As Maggie (my partner in blogging) pointed out in her last post, it is pretty exciting that we are now official friends.  Its really kind of crazy because we have been writing together since school started and I have never met Maggie, but at least now I know (via. Facebook) what her favorite movies, music,  and things to do are. Lol Facebook sounds so stupid, but for some reason we all love it.  I wish it were still a college only thing though, because then we collegers could feel like we had something special.  I am not saying anything against high schoolers, not too long ago I was on of them.  

Anyway to my other point… so last week my friend Josh MacInnes and I decided that it would be fun to make breakfast on Saturday morning.  You see, the MarketPlace or the MP is we like to call it on campus makes a stellar Sunday brunch, which is hands down my favorite meal of the week.  On Saturday however the MP does not serve any meals, so to eat you have to go eat at the Raven Haven, or cook on your own.  So Josh and I decided we would invite all of our friends at Dunn Hall to come eat breakfast with us.  We had breakfast at 12:12, thus we called it the 12:12 Brunch.  We went out and bought 7 ½ dozen eggs, tons of sausage, pancake mix, and some drinks.  I couldn’t help cook because I had basketball practice, but Josh said brunch was a huge success.  We cooked up everything that we had bought.  Over 30 people showed up!  We are super duper excited and are going to do it again in a couple weeks.  This time though we are going to be better prepared.  I am going to buy another griddle so we can cook faster, and we are going to make sure we have more drinks and more food.  Josh and I both love to cook and I think we do alright, so come try it out.

 

So if you are ever in the vicinity of Dunn Hall on a Saturday morning around 12:12 or later drop by and we just may have a little food for ya.

 

Thanks,

Zach

So, something really scary happened on Friday. A lady came to speak in one of my classes, and the topic was grad school (cue spooky Halloween music). When I was in high school, it was so exciting to talk about going away to college. But now that I’m a semester and a half away from graduating, it’s time to talk about the next step… and it’s freaking me out!

I know I’ve been very well-prepared by my classes here at AU, and I’m confident that I will be competitive with students from other schools. But, I just don’t feel old enough to be applying for grad school! I don’t know how college went so fast.

 On a completely different note, Zach (my fellow blogger) and I are now officially Facebook friends. If you don’t know about Facebook, you better check out www.facebook.com before going away to college. It will become your resource for just about everything… writing messages to your friends, keeping track of your high school friends, and looking through everyone’s posted pictures instead of doing your homework. It’s great!

What other random things can I talk about in one blog? Oh yeah! On Monday, my Group and Institutional Dynamics professor had us do a service project instead of having class like normal. We went over to Park Place Church of God to help out with the day care program that goes on there. I loved it! Instead of class, we got to do a bunch of different things. One group led games like duck duck goose with a bunch of kindergarteners. Another group read books to the toddlers, and four of us got to go hold babies! Can you believe it? I got credit for attending class, and all I had to do was hold a baby and feed a bottle to her! Now that’s my kind of class! But what was really cool was that the teachers of all of these day care classes got to get a bunch of work done because we were there paying attention to the kiddos.

I think that might be all of my randomness for now…

I was STARVING last night when practice got over at 7, so I ordered a pizza from Nona’s.  If you didn’t know Nona’s is the new pizza place located in the Raven Haven, and the best part about them is they will deliver to your dorm lobby.  So I ordered a pepperoni pizza for my roommate and me (mmmmmBoy it was good.  But that’s beside the point).  So when I went downstairs to pick up my pizza I saw that there were like 150 people in the Dunn Hall lobby.  I stopped and asked what was going on, and they told me it was Sho-Dunn.  I was really tired and wanted to just relax, but my R.A. (Double D) convinced me to stay and watch.  That was the best decision I made all night (yep even better than the decision to get pizza).

Sho-Dunn is the Dunn Hall talent show.  That may not sound that exciting, but when the whole lobby is packed like a can of sardines you know its probably something special.  Many of our talented musicians played songs on their acoustic guitars.  Brandon, who lives across the hall from me, played an awesome worship song that he wrote.  Aaron, who lives just down the hall, read some poetry about love and heaven that he wrote.  These are really, really talented people.  One of my favorite acts was the group of kids that played Over My Head by The Fray, I couldn’t help singing along, although I’m sure the people around me weren’t thrilled to here my voice.  One act that really surprised me and had me dying laughing were the kids who wrote a song/story about Sasquatch.  It was so random, but ridiculously funny.  Then, there was the kid who did the walking spider…you really had to see it… I am not going to try to explain.  And to finish off this wonderful event Smitty Boo and Grilled Cheesy did the infamous Dunn Hall rap. One word: UNBELIEVABLE.  These guys are so awesome, I could never do what they did.

So another great part about Sho-Dunn is that it only cost a dollar to get in and the proceeds went to help kids out in Kasubi, Africa.  It’s pretty amazing because we get to help these kids who are living off of monthly (yes monthly) salaries between $0 and $3.

It was such a great night, and I guess you could say that I was pretty fortunate to have ordered a pizza and fallen into this event.  Maybe some things do happen for a reason.

I am going to class now.

Have a great day!!!

Zach

So my new favorite thing about college is the freedom I have to do my homework just whenever and wherever I feel like it!  If I want to get up at 6 in the a.m. and go to a computer lab and type up a paper I can!  If I want to go to Mocha Joe’s on weeknights and do my math homework I can do that too.  Heck, if I want to go sit outside in the rain and read my Western Civilization history book I can.  Personally, I like to try to start my paper at 10 in the p.m. which really means I start at midnight and finish at 4 the next morn.

So right now (even though many people are out having fun at the Fall Festival which is full of “Hayrides, pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, sack races, tricks, and treats…â€?) I am sitting at my desk in my boxers, listening to music, waiting for my laundry to finish, typing my blog and starting my research paper on war no one can do anything about it – sure you can all laugh and make fun of me, but I am in the mood to work.  So why am I in my boxers?  Well… so I was down in the basement putting a load of laundry in (and remember I live on the 4^th floor) and I pulled out a pair of dirty jeans and dropped them in and then “Crud!â€? I just realized that I was wearing a pair of jeans for like the third day strait (yes that’s sanitary…my mom told me so!).  And don’t get me wrong I have enough jeans to get through the next week, but these were a brand new, awesome, free (I won a $50 Old Navy gift certificate as a door prize at the Career/Job Fair here on campus last week) pair of jeans.  So, by now you probably forget what I was talking about, but the point is I had to wash the jeans and instead of making the hike of 5 flights (64 steps) of stairs to get some pants to put on I decided just to throw them in and go back up to my room in my boxers. 

So this is a lame picture of my workspace I know… but there was no one else around on a Friday night to take it for me…

On a more serious note, my real point is that Anderson University offers its students a lot of freedom in choices they (we) make.  Not only do I have the freedom to go to certain computer labs at any hour of the night to study, but I have learned that I am very free to disagree.  Yes, this is a Christian atmosphere, but it’s a very welcoming one.  There are tons of people here and we all don’t believe in exactly the same things, but that’s ok.  In my Honors Class we focus on Just War Theory and Pacifism.  We often discuss how the Bible views war, and how we each interpret the Bible.  I have found out that it doesn’t matter if you have views that are very different from everyone else, the professors and the students here are all very open to each other’s ideas.  Furthermore, just this Wednesday we were having our Focus Group here on 4^th floor and we began discussing a few passages in the Bible.  Some people had some serious questions about the Bible, and at Anderson University no one is scrutinized for asking tough questions about faith. 

In conclusion I just want to brag about how open and how awesome of a school this really is. 

I must now go switch over my laundry and get on to my much dreaded paper on war… eww… so its not my favorite subject, but its still a fun class.

 

I truly wish all of you a wonderful weekend,

 

Zach

 

Today kicked off Spiritual Emphasis Week, a time when we, as a campus, focus on what God is trying to do in our lives. Hopefully we are doing that all the time, and not just this week. BUT, Spiritual Emphasis Week is a great time when we are intentionally challenged to look even deeper than normal.

 This year’s speaker is Shane Claiborne. He is amazing! I remember him coming to speak in Chapel last year. He’s this crazy (in a good way) guy with dreadlocks and home-made clothes. He has the most amazing stories, like purposefully sleeping on the streets of New York, knowing he would get arrested with the rest of the homeless people out that night. Or, the time he helped organize a jubilee right outside of Wall Street. As they rang the bell inside, they started throwing cash (which they had earned through winning lawsuits, and the lawsuits came about due to being arrested for helping the homeless…) from the tops of buildings and playing music so that there was a party atmosphere. Needy people living on the streets were able to scoop up as much money as they needed and enjoy some time with new friends. It all sounds so crazy, but I figure Jesus was pretty crazy too!

 During Spiritual Emphasis Week, the speaker (Shane) gives talks in Tuesday and Thursday’s chapels, plus worship services each night. Tonight my friends Joel and Nick started the service with some music, then Shane took over with another great message and more incredible stories about his life and how he is trying to live each day for Jesus.

I love going to a school that gives me opportunities like this… to hear great speakers who aren’t necessarily your typical Sunday morning preacher. And what’s even better is that I go to a school where it doesn’t stop there. I can talk to my friends about everything we learn, and we can work together to change for the better and make a difference. I’m excited about the conversations that will happen because of Shane’s messages!

It all started about a month ago when our basketball coach told us we were going to go on a retreat as a team over fall break. The problem was that coach never told us where we were going. We incessantly questioned him and bothered him to get us to tell him where we were going to go. No luck there. He stood strong. So Friday came and we all packed in tight and went to see Facing The Giants at the Noblesville movie theaters. I swear there were 14 people in a 9 person van… but that’s good for team unity right? The movie was about a man struggling not only to motivate his football team, but also struggling with his life. He starts looking to the Bible and prays for help. By using God’s word he changes the lives of his football team, and turns his own life around. It had a very good message of commitment and perseverance that I think had an effect on us all. Saturday morning we did some voluntary conditioning and then at 11:00 left for the retreat. (We do conditioning all the time by the way) We packed up all of are stuff in a few cars and we left. First, we went to the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indy. That’s a really cool place and if you ever get to visit you really should. They have different historic memorabilia from all the NCAA sports. After that we made our journey to the Hoosier Gym. In case you didn’t know the Hoosier Gym is the gym that the movie Hoosiers was filmed in. It was such a tiny little gym, but the aura there was awesome! There was seating for only about 100 people in the stands, and the rafters in the gym were only about ten feet above the backboards. It really shows you how much basketball has changed and grown. While we were there we were split up into two teams and competed in all sorts of events. We had foosball, air hockey, PlayStation football, cornhole, and dodgeball competitions. Then at 12:00 a.m. we practiced for the first time. You see Sunday October 15 was the first day that NCAA div. III basketball teams could practice, so we practiced as soon as we could, and we did it in the Hoosier Gym. After practice we showered and then passed out in the gym. It was a lot of fun just spending a whole weekend with the guys. Our team moto this year is “One State of Mind� and I think this weekend really helped us come closer to that ideal. We had time to come together not just as players, but also as teammates and humans. It was a really great experience. This year basketball is going to be more work for me than its ever been, but it will be worth it, and I think its going to be tons of fun!!!

Sorry I didn’t get any pictures of this place.  I forgot to take my camera.  But, you could most definately google it and find plenty of pictures of the gym. 

GO RAVENS!!!

P.S. I just got done watching the Bears game last night and that was incredible!!! Go Bears!

Zach

It is Thursday, and Fall Break officially starts when my 2 p.m. class is over! And, I need the rest. The funny part is that I don’t really need a break from my academics. I’ve got that under control! I honestly need a rest from my social life

 That’s something I love about this place. You can get so involved on campus that you have something to do every single day. But, it’s so important to find balance, which I am bad at! I literally have activities every evening. Sunday nights I lead the officer meetings for Alacritas, my social club. On Mondays and Wednesdays I go to the yoga class in the wellness center that my friend Krista teaches (she also happens to be my next door neighbor here in Fair Commons Apartments). Also on Mondays are the actual Alacritas club meetings. Tuesdays I mentor a sophomore through the Anam Cara campus ministry. Wednesday night I have an Alacritas committee meeting. It hasn’t started yet, but eventually I will have a small group meeting on Thursdays. There are always TONS of things to do on campus on Fridays and Saturdays, so those get filled up too!

 I’m definitely not complaining! I love keeping busy, and I love the people that I get to meet through all this stuff. However, it can be draining too. I mean, it is definitely no fun to have to tape America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway instead of being able to watch them at the normal time! haha

My point is this: the social opportunities on this campus are awesome. There are too many to choose from! You could be busy 24 hours a day and still not be involved in everything that you are interested in. So, it’s really important to find where your passions are and then dive right into those opportunities.

 As I’ve talked about a million times, I’m in the Alacritas social club, and our brother club is the Avanti Boosters. Instead of our normal Monday night meeting this week, we went bowling together!  We packed about 70 people into 10 lanes at Coopers in Anderson.

 
                         

The busy-ness is DEFINITELY worth it because you get to enjoy time with all the other incredible people who are just as busy as you!

So… first of I just need to comment on one thing… 4^th Floor Dunn is the awesomest floor on the whole Anderson University campus!  Just last Thursday we brought home the 24 karat gold, 7 foot, 135 pound Dunn Hall Olympics trophy.  Ok… there’s no trophy, but we won nonetheless.  The games were a lot of fun and every floor competed valiantly.  Especially these fine gentlemen competing in the gentlemen’s games…

                                          

Now that that’s taken care of I just want to quickly comment on Fall Break.  Well… its this Friday and we don’t have to go to class.  Enough said. 

This Sunday we be the basketball team’s first practice.  I am so pumped for that! We have been conditioning for 6 weeks and it will be so so so sooooo nice to do something with a basketball instead of just running all the time!  And this means I don’t have to get up for 6:30 a.m. weight lifting. YES!!!…

Besides all that I am starting this week off on a good note, because I got to go visit my family this weekend.  It had been a while since I had seen them, and it was a lot of fun just hanging out. 

So pretty much this week is just flat out amazing for so many reasons.

And one last thing before I stop talking about a lot of random stuff…

Just remember that in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue!!!

Happy Columbus day!

 

Finally it’s here!  Dunn Hall Olympics.  Just in case you don’t know, Dunn hall Olympics span one week and each floor competes against the others in various tasks.  Smith Hall Olympics took place a few weeks ago, but Dunn is better so we won’t talk about them (yea yea I am a little biased – just try and do something about it!).  I really think it would be awesome to have inter-hall Olympics so we could prove that Dunn is the best! 

On Sunday we kicked off Olympics with massive dodge ball games where everyone from each floor got to play.  Also, the Halo team tournament began.  I did not witness any of that, but I guarantee there were plenty of tough rounds.  Then on Monday we started with the track events: we ran the 100, 200, 400, 1600 and a few relays.  Then there were the pool and ping pong tournaments in Mocha Joe’s.  Ping pong was awesome!  Those guys are hardcore! Luckily I didn’t have to play because I am a disgrace to the sport.  I did play pool though, and I was horrible (ugh I hate losing).  Then at 9:00 that night we had the basketball tournament.  Tons of people showed up, and I think they had lots of fun.  Before we started we all did warm-up layups, and some of the teams even had coaches (dressed in suits of course).  On Tuesday we had the cafeteria games.  We played quarter bball, salt shaker, quarter hockey, and paper football.  Meanwhile, the chefs were competing in the Iron Chef (probably one of the most popular events).  The task was to create a main dish using ramen noodles and a dessert with butterscotch.  After the cooking, lobby there was a huge display of all the food in the Dunn lobby.  It was an amazing sight.  There were five judges who judged on taste, presentation, and originality.  Later that night, we played a huge game of Trivial Pursuit which turned out to be really hard, and there was a spelling bee.  Today the gentlemen’s games take place which includes cornhole, bocci ball, croquet, and the Frisbee throw (yay Frisbee).  Then tonight we close the games with the strongman’s contest which involves I think a rock throw and the pushing of a car.

Blood has been shed, and many a good man has been lost, but none are forgotten.  The cause is such  a glorious one… IM KIDDING!!! No one has gotten hurt… yet… I think.  The standings right now have basement in first place with 1^st, 3^rd, and 4^th floors close behind.  2^nd floor… good luck next year!

But it has all been so much fun!  I can’t wait to see how it ends.

Go Fourth Floor!!!!

Zach

A huge perk of coming to college is that your wardrobe magically multiplies exponentially upon move-in day. It doesn’t take long for us to get comfortable enough to walk down the hall yelling “I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR TONIGHT!” Suddenly, you have a billion options. Just choose a room, pick a closet, and find something fabulous.

You sometimes even recognize your clothes on your friends without ever realizing they borrowed them. Like, today… I met up with my roommate (Allie) at chapel, and there was something familiar about her outfit. OH WAIT! It was MY outfit. haha! Well, to be fair, the pants and shoes were hers. The shirt and sweater were mine.

Friday night was All Club Formal. All the different social clubs were invited, and we headed down to Oak Hill Mansion in Carmel for a night of dinner and dancing.

 BUT, there was a huge problem! A bunch of the girls in my club were dress-less as of the week before the big night! WHAT TO DO?!?!?  So I drove the 45 minutes home (definitely closer than the hours and hours it would take some of them to go home!) and loaded up my car with all of the formal dresses my sister and I have ever worn (we’re talking even my sister’s homecoming dress from 1995… attractive). Once back at school, the ladies of Alacritas came and ransacked the pile!

 

I love sharing clothes… and shoes… and jewelry…. and purses. It is a widely known fact that college students are the best-accessorized demographic in the United States (Ok, I might have just made that up… but it’s so true!) And obviously this is because you have limitless possibilities with hundreds of closets at your very fingertips.

 Alright, time for me to head to a meeting. Now if only I could find my black flip flops…