Sometimes, I don’t think we know the kind of impact someone has on our lives until they’re gone.  You begin to think like this as you come towards the end of a chapter in your life, and especially when someone leaves your chapter before its done.  I’m talking about my friends at school here at AU, including my friend Dan Siefken.  Dan was my RD that I worked with for two years in Smith Hall.  The first day I met Siefken, I thought he was going to be a stickler on the rules and a wet blanket ha.  I had more fun those two years of school then the rest and wouldn’t trade some of those memories for anything in the world.

    During those two years, Dan was a great friend and mentor.  We had a lot of fun, but he also took the brunt of some of my frustrations with our school.  He helped me in a time when things were the hardest and was an advocate for me when I needed one.  I got to run into him the other day on campus.  It was during a random visit and he was only here for a few hours.  He now works in Guatemala with Hearts In Motion, so running into him is kind of a big deal ha.  This year, a lot of guys who were RAs for him are graduating and moving on to other things.  I know that for some his impact was great.  For example, he was an encouragement to one of us who spent a lot of money – now that person is planning on working with the homeless and has been in charge of working with the local mission.  Anyway, its just good to recognize the impact that others have on our lives before its too late!

-Jon      (me on the left and Dan on the far right)

    The last 12 hours have been filled with two major ceremonies.  Last night was the Falls School of Business banquet.  Students got to wine and dine (minus the wine) with faculty and staff of the FSB.  Awards were given to students, honors were directed to certain faculty, students spoke, people laughed and it was a good time.  The first big realization that the end is near – graduation is coming.

    Today was senior chapel.  All graduating students were requested (and most showed) to line up in the Decker breezeway in cap and gown attire.  A prequel for what will come in 9 days.  It’s kind of sad because it reminded me of High School graduation, only four short and yet long years ago.  Much has changed since then.  The world around me is different.  The world abroad is different.  I am different.  I’ve grown and changed and today was a reminder of how far I’ve come…and hopefully, how much farther I have to go.

-Jon   

    TFT is by far the best event put on during the year!  TFT stands for Teetering for Tots, only this year its Teetering for Textbooks.  All the money raised this year is going to help buy textbooks for a local school that is in desperate need of them.  Here’s what happens.  There is a HUGE tent set up from Tuesday through part of Saturday, 24/7.  It’s got a teeter totter which is always beeing tot (I think that’s what you’d call it) around the clock.  Every single gaming system known to mankind is there.  You got corn hole, a date auction, battle of the bands, a dance, a huge TV that used to be able to show movies 24/7 (stupid copyright laws ha), and a million and a half people coming and going.  I LOVE IT!!!  It reminds me every time of why I came to AU!  I can not think of a better college experience than that.  It’s all about community, having fun, enjoying one another and doing it at whatever hour pleases you ha.

    So, this week I will be writing posts sharing about my senior TFT experience!  I plan on being there as much as possible…even if it means I have to do more work next week, so be it.  This is freaking TFT week!!!!  And I don’t plan on missing it!!!!

-Jon      (Alabama waterfalls in the background)

    Okay, so with the whole “What do you think I should do with my life?” question, I have gone to the most accessible and cheap form of research known to college-kind…facebook.  I wrote a note and tagged close frends and those whose opinions I value and respect and asked them to dialogue and share what they feel I should do with my life and what they an see me doing with my life.  Sometimes its easier for someone on the outside to see your strengths, weakesses and the abilities and passions that you have.  So, I am excited to see what will become of this note and what everyone has to say. 

PS – I had a job interview today.  It went really well and I’m intrigued by the business. It has a lot of integrity and honesty with it and a focus on being personal.  So, I have another interview on Wednesday, so we’ll see where that goes.

-Jon       

There are certain times or places on campus that remind people why they came here.  Whether its the special chapel nights, a pick up game of ultimate frisbee or the week long woodstock imitation known as teetering for tots (which is next week, woo hoo!), each person has some time or place that they feel connected to AU.  While searching for inspiration of writing, I found myself drawn to the basement cellar of our student center – better known as Mocha Joes.  Its a student run coffee shop/hang out area.  It’s got a lot of down time, people coming and going, concerts every now and then and the assurance that you’ll run into someone you haven’t seen in a while in a 22 minute spread.

This is where I have chosen to sit and write my blog.  Running into friends I haven’t seen in a while, nursing a caramel machiatto, and watching the community come and go reminds me of some of the reasons why I enjoy this place so much.  Next week is what I would consider the pinacle of what reminds me of why I came to AU…Teetering for Tots.  It’s a week-long event filled with everything a college student could want.  They basically take a tent and fill it up with TVs and video game systems, retro to current.  They’ve got goldeneye, smash brothers, halo tournaments and more -not to mention a 24 hour movie marathon from the beginning of the event to the end.  They’re also doing a date auction this year to help raise money and then throwing a dance Friday night.  All the money they receive this year are helping to buy textbooks for a local school that is underpriveledged and in desperate need of some updated material (apparently to some of ‘em, WWII is still going on.  JK…but not too far off).  There’s grill outs, band concerts, root beer kegs and people will just crash there during the night time.  Needless to say, I can’t wait to re-experience the fellowship and community that drew me here in the first place .

-Jon     

(the three guy clubs represented, Boosters, Novus Dux and Dativus)

I’m sure many, if not all of you, are familiar with Adam Sandler’s “Lunch Lady” song.  It’s as catchy as a one hit wonder band named Hanson!  Anyway, its funny ’cause each lunch lady here, at least for the most part, has a nickname or something about ‘em that everyone knows or is unique….at least to me ha.  Alright, here’s the dl.

First off, you’ve got Jamie the Haven lady.  If she doesn’t know your name, you’re either a freshman or you never eat.  She is a ray of sunshine to everyone on this campus and she got the employee of the year from the student body.  Everyday that I get a meal from Jamie, it comes with a hug and a smile…no joke.  Sadly, she’s retiring and she will be deeply missed.

Most of the other lunch lady stories dwell from the MP (that stands for Market Place for those non-AU lingo enthusiasts).  First, you got Grandma, she pretty much runs the joint.  Then there’s the dynamic duo of Nancy and Wanda.  I currently hold the position of president of their gossip club and try to keep them up to date on all the comings and goings (mainly whats going on in the news and my life in general).  They’re great!  I think Nancy wanted to set me up with her granddaughter at one point, but as of yet that is put on hold.  Then you got Berte, who is just a sweet heart.  Earlier this year, I definitely saw that sweet little lady cruising by on a moped haha.  True story.  There’s also the sweet Asian lady who is always good for a smile, but I don’t know by name.  You got Karen, who normally takes the ID cards streetside.  As far as the lunch lady who takes ‘em on the valley side…well, let’s just say don’t even THINK about stepping two feet past the door unless she’s swiped your card.  Trust me, you won’t get far.   

So whether its Hogies and Grinders, Navy Beans or Sloppy Joes, I recommend ordering the most consistently good thing on the menu: a wrap, a hug from Jamie, and a small from the fabulous MP ladies!

-Jon     

  There is a simple equation that exists.  Its quite elementary and basic, but when its broken down, its not hard to see why it works so well.  If some sort of genius mathematician, say Stephen Hawking, were to translate such an equation from binary code to prose, it may look something similar to this:

Mountains + Beach + Best Friends + The Girlfriend = The Best Spring Break Road Trip Ever

 So its the last big hurrah, senior year spring break.  One of the last opportunities to be carefree and enjoy the company of some of the best friendships I have.  It all started out with me planning on flying down to Florida to visit my girlfriend.  Then a few friends wanted to come and keep me company, which turned into renting a sleak and sexy minivan and making it a roadtrip across the South lands.

  So we road tripped it to sweet home Alabama and stayed with a family on top of Lookout Mountain.  We had home cooked southern meals, visited waterfalls, played lots of games and just relaxed.  Then it was off to West Palm, Florida where the main mode of transportation is either a Mercedes, BMW or Jaguar….so needless to say, our little white Nissan stood out.  We bummed around different apartments around campus and enjoyed the luxury of a free roof over our heads.  For me, the week was filled with the beach, nice dinners on the town, resting and catching up on some Z’s, frisbee, and above all else, enjoying the company of my friends and girlfriend, Traci.  She and I got to take each other on some much needed dates and I got to watch her perform at a coffee house on Friday night with my two roommates Nick and Joel.  Needless to say, it was a great way to end the last of my spring breaks!

-Jon

From back left to right that’s Nick, Me, Bryan, Joel, and the front are Traci and Alleigh.  Yes, it was the four guys and Alleigh doing the road tripping haha.

     Maybe this Valentines day Hallmark-inspired holiday can better be described with a black veil and the words, “Singles Awareness Day.”  I know, I know, that probably comes off as love sick and anti-romantic.  To be honest, I am a hopeless romantic at heart.  However, before this year I had never had a Valentine!  True story.  However, this being the first year, I was all excited about doing something amazing, stupendous, incredible, surprising and would make her oow and ahh….needless to say I set a high bar for myself and I had nothing, until the afternoon on Valentines day haha.  One thing that you have to know is that this is not some sort of convenient relationship as far as location is concerned.  I can’t just come up with an idea the day off, walk across campus or drive two hours and pull it up.  No, I go to AU in Anderson, IN…she goes to West Palm Beach Atlantic in Palm Beach, Florida.  For those of you who may be reading this and are somewhat geographically challenged, that’s half of the US!  So, there’s a bit of a distance thing there ha.     So I call her friend and explain the whole idea and she agrees to help me pull it off.  While my girl is off enjoying the company of her friends and watching a movie, her friend sneaks into her room and begins to set the scene.  She lead a trail of Hershey’s kisses from her door to her bedroom where the entire floor was covered with kisses and a note that said, “Now that I kiss the ground you walk on, will you be my Valentine?”  I KNOW, it’s cheesy ha.  Very cheesy!  She liked it though and that is what made it important to me ha.

So…if you have read any of my blogs from last semester, you well know that my roommate and I were addicted to the show Heroes.   Really though, addicted doesn’t accurately describe our craze, it was like catnip for college kids.  We stayed up into the wee hours of the night watching episode after episode from the season 1 dvd.  Well, we have now seen every episode from the 2 seasons, but because of the writers’ strike we haven’t seen a new episode for months now…Luckily, for Christmas my grandparents got me something else that I could hooked on.  I had never heard of it until I opened it, but the Planet Earth dvd set is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen.

If you don’t know, Planet Earth was a BBC Emmy-Award Winning TV series that demonstrates the greatest parts of the earth and wildlife that many of us never see.   Let me tell you, it is UN-BE-LIEVABLE.  I swear I wasn’t even interested in nature that much, but this dvd has really changed that for me.  There are 11 episodes in the set which take you from the North Pole to vast plains, to the depths of caves to the heights of the highest mountains, and even takes you in to the ocean.  The footage in this dvd is amazing.  You all really should see it sometime.  Some of the rarest, most amazing animals are caught on video in their natural habitat, and it rocks my world.

We watched an episode about every night until we were done with them all, and I am not ashamed to say I plan on watching them again.   It hasn’t really taken over my life like Heroes did, but that really is a good thing.

I really encourage you to catch an episode if you can!  I know here on campus a group is getting together to watch it, if you can you should join them!!

And hey, what better way to celebrate man month than a little bit of nature!

So grow a beard and get outside…and if you don’t feel up for spelunking just rent the dvd!

Enjoy life.

Thanks,

Zachary

          First Dates.  To some this term may bring feelings of great joy, but to what I would assume to be the majority of us, that term brings about a sense of anxiety, only equally matched by the ever awkward…first kiss. Of course, once you get past that real-life game of battleship, its smooth sailing and clear skies.  But until such a time, it is all about first impressions and everything’s on the line.  What questions do ask?  Am I talking too much?  Is she talking too much?  Do I have food on my face?  Or the ever popular plead, “Dear God, please don’t let me say anything ridiculous tonight….or fart.”  Believe me, we’ve all been there in a catatonic state of absolute perspiration.  But with a little guts, a ton of deodorant, and a well-stashed cubby of Tic Tacs, the night has the elements for the ever illusive second date.

          That’s kind of what a blog is when you get right down to it.  You get one chance to woo and captivate your audience, with a little help from attemptive cleverness and a dash of sarcastic humor, one might get a chance for that illustrious second date…or in this case, a second chance to intrigue you with my unpredictable and at times corky life.  That said, it is customary for first dates to be a somewhat interview process, a quiet survey, and a secretive game of 20 questions.  To be honest, I prefer the more blunt approach ha.

          So aside from what’s in my bio, here is a bit about myself.  My favorite color is blue, I used to drive a woody (that’s an ‘88 station wagon with wood panels for the lay man), I like working out and playing ultimate Frisbee.  I’m an eclectic and easily persuaded music listener and a movie connoisseur.  LOST is the only addiction I know of and Mel Gibson is the most masculine man alive (in my opinion…but don’t tell Chuck Norris).  I’ve had a crush on Hilary Duff since high school, been to seven countries, I’m in a long distance relationship and I used to watch Boy Meets World like it was my job (‘cause I was unemployed at the time)!  So now that you know a little more about me, hopefully you’ll check in again soon to see what’s new in my life at AU!