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.