Life, lessons, and loony times at college: Homecoming

My, has it been a busy week! Let's see if I can't convince you by the end that this really is "The Greatest School On Earth".

The school week was a little bit stressful (but not bad). On Monday night the big, final paper for my Research and Writing class was due. Since it is 35% of our grade, all the Freshmen were freaking out about it. To add to our anxiety, 20 points of the paper are for proper format, and those 20 points are 20 or nothing. Which means if we miss a period on our footnotes, we automatically lose 20 points. Talk about motivation. On Thursday

we had a Western Civilization midterm. We were tested on everything between Creation and the fall of the Roman empire. It was lots to know. Have you ever heard two guys summarizing The Illiad? It goes something like this: "So this king steals Achilles girl and Achilles is like 'Dude, I'm not going to fight, you took my girl'. And later Achilles is all mad so he's dragging Hector's body around but it's not getting scratched up because the gods are like 'Hey, Hector's our buddy because he sacrafices to us.'" It's rather entertaining. But in the end, I survived both the paper and the test, and now I await my grades.

Wednesday was a momentous day in Patrick Henry College life. The brand-new, top-secret, new-and-improved dining commons opened! It is so much bigger than the old dining hall and it looks so nice. There is lots of room for future expansion, more tables, and lots of counter space. Many students say that it makes them feel like they go to a real school! :) And the best thing is, it is literally right across from my dorm. Wednesday evening the school took down all the black curtains and l

et us come into the grand lobby and the coffee shop! The coffee shop gave away free coffee and cookies, and the president of the school led a prayer of thanksgiving to God. It is absolutely beautiful. There is a stage for live entertainment, cozy tables for studying, and beautiful artwork. The coffee shop should be fully operational by sometime next week. I am so excited. God is really expanding this school.

Wednesday night was officially the kick-off of Homecoming week! There were so many fun things going on all week long. Thursday night was a four-way, in-the-dark capture-the-flag game. Lots of fun, especially when it started raining. I like capture-the-flag because you tend to learn things about people and group dynamics. I was impressed with the leaders we had on our freshmen team. I didn't see anyone who thought that they could take on the other teams by themselves. However, our biggest problem was that we didn't listen to each other well. People would throw out their own ideas, and we ended up with no plan. But even though we lost the game, we all had spirit at th

e end. We have some problems to work out as a team, but I'm so excited to spend the next four years with these people.

Friday was the big homecoming activities day. We were allowed to wear casual clothes to class as long as the showed school spirit. It was so weird to walk into class in jeans and sneakers! Woah! The business casual attire is so engrained in me now. All day were class color and costume compititions. The Freshmen were the yellow acrobats, which hopefully explains my costume (the homecoming theme was a circus, "The Greatest School On Earth"). Our guys' soccer team played their homecoming game. Now, our guys haven't won a game in two years. Not one. Just last weekend they scored their first goal of the season. And yet, lo and behold, our guys WON THE GAME! The final score was 2-1. It was so exciting! What a great homecoming game. :) That evening there was a tug-o-war compition, and the freshmen came in second only to the Seniors. I was very proud of them. The night was capped by carnival activities, including cotton candy, sumo wrestling, balloon animals and pie-a-proffessor.

turday was a little bit more serious. We had the official dedication of the Barbara Hodel Student Life Center.There were about 15oo people on campus for this event. Dr. Dobson was the official speaker and gave an excellent talk about calling to us students. It was incredibly humbling to realize what God is doing at this school. It is an elite school, teaching high-quality academics. It truly is raising up the next generation of cultural leaders. And for some reason, God has called me here. Me. I am awed and humbled, and I can't wait to see what His good plan is.

After the dedication, there was both the Alumni/Student football game (which was tied) and our Ladies' Soccer game (which we won 7-2. Go Lady Sentinals!). In the evening we had the treat of a concert on campus. A group of four of our talented freshmen guys got together and formed the band Salvus in Sanct

um (which means "peace in the sanctuary", I think). They ROCKED! Seriouslly, they are very talented. I had been missing concerts, and especially electric guitar music. They had two electric guitars. :) It was way fun to listen to them. Someday they may be famous. And the official homecoming activities ended with a lovely ice cream social.

But we weren't ready to let the fun stop there. My roommate Emma and Gracy from across the hall got together and decided to build a forte in our wing. We tacked up our sheets and dragged out a matres

s and chairs. We pulled out our pillows and comforters to make the best forte ever! We ate snacks and chocolate and drank tea and watched an Audrey Hepburn movie. Gracy and I ended up sleeping in the hall all night. It was definitely fun, and we hope to make it a tradition to reward us after big tests.

And so, today I went to church and enjoyed some quiet time alone. Tonight is another school dance. It's not technically a homecoming dance. They call it a fusion dance: classic ballroom dances but modern music. I'm excited for it, I'm really enjoying the dances here.

Next week looks to be a little bit less stressful than the last one. There are no papers or tests due. However, I won't be taking it easy. The week after has four major tests/midterms and one bookreport, so hopefully I can work ahead on that. Please be in prayer as I try to

be diligent with my time. I thank you for all your prayers from home. Last week I posted that I was feeling lonely and anti-social. This week has been filled with blessings of fun and friendship. God is good. Three simple words that are in the process of transforming my life. Pray that God continues to teach me humility and surrender. Here I am, halfway through my first semester at college. I know it is all God's doing, and none of my own. I am weak, but God is strong. I am insignificant, but He has called me from nothing and made me His own. To Him be all the glory and praise, forevermore, amen!