Being a Kid...

So, I'm trying to not just write about what I do in my daily life at Bluffton because, to be honest, that gets boring for you. But tonight, I just can't help but write about playing in the snow on Monday. Wow, what a good time. Playing in the snow at various points in my college career have been some of the best memories of college and Monday was no exception.

It had snowed a lot around here and it wasn't super cold, so it was that sticky kind of snow that was perfect for snowballs, snowmen, snow angels, sledding, and all sorts of other snowy activities. Well, Scott came over to help me film my audition tape for "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (don't worry, I will let you know if I get on!) and all my friends were around when he suggested playing outside. Of course we were interested. Me, Scott, and two of my friends went outside and immediately became little kids again. We rolled up giant snowballs to make a ginormous (I learned from Jeopardy that "ginormous" is actually a word these days... it was recently added to the dictionary) snowman. Some of Scott's friends came over and helped out a little bit too and we made one awesome snowman. Then we saw someone sledding, so we went over and ended up snowboarding and sledding with him for quite awhile. After that we rebuilt our snowman because it had gotten knocked over, and finally called it a night after being out in the snow for a couple of hours. phew, what a good time.

It's funny how college kids can become little kids in a matter of minutes. It's so nice to just let go of all of the job, midterms, papers, projects, meetings, stress and just not worry about life for awhile. That happens a lot in college and it's something I'm so thankful for. I started thinking about things and just realized that all to often people get so caught up in busyness and forget to have fun sometimes. I never want to be "too old" to go and play in the snow or go sledding. Those activities can go a long way and really improve the quality of life. I don't like the thought of getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle that I don't have time to slow down, so I'm trying to make time to slow down and realize that the important things in life aren't the things that I sit and work on at my computer - it's things like going outside and playing in the snow with friends.

Here's to remembering to be a kid again,

Mary

Advice

Hi!
So, I realize that you did not ask for my advice, but being that you may be reading this as a high schooler looking at colleges, I figured I might as well talk to you a little bit about picking a college. It's hard. I will be the first to admit that - you get what seems like hundreds of things in the mail, each saying that their college is the best - big, small, private, public, close, far, etc. There are so many factors that seem to go around in your head and trying to sort thorugh it all is difficult. To add to that stress, there are family members and friends that all have their opinion on where you should go. My first piece of advice is to calm down. It will all come together in due time and you will end up at a good college. Trust me. And if you don't like where you end up, it's not the end of the world - people come in and out of colleges all the time, not just as first-years.

My advice for picking a college would be to first narrow down the major factors. Do you want a big school or a small school? Do you want to be close to home, or move far away? This is crucial and will make a big difference in what mail you keep and what mail you toss away. Having the entire college spectrum out there to look at is overwhelming and narrowing it down to a small or a large school that is close or far can help a lot. After you make those decisions, decide what is important to you. Is it important that it's a Christian institution? Is it important that they have a leading program in your intended major? Do you want there to be Greek life on campus (fraternities and sororities)? Are you looking for a certain athletic program? Figuring out the answers to some of these broad questions can prove to be helpful early in the college search.

After you answer some of these "big picture" types of questions, visit, visit, visit!! Visiting a
college campus allows you to really get a feel for what the school is like and experience the campus atmosphere. To be honest, all schools look pretty great in their admissions brochures - that what those things are for... but visiting a school gives you the chance to talk with people and learn more about what makes each place unique. If you enjoy your visit, plan a time to spend the night on campus with a student. Living in the residence halls is a huge part of college life, so staying on campus for a night can really give you a taste of what that is like.

Don't be afraid to apply to several schools - there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Once you apply you can check out what kind of scholarships or other financial aid you may receive and what colleges you are accepted to. If you're accepted to several schools, great! This is a great time to visit a few more times and visit with more people - talk to professors in your intended area of study and learn as much as you can about each institution. Once you make your decision, you can put your deposit in and start planning what color sheets you're going to get.

Picking a college is a big decision, but it doesn't have to be stressful. Start early to ease that pressure, and let it be fun... visit lots of schools, talk to lots of people to get a good feel for each school and what it has to offer you. Try and savor each moment of the college search - it's not something you do every day for the rest of your life, so remember that it is exciting.
Here's to picking a great school for you,
Mary

A Shoutout

Howdy!

Well, I am back on campus after being gone for a couple of days. Scott and I went to Indianapolis to see my brother and sister and their families and also to go to a job fair. We had a blast hanging out and catching up with my family! My niece and nephew think Scott is their new best friend, which is really fun. I loved hanging out all day just relaxing with them. Then on Wednesday we had a job fair in downtown Indy. It was a total bust - there were only 12 companies there so we didn't have much luck, but it was an adventure nonetheless and we had a great time. We came back to Spiritual Life Week here on campus with great events happenning. The speaker is Tony Campolo, and he has been a very impactful and wonderful speaker, so it's been great to hear him speak a couple of times the past two days. I won't say too much about SLW, it's amazing, but I'm thinking someone else will write on that, so I don't want to repeat too much.

I am going to devote the rest of this blog to two of my favorite professors. This seems lame and a weird thing to write about, but hey, good professors deserve a good "pat on the back" of sorts. Dan Fultz, my academic advisor and my professor in several communication classes, has made a big impact on my life and certainly on my college career. Bluffton is an amazing place because your professors are not only your teachers, but they quickly become your mentor and friend. There have been a lot of situations in college where I was unsure about what to do next and Dan has been right there to listen and help me out. He's great at giving his opinion and helping to present a different perspective, while still letting me make my own decisions. I have appreciated him so much and expect to keep up with him when I graduate.

Another professor that I have appreciated in college is Bill Lyons. Bill is a business professor here and I have had him for two courses I have taken for my business minor. Bill is a little abrasive at first and I wasn't always sure how to handle his classes and expectations, but I quickly got to know him and learned more from him than many other professors. He teaches in a very practical way. The projects we do for him are often somewhat time-consuming, but they teach us skills we will hopefully use in our careers down the way. His practical application is motivating and he does not just teach right from the textbook - he teaches us stuff he knows is useful and we will find helpful in the coming years. Dan and Bill have both inspired me in my time here at Bluffton and I am just so thankful for the way Bluffton encourages those relationships and the classes are set up in a way that makes them small enough to where we can get to know our professors and they can get to know us and mentor us. I feel like this is one aspect of Bluffton that is pretty unique, and something I cannot imagine college without!

Here's to good professors,

Mary

pic: so, I don't really have any pics of my professors, so these are just some random ones of fun times

Opportunities

Hi!

This past weekend was pretty long and definitely different than the normal weekend at Bluffton. We had the opportunity to participate in conflict mediation training here on campus and I was urged to participate in it by the director of residence life since I am a Hall Director. I knew that it would be really valuable for me to go through the training, but I will admit that I was not looking forward to it since it was a little over 20 hours of training over the weekend. It was 4 hours on Friday night, 10 hours on Saturday, and 8 hours on Sunday... phew! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was excited because I have been through some similar training in the past and had a lot of fun with it. Luckily three of my really close friends were in the training too, so we knew that we could get through the crazy weekend together! It was a lot of information really fast, but it was exciting at the same time. Bluffton is working to help with restorative justice across the surrounding communities and it was nice to learn some of the tactics used to facilitate mediation among people in conflict. The trainers came from Pennsylvania and are very well versed in performing these mediations and teaching on this topic, so it was great to have them there to share with us. There were times when it was really long, but the time went quickly overall and I am genuinely excited to have this knowledge under my belt. The weekend concluded with one of our professors coming and talking with us about how we could use this on campus and in the community as well as ways that we could alleviate tension and hardship on campus. It was great to have a casual, yet serious conversation with a professor and feel her heartfelt hope that she could hear our concerns and do something about our feelings. I am so thankful for opportunities like this on campus... I may never have been able to go through something like this if Bluffton hadn't made this available. Weekends like this one make me feel better prepared to face the real world that is approaching very quickly.

I'm also excited about the next couple of days... Scott and I are going to Indianapolis on Monday night thru Wednesday for a job fair and he has an interview. I am anxious to really get out there and see the job search happenning. I'm also very excited, though, to see my brother and sister and get to spend time with them and their families. I really miss them since I haven't seen them since Christmas, so I'm sure we'll have a good time.

I just feel very blessed by the opportunities I have.

Here's to those opportunities,

Mary

pic: me and Scott after we won FIRST PLACE in "the couples game" (so yeah, there was only one other couple in the game, but we were still proud!)

An Adventure!

Hey Friends!
This week has been an adventure! I love this aspect of college - it seems like no matter what happens, everyone can view it as an adventure, whether it be the floods that hit campus or just a random trip to Wal-Mart. We had one of those adventures this week. In a building attached to our little residence hall there was a natural gas leak, so they were worried that the gas would seap over into our part and be unhealthy, so we had to stay in a different hall for a couple of nights. At first hearing we were all bummed because we didn't feel like packing up a couple of nights worth of stuff and moving to different halls with friends, but then we decided to just make it an adventure and have fun! So we all treated it like a giant slumber party and had a good time. It was good to move back into our hall, but we had a good time on our little adventure for a couple of days. Again, it's so fun to see how we can make an adventure out of a not-so-exciting situation.
Yesterday was a great Valentine's Day! I just had a normal day during the day with a great surprise in the middle - Scott got me roses! It was my first time getting roses, so that was super exciting. Then in the evening we went out to dinner with some friends at a Habachi grill - it was my first time t one of those too, so we definitely had a great time there. It's been a really busy week, but great overall! I don't have the group pic form V-Day yet, so I will post that next time. Until then, have a great weekend!
Here's to adventures and Valentine's Day,
Mary

Family

Hi,

This weekend Scott and I went to my house for a relaxing weekend away from campus. I hadn't been home since Christmas, so I was excited to see my parents and hang out at home for a few days. We went home on Friday and just went out to dinner and hung around all night. Saturday we went shopping for a little bit, then played a game and watched a movie with my parents and Sunday was just church and relaxation. As you can tell, we really didn't do much, which was perfect.

For me, one of the hardest things about coming to college was leaving my parents. I am the youngest, so my brother and sister had already moved out and are married and although I see them fairly often, I knew that not seeing them wouldn't be too hard because I don't seem them everyday anyways, but I am really close to my parents and not seeing them everyday was going to be tough. Luckily I only live about an hour and half away, so it's an easy drive if I just want to go home on the weekend. I wasnt' really sure what to expect when I came here as far as homesickness goes. There are times when it is hard and I really miss my family, but it's amazing how the people at Bluffton pull together and form a family. Just like I miss my family at home, when I'm there I miss my Bluffton family. There are people from so far away here that only get to see their families on breaks (f that! some international students go years without going home), but I know that they can still feel that sense of family here and that seems to be what makes it bearable from them to be away from home for so long. Homesickness comes and goes, but my advice would be to not be too afraid of that when you go to school... you'll find family there too! The weekends are some of the most amazing times, and I love being here with my Bluffton family to enjoy those times too.
Here's to family, no matter where it is,

Mary

pic: me and my parents

Prayers and Adventures

Hi!

Well, excitement has once again hit Bluffton's campus. Yesterday another flood hit this area as we have had crazy rain/snow/freezing rain the past few days. We woke up on Wednesday and were unable to get to our classes on our "normal route" because one of the bridges that crosses a creek that runs through campus was totally under water. We found ourselves having to walk the long way around campus to get to our main academic building, Centennial, and our student union. It's funny when those kinds of things happen at college, though, because everyone seems to see it as a sort of adventure. There aren't many complaints or negative comments about having to walk different, longer routes, rather everyone is like "oh my gosh, did you see the creek!? it's crazy!" and it seems to be the talk of the campus for the whole day. It's amazing to me how, when you're in college, the little things seem to become the biggest adventures.

Big events like this also bring out the amazing community we have at Bluffton. While the flooding on campus wasn't horrible and there didn't seem to be much damage, many of the students immediately thought of the neighboring communities and how they are having to deal with the flooding. This summer, right before school started here, there was a major flood that hit this area and caused a lot of damage in homes and businesses all around. Bluffton even had a little bit of damage to the science building and many homes in the village had a lot of trouble. The prayers went out as soon as we saw water everywhere on campus because we knew that the people around here were suffering. I love the way the Bluffton community comes together in the face of hardship. It comforts me to know that no matter what happens, people will be there to comfort you, pray for you, and just be there with you when the going gets tough.

Here's to adventures, prayers, and amazing community,

Mary

pic: a picture of campus during the first flood right before school started.

Faculty/Staff Relationships

Hi Friends,

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post - it has been crazy around here! Fun has been the name of the game, though. Last week me and one of my best friends worked a lot on a special presentation we were set to do on Friday night. You see, this weekend was the LDP retreat. LDP stands for Leadership Development Program and is a program designed for the leaders on campus to grow closer together and work on their leadership skills. Groups such as the Resident Advisors and Hall Directors, MCB, Student Senate, and the leaders of several other campus organizations are in LDP and it's always a lot of fun to get together. Ths winter retreat has always been my favorite LDP event and during the winter retreat are things called "showcases" where people just put together random stories, dances, songs, etc. to perform for their fellow LDPers. LeeAnne and I have gotten really close to our assistant dean of students, Mark, and put together a dance for him. We made shirts with his face on them, made posters, and choreographed an entire dance as a funny "tribute" to him. We had such a good time preparing for it and he and everyone else seemed to love it at the retreat. He has encouraged us so much to grow in our time here at Bluffton and it was great to do something for him, even if it was a little silly.

Then, on Sunday I went with some friends to have lunch and play "Rock Band" with our director of residence life. We had a great time chatting with her and playing video games in her basement! It was my first time playing this game and it was a blast - I didn't really ever expect, though, to play it with her!

These two events of this past weekend remind me of how unique Bluffton is. The relationships that students are able to have with their faculty and staff members are amazing. I get to have lunch or dinner at my professors or faculty member's house, I have played video games, done dances and hung out with faculty/staff members, have their cell phone numbers for if I ever have a problem, etc. I just love that community that is fostered here at Bluffton and am so grateful for all of the relationships I have built here.

Here's to good relationships with the faculty/staff,

Mary

pic: me and mark, the guy we did the dance for!