full of awesome activities.

This Friday night is an hour after by one of the music students on campus that promises to be an awesome evening of music. (Hour afters are similar to the idea of coffee houses.) Before the hour after on Friday is another concert in the performing art series which also promises to be a lot of fun.

Saturday night a bunch of my friends and I are heading to a local town to see one of our favorite bands in concert. (Family force five) They put on a great show and we're incredibly excited to go.

Sunday I have a recording session for an audio production class that I'm taking. It will be fun to work with some artists on their abilities and have a finished product to present to a client.

The following weekend is valentine's weekend and while I don't especially like the holiday, there are several fun activities planned for everyone on campus then too.

A lot of the college turns to Florida for some relief from the gray skies of Goshen during their spring break. I too am giving into this phenomenon and heading down south with some friends for break. It will be nice to dawn some of my shorts and take to the beach in some sunshine for a change.

But, I've got a couple weeks of studies and activities to get through first. Fortunately for me, so does the rest of the campus, so we're all plugging away at the month, one day at a time, making it the best experience possible.

-Tim
Posted at 12:35

Where has the time gone?

Wow, about three weeks into school already this forth semester of my college career. So much has happened and I've been keeping quite busy. It's hard to find time for everything. Time management seems to be the plague of the college student, and it doesn't seem to get any easier the farther along we get.

On January 18th and 19th the Resident Life team left for Malone College in Canton Ohio to do some training exercises and some meet and greets with 100+ other leaders in the region. Our RA team had a great time hanging out with one another, and the fellowship time was not only refreshing, but appreciated.

On the 23rd (Last wednesday) a group of my friends traveled to Chicago for a chance to see Wyclef Jean in chicago at the house of blues. It was probably one of the best nights of my life for many reasons. The performance was full of powerful messages, abounding amounts of energy, and memories that will never be forgotten. Highlights of the trip were, having one friend get a "old school" cassette from the 90's autographed during the show, having another friend invited on stage to share his talent because Wyclef took note of it, being the first ones in to the concert and standing front and center, and getting tons of haitian flags, as well as several other gifts thrown from the stage from the performers. To this day, I still get an adrenaline rush thinking about that awesome night we had.

This last weekend was a fun one for the guys on my floor. On friday night, a bunch of us went ice skating in Elkhart (about 30 minutes away) with Yoder 3 south (a female floor). For many of us, this was our first time skating, and everyone walked away feeling really great about the time we had. After that we went to a coffee shop, and warmed up with some discounted drinks, especially for our group.

Saturday morning, my roommate and I woke up to make the guys breakfast. We made pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. Turns out I bought too much food, but, it was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Last night, I had to opportunity to go out with a couple friends to Olive Garden in Elkhart. Eating out is always an enjoyable experience, because its one less meal we have to eat in the cafeteria. :-)

I've begun to see that my academic load this semester is a lot more intense than I'm used to, so I'm constantly trying to keep up with homework, and studying for my classes. My Spanish skills are slowly starting to build back up, and hopefully will be acceptable by the time next fall rolls around and I head off to Peru.

Hopefully I'll be doing a better job at keeping you all updated. Thanks for reading!

-Tim

First week back from break!

Christmas break was a great experience for me. I found much needed rest and relaxation away from the business of school and all that I'm involved with. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a second year Communications Major focusing in multimedia. Currently I'm living in the Yoder Dorm and am a Resident assistant for the first floor.

Speaking of jobs, I have three other positions on campus. Those are, ITSMedia Technician, Public Relations Web Assistant, and Yearbook Editor. So with all of my employment, as well as classes, and keeping up with friends, my first semester was fairly busy!

I was the first person back to the dorms on move in day. Even though break was relaxing, the extra time did get (dare I say it?) boring after a while. So, I was quite excited to be back to school and see everyone again.

Funny for me though, the day after I moved back in, I registered for classes and then left with a group of people interested in theater to go to the American College Theater Festival in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The trip was a lot of fun. The actors from the fall main stage (Step on a Crack) performed a ten minute scene on the opening night and were greeted by a thunderous applause from a very pleased audience. The rest of the week we spent going to workshops and watching scenes or productions done by other college students from around the midwest. The whole trip made me grateful for the training in theater that I've gotten, not only in high school, but in classes and hands on work in our theater here on campus.

Come the end of the week, I was again, ready to come back to Goshen and finally start the semester. Today I had my first day of classes, Spanish and Audio Production and tomorrow I will have Multimedia Concepts and Transforming Conflict and Violence.

I'm pretty excited about all of my classes this semester, though some of that excitement can be translated into nervousness as I am realizing that it is my last semester of classes before SST next fall. Several of my close friends left for Peru this semester, so it is hard not having them around, but an excellent excuse for me to prepare myself to be away from here for a longer amount of time too.

Well, that's enough from me now. Talk to you all soon! P.s. I'll soon be uploading some pictures of friends from my break and from ACTF. -Tim