I always wondered what RD's did during the day, or how they always claimed to be so busy. I now understand. Its difficult to explain but somehow your time just disappears even though you don't work from 9-5 or have set office hours. Although I can't claim that I have been woke up at 2am...yet. I do constantly feel that I am "on call". I never feel like my job is done and I can understand how RD's can get stir crazy.
If you ever wonder what people do in student development they are probably
A. In a meeting
B. On the phone trying to figure out when their next meeting is
or
C. In a meeting
So while trying to build relationships, being a "politician", making sure my building is functioning, and trying to live life. I definitely am enjoying it. There is no other job like it.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Following God's will
Lots of things have happened since my last post. I recently took a job as Resident Director position at Geneva College. About 3 and half weeks ago I received an email about a job opportunity at Geneva. The main benefit would be that I could receive free tuition towards earning my Masters Degree.
At first I ignored the email but for some reason could not keep it out of my mind. I decided to talk it over with my roommate Tim. We spoke for about an hour and by the end of the conversation he had motivated me to at least put my name in the hat. Things quickly progressed and I soon had a phone interview and before I knew what to do I was offered the job.
Leaving Covenant was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my life. After much prayer and many conversations with people I trusted, I came to the conclusion that God had opened this window and I needed to take the leap. I notified my supervisors and gave them only a few days notice. They were extremely gracious and were excited for me. I called students that I was close with and told them the news. Again, most if not all took the news graciously and supported me in my decision.
I packed up my belongings, loaded up a UHAUL, and towed my car 12 hours to Beaver Falls, PA. I was warmly welcomed and have hit the ground running. Since my move, I have been through RD training and am about to wrap up RA training. New Student Orientation will begin next week and the classes will begin in about 2 weeks.
Do I miss Covenant? Yes.
Do I feel like I'm suppose to be at Geneva? Yes.
Does God ask us to do crazy things and trust him? YES.
At first I ignored the email but for some reason could not keep it out of my mind. I decided to talk it over with my roommate Tim. We spoke for about an hour and by the end of the conversation he had motivated me to at least put my name in the hat. Things quickly progressed and I soon had a phone interview and before I knew what to do I was offered the job.
Leaving Covenant was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my life. After much prayer and many conversations with people I trusted, I came to the conclusion that God had opened this window and I needed to take the leap. I notified my supervisors and gave them only a few days notice. They were extremely gracious and were excited for me. I called students that I was close with and told them the news. Again, most if not all took the news graciously and supported me in my decision.
I packed up my belongings, loaded up a UHAUL, and towed my car 12 hours to Beaver Falls, PA. I was warmly welcomed and have hit the ground running. Since my move, I have been through RD training and am about to wrap up RA training. New Student Orientation will begin next week and the classes will begin in about 2 weeks.
Do I miss Covenant? Yes.
Do I feel like I'm suppose to be at Geneva? Yes.
Does God ask us to do crazy things and trust him? YES.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
With a Heavy Heart...
We received word yesterday that a student from Covenant passed away after having complications from a stroke. Ben was in Kenya visiting his parents who are missionaries when all of this happened. They decided to MediEvac him to South Africa but during the flight he left us and went home to the Lord.
I didn't know Ben too well but 2 things I will remember about him, was that one he worked hard. He worked for facilities services during the school year and was the person that gave people parking tickets if they were parked illegally. Probably not the easiest job to have and you would think he would be often criticized but amazingly enough, I never heard a student say anything bad about Ben. He was just doing his job and he did it well.
The second thing I will remember about Ben and probably the reason why people never got upset with him was that he was always smiling. He was such a joyful guy and loved life.
It was kind of ironic that I was celebrating my birthday while all of this was happening over the weekend. I often become nostalgic during my birthday and love to think about and look at the path that God has taken me thus far, and wonder what the next few years will be like. In the midst of this I wondered why I have gotten to live 26 years and someone like Ben only got 20(an answer I will never know until God calls me up). It has also been a blessing to feel so loved and appreciated on my birthday. Numerous phone calls, text messages and many, many posts on my facebook wall. Thank you all for the love, really.
It's obviously hard when someone passes away, but what eases the pain in this case is that we know that Ben is in a better place. I can't imagine what his family is going through. The Covenant community is still in shock and wondering why? But as we try to adjust to this sad news we will all grasp on a little tighter to the blessings we have on this earth. I personally will tell my friends and family that I love them more. I also hope that this loss of life will invigorate us to embrace our faith in the Lord.
I didn't know Ben too well but 2 things I will remember about him, was that one he worked hard. He worked for facilities services during the school year and was the person that gave people parking tickets if they were parked illegally. Probably not the easiest job to have and you would think he would be often criticized but amazingly enough, I never heard a student say anything bad about Ben. He was just doing his job and he did it well.
The second thing I will remember about Ben and probably the reason why people never got upset with him was that he was always smiling. He was such a joyful guy and loved life.
It was kind of ironic that I was celebrating my birthday while all of this was happening over the weekend. I often become nostalgic during my birthday and love to think about and look at the path that God has taken me thus far, and wonder what the next few years will be like. In the midst of this I wondered why I have gotten to live 26 years and someone like Ben only got 20(an answer I will never know until God calls me up). It has also been a blessing to feel so loved and appreciated on my birthday. Numerous phone calls, text messages and many, many posts on my facebook wall. Thank you all for the love, really.
It's obviously hard when someone passes away, but what eases the pain in this case is that we know that Ben is in a better place. I can't imagine what his family is going through. The Covenant community is still in shock and wondering why? But as we try to adjust to this sad news we will all grasp on a little tighter to the blessings we have on this earth. I personally will tell my friends and family that I love them more. I also hope that this loss of life will invigorate us to embrace our faith in the Lord.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Why is the world so broken?
I feel like I can't handle anymore bad news. In the past few months I have heard several stories of friends, and family who are going through separations or divorces. I don't understand why this is happening especially all at once. I don't know what else to do but to pray for them.
Throughout my Grad School classes we were constantly talking about the Christian Meta-narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. I think the hard part of this cycle is that we are constantly still falling. We must strive for redemption in all that we do, but it is so hard when things around us are crumbling and falling to the world. The world of pride, lust, anger, jealousy;SIN.
I am constantly reminded of a message my youth pastor gave me in Junior High. He talked about pain and how without it we would not be able to feel joy. We wouldn't be grateful for what God has done for us in our lives, if our lives were perfect all the time. It would be like living in a fake "shalom" on earth. How many times can I say that I have forgot about God during the good times? But, I can never say that I never thought about God in the hard times.
I'm also reminded of a discussion I had in a literature class immediately following the 9/11 attacks. We discussed what it really means to tell someone, "God bless you."
On the surface, its something we easily say to people, but to really ask God to bless you, means to bring on much more then joy and happiness but also to bring pain and suffering.
So in a sense, God is revealing his blessings around me.
Throughout my Grad School classes we were constantly talking about the Christian Meta-narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. I think the hard part of this cycle is that we are constantly still falling. We must strive for redemption in all that we do, but it is so hard when things around us are crumbling and falling to the world. The world of pride, lust, anger, jealousy;SIN.
I am constantly reminded of a message my youth pastor gave me in Junior High. He talked about pain and how without it we would not be able to feel joy. We wouldn't be grateful for what God has done for us in our lives, if our lives were perfect all the time. It would be like living in a fake "shalom" on earth. How many times can I say that I have forgot about God during the good times? But, I can never say that I never thought about God in the hard times.
I'm also reminded of a discussion I had in a literature class immediately following the 9/11 attacks. We discussed what it really means to tell someone, "God bless you."
On the surface, its something we easily say to people, but to really ask God to bless you, means to bring on much more then joy and happiness but also to bring pain and suffering.
So in a sense, God is revealing his blessings around me.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Around the World (US) in a few weeks
So I finally have a free moment and some internet access to write a post. For the past 2 weeks I have been traveling all over the country. I started out in Charlottesville, Virginia for my old roomates wedding. It was an awesome time and again my Christian worlds collided. At this wedding I saw friends from Covenant, friends from Summer's Best, and friends from the Trinity Fellows Program.
I then drove to Chicago/ Indiana for a couple of days. I got to tour the city with a friend Liz and went to my first Cubs game. I got to see old camp friends and experience one of the most historic ball parks in the country. I also ended up on ESPN which I had no idea I was on until my friend tagged photos of me on Facebook.
After Chicago I drove down to West Lafayette, IN where my friends Jon and Lauren from the Fellows program got married. It was so awesome to see all of my fellows classmates except for one who could not make it. It was also great to see my old mentor and fellows director. There is something about being able to have face to face conversations with old friends compared to talking on the phone. It was such a blessing to see everyone and be lifted up through words of encouragement and wisdom. God knew what he was doing when he created fellowship. I expressed how special my fellows class was; to my director Dennis and my old mentor Greg and said "it's hard to be away from all of these guys and know that we might not get another chance to have a group of friends like this ever in our lifetime. It's almost like we tasted a little piece of heaven." God blessed our group so much and all of us still remain very close. They are some of the first people I call when I need prayer or am feeling down. Thank you God for my Fellows Friends!
After the wedding I headed to Cincinnati, OH for a Reds game. I got to see Ken Griffey Jr. play for the first time live. He was a child hood hero and it was definitely a dream come true to see him play. Unfortunately he did not hit #600 while I was there but it was still a fun time.
I then went to Cedarville for ACSD which is a conference held for Christians in Higher Education/Student Development. It was good to see my co-workers after a week of traveling. I went to various workshops and got to see old friends from camp who were now working in Higher Education. My old Dean of Students Barry Loy is the President of ACSD so it always feels like I am back at Gordon whenever I go to this conference because it brings me back to the days of the Leadership Retreat/Conferences in NH.
I then drove to Summer's Best 2 Weeks for a couple of days to help out during orientation. This was again another blessing as I got to see old friends and meet new people. Camp has grown so much and it was awesome to see how God was working at the Quemahoning. Camp will always hold a special place in my heart because of all the great memories, spiritual and mental growth I experienced and of course the life long friendships I made there.
I am currently at Geneva College starting my Masters program in Higher Education. I am in class 8 hours a day and have a week and a half to go for this first year. It has been really challenging but also really great. I am learning so much and meeting so many great people. The Higher Ed department does a great job of having fun activities at night and breaks throughout the day that you almost forget that you're earning a degree. Ok not really, but it has been fun despite the fact that I am in class all day long.
This trip has made me realized how blessed I am. I am blessed from my previous experiences and the relationships that God has allowed me to have. I am blessed to have a job that I love. I am blessed to be healthy and have the resources to take such a long road trip. I am blessed with awesome parents who have supported me through thick and thin.
I then drove to Chicago/ Indiana for a couple of days. I got to tour the city with a friend Liz and went to my first Cubs game. I got to see old camp friends and experience one of the most historic ball parks in the country. I also ended up on ESPN which I had no idea I was on until my friend tagged photos of me on Facebook.
After Chicago I drove down to West Lafayette, IN where my friends Jon and Lauren from the Fellows program got married. It was so awesome to see all of my fellows classmates except for one who could not make it. It was also great to see my old mentor and fellows director. There is something about being able to have face to face conversations with old friends compared to talking on the phone. It was such a blessing to see everyone and be lifted up through words of encouragement and wisdom. God knew what he was doing when he created fellowship. I expressed how special my fellows class was; to my director Dennis and my old mentor Greg and said "it's hard to be away from all of these guys and know that we might not get another chance to have a group of friends like this ever in our lifetime. It's almost like we tasted a little piece of heaven." God blessed our group so much and all of us still remain very close. They are some of the first people I call when I need prayer or am feeling down. Thank you God for my Fellows Friends!
After the wedding I headed to Cincinnati, OH for a Reds game. I got to see Ken Griffey Jr. play for the first time live. He was a child hood hero and it was definitely a dream come true to see him play. Unfortunately he did not hit #600 while I was there but it was still a fun time.
I then went to Cedarville for ACSD which is a conference held for Christians in Higher Education/Student Development. It was good to see my co-workers after a week of traveling. I went to various workshops and got to see old friends from camp who were now working in Higher Education. My old Dean of Students Barry Loy is the President of ACSD so it always feels like I am back at Gordon whenever I go to this conference because it brings me back to the days of the Leadership Retreat/Conferences in NH.
I then drove to Summer's Best 2 Weeks for a couple of days to help out during orientation. This was again another blessing as I got to see old friends and meet new people. Camp has grown so much and it was awesome to see how God was working at the Quemahoning. Camp will always hold a special place in my heart because of all the great memories, spiritual and mental growth I experienced and of course the life long friendships I made there.
I am currently at Geneva College starting my Masters program in Higher Education. I am in class 8 hours a day and have a week and a half to go for this first year. It has been really challenging but also really great. I am learning so much and meeting so many great people. The Higher Ed department does a great job of having fun activities at night and breaks throughout the day that you almost forget that you're earning a degree. Ok not really, but it has been fun despite the fact that I am in class all day long.
This trip has made me realized how blessed I am. I am blessed from my previous experiences and the relationships that God has allowed me to have. I am blessed to have a job that I love. I am blessed to be healthy and have the resources to take such a long road trip. I am blessed with awesome parents who have supported me through thick and thin.
Monday, May 19, 2008
God's little surprises
That's little Jackson Beach. He's the son of my friends Andrew and Sarah. He was just one of the little bright moments I had this past weekend. I traveled to Memphis this past weekend to see Andrew and Sarah and their son Jackson. The reasons were sevenfold for visiting.
1. I lost a bet and owed Andrew a rack of ribs because UCLA lost to Memphis in the Final Four.
2. I wanted to meet Jackson.
3. I wanted to catch up with Andrew and Sarah it has been ages since I have seen them.
It's so amazing how all my different experiences intertwine and somehow all of my different Christian circles collided in Memphis this weekend.
I was there to visit and Andrew's sister and fiance Charles were in town as well. It turned out they were there for a wedding for someone in their Fellows class so I got to see a bunch of old friends.
I'll try to explain the tangled web...
I went to college with Andrew and we also worked at camp together at Summer's Best 2 Weeks. He met Sarah there and eventually they got married. I then did the Fellows program in Charlottesville, Virginia, which Andrew's sister Katie and now fiance Charles did as well. My friend Cambria from college also did the Fellows program with Katie and Charles. Cambria now lives in New Orleans with Mary who also did the fellows program. Mary also worked at camp for a year.
Still with me? It's still not over. On Sunday I went to church with Andrew at First Evangelical where he works as the Junior High Youth Pastor. I was getting introduced to the head pastor and I was explaining what I was doing when someone overheard me say Covenant College. It just so happens that my Vice President who served on Senate this year Christian, goes to First Evan and his mother recognized me and came up to me.
So in less then 72 hours I had met people from or somehow related to Gordon College, Summer's Best 2 Week, the Trinity Fellows Program, and Covenant College.
Ok, I'm done for now. I'm leaving on Friday for my road trip and I don't know if I will be studious enough to write on the road...we'll see.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Congrats Class of 2008
As my second academic year comes to a close at Covenant, I can't help but reflect back. It's been a really good 2 years, that has gone very quickly. I remember moving from Charlottesville from a great townhouse with awesome friends and leaving a community that I felt so a part of. I jumped right into Orientation Team training and felt very welcomed by the students and staff.
This past Friday, I got to pray for the Seniors at their banquet. I was given a chance to thank many of the Seniors for letting me be a part of their lives, through working with them on Senate, Orientation, playing intramural sports with them and also serving on two great mission trips.
I feel like every year it gets harder and harder to say "goodbye" to the graduating class. Last year was such a whirlwind year and really a short 9 months(sometimes it wasn't short at all) before I saw the Class of 2007 walk across the stage as they received their diplomas. I have gotten 2 great years with this years class and honestly I felt like a proud father or maybe more like a proud older brother seeing his little brother/sister graduate. I have had so many great experiences with a lot of these guys that its hard not to feel attached to them in some sense.
Isn't it kind of odd that a college administrator is really close with students? Isn't it suppose to be the opposite? Aren't administrators suppose to be "Debbie downers" or the people that "bust the party"? Thankfully for me, my job doesn't require me to be a disciplinarian, most of the time anyways. Has it been a cakewalk these past 2 years? No, definitely not. I have definitely had moments where I have felt like a disappointed father, a grieving friend, and frustrated beyond all comprehension. But all in all I don't think I am thankful enough for my job. There are definitely moments when I think to myself "wow, I'm getting paid for this".
So with all of that being said, Class of 2008 you have been great and I will miss you. God bless you and good luck with what God has in store for you.
This past Friday, I got to pray for the Seniors at their banquet. I was given a chance to thank many of the Seniors for letting me be a part of their lives, through working with them on Senate, Orientation, playing intramural sports with them and also serving on two great mission trips.
I feel like every year it gets harder and harder to say "goodbye" to the graduating class. Last year was such a whirlwind year and really a short 9 months(sometimes it wasn't short at all) before I saw the Class of 2007 walk across the stage as they received their diplomas. I have gotten 2 great years with this years class and honestly I felt like a proud father or maybe more like a proud older brother seeing his little brother/sister graduate. I have had so many great experiences with a lot of these guys that its hard not to feel attached to them in some sense.
Isn't it kind of odd that a college administrator is really close with students? Isn't it suppose to be the opposite? Aren't administrators suppose to be "Debbie downers" or the people that "bust the party"? Thankfully for me, my job doesn't require me to be a disciplinarian, most of the time anyways. Has it been a cakewalk these past 2 years? No, definitely not. I have definitely had moments where I have felt like a disappointed father, a grieving friend, and frustrated beyond all comprehension. But all in all I don't think I am thankful enough for my job. There are definitely moments when I think to myself "wow, I'm getting paid for this".
So with all of that being said, Class of 2008 you have been great and I will miss you. God bless you and good luck with what God has in store for you.
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