The Transformation

The college search was pretty simple for me. I knew that I wanted to go to PBA! I also knew that I would be living at home since I lived so close and it made sense financially. Entering PBA as a commuter was tough. It was hard to meet people and I constantly felt disconnected from the rest of the student body. After a year of being a commuter, I received a scholarship that allowed me to live on campus! The Lord knew my heart's desires and blessed me.
Leaving was hard, but my family knew it was a wonderful opportunity. I completely encourage students to live on campus and here's why. I can wake up 10 minutes before class and still make it on time. I have met so many people in my dorm. Distance doesn't stop me from going to all of the PBA events anymore.
Living on campus is a blessing and I have enjoyed every second of it. It has taught me responsibility, independence, and how to manage my money.

Welcome Weekend Part 1 Jan 7th-8th

Welcome Weekend

Part 1 January 7th – 8th

Student Schedule of Events

Thursday, January 7th

9:00 am – 3:00 pm: Move In to Residence Halls with help of MOVE IN CREW 2010

9:00 am – 5:00 pm: Check-In (Lassiter Student Center) You may be required to visit one or more of the following stations- • Residence Life – Housing Issues/Meal Plans • Registration – Add or Change Schedule • Financial Aid – Aid Awards and Documents • Payment Plans – Monthly Payment Arrangements • Health and Wellness – Health Forms, Immunizations, Insurance Waivers • Cashier – Pay Balance in Full • Student ID – Have your ID Card Created • Safety & Security – Parking Decal (Safety & Security Office) • Student Development – Community Values Statement • ID Validation and Bookstore Vouchers Depending on what stations you may need to visit, you should plan on spending approximately 2 hours at Check-In. When you register at Check-In you will receive a sheet outlining which stations you are required to visit.

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Welcome Dinner BBQ (Rinker Green) Families are encouraged to dine with their students, faculty & staff

7:00 pm– 8:00 pm: Welcome Weekend Opening Program (DeSantis Family Chapel)

8:00 pm -9:00 pm: Parents Social with Parents Council

Friday, January 8th

10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Student and Parent Information Sessions – Enlightening Minds (MAC 1291) • Chapel, Workship, Campus Ministries • Community Values • Safety and Security • Residential Life • Student Success

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Parent Panel Lunch

1:30 pm – 2:15 pm: Campus Tours – Find your Classrooms! (Meet outside Frasier Dining Hall, Bring your Schedule)

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm: Concert of Prayer (Chapel)

3:45 pm – 5:00 pm: Worship Celebration - Enriching Souls (DeSantis Family Chapel)

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Farewell Dinner (Frasier Dining Hall) Parents connect with other parents and say goodbye!

F.I.N.A.L.S.

F is for "Freaking Out"

I is for "I wish I didn't have as many classes now"

N is for "No more social life"

A is for "Am I ever going to sleep?"

L is for "Last Minute Studying"

S is for "Stressed to the MAX"

Wonderful Weather

Currently in West Palm Beach it is a beautiful 82 degrees.  You almost forget it is November 19. Many students at PBA are hitting the beach or the pool today to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The sky is perfectly blue and everything is great.  I am sure glad I did not go to school in Chicago where it is currently a cloudy 46 degrees. Winter is my least favorite month and I am glad that I do not have to experience the extreme cold in other areas.

Homecomming Week

This is a very exciting week on the campus of Palm Beach Atlantic University. The students and faculty just came off a very relaxing 4 day Fall Break. I personally got out of town with my roommates and spent the weekend at a condo near Daytona Beach. Sometimes it is great to just get away and not do homework. Anyways, this week is Homecomming Week and the theme this week is 'The Choice'. There are numerous activities throughout the week to celebrate numerous alumni coming back into town. The events range from movies on the green Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and Eagle Eye to an energetic paint dance party called GLO. Another campus favorite and PBA tradition is The Great American Bug Race, in which students and facutly alike can race roaches for a grand prize of $100. This is one of the longest standing traditions on campus. I am also particularly excited about the alumni basketball games aganist the current student squads. I am a huge fan of PBA basketball and am looking forward to a preview of the upcoming season. Altogether is is much easier to come back to campus from a break, when there is so much exciting things to do. I look forward to all that this homecomming weekend has to offer.

PBA’s urban location offers numerous activities

This past weekend was one of the best I have had in a while. I am very glad that a few of my friends who graduated in May were able to be in town to make it awesome. I am exhausted right now, and am really going to need a nap this afternoon. I really had a blast, participating in many different activities across the community surrounding campus. This weekend was parents weekend and there were tons of activities for students to do, alongside their parents. The cafeteria food was extra good; the school hosted a murder mystery dinner, and theater production Nunsense just to name a few. That being said, my parents have never visited me during this weekend, and since I am now a senior they did not start.

The weather was nearly perfect all weekend, albeit still very hot, and I took advantage by spending quality time with friends and the Atlantic Ocean most of the day Saturday. The water is a perfect temperature this time of year, and almost perfectly crystal clear. Saturday night was when most of the student population at PBA was at one of two places. A huge number of students went to the Blink 182 concert featuring Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects and Asher Roth. It was at the Cruzan Amphitheatre just down the road from campus. West Palm Beach is a fairly large city and has been able to bring a lot of good bands to the area, especially at Cruzan. Another large group of students, including myself, went to a free show at City Place, within walking distance of campus, featuring Kate Vogele, and Andrew McMahon (lead singer from Jack’s Mannequin and Something Corporate). My roommate and a few friends and I had such a great time at the show, we actually decided that we would drive across the state to Ft Myers to see the same free show again last night! We did not get back home to West Palm until a little after 2am this morning. It was definitely worth it. One of the great parts of college life is making random spontaneous decisions, like my road trip to Ft Myers yesterday, and just spending quality time with friends.

College is Busy

These past two weeks have been incredibly busy around campus. Last week was connection week, which is a weeklong event with different ways to plug in on campus and in the community of West Palm Beach. Potential employers, different churches and nonprofit organizations set up tables on the Rinker Green to connect the student body with the city and surrounding communities. As for on campus connections there was a club rush event where all of the different campus organizations set up tables to allow students to join. As the president of the college republicans club, I had a lot of work to do to recruit new members at the event. The entire connection week was a success.

This week, as you already know, is Christoval which is our spiritual emphasis conference week. It just so happens that this week I also have 3 exams, a paper due and a presentation. Needless to say I have only been able to make it to one Christoval so far, but I plan on attending again today. Life sometimes gets busy, but it is nothing that I cannot handle. I like the busyness actually. I am definitely looking forward to this weekend to rest up from the last two weeks. A bunch of friends who graduated from PBA are coming into town this weekend and I am very excited to be able to spend time with them. Life is great.

Francis is Coming to Town!

Next week Francis Chan is coming to PBA to speak at our very own Christoval Festival! To say we students are excited, would be an under statement. To get an idea as to why we're so pumped about having Francis on our campus check out this video: http://www.juststopandthink.com/movieextras_movielg.php

my summer adventures

It is truly great to be back for another year at PBA! I missed the city of West Palm Beach, and just being around fellow sailfish. I had a very enjoyable summer break full of many adventures including two epic road trips with PBA friends and I also went on a Travel Study trip to Greece and Turkey. The first, of the epic road trips, was from Florida to Arkansas for a wedding of two of my very good friends, who just graduated PBA last may. On the way back we made a pit stop in Mobile, Alabama to stay with one of my first friends at PBA before returning to Florida. The second road trip was back to school from Chicago with my roommates. Altogether I visited 10 different states this summer, having a great time. If you ever want to take an extremely boring drive through nothingsville USA, you will have to drive across Arkansas or Illinois. Luckily in both cases I was in a car full of sailfish and we were able to make the best of it. It is great that even though I have been away from school for the summer, I have remained completely connected with all of the many friends I have here at PBA. The student body and especially your close friends that you make at PBA honestly become a second family.

I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I feel about being able to visit the beautiful and historical countries of Turkey and Greece. I went on the trip with the Honors College at PBA as an extension of our learning. The biblical studies department also came with us. Three of the best professors the university has to offer, came with us and acted as our mentors and friends as we visited the numerous historical and biblical sites the two countries had to offer. We saw such historical sites as the Parthenon, ancient Ephesus, Corinth and the Homeric city of Troy just to name a few. My life will seriously never be the same. It was one of the most profound religious experiences I have had in life, visiting many of the ancient biblical cities. It makes the faith real and alive to visit the places where Paul and many others walked and lived their lives. Just wow. I would highly recommend that everyone experience a travel study trip at least once during their time spent in college. Traveling is one of the best and most fun ways to learn about a new place, but even more so about yourself.

*TOP - Some of the group outside the Grotto where John recieved his Revelation on the island of Patmos, Greece

*BOTTOM - The whole travel study group in front of Hagia Sophia in the old city of Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey

2 Weeks!

School is 2 and half weeks away!!!!! The excitement on campus is apparent. Athletes are moved into their dorms. RAs, Point 58s, and Fish Leaders are slowly arriving back on campus for training tuned specifically for their leadership roles. Welcome Week T-shirts have been handed out to faculty. Dorms are cleaned, fixed up and ready. Rest up and take full advantage of your last two weeks out of the college scene, and we'll be seeing you in the very near future! :)

We're on TV!

PBA has a local commercial on TV! Who were the actors used in the commercial? None other than your fabulous Admission's Staff! Check it out right here!

Won't You Ring Your Bell?

Have you deposited to PBA? Did you know that when you deposit we ring a bell in honor of you? It's true! Someone will go up to one of our bells and make it ring loudly so that everyone in the Office of Admissions can hear it! Then, everyone claps and cheers for YOUR deposit!

If you have any questions about Depositing contact your Admission Counselor.
We want you to join our PBA family! Deposit Today!

Have you had your bell rung?

The Biggest Second of Our Lives

for one split second time counted up from 1 to 9

at 12:34:56 in the 7th month on the 8th day during the 9th year of the second millennium

PBA Requirements

Everyone knows that PBA doesn't really have actual requirements...we have averages. Our average GPA is 3.5, SAT is 1090-1100, and ACT is 24-25. Simply because you may not have the average score is no reason not to apply since they are just averages.

Here are the actual Requirements.
Know the following definitions and be a fan of them:

10. Tenth Avenue North
9. Workship
8. Federal Workstudy
7. City Place
6. Beach
5. The Sea Wall
4. Lip Sync
3. Sailfish and School Dance/Cheer
2. Chick Fil A
1. Jesus

Thank you for your time. Remember requirements NOT averages.

The Other Side of West Palm

Being in West Palm Beach over the summer, you experience things you never would during the school year. For one-the bugs. The bugs (specifically mosquitoes) are ridiculous during the summer months. When I was gearing up for the summer I purposefully bought a bottle of bug spray. Did it help? Nope. I need one of those new Off fans constantly attached to my hip. Thank goodness that come September, mosquitoes will be a rarity.
During the school year I am continually found staring up in the sky admiring God's handiwork. A spectacular sky scape is pretty common in South Florida. But it seems that in the summer months God ups the anti. I am regular brought into a state of awe by artwork displayed in the skies. My poor roommate is regularly be dragged outside to check out the newest cloud creation. In the past two months I have witnessed skies that look painted, lightning strikes that could outdo any fireworks show, red moons, and a complete bold rainbow which landed directly in front of my dorm. The beauties in the sky quickly make the bugs an afterthought.

What to Do, What to Do...

"So what's there to do here?"

and so goes the infamous question everybody asks everywhere they go. Here's what we West Palmians do for fun:

*the beach (ofcourse)

*find people with rockband, befriend them, and copy a key to their door (kidding about that last part)

* rapids water park
*kayaking (you can rent kayakes from the Greene Complex)
*Norton Museum of Art (it's free on Saturdays to West Palm residents!)

*intermurral sports on campus

*film nights hosted by the Film Department (they a classic every other week. it's free and there's snacks!)

*skateboarding, skating, or running by the intercoastal
*hitting golfballs into the intercoastal

*Coffee House

*picnics
*concerts at Cityplace (they're free and sometimes big names drop by)

there's so much more you can do on campus or around West Palm Beach. The key is:be creative!

Things to Buy

My best friend once told me that memory foam was the #1 best purchase that she bought for college. Shoot dang was she right! Here is my own little list of best buys for your dorm/college life at PBA:

1. memory foam
2. Brita water filter
3. Old Navy flip flops (2 for $5!)
4. an ethernet cord long enough to reach across your room
5. a wallet just big enough to fit your I.D card (with a key ring attached to it)
6. bike
7. shower mat
8. tavel coffee mug
9. extension cord
10. full size mirror
11. bed risers or...
12. loft bed (you can take apart the bed that comes with your room and just stick it in the closet. bringing your own loft bed frame saves SO much space!)

the Best Advice my Prof Ever Gave me

Last semester I was on the verge of tears in professor H.D.'s office when he was kind enough to share this life changing advice with me. Due to my overloaded schedule I was feeling worn out and absolutely overwhelmed.HD told me that what I needed was to take at least five minutes every day to simply sit. To just sit still and do nothing but be. Be present. Be alive. Be thankful. Be in the presence of God. Just Be.When HD was first saying this my one thought was "I don't have 5 minutes!That's the whole reason why I'm in your office now!" Without even realizing it I began taking his advice. Lunch's I began eating outside in front of the library or by the water. There were days where I would take ten minutes to just sit in my room and breath.This semester the 5 minutes has turned into 30 and sometimes even a full hour where I get to simply be outside enjoying the Florida sunshine. My friend Christy also taught the importance of carrying a Bible and/or my journal around with me. Often I'll take a short break to sit under a stick of an orange tree next to the Theatre building. Sometimes I'll just lay there other times I'll read or journal.I guess the point of this all is: Don't forget to relax in College.Sophomores-the Sophomore Slump is real.Don't get eaten alive by it.Take as little or as much time as you need every day to get charged. It will change your health, mood, and performance.

Sunny Side Up?

It's summer!...and all of us PBAers are bummed at some level or another. It's crazy I know. How often do you really hear about students feeling down because summer has finally arrived? We're not sad about classes being over (or at least most of us aren't), but it's the separating PBA that leaves us bummed. The best part of summer is the day you return back to campus in August. You will be hard pressed to find any other place where upon arriving you feel such a strong sense of belonging. It's on that day that everything feels right. Everything is right. I realize this all sounds extremely sentimental and sappy but give yourself a year at PBA and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about. And all this does not go to say that summer is the most depressing time of the year, as we all know summer is the perfect opportunity for ample adventures. Simply be prepared for summer (your first one especially) to teach you just how attached you are to PBA's community.

soon everybody asks what became of you

I only have 2 weeks left as a student at PBA. It’s kind of hard to imagine graduating. Graduating is a bittersweet thing for me. It’s an exciting time, because the future is open to me. I can go wherever I want from here. I’ve been praying that what I want is also what God wants for me. I want to follow God’s plans for me, and be ok if His plans don’t line up with exactly what I have planned for myself. It’s easier said than done, but in the end I know it’s worth it and God’s plan is always better than mine.

I have applied to be a Language and Culture Teaching Assistant in Spain. I will find out next week if I was selected and where I will be living in Spain. Earlier this semester I received a brochure from my Spanish profesora about grants that are offered to students in North America and Canada to go live in Spain and teach English. I’m really anxious to find out, and I’m praying that whatever the outcome I will be content.

Today was my last day at my internship with the Lake Worth Herald. I only have one more article that is due on Monday. It was a really great experience and I’m kind of sad that it’s over. My editor was a really cool man, and I learned a lot from him. I am glad that I was able to finish before final exams though, because it was a lot of work and I know that I’m going to be busy with final projects and papers next week. I am the “queen of procrastination,” and am really good at waiting last minute to work on things! As for now, I am going to be a busy body for the next two weeks, but I plan on making the best of them.

It's been a long time...

Hello all,
So it’s been a while since I’ve posted some new delights for you all to read…I guess now is as good a time as any. So not too too much has happened since last time; Easter break was this past weekend. I went to my roommate Anna Grace’s aunt and uncle’s house in Marco Island, Fl. Her family has graciously invited me into their home for the past 4 Easters. They are so great—I love them so much!

This picture is from when Anna Grace, Alyssa, and I (r-l) were dyeing Easter eggs.

Another weekend is upon us, not that I’m going to really be able to enjoy it that much. This past week I had many assignments due for my night class, regular homework, a project due yesterday and a paper and a presentation in another class today. I didn’t go to sleep last night. I did sleep from 6:30-8:00 this morning though. My roommate and I are in the same class, so we both stayed up all night to work on our papers. We are throwing our engaged roommate a bridal shower tonight, so that should be lots of fun before the work weekend of all work weekend begins! I have 2 papers and a project due on Monday, not to mention all the other projects due later next week. But that’s what I get for taking 18 credits….but graduation is the reward, so I know it will be worth it all!

Well, I have to go and start cleaning my apartment for the party for Anna Grace!
I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Until next time…..

A Much Needed Vacation

I am going home, to Orlando, tonight. Why you may ask? My classes are canceled tomorrow. Now, if I went to another University, and not PBA, I would have class on Good Friday – but luckily I do not. Just getting those two days off of school is pretty legitimate, but because PBA is awesome, we also get the Monday following Easter off of school. Cool right? Most definitely. I am very excited to get to relax, sleep in and spend quality time with my family at home. Mostly just sleep though, sorry Mom and Dad. Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays, first and foremost because of the messages of hope and peace that are found in the Resurrection. You may think it weird but I also rather enjoy the marshmellow Peeps® and I love the Reeses® chocolate and peanut butter eggs. Hopefully I have not grown too old to wake up to an Easter Basket outside my bedroom door Easter morning. Maybe I will fill some Easter Eggs and hide them in the yard? Or maybe I will just sleep the whole break.



This Easter Break is exactly what I need after the week that I have had. Up to this point, my week was not totally bad, just a whole lot of hard work. I had a 12 page research paper due on Monday for my Honors class. I spent ALL of the weekend in the library preparing, researching and writing. It would have been nice if there was torrential rain or if it was cold out all weekend, but it was not. It was beautiful, and everyone else I know was able to go to the beach, without me. I guess I should not feel bad because I am in college to learn, I guess. No really, I feel good about it my paper. I spent enough time and had good research and decent points to bring up.

Compared to the rest of the week, that paper was the easy part. This morning I had two difficult exams in Human Anatomy and Organic Chemistry. I had to memorize countless chemistry equations, and pretty much most of the human internal anatomy. I guess I got what I signed up for, but it always seems that my hard exams always fall on the same day. University life always keeps you on your toes and that is part of the reason why it is so great. You never know what to expect around the corner.

Twitter!

Lately I've become addicted to a website called Twitter. You can ask Amy. She rolls her eyes whenever I get excited and tell her about some new way I’ve discovered to use the website.

It's basically a website where you can update your status, like you would on facebook, whenever you want to let your friends know about a cool website you found, or some exciting news you've discovered.

Facebook recently tried to buy Twitter, and was not able to, and then changed their design to be more like Twitter's. I'm pretty sure no one is a big fan of all the changes that keep happening on FB.

Some of my friends try to tell me that Twitter is stupid and pointless, but au contraire I think it is fun and can be helpful. For example, there is a graduate student named James Karl Buck, who was in Egypt doing a photography assignment for his master’s thesis, when he was arrested for being at local anti-government protest. He sent the word ‘arrested’ to his Twitter and a friend got the Twitter, informed the University, and they were able to get a lawyer and get Buck out of jail. Here’s the story ~> http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/06/05/twitter.maree/index.html

Twitter has grown a lot in the last few months. Pretty much everybody has one these days. You can find any news organization, non-profits, your favorite musicians, and just your plain old friends that have one. I'm following one of my fav authors, Don Miller. Oh, and Palm Beach Atlantic University even has its own account! (http://twitter.com/PBAtlantic)

If you want to keep up-to-date on someone's life, you click can 'Follow' on their page and then you will see every time they update their status on your home page. You can respond to someone’s status by clicking the reply and it will say “@username” before whatever you write to direct the message to them.

It’s a little confusing at first, but it’s not too tricky. I created an account last summer just because it was something new, and then never got the point of it, but now everyone is using it and I’ve kind of become addicted.

Follow me! http://twitter.com/nessievanessie

New Languages and Yay for Weekends

So I read something for my History and Philosophy of American Media class titled "The New Languages" and it was about how with each introduction of a new media (from radio, to TV, to internet) we have to accomodate our languages used to each new medium, or way of communication. I thought this was interesting, because there are such different ways of speaking for every individual medium. It's curious how we are taught these languages and how younger generations just adapt themselves naturally to a new language, but some older generations cannot even "speak" them whatsoever. It made me think about what possibilities there are for new mediums when I am in that older generation and what new methods of communication there will be! Hmmm, it's a thinker.

Well, it's Friday and that is exciting. I'm a big fan of weekends. I don't really know what I'm going to do this weekend, but I don't have class and that is cheerful. I have some papers and other random homework to do, but I would rather just have it done and not have to worry about it anymore! We'll see how much I actually get done come Sunday night. Hopefully the weather will be nice this weekend...which is basically saying, I hope I can go to the beach, even for a little bit. I hope!

Well, enjoy your weekend too! Until next time...

Anatomy and FRAG

Today has been interesting to say the least. My morning started out early for my 8am Human Anatomy class. I had the joy, and privilege, of a wonderful lecture about the male reproductive system (notice the sarcasm). The only thing worse than that would be the lecture I will have Monday morning, about, you guessed it, the female anatomy. I am a Biology major with a pre-health concentration so I do actually care about all of that; it just came unexpected this morning.

Anyways, my day continued tabling outside the Caf in the Rinker Green. I am pretty sure that you are aware of the current economic situation in the world, and if you are not please go outside. Currently all Florida Resident students who go to PBA, and all of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, get $2850 from the State of Florida per year to help with tuition costs. This money is named the Florida Resident Access Grant. It is actually the 30th anniversary of the grant this year. The state of Florida is pretty much almost bankrupt and this money, that is vital and necessary for most of us to attain a higher education, is in jeopardy this year. Although there seems to be much support for the FRAG in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, almost all programs across the state will see budget cuts. Today we ran a postcard campaign to important and prominent state Senators and Representatives thanking them for the grant and encouraging them to continue it into the future. All Florida Residents and even non-resident students signed the cards that will be mailed in the coming days. Maybe, if we send enough post cards and raise enough awareness of the excellent grant program, we could see an increase in the amount – instead of a huge cut.

Curly Tail Lizards

PBA has curly tail lizards. They're from Cuba or something. I had never seen them before, and then I saw like ten at a Chili's about six years ago. Now they're all over. We saw some guy feeding them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day.

While they are really fast, I have been able to catch three of them. One time, I stayed behind a pole and caught him on the other side. Another time, I trapped one in a field of grass with no holes. The third time, I was sitting on some rocks, and one came up to me.

They're all over South Florida, and I have come to like them. They don't speak English, so I don't know if they like me.

Founders Day Chapel

Today was the Founders Day chapel service. I wish I could say that I went, but that would be a lie because I slept through it, on accident of course. I did hear from multiple people that is was a good chapel service. Palm Beach Atlantic University was established in 1968, so this year marks the 40th Anniversary of our great institution. The founding President, Dr. Jess Moody (pictured at right), introduced this year’s chapel speaker, current President, Dr. David Clark (on left side). The University has had five presidents before Dr. Clark in the 40 year history, Clark started at PBA in 2003. It is amazing to think about all of the great leaders PBA has had over the years and even more interesting to think about how much the campus has changed. God has definitely been good to PBA. Hopefully the next President of our school can fill the shoes of the great men that have gone before him.

On a related note, I just wanted to discuss the whole aspect of chapel at PBA. I am sure that many people may be nervous and uninformed on what chapel actually is. Students are only required to go to 24 chapels each academic year. Every year there are nearly 100 chapel opportunities for students to attend. These range from the normal weekly chapels, which I will explain in a little bit, to conferences, movie nights, guest speakers and the Newman Club chapel (which is a Friday Catholic liturgy of the Word service). It is clearly not hard to get your chapel time in. During a regular chapel week there is chapel everyday Monday through Thursday. The Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday chapel is contemporary usually with the chapel praise band playing the worship songs. Thursday chapel, my favorite and usual chapel day, is the traditional chapel service. I grew up in a traditional church and enjoy that type of service but it is easy for you to find your place in the chapel calendar, worshiping God in the way that works best for you.

random thoughts for today.

Hello all,
Well, this past weekend was very fun…it was Vanessa’s birthday and I’m pretty sure she already wrote about how her boyfriend came to surprise her. Can I just say that it was one of the most fun surprises I have ever seen! We all had known for weeks that he was coming and she had no idea! It was great!

Here are some of random thoughts for the day:
I am ever grateful to Baxter 2nd floor because without it, I wouldn’t have found some of my best friends. I love my friends so much and am getting depressed thinking about not living with them after graduation.

I’ve learned that I much prefer day classes to night classes…mostly just for the fact that I have a very hard time sitting in one classroom for 4 hours. My night class was let out early last night and so I was able to hang out with some friends and watch a little TV…24 and FRIENDS is always good.

I am reading a book called The Silent Language for one of my classes. It is mostly about what people unknowingly communicate through time and space within cultures. I like learning about cultural differences and how that effects our communication. Also, reading about different cultures makes me want to watch the Travel Channel…and then visit wherever they go!

My sister goes to school near Chicago and although I am excited for her new experiences in college, I am in no way envious of her…mostly because I love living in Florida. I can’t do cold weather for more than a few weeks. I love the sunshine.

Ok, well, I’ve got to go to class soon…so I hope you have enjoyed the randomness that is how I think! Until next time…

Birthday Surprises and Pridefest.

I had the best birthday weekend ever. I'm a big fan of surprises, and I was definitely surprised on Friday. On Thursday, my friend Ricky asked Amy and I if we wanted to get lunch at Common Ground at 12 p.m. the next day (which was my birthday), and I didn't suspect anything because we usually go to CG together for lunch. Well, it's almost 12 and Ricky called Amy and told us he was done with his "meeting" and was walking over to CG, so we could leave to come meet him. When I walked in, I noticed that the big booth was filled with a bunch of my friends, and then I noticed someone in the middle was sitting with his arm blocking view of his face and looking down. I wondered who it was, and I just assumed it was someone else’s friend. Then he looked up, and it was my boyfriend. He surprised me and came down from Virginia-where he goes to school- for the weekend! I was so shocked when I saw him; I asked him if he was really there. haha. It was great. We all went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill that night and then I went back to Jordan's house and his mom had a cake and gift for me. It was a great night :)



This weekend, I also had to take pictures at Pridefest for my internship. What an experience it was. The thing that bothered me the most though, was that there were Christian protesters there, holding huge signs and shouting through a megaphone at all the people. While I do believe that homosexuality is a sin, we are all sinners, and shouting at people is not the way to bring someone to salvation. Everyone was booing at the protesters and saying "haters, go home!" I felt ashamed to have these people representing Christ and other Christians. Later on, as the parade was ending and everyone was heading down to the park where booths and festivities were set up, the protestors continued to yell at people and started to attract a crowd around them. I was pushing my way through trying to get pictures and find out what was going on and holding my camera over my head trying to capture what I couldn’t see. One of the protesters ended up getting arrested for disorderly conduct because he put his hands on one of the cops who were trying to break up the riot. It was quite an event. It was really heartbreaking to me though. I just wanted these people to know that Jesus loves them, and that Christians aren’t all like these people. I understand that God does have anger towards people who sin against him, but he still loves these people despite their sin. I'm pretty sure the people at the parade aren’t going to want to have anything to do with the god that these two men were portraying.


It was a nice weekend, but I got little sleep last night because I had to wake up at 5am to go to the airport with my boyfriend. Today coffee is my best friend.

Mike Huckabee visits PBA!

As Richard mentioned in his blog, Mike Huckabee came to speak on campus the other day. I got to attend the brunch before chapel and then I went to chapel and got to briefly meet him afterwards. The picture above is Huckabee, my friend Chiara and me.

During election time I didn’t know much about Mike Huckabee, but I have gotten to know a lot more about him since then. With his television show on Fox news I feel that he has gotten a lot of exposure and his voice is being heard. I agree with Huckabee on a lot of topics, especially his view on abortion and the role of government.

During the brunch Huckabee said that he believes the reason people voted for Obama was not because they trusted the government more than they trusted themselves, but because they thought he would bring them up, rather than down. He calls this “vertical politics,” which is where voters make decisions based on whether they believe the nominee will bring them up or down, not on how far on the left or right side they stand.

Magic Filet Mignon

This has been an extremely busy, but rewarding week. Like I explained in my blog (on March 24) Governor Huckabee was on campus for two days. I got the privilege of working at the event at the Breakers Hotel on Tuesday night. There were a few hundred community members from around West Palm and Palm Beach Island. When I say that I worked the event, I really mean that I was just greeting and directing people to the ballroom. Going to the event would have been worth it if I just got to hear the Governor speak, and play his bass guitar. Oh but there is more. I got to eat the amazing food that the guests paid $200 a plate for. When I say amazing that is a complete understatement, what I really mean is incredible, astounding and remarkable. Maybe even the best food I have ever had. We had melt in your mouth filet mignon, risotto and a delicious salad (now that is something I have never said before I am sure, do not count on it ever coming out of my mouth again). The desert was a banana split of sorts (not the same kind you had in elementary school), more of an adult banana split with frozen chocolate covered bananas and delectable ice cream. It is currently 11:30 in the morning but I am getting very hungry so I better quit this discussion and move in a different direction…


On a completely unrelated note but almost just as exciting for me – the Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics last night. It was pretty cool (and seeing since I was born and raised in Orlando) I am and forever will be a Magic fan. I think that Dwight Howard is a beast and he had some pretty sweet plays last night at the game in Orlando (saddly I watched on ESPN). If you happen to be walking around the Towers and Lakeview parking lot on campus I bet you will be able to find my door – a huge Superman (Dwight Howard) poster will guide your way.

My Classes

Since this is my last semester at PBA, I'm not taking very many classes. Here are the ones that I am:

1. European History II - I have this class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8am. While I don't enjoy waking up that early, the class is a good one. Dr. Hembree is a great teacher, and I learn a lot about European history.
2. Politics of Developing Nations - Although I disagree with Dr. Calhoun on many issues concerning politics, interesting topics and issues are brought up in the class. I also learn a lot about the history of non-Western cultures.
3. Public History - Since I want to pursue a master's degree in Museum Studies, this class is especially interesting for me. Dr. Chapman brings up all of the major issues that are being dealt with in public history today.
4. Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness for Ministry - While this is not my favorite class, Dr. Grenz does teach us many of the important issues in church leadership today.
5. Introductory Biology Lab - This is my only class that is not on Tuesday and Thursday, and it's my only class on Friday. I took the lecture portion of the class a couple of semesters ago, and I wish I had taken them at the same time. It's not too bad, but sometimes I forget some of the points that are still fresh in everyone else's mind.

Also, Mike Huckabee spoke on campus today. While I really enjoyed both of the events, I wish he had spoken some about the FairTax.

That's it.

Special Guest Speaker

This is a huge week in the life of Palm Beach Atlantic University. Each year we have a big event, this is actually the 5th year, called the Ethics and Character Lecture Series. A prominent speaker comes to campus and provides his (or her) viewpoint on ethics and character. It sounds simple enough, right? Anyways, this year the students (and faculty) at PBA are especially excited because the keynote speaker is former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Governor Huckabee is an extremely important evangelical and conservative leader and it is amazing that such a small school as PBA could bring him in to speak.

The Governor gets into West Palm Beach this afternoon (Tuesday March 24) and will be speaking at an event hosted by PBA for community members tonight at the Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach Island. I actually get the privilege to help with this event where a seat is $200 a person. I am pretty excited.

On Wednesday the Governor will be having brunch with Student Leaders at the University. It will be an excellent opportunity for the Leaders to learn how to develop better Christian ethics and character. Immediately following the brunch, Governor Huckabee will be addressing the entire PBA community with the main keynote speech in the Rubin Arena during the regular chapel hour.

While I was researching (not really, just reading Wikipedia entries) I found out that both Governor Huckabee and former President Bill Clinton were both born in a small town in the southwest corner of Arkansas called Hope. It just goes to show that you do not have to be from a huge city like New York or Chicago to rise up and make a difference in this world, you just need a little hope (pun totally intended).

Birthday Weekend!

It was my birthday this weekend, as previously mentioned. My friends are amazing, might I add. Story time: so Friday afternoon we (Vanessa, Anna Grace, Hannah and me) went to show Hannah around West Palm Beach because she was going back to Arkansas the next day. So, as we drive right by where we were supposed to go, Anna Grace turns to me and tells me that I am going to be kidnapped and taken somewhere. So I am blindfolded in the car and waiting in great anticipation for where we are going! Eventually I can feel that we have pulled onto gravel, but I still didn’t know where we were. Someone pulled me out of the car and I stood there blindfolded for a few minutes. Finally, someone took my blindfold off and there was a bonfire going and all of my closest friends were there too! It was so much fun and I was so surprised! It had been pouring rain earlier that day and so they were worried that it might get rained out, but it didn’t it was a beautiful evening! The sunset was fantastic! We roasted marshmallows and made s’mores too! So so so much fun!

Saturday was my actual birthday and I just hung out with my friends again and talked to my family and some friends from home on the phone. It was good. That is one of my favorite things, just hanging out with friends. We don’t necessarily have to be doing anything; just being with them is fun. Always good times. Sunday, I did pretty much the same thing. I went to church with some friends and just kind of did nothing for the rest of the afternoon. I went through pictures from this weekend and hung out with my roommates and other friends. Again, good times. But now I’m a little behind on homework, so that will have to be caught up on sometime. Oh well. Ok, well that was pretty much my [amazing] weekend in a nutshell. Until next time…

Geography

Yesterday, I went for a walk from Towers to Lake Worth Rd and back (approximately 13.5 miles). I saw a lot of interesting buildings, such as a Crematory Society, a bakery and a couple of churches. The National Cremation Society had a sign that said: "That's my wish." There were some pigeons hanging out on the building, and it kind of looked creepy.

Lake Worth is supposedly "where the tropics begin." I read somewhere that Lake Worth has a high population of Finnish people, but I didn't see any evidence of it (specifically, flags). Finns and tropics are usually not associated with each other. I did see enough evidence to lead me to believe that hippies might reside in Lake Worth. More research may be needed for this conclusion, though.

While I walked, I listened to some lectures on the Geography of Europe that I downloaded from iTunesU. The professor discussed the European Union, de facto countries in Europe, and agriculture in Europe. It was really interesting.

Birthdays, Fajitas, and Monsoons.

Hey Folks!

It’s the end of another week here at PBA…..and everywhere else too I suppose. But my birthday is this weekend, so that should provide some entertainment. Vanessa’s birthday is at the end of next week, so that is fun that our birthday’s are so close. We have lived together, first suitemates and now roommates, for the last 3 years, so we usually have birthday celebrations together. Last year, our friends took us out to Outback Steakhouse for our birthday, along with one of our old suitemates Jeanette whose birthday is also the same week as Vanessa and mine. It was so cheerful! And I'm sure that this year will be just as fun! PS - the coasters that we are holding say, "it's out bloomin birthday!" In case you were wondering.

Random discovery at PBA: ok, so one of the campus dining facilities is called Common Ground Café. It has varied in the food choices for all 4 years that I have been here. Their food is okay, but this week I realized something new…..they have chicken fajitas. Now, I have always seen these on the menu options, but never really considered them, mostly because I was scared to try it and didn’t want to waste money on something I was not going to enjoy. Well, it turns out that they are pretty darn good! There is a tortilla and chicken (obviously) with some cheese and a little pepper and onion action sometimes too! Yum.

Also, just in case no one believed Ricky in his last blog, let me tell you that there was a mini-monsoon here today. I walked out of class and it started to lightly rain. Within 10 seconds of this it began to pour! No kidding. And the sun was brightly shining just minutes ago. The monsoon lasted for around 20 minutes and then it just stopped raining. I am looking forward to the sunshine again. Hopefully it will be a lovely and bright sun-shiny day in West Palm for my birthday!!!

Ok, well, to those who are reading, have a great weekend!

Bring Your Sunscreen…and Your Umbrella

Today I awoke into the beautiful sunshine of West Palm Beach. It is currently a balmy 73 degrees outside with a nice cool breeze. Not to rub it in if you live in Michigan or something, but I was just looking around weather.com® and noticing the weather around the country – mostly up north. It is much colder everywhere else. It is even snowing in some places. This is just unreal to me. Do not get me wrong I like snow, for like a week, while I am skiing or something but it gets old. I am a native Floridian hailing from the Orlando area (the real Orlando, not Disney World) and I really do not like cold weather at all. The sunny and warm weather brought me to PBA kind of, although it was not the actual main cause of me coming to PBA, just a huge bonus. The beach being so close is a great asset and allows many days of tanning or beach fun – providing that you go to class and keep your GPA up enough to stay here all 4 years.

I am not going to lie to you. The vast majority of days spent in West Palm Beach are close to perfect especially during the winter. Yesterday was not one of those days. All of Palm Beach Atlantic University awoke for our morning classes to what could only be described as a monsoon outside. Not to be completely cliché, but it was raining cats and dogs. Luckily I found a huge umbrella last semester. Now I know what you are thinking, I did not steal this umbrella, it was left in my Towers Apartment by a former occupant. I would recommend everyone to get a super huge umbrella for those random days where it rains because as they say, when it rains in West Palm it actually pours. You can get by with a small umbrella but it is much more fun to be able to save your friends from being washed away, on your way to class.

Let's have a tea party...

This week is going by pretty fast. I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday.

Right now, my roommate's friend/my new friend, Hannah, is here staying with us for her Spring Break. Hannah goes to the University of Arkansas and this is actually her first time in Florida. I love being with people when they experience Florida for the first time, because I was born and raised here and it’s a place that I love. It’s fun to watch people get excited over palm trees and the ocean.

This weekend is Amy’s birthday, so if you can comment on these blogs, or if you see her, be sure to wish her a happy birthday!!

This weekend is going to be a busy one for me, but I feel that I am getting back into the swing of things, after being sick and not doing a whole lot over Spring Break.

As a Journalism major, I am required to complete a 90-hour internship before I graduate. I am currently doing my internship with the Lake Worth Herald, a small weekly newspaper in Lake Worth. The experience has taught me a lot so far. I am learning how to work on deadline, which is something I have always struggled with. In the newspaper world, deadlines are vital. I’ve also had my articles published in the paper, which is very fun to experience! This experience is also teaching me to have more confidence in myself, and to do things as I think of them instead of waiting. Sometimes it is nerve-wrecking to pick up the phone and call a complete stranger to ask them questions about a story that I am writing, but it’s gotten easier with time.

This weekend I am going to be very busy with assignments. I am writing two articles and I am taking pictures at the Reggae Fest in Lake Worth on Saturday. This shall be a unique experience, I’m sure. I’ve never been to a reggae concert, but I think the music is cool and it will be cool to go out and take pictures and use a press pass to get into the event for free! I’ll try to post some pictures up here if I can.

Also, one of the articles that I am writing is about the Tax Day Tea Party. If you haven’t heard about it, you can find out more info at taxdayteaparty.com. It is basically a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party in protest of big government spending. There are events going on in cities all over the U.S. Some cities are already having protests, but everyone is going to protest together on April 15th, which is tax day. If this is something you feel strongly about, find out if there is a protest planned near you and join in!

Well, that is all for now internet friends. I hope you all are having a lovely week.

Tangerines, 24, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Publix.

So, it’s the first week after Spring Break and I already miss hanging out with my sister and stealing tangerines from our neighbor’s tree, but that’s okay because I’m back at school with all my other friends! And that is cheerful.

I have a Ministry class that didn’t start until the middle of the semester and it is on Monday nights from 6-10. I don’t really know that many people in the class because it is a lot of night students and just a few daytime students. It is a good class though, we talk about everything that we have learned in all other ministry classes and apply it to the books we read and our papers. But, because it goes until 10 this means that I cannot watch 24. A few months ago this would not have mattered, but some of my friends brainwashed me into watching it and now I really like it! Jack Bauer is pretty cool. So I came back from class and there were only ten minutes left in the show, and I watched it even though I knew it was going to spoil the rest of the show whenever I watched it online. Whatever, it’s okay.

Because I just got back from Spring Break and have not gone grocery shopping I have nothing to eat in my apartment. All I have is almonds and cranberries and pasta. Oh, and the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. One of my suitemates and I decided that last night would be a good time to make them, being that we had no other foods in our apartment and so we made them last night and they were delicious of course. And now the only thing in my apartment for me to eat….is cookies. And that’s that.

For my Writing for Public Relations class I have to write a Media Kit which is just a lot of information about any organization and I’m not sure what I will write it on yet, but I’m thinking Publix Supermarkets. The best grocery store ever. No joke. Anyway, that should be interesting to write.

I think that this has been sufficiently random enough for my first blog post and I hope that I am not as tangent-y whenever I write again!
Until next time!

Wearing Green While Listening to Great Music

Today is St. Patrick's Day, I am wearing green. Not that me wearing a specific color shirt is something truly special. Green is my favorite color and I wear it very often, and a holiday like today is just another excuse to wear my favorite green shirt. Even though I am not Irish in any sense of the word I have always grown up celebrating this day. Nothing too special, there was always the fun game of pinching friends or family members who somehow forgot to wear green. Occasionally my Mom would make an Irish themed dinner or we would eat shamrock shaped cookies. It seems to me that many other PBA students have had the same experience in childhood as me. Most of my friends rolled out of bed this morning before their morning classes and managed to find a green shirt or other clothing item in their closet. Hopefully, most, if not all, of them were also able to find their shower and clean up a little!

PBA has a small St. Patrick’s Day celebration tonight that I am particularly excited about. We are having a Coffee House out on the Rinker Green. For those of you who do not know, PBA has many Coffee Houses during the year all run by Student Activities and usually all take place on Friday nights. There is an abundance of excellent musicians at PBA so the events are always a great way to start off your weekend with good music, good company and free Starbucks® coffee. Anything that you can get for free is just astounding, and with the price of coffee these days it always helps to get it free. Tonight three good bands Alexander, Leone and Cold Kerosene will be playing. Cold Kerosene was the winner of the annual battle of the bands contest a few weeks back so it will be a real treat to hear them play again.

Spring Break.

This Spring Break, I went home to Naples without any real plans. I was going to try to pick up some hours at my summer job, but they had just hired a bunch of new people and didn't have any for me. I thought this would leave me with a lot of free time to hang out with friends, but instead I got sick and spent the majority of my time indoors watching television.

Here are some things I did...
1. Saw Slumdog Millionaire. Amazing.
2. Watched FOX news a lot and now I know pretty much everything about Bernie Madoff.
3. Created a Tumblr account. http://vanessaelaine.tumblr.com/
4. Rediscovered the fact that old people can't drive.
5. Discovered Kohl's plays Brooke Frasier's music in their store. :)
6. Spent 4 hours talking at Jason's Deli with 2 amazing girls.
7. Found starfish on the beach.
8. Took antibiotics and Motrin and cough medicine Tuesday through Friday.

Now it is back to PBA and the real world. I have to go write an article for my internship at the Lake Worth Herald and start writing a Spanish paper for my Spanish Cinema class.

Living Close to Campus

This is my eighth and last semester at PBA, and I am not leaving Palm Beach County for the majority of Spring Break. A lot of students at PBA go home for these longer breaks (Spring, Fall, Easter, Christmas), while I can pretty much go home any time I want. Although I live in Tequesta, which is about a 20 or 30 minute drive from PBA, I decided to live on campus.

The price of gas from 2005 to 2008 was high due to the "gas bubble." Two daily thirty minutes drives could be quite costly, though my lodging cost would not change. Another reason that I decided to live on campus is the atmoshere of college life. While I still would have friends as a commuter, I may not have developed the stronger friendships that I have from living on campus. Also, my parents probably wanted to get rid of me. Just kidding.

I have lived with eight roommates and twenty-eight suitemates in six rooms and three halls at PBA. A lot of these people have become good friends, and I don't regret choosing to live on campus. By the way, Lakeview was my favorite dorm.

Spring Break / Mashed Potatoes

I'm Nick Graves, and I'm on Spring Break. I went home, like most people, but I only live like 20 minutes from PBA. So, I'm kind of always home. I'm trying to use my time wisely and get important stuff done (schoolwork, emailing people, working, eating, sleeping, etc.).

Yesterday, for dinner, I made mashed potatoes. I made this kind:

Gold potatoes make the best mashed potatoes. I have only made mashed potatoes twice, and the other time was in London. I did not use gold potatoes, unfortunately. It was still good though. Potatoes are originally from South America. They grow best in cooler climates, like high up in the Andes mountains, Idaho, or Ireland. Mashed potatoes happen to be my favorite food.