The End of September

     The first month of school is drawing to a close, and boy has it been a busy one for me!  The way my schedule worked out, much of the work for the semester is already done.  The weather has been quite good for the past week, but the occasional cold day has proven that winter is on its way.
     One of the most positive influences for me over the past while has been Wednesday night worship, as well as doing my studying with other people in their rooms.  I've been going to my friends' apartments a lot to escape the business of dorm life - I'm sure I'm not the only person who cannot spend much time in their dorm room!
     Sports has been a very important thing for many CMU students at this time of year.  A lot of people are involved in the soccer and basketball teams, and we have been doing quite well.  The womens' team has won their first two games in the Manitoba College Athletic Conference tournaments with some very competitive schools.
      Now, it's time to delve into autumn leaves, Halloween, and Pumpkin Spice Latté's.  Bring on fall!


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Retreat!

     I really appreciated the retreat this year.  The weather was less than cooperative, but all we needed was a little bit of flexibility and it turned into an awesome weekend.  The weekend opened up with a worship session.  The theme was "All Things New" and I'll admit I was a little skeptical at first that they would be able to get past the clichés.  
     They did.
     Someone put a LOT of thought into these three worship sessions.  I particularly enjoyed the first one because David Balzer talked about the risks involved in forming new connections and how it makes us vulnerable to do so.  I remember my first retreat when I hardly knew anyone and I can't think of a better speech for the first year students.  Owning the fact that meeting new people and making new friends can be hard, David encouraged us to take the risk because God has created us to be social and God has created us to be in community with each other.  I stayed up late into the night at the campfire, and then spent some quality time chatting back at the cabin.  
     The next day was packed.  After the morning we had some free time.  There were a lot of activities that people could choose from, including trail rides and wall climbing.  I appreciated the hot tub!  
     One of the main highlights for me was another coffee house that evening.  Now people had had more time to prepare.  I wasn't going to do anything, and then a good friend of mine suggested that we sing the classic Veggie Tales song "Cheeseburger".  Yeah we did!  The main thing I remember about Saturday was how good it was to have a whole day to chill with my friends in a place that wasn't CMU campus.  
    Oh, yeah.  And that night around the second camp fire, we definitely spent half an hour belting out Disney songs at the top of our lungs.  And had several theological discussions taking place partially IN the fire pit because the fire pit was so large that we could have a few people inside without problems.
     Our school puts an intense amount of work into these trips and I think it really helps to set the mood for the year.  Now all we need is a hot tub at the school...!

Life!

     Most of us have been at CMU for about two weeks.  The small amount of time we've spent together has already been packed with welcome week activities, first classes, meeting each other and making friends.  Here's what's been going on at the CMU residence this week:
     1. Classes.  By this time everyone has finished their introductory classes and are settling down for the real work.  The first part of a semester can feel more relaxed than later, when papers are all due at the same time.  There's more free time for getting involved, chilling late into the night, and pranking our friends (more on that later...!)  Course change period continues for a few days, so classes are still shuffling, but soon that will be settled as well and we will be able to sink into what we're learning.
     2. Community.  Since the beginning of September, we have developed some close connections among different floors.  Over meals, late night craziness, and common experiences (what was that prof thinking?) we are already growing together.  One particular area where we get to be a team is with pranks.  There's some intense rivalry between the first floor men's and second floor women's residences.  These fun competitions allow us to vent our capacity to cause havoc and keep the atmosphere from becoming too tame.
     3. Camp Arnes Retreat.  This past weekend most of us went to Camp Arnes, a retreat centre, to have fun together.  The theme of the weekend was "all things new".  I enjoyed having some conversations with people I haven't talked to in a while, playing crazy outdoor games, and chilling in the hot tub.  We also witnessed the second talent show, which was even more interesting than the first.  As always, I got back relaxed and ready to work.  
     Twelve page essay, here I come!

Welcome Week 2011!

We celebrated the new year by basking in the excellent weather at the outdoor BBQ yesterday!

     Well, it's that time of year, folks!  Here at CMU we are in the middle of Welcome Week, when the campus transforms into an endless party to meet all the new students and get psyched about the year.  Some highlights:

1.  Go-lympics, which pitted the different residences against each other to win the Gerbrandt Goblet (a name which has my personal support, based on our illustrious president, Gerald Gerbrandt).  In order to do so we had to participate in challenges like careening through a tiny hula hoop in a potato sack during the sack race, and attempting to pulverize our opponents in a massive game of tug o' war. 

2.  Orientation, which lasted for three and a half hours, and included a massively detailed discussion on academic integrity and several very informative skits detailing community guidelines.  We look forward to this morning every year....

In this photo, Rianna Isaak represents a very strong scent which is just too strong for the onlookers on the left.  Moral: it makes sense not to use scents!

3.  Friends!  I have missed my friends SO MUCH since I left in April.  Several evenings have already been spent on long walks and just chilling in this place we call home.  Last night we definitely pulled out the Monty Python.  I had to work allllll the way until after the move in day, but this was made up by the fact that I covertly moved in a day early so I could spend an evening chilling with buddies before the dorms opened (which was probably not allowed.  ooooppps!)

4.  Coffee House.  The usual performance madness, now run by Clare Schellenberg and Coby Friesen, our Arts and Entertainment Directors.  We chilled, drank sweet free coffee and listened to music, poety, and drama.  Our ever-present hosts, Clare and Coby, were New Yorkers who just thought everyone was "faaanntasic!"

Two of the most developed Coffee House personalities I have ever seen.

     Welcome to CMU 2011.   Friends both new and old, crazyness, pranks, studies, challenges, weather (!), unplanned events, fellowship groups, sports, worship, and more are in store for us this year.  Time to GO!

CMU Grad 2011

Last Week of Classes

     Well, here we are at the last week of classes.  Yours truly has just realized that he really needs to get moving to get everything done because he's been putting too much on the back burner.  We are all out of here in just over two weeks.  
     The weather has been excellent for the past while, which is good because it allows us to get outside for walks after we've been feeling rather cooped up in residence for the past few months.  During this time of intense work, it's important to keep from feeling isolated; to still make time for others.  
     It's also important to make time for God.  I've realized how I'll start to feel really empty if I skip spending time praying and reading for more than a day or two.  It's kind of crazy how direct this connection can be - my happiness right now is directly connected to spending time with God.
     It's interesting to think about life being comprised of relationships, and our happiness being dependent on how we're doing in those relationships.  Our friendships with God and others - how much of a bearing does that have on our happiness?
     

Pranks

     Picture time.  What is this, do you ask?  Let me interpert the picture for you.  The clothes in the snow belong to Matt Mayers.  He is being pranked by Rianna Isaak.  Why is he being pranked?  I believe it was for throwing something at Rianna.  She froze the clothes, by the way..! 

     What did Matt think of all this?  Let's ask him.

     He won't say anything.  Is he actually upset, or just faking it?  We'll never know.

     Was I asked to help?  Yes, I was.  They asked me to get some clothes from Matt's room -- so I locked his door and then told them it was locked and I couldn't get in.  Oops! 

     I was also pranked by Rianna -- she put cafeteria food (FROM THE FLOOR!) under my pillow.  Will there be retaliation?  Stay tuned....

Show your Support!

     Sports are an important part of the lives of many CMU students.  The CMU Blazers have men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and soccer teams.  This upcoming weekend is a big one for us -- the men's and women's basketball teams face Red River College on friday and saturday.  I'm sure there will be vans heading out -- go and support your CMU Blazers!
     In the spirit of this weekend, I want to share a video my friend Laura made on the bus trip to Bottineau North Dakota last semester.   She's a member of the student media team. Take a look:

Vlog - Laura Tait "Bus trip to Bottineau" from CMU Media on Vimeo.

     The sports teams have been very busy this year -- it's been an especially good year for the women's volleyball team, who had 15 wins, with only 1 loss to Providence College.  We had mixed results in other areas, but fun was had, and that's what counts, right?  This weekend we're vying for 3rd place in our games against Red River.  If you're around, come on out!

Mikado Sneak Peek

    

     The Mikado is going brilliantly.  We've been working hard to put the finishing touches on it this past week, and the first show was yesterday.  It's showing tonight and Saturday at 7:30pm, and Sunday at 3pm, so come on out if you want to see an awesome show!  Tickets are $5 for students, $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors.  Phone CMU at (204) 487.3300; they are also avaliable at the door.



Into the Craziness!

     Well, it might be a surprise to some of you high-school students, but in the university world we are more than half-way through the semester.  My life is getting crazy with Mikado practices every night and a 25 page paper to work on during the day.  And it's not just me feeling the stress!  Here's the funny thing, though - it seems like socializing actually can go up a bit during times of stress.  How, you ask?  It's a proven fact!  Take a look at this:

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham -- www.phdcomics.com.  Used with permission.

     Now, keep in mind that a responsible student does get everything done.  What suffers?  You got it.  Sleep!  You know what they say - about how you gain energy by spending energy?  It's true.  If you're tired but don't want to sleep, just do something and (usually) energy will come back.  It's worked for me so far!

     It's really very good that reading break is over.  I got far too much work done because there was no one to ever distract me.  Well, now the party has started once again.  Looking forward to what's in store for the rest of the semester.  Take care of yourselves!