Because you only have 4 years,

Reposting this:

I have finally graduated and my college career is over for good. When I was told, "Enjoy it; it will go by fast," I thought, "Yeah right, four years is a long time." I admit - it went by fast. I really cannot even believe it. I vividly remember moving in as a freshman, meeting my roommate, going to my first class, and starting my job on campus. Now it's four years later and I have learned so so so much. There are certainly things that I wish I had done or known earlier, and I would regret it if I didn't pass on a few words of advice to my friends who are still in college or are preparing to start this Fall. So, here's to YOU!

Campus Activities and Involvement:
- Try everything at least once - Crema, Exalt, FNL, prayer walks, the homecoming parade, basketball games, soccer games, etc.
- Look into student organizations that interest you - Business as Mission, WCF, etc.
- If you loved NSO, apply to be an NSO leader.
- Participate in the Finals Midnight Scream (hopefully that tradition carries on!)
- Mentor a child through the Marion Boys and Girls Club.
- When the weather is nice, don't stay inside.

Interaction and Relationships:
- Interact with your professors outside of the classroom. Your professors are an incredible resource and will completely change your entire college experience [for the better] if you let them.
- Don't spend hours chatting on facebook when you can be chatting at McConn or by the fountain.
- You will find community on IWU's campus when you look for it.
- Don't be too busy, bored, or conceited to listen when people are imparting words of wisdom. Listen when people are talking!!

Classes, Books and Studying:
- NEVER buy brand new textbooks and never buy without comparing prices. I have saved $100's by purchasing my books on Ebay and Amazon.
- Sometimes you can get by simply skimming or not reading a book... sometimes you cannot! Figure it out.
- The Bible is the most important book you can read. It offers incredible amounts of wisdom and insight.
- World Civ with Mark Smith is the way to go!
- If you can, take the following classes:
* Basic Christian Doctrine (Chris Bounds)
* Christian Spirituality and Experiencing God (Jim Lo)
* CS Lewis (Charles Bressler)
* Inductive Bible Study (Steve Lennox)
- For INT majors, take more Biblical literature classes than what is required. If you plan to be a missionary, you must know Scripture and know it well.
- Don't be stupid and save all your research and projects until the end of the semester or just before it's due.

Other: (These may be what I would emphasize the most!)
- Realize that your education is a huge investment into your future, but realize also that your grades and performance do not define who you are. Who you are becoming is worth more than your diploma.
- Make a college bucket list and re-evaluate it at the beginning of every semester. Four years will pass quickly, and you will never get to experience anything like college ever again.
- Take pictures of everything.
- If you have an idea or a dream, share it with someone and pursue it!
- Your legacy is more in who you are than in what you do.
- Above all, God is faithful. Seek His will and trust Him.

Love love love,
Jewel

A Word for the Underclassmen: What I Wish I had Known/Done Earlier...

I have finally graduated and my college career is over for good.  When I was told, "Enjoy it; it will go by fast," I thought, "Yeah right, four years is a long time."  I admit - it went by fast.  I really cannot even believe it.  I vividly remember moving in as a freshman, meeting my roommate, going to my first class, and starting my job on campus.  Now it's four years later and I have learned so so so much.  There are certainly things that I wish I had done or known earlier, and I would regret it if I didn't pass on a few words of advice to my friends who are still in college or are preparing to start this Fall. So, here's to you!

Campus Activities and Involvement:

- Try everything at least once - Crema, Exalt, FNL, prayer walks, the homecoming parade, basketball games, soccer games, etc.
- Look into student organizations that interest you - Business as Mission, WCF, etc.
- If you loved NSO, apply to be an NSO leader.

- Participate in the Finals Midnight Scream.

- Mentor a child through the Marion Boys and Girls Club.

- When the weather is nice, don't stay inside.

Interaction and Relationships:
- Interact with your professors outside of the classroom. Your professors are an incredible resource and will completely change your entire college experience [for the better] if you let them.
- Don't spend hours chatting on facebook when you can be chatting at McConn or by the fountain.
- You will find community on IWU's campus when you look for it.
- Don't be too busy, bored, or conceited to listen when people are imparting words of wisdom. Listen when people are talking!!

Classes and Books:
- Never buy brand new textbooks and never buy without comparing prices. I have saved $100's by purchasing my books on Ebay and Amazon.
- Sometimes you can get by simply skimming or not reading a book... sometimes you cannot!  Figure it out.
- The Bible is the most important book you can read. It offers incredible amounts of wisdom and insight.
- World Civ with Mark Smith is the way to go!
- If you can, take the following classes:
   * Basic Christian Doctrine (Chris Bounds)
   * Christian Spirituality and Experiencing God (Jim Lo)
   * CS Lewis (Charles Bressler)
   * Inductive Bible Study (Steve Lennox!!)
- For INT majors, take more Biblical literature classes than what is required. If you plan to be a missionary, you must know Scripture and know it well.
- Don't be stupid and save all your research and projects until the end of the semester or just before it's due.

Other: (These may be what I would emphasize the most!)
- Realize that your education is a huge investment into your future, but realize also that your grades and performance do not define who you are.  Who you are becoming is worth more than your diploma.
- Make a college bucket list and re-evaluate it at the beginning of every semester.  Four years will pass quickly, and you will never get to experience anything like college ever again.
- Take pictures of everything.
- If you have an idea or a dream, share it with someone and pursue it!
- Your legacy is more in who you are than in what you do.
- Above all, God is faithful. Seek His will and trust Him.

Love love love, Jewel

The Beginning of the End

The end has finally begun.  I have both anxiously anticipated and dreaded what will happen in the next two weeks.  Sometime after 10am on Saturday, April 30, I will be walking across a platform in a ghastly black robe to receive a simple piece of a paper - a diploma.  That piece paper represents many things. It represents things learned, papers written, research presented, and hours and hours of work.  It represents tears of frustration and stress, and the joy of finally realizing what I want to do with my life and what God is calling me to do/be. That paper means that four years of disciplined study has come to an end and I am graduating. Yesterday, I attended my last chapel.  I attended my last class. Looking at the weather, I may have spent my last afternoon reading in the hammock outside.

Graduating - it's both a happy and a sad circumstance.  [That's normal right?]  I am excited to be finally finished with school and classes and coursework, and excited about the prepared and empowered feeling that I have to [with God's grace] fulfill my purpose and follow His will.  However, I am so so so sad to say goodbyes to friends and professors, and to the place that has become home for four years.

All-nighters

Shopping

Hanging out

Christmas parties

Rebash parties

Ice skating

Energy drinks

Meals

Conferences

Weddings

Ugly Dress Parties

Missions trips

 Girls' weekends

Spring break

Going to the park

Haunted corn mazes and hayrides

Celebrating birthdays

Game nights

Pranking

How do I cope?

Love love love, Jewel

Catching up on life...

7 ½ weeks. In seven-and-a-half weeks, my four-year college experience will be over forever. Not just for the summer, but forever. After I graduate April 30, 2011, never again will I live on this campus with my 3,200 IWU classmates. [A profound realization; I know.] Some of these friends I will never ever see again and eventually I will lose contact with professors who have invested so much in me over the four-year experience.
After I graduate, I’m going to return home and live with my parents for awhile. Then I’m going to get married, live with my husband, and create my own home. Then I’m going to move to Cambodia, far away from so many people that I love and care about very much, and...

So what does that mean? That means I'm making a BUCKET LIST - a list of all the things that I dream of doing before I graduate. Do I dare write "Sleep on the lawn" on my list? I haven't decided, but whatever I do decide, it will be exciting. Making a bucket list is one of my "to-do's" for Spring Break!

In honor of Spring approaching, I have taken up a new habit - running.

RUNNING!

Miracle of miracles, today I ran two miles.

TWO MILES!

I couldn't believe it; I certainly surprised myself! I have been faithfully doing Zumba three times a week since August or September, and occasionally going to the gym, but I don't think I have actually run in two or three years. I may be a little premature to commit to running a 5k this summer, but the best means of accountability to making a public profession. So here it is: I'm going to run a 5k in May 2011.

In regards to "Wedding Wednesday," I drafted a QUIZ this evening. If you attend my wedding reception, you will have the rare and exciting opportunity to be TESTED on how well you know Titus and I. Of course I won't be giving away any answers today. [Because I am sure you are all the type to copy the answers and keep the paper in your "important papers drawer," then bring the answers to the wedding and CHEAT your way to winning a Cambodian souvenir.] However, you might want to know the following:

1) Titus' real name (here)

2) How Titus and I met (here)

3) How Titus proposed (here)

4) Everything else.

Countdown:

Our tentative wedding date is officially 233 days away - that is thirty-three weeks and two days!! Still plenty of time to choose my cake, dress, colors, bridesmaids, menu, and everything else. Right?! If the wedding were tomorrow, I wouldn't care about any of those things!

Anyways.. look forward to Friday! I'm going to re-join the network of "Friday's Fave Five!"

"Man does not live on bread alone..."

It's been weeks since I have blogged. So much has happened - not so much that I have been too busy to blog, but I simply haven't made it a priority. So, in the newest news:


I had such such such an incredible time of Bible study and meditation yesterday during my lunch hour. Last week, one of my professors (Dr. Keith Drury) told our class that he almost failed out of college because he spent more time studying the Bible than he did reading his textbooks, in fact, he had to repeat two classes.
I was so inspired by this and I been digging deep into God's Word and covering the margins of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in notes. I believe that God is laying it on my heart to start a women's Bible study group during the lunch and dinner hours. Seriously, God? I am a Senior, almost halfway through my last semester. I'm nervous, but I trust that God is going to show up in incredible ways, even if there are only two or three or four of us!
So far, I have sent invitations to 106 girls and 12 have responded with interest. In fact, one said: "I'm kind of in awe right now. I have been praying to find a Bible Study for a while..." Woo hoo God!!! It's not realistic to expect that everyone will be available in the same hour, so I am looking at two or three meal times each week. This weekend, I am going to try to make dozens of homemade invitations, and ask all those who are interested to invite 2 or 3 or 4 more friends.

Jesus answered, "It is written:
'Man does not live on bread alone,but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Matthew 4:4

Overwhelmed

Oh. My. Goodness.

I leave for Cambodia in 9 days.

NINE days.

I'm overwhelmed.

There's still so much to do -

--- Visa pictures.

--- Figuring out how to get my malaria and other prescriptions without a doctor's appoint.

--- Shopping.

--- Packing.

--- Figuring what I can live without since I already have a full suitcase of Christmas presents and I can only take one suitcase (or pay $55 for a second.)

Meanwhile, I have exams on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

I also work 12 hours during exams.

My Ohio family is visiting this weekend.

The day before I leave, I have family Christmas in the morning, and family Christmas in the afternoon.

I only have 3 Christmas presents for my family of 8.

There are still so many people I want to spend time with before I go.

Again, I leave for Cambodia in 9 days.

NINE days.

Somehow, I'll get it all done. (What doesn't get done, will be forgotten.)

Most memorable Christmas ever?

I'm pretty sure it will be.



Thank you Jesus for being with me every step

I don't know what else to say.

Running errands is like Halloween because every office on campus has a small bowl of candy at the front desk.

A Snowflake Frappe is thus far the best thing that has happened to me this week. White chocolate, coffee, and a blended candy cane with whipped cream on top, and red sprinkles.

I almost almost almost skipped my first class ever this morning; however, remembering that we would be finishing a movie, I decided to go. I'll be bold enough to say that - after 7 semesters of consistently attending classes that were bottom of my priority list - I have earned it.

At 12:30 this morning -- note: that's half an hour after midnight, not half an hour after noon -- I was eating raspberry yogurt, writing a sermon, and singing a love song to my fish, Abrão.

I clocked in at 7:56am this morning on November 31st. Four minutes early on a day that doesn't exist. In my opinion, that is worth double overtime pay!

I'm tired. I'm stressed (and it's written all over my face. One word: acne.) I have no idea how I will manage the next few days, but life isn't so bad.

I leave for Cambodia in 2 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour, and 33 minutes.

¡Gracias Papá Dios para una vida de bendiciones! Thank you Papa God for a life of blessings!

Happy Tuesday?

Stress, overload, and acne. Is it really only Tuesday?

Two Questions

1) Why is it so easy to drift to sleep in class during a lecture or in chapel during a message, but when I change into sweat pants, take my shoes off, turn down the lights, and lay my head on a pillow, I can't fall asleep?

2) Why does the girl next to me in Fine Arts class insist on chomping her gum through the entire class period?

I'm in the library pondering these two questions, and working on my sermon. I have 20 pages of preparatory notes due on Tuesday and I still cannot answer: "Why do I want the audience to know?" and "What do I want the audience to do?"

On another [brighter] note, tomorrow is Friday!

Fall Break

A three-day weekend isn't quite long enough to get the true feeling of "being on break" but it certainly was wonderful to spend a three-day weekend at home.

On Friday, my first oppportunity to sleep in, I woke up at 8am to go to Zumba class, only to discover that it had been canceled. I spent the afternoon and early evening doing homework and updating my Cambodia blog, then at 6 I met two new friends for dinner at Culver's. I can't quite remember how Jess and I initially connected, but I know it was related to her interest in my interest in going to Cambodia because her mother was raised in Cambodia and fled during the Khmer Rouge. Anyways, it was wonderful to finally meet Jess and her mother, Dana, in person, and to share with them a love for Cambodia. After dinner I returned home and joined my family for a few games of Nertz. So fun!

As of Saturday morning, I have the rest of my coursework for History & Contextualization of Missions finished!!! THAT FEELS GOOD! I slept in until 10:30 on Saturday, and then for lunch I met the girls at Aunt Sue's Tea Room and we celebrated Suzanne's birthday. Jessie and I celebrated our birthday's there last month with some of the same ladies, and we're looking for people with November and December birthdays! HA. At left is the lovely Elayna and I, and below is the 7 of us with Suzanne at the head of the table. Aunt Sue's is a fabulous locally-owned and operated restaraunt. The food is wonderful, but a little expensive, and the environment is quaint (I think that's the best word.)



Saturday evening we went to Grandmom's house for pizza, and then returned home for two more games of Nertz. This morning, church was wonderful, and I am anticipating a fantastic service tonight. Tomorrow.. class....

Never give up...

It's midterms week.... my sweet man shared this with me on Saturday.

Friday is fall break... looking forward to a three day weekend!

This girl has a feeling!

This girl has a feeling... I'm on top of the world!! Have you ever had it? I have had it only a few times before.
1) When I flew over the Grand Canyon.

2) When I rode a mountain up an elephant an elephant up a mountain to watch the sun set.

3) When that special guy revealed his undying love for me.

4) A few other times.

5) And now, having researched, written, and completed two research essays in one weekend (less than 48 hours to be exact!)

I cannot be defeated

[No, I don't actually wear my hair like that in public. It was just thrown up in a moment of stresssss. K, thanks.]


Bye!


EDIT: Boy, was I wrong! Just two hours after posting my blog, I logged off, brushed my teeth, washed my face, put sweats on, arranged the covers on my bed, and then lifted my pillow for fluffing.
What did I find under my pillow? An ipis - filipino for cockroach, - a large, black, flat, oval-bodied monster! Not an ant.. not a spider.. not any normal resident of our townhouse. A cockroach.
What did I do? I jumped, screamed, and ran in defeat. Come to find out, it was a fake.

Automatic Away Message

Will return when not stressed. :)

Study buddies..

After having a dirty, empty bowl for six+ months, I finally bought two more fish. I think they are pretty, and peaceful, and I like to talk to them while I study avoid studying.


A family picture: Sukie Danger TrustAbraham Chaos Obeyand baby Josefina Elli Fante.[Also know as Trust, Obey, and Elli Fante]


Trust and Obey are an object lessonand an encouragement to my faith."Just keep swimming"

Obey is definitely my favorite.Look at that handsome face.

Trust [ironically named 'Trust'] likes to hide in the shadows of the back of the bowl.

Campus at Spring Time

Check out these beautiful pictures that my sister took on campus last week. Indiana Wesleyan University has THE most gorgeous grounds I've ever seen!