I got a job!

So most of you who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook know, but I’m employed! With like, a big girl job!

Texas State University is located in the beautiful, hilly San Marcos, Texas.

Starting in mid/late May I will begin my new job as an academic advisor at Texas State University’s PACE Center!

The PACE (Personalized Academic and Career Exploration) Center is the first-year advising center for all incoming freshmen at Texas State. The first few months on the job will be a whirlwind of training and new student orientation as Texas State welcomes thousands of new students to San Marcos. And I’ll be in charge of advising hundreds of them! Crazy. I’m super excited to combine my love of freshmen with my master’s degree education and my interest in academic and career development through this position.

Literally. (Meme courtesy of the guys in my homegroup last year. This was part of a Valentine’s gift they gave all the girls.)

Taking this position was very bittersweet. On the one hand, I am so incredibly blessed to have a full time job lined up before I graduate. Plus the job is in San Marcos (my ideal location) and working with freshmen in an academic capacity (potentially my dream job, at least for now). On the other hand, taking this job meant I had to give up my summer internship at Colorado LT, which in turn meant giving up experimenting with full-time ministry, potentially giving up a large sum of money I worked to support raise, and a summer with Greg.

Thankfully (praise the LORD!), God is blessing this decision and redeeming many of the things I “lost” by choosing this job. Although Greg and I will be apart for 12 weeks this summer, there’s a good chance we’ll get to do a few visits back and forth during the summer. (Plus there’s the whole “We’re going to be in the same town for the foreseeable future when he gets back from Colorado” thing.) As for the ministry opportunity, I will still get a taste of ministry through volunteering with 2.42 Church, the GCM church where Greg works with a bunch of our friends at Texas State. And the money? GCM is allowing me to keep the account I am responsible for open to help assist with some ministry expenses in San Marcos!

2.42 Church Intro Video from 2.42 Church on Vimeo.

I seriously can’t believe how smoothly this all really worked out. I’ll be looking for apartments in San Marcos in the new few weeks and trying to piece together a new home (gotta find some furniture) for me and Scout!

Although I am definitely not looking forward to super-long-distance after 9 months of long distance, I am looking forward to familiarizing myself with “San Marvelous” and establishing some of my own friendships there this summer. I also have grand plans to learn to use my sewing machine and make a quilt, but we’ll see if that actually happens.

In the mean time, I’m wrapping up my life here as an Aggie in College Station. It’s been a good two years, but I guess now it’s time to trade in my “Gig ‘em, Ags!” for an “Eat ‘em up, Cats!”

Fun fact: Texas State’s colors are maroon and gold. Mizzou + A&M, anyone??

Ms. Lindsay Cochrum, M.S.

Today I officially passed my master’s degree comprehensive exam and qualified to graduate in 39 days with a master’s degree in student affairs administration in higher education. I’m trying to take it all in.

Honestly, passing my comps was sort of given. I don’t mean that in a flippant way; I just mean that our program prepares us well for our field, and solving and presenting a case study using all the skills and knowledge I learned in the past two years was more of a natural culmination than a grueling test. So it was a big deal, but it also wasn’t.

I guess it’s just strange for me to think that in a little more than a month, I’m done with College Station. I’m done with homework and reading and writing papers (for now.) It’s a little hard to grasp after being in school full-time for 19 years. (NINETEEN YEARS??)

It’s a little hard to grasp because two years here FLEW. I remember this time last year looking up to my second-year-friend Erica and thinking she was so grown up and accomplished and professional, and she is. But so am I! I am that second year that Erica was applying for jobs and going off into the real world. When did that happen?

So much as transpired over the past two years here. I’ve grown so much. I am constantly astounded by much growth occurs in such short spans on time. God works quickly! Two years ago preparing to graduate from Mizzou seems so long ago. I thought I was mature then, and I was, but I’ve grown even more since then.

I joined a new church and a new homegroup.
I made an entirely new set of friends.
I lived with roommates for the first time since I was a freshman.
I wrote 20-page papers like it was nothing.
I read and read and read for class.
I read for fun some, too.
I advised student groups.
I counseled students.
I went through heartbreak and conflict with friends that ended well by the grace of the Lord.
I got a cat.
I left the country.
I lived in Oregon.
I experienced the Lord in new and intimate ways.
My love for worship and my skills in that area blossomed.
I had my first date.
I had my first kiss.
I entered the stage of life where close friends start getting married.
I had bed bugs.
My first close relative passed away.
I shared the gospel with someone and then got to baptize them!
I somewhat conquered my fear of biking.
I was reunited with wildflower season in Texas.
I went to my first professional work conferences and met people in my field from across the country.
And so much more.

The next two years of my life are pretty hazy, but I am PRIMED for some BIG life transitions again. I’m not entirely sure where I will be and what I will be doing and with whom I’ll be doing things, but I know it’ll be good and that the Lord will continue to provide for me and grow me.

It all goes back to my blog title that I picked when I was just a wee-little 20-year old half-way through her junior year of college.

I am in progress. And I’m excited to see the progress that occurs in the next two years.

Chewing on life’s big questions with Rainn Wilson

This semester I took a class called Advanced Student Development Theory where we focused on the specific human development of college students. We focused mainly on cognitive, identity, moral, ethical, and spiritual development of college-aged students, and I must admit I had several nerd-out moments in this class.

Because these theories are why I love college students. College students are learning the world is not black and white. There are gray, unexplainable areas. Students are figuring out who they are, what parts of them are important, and what parts of them are confusing. They’re learning how to make decisions and what they value. They’re trying to answer life’s big questions and find their purpose. College is an amazing time of growth and discovery, and I love it and want to help students through it.

This semester I also discovered this cool thing called SoulPancake. The best way I can describe it is an online media group dedicated to facilitating conversations about art, creativity, philosophy, religion, and spirituality. It is not a Christian group. It was, however, created by Rainn Wilson. Yes, that Rainn Wilson.

Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute

Rainn Wilson as the founder of SoulPancake

I got into SoulPancake through their YouTube channel (which I found through the Vlogbrothers, because really what do I follow on YouTube that wasn’t a suggestion from the Vlogbrothers?). My favorite “shows” are “Life’s BIG Questions,” “The FlipSide,” and “Metaphysical Milkshake.” You should go watch some of them.

Also there is website with discussion forums and activities (which I haven’t really explored) and a book that I just bought! The book is pretty cool so far. It is filled with thought-provoking questions and activities, and I can’t wait to use it on my friends/students!

I think what I like most about SoulPancake (and how it related to my student development class) is this (from the intro to the book):

“Everyone has the right — even the obligation — to seek the truth for him- or herself. We shouldn’t take the beliefs of our parents, community, or clergymen to be our own credo unless we’ve checked it out for ourselves.

“This is the central topic of what we’re trying to do with SoulPancake: Give people a safe, fun, thought-provoking space to investigate truth. A place to decide if they really are atheists or Lutherans or secular humanists or if that’s just an inherited belief structure from the outside world.” -Rainn Wilson

I am a strong believer in Christ and Christianity, but I can say with certainty that it isn’t because I was raised Christian or that Christianity is socially acceptable. I had the privilege in college to meet a ton of people with varying viewpoints, discuss ideas, talk out concept, and learn what I believe for myself. I am still undergoing this process because I believe we should test our values and beliefs. That’s why I also nerded out many times in law class this semester while we were talking about freedom of speech:

“You don’t have the right to not be offended… if you’ve gone through four years of college without being offended or without having your beliefs put to the test, then you should ask for a refund because you haven’t maybe been engaged in the debate that’s supposed to take place in this marketplace of ideas that’s the university atmosphere.” -Emily Guidry

So yeah! Go chew on some of Life’s Big Questions and check out SoulPancake!

We have to go back!

I have an announcement! God- (and Drage-) willing, I will be going back to Colorado LT this coming summer as a GCM staff intern! (If you don’t know what LT is, read about it here. But really you should know about it because I think I’ve mentioned it at least every third blog post since I decided to go the first time in the spring of 2010.)

Now I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I did, too, at first.

But wait, aren’t you graduating from your master’s program in May? Shouldn’t you be looking for a real job?
Ha! That’s the first question I asked myself after I felt the Lord telling me I should consider this internship back in July.

Um, God, you’re telling me I should intern at LT? That sounds like a horrible idea. What will people say when I tell them I’m not looking for a job after graduation, I’m just galavanting off to the mountains and ignoring the “real world” for an extra 12 weeks? And I have, like, loans to repay and stuff.
Yeah, good thing it’s a paid internship!
I’m supposed to graduate and get a real job because that’s what grownups do!
Can’t you job search while you’re in Colorado?
Uh, I guess so… yeah. But employers are going to ask me about this gap between grad school job searching.
Um, what gap? You’ll be working.
But does working at LT really count towards my professional career?
Lindsay. Yes. Duh. You’ll be working with college students and coordinating a summer leadership training program.
Oh yeah… It is pretty much all the things I LOVE about my area of study… discipleship, student groups, leadership, teaching & workshops, event planning… That actually would look pretty good on my resume… hmm…
See. I told you it’s gonna be awesome.
But God, what happens when LT ends and I don’t have a job?
Lindsay, how many times have a carefully and perfectly taken care of all your needs? Oh, that’s right, ALL THE TIMES.
Ok, God. I guess I’ll think about it.
Lindsay, you can say that, but we both know what you’re going to decide…
… shut up, God. (Sometimes I don’t want to admit he’s right even when I know in my heart he is…)

So yeah. I’ve been praying about it and talking to people I trust and respect about what spending this summer in Colorado might mean for me. Obviously all the church staff I’ve talked to are pro-me-going. But I was nervous about what my grad school program coordinator would say if I took the path less traveled and put off my job search a little. Turns out she was supportive of me doing what I felt like was right for me. Something about listening to my inner voice or something (insert Baxter Magolda in-joke for SA-people here). Then I talked to my current supervisor, which I think was possibly the most encouraging conversation ever. This obviously isn’t word for word what he said, but it captures the essence of the conversation.

“Lindsay, if you feel called to go, then you need to go. We all have voices insides our selves that tell us stuff that really might not make sense for other people, but it makes sense for us. You need to listen to that voice. Will your job search look different? Yes. Will you potentially miss out on jobs that will be open in the summer? Yes. But that doesn’t mean you won’t find a job. You’re just going to find a different job. Your process is just going to be different from your peers’, and that’s okay as long as you know that and are okay with it. You’re 23 years old. When are you going to have the opportunity to do this stuff for yourself again? You have 30+ years to build up your professional career. You don’t need to start your professional first job the day after graduation.”

Biggest weight off my shoulders.

So yeah. I’m applying to intern, y’all. I’m really excited for what this internship will do for me personally and professionally. Personally, I think a season of semi-rest and refreshment after this crazy year of grad school will be the best thing ever. I need to get out to the mountains and dedicate 12 weeks of my life to serving the Lord and not writing student development theory papers or studying higher education case-law. I need to breathe mountain air and stare at God’s creation for a few months. Professionally, like I mentioned earlier, this internship will give me more experience in a non-conventional-but-still-applicable-student-affairs-y-type job. It will also give me a better understanding of the inner workings of college ministry and what it’s like to work with other GCM staffers. So yeah. Getting pumped for sure.

So does this mean you’re going on staff?!
Ha, no.

Oh, ‘cuz you don’t want to support raise, right?
Well, that is technically true. I don’t really want to support raise my salary, but that is not the reason I’m not going on staff. I’m not going on staff because I don’t feel called to go on staff. I feel called to get a job at a university and volunteer my resources and outside time to campus ministry through GCM. I feel like the Lord has equipped me to serve in this way, and I am super pumped about it.

Oh, so do you have to raise support for this internship?
Yes, so… be on the lookout for a letter asking you for support through prayer or finances in early 2013! I’ll admit I don’t really look forward to support raising again, especially since I will have to raise more than I had to for Italy last year, but I know the Lord will provide. If he’s calling me to Colorado, he will make a way for me to go.

So what happens now?
My application to intern is due December 1, and then if I’m accepted to intern, I’ll go to GCM ministry team development training in January. Then in May, I will graduate, pack out my room at the Den (woah, too soon… too soon…), and head to the mountains. I don’t know for sure what happens after that. I’ll be doing some preliminary job searching in the spring just in case my dream job shows up, but I imagine I’ll be doing the bulk of the work of looking for a real job out in Colorado. As of today, I plan on looking primarily at GCM campuses (Texas A&M, Texas State, UNT, Mizzou, and Pitt), though I will also be looking at the Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas areas. If I leave Colorado without a job, chances are I’ll move back in with the ‘rents until God tells me where to go next. Not gonna lie, that freaks me out. I haven’t been unemployed since high school, but I trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing!

So yeah! I’ll definitely try to update the blog as more happens, but, um, you may have noticed that I have sucked at blogging this semester, so… no guarantees for regular updates… Regardless, be praying for me, please! Excited to share what the Lord does with me and this opportunity over the next 10 months.

Willamette Wednesday: The countdown begins

First off, let me give you an update and start by saying that SUMMER HAS ARRIVED IN OREGON. Thank God. Literally. If I had gotten off that plane after spending the weekend in Texas and it had been cold and cloudy still… You could have called me Jack Shephard. (You bet I’m jumping on the gif train.)

“WE HAVE TO GO BACK.”

That being said, here’s what’s been up in my neck(s) (Oregon & Texas!) of the wood the past week.

Less than a month to go!
It’s bittersweet to know I only have 18 days of work left as of today.  While I have immensely enjoyed Willamette and the Student Involvement team, in many ways I’m ready to get back to A&M. I’m ready to transition into yet another new position (two if you count my practicum hours in Student Government this fall), unpack my room of black trash bags, and catch up with my friends. I am NOT, however, ready to get back into grad school pace. This lazy summer of almost no responsibilities has been amazing, and one glance of what my life was like last spring according to my Google calendar makes me want to cry. Prayers for a different type of year than Grad School Year 1 would be much appreciated!

The nightmare that was last semester. (Times are off my two hours since my Google calendar is now set in Pacific time.)

But until Grad School Year 2 starts, I still have a lot of work to do here in Oregon! Yesterday I conducted my first focus group, and I still have two other large projects, and a student-run program to advise over the next 3.5 weeks. I know it will go quickly with all I have to do!

I’ve been “busy” (but not really)
The past few weeks have felt a little busier than normal for a few reasons, so I haven’t had as much “free time.”
1. It’s been awful weather, so I hadn’t spent as much time lounging in parks reading in my hammock of lazily exploring downtown Salem. 2. I’ve started to try to exercise more regularly and have started to attend a Bible study and community group regularly, which takes away from that unstructured free time I was relishing in during my first few weeks here. 3. I went home to Texas for my cousin’s wedding! This meant I spent several days prepping, whether that be from designing her wedding program, buying an appropriate dress, doing laundry, packing, or traveling.

The programs I designed for my cousin’s wedding.

Even though it’s been “busy,” it’s still been good. Going back to Texas was wonderful, even though it was exhausting. I intend to write an entire blog post about that experience, but I’ll give you a preview: Nonna was around her 100-person family for four days straight. Also she ate a lot of barbeque.

My brother and sister at the wedding.

Now that’s I’m back in Salem, I’m hoping these final weeks consist of a second round of many Skype/phone dates, more reading in my hammock now that’s it’s warmed up, more bike rides now that I’m more confident (I rode to Safeway and back Monday with a bunch of groceries, including a gallon of milk and a 6-pack of local apricot ale! That was a balancing act… And then last I rode to that coffee shop I mentioned last week! Mission accomplished!), and some final Oregonian adventures before the other interns leave. I think we’re aiming for a trip to Portland and some berry-picking this weekend.

Other notable but random tidbits
Two weeks ago I got sick of Felicity‘s inability to pick a guy to like AND the fact that the show only ever talks about relationships, and decided to take a break after finishing the second season. (This is why Voyager was great! Adventure and cool story-lines UNRELATED TO DATING. With a sprinkling of romance to keep it interesting occasionally.) I have since turned to Firefly, which took me a few episodes to get into, but I’m fairly enjoying for now. I might start Friday Night Lights next, though, so I can fit in with my SAAHE classmates who all watch it.

I’ve been getting into a lot of new music lately! My new interests include: Bon Iver, The Civil Wars, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes, Ellie Goulding, Fleet Foxes, Florence + The Machine, Gatlin Elms, Gavin DeGraw, Imagine Dragons, Jenny & Tyler, Katie Herzig, Mumford & Sons, NEEDTOBREATHE, The Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men, Vampire Weekend, and Walk the Moon. Any others I should start listening to

If you want to send me mail, I would not be opposed! My friend Cherise and I have been exchanging letters all summer, and it’s been super fun! You can address your notes to:

Lindsay Cochrum
Office of Student Activities
900 State St.
Salem, OR 97301

I left my Kindle on the plane ride to Texas. BUT NEVER FEAR! It was returned to me thanks to Southwest Airlines. I’ve been meaning to write a post on how much I love my Kindle (I was such a skeptic before I got mine…), and this separation might be just the impetus I require to finally record my love on paper the internet.

In case you ever wanted to live your late-90s/early 2000s Christian childhood and listen to PlusOne (the Christian N*SYNC) or Point of Grace, you can do that on Spotify. You know, in case anyone was wondering.

I think that’s all I’ve got for now! Hopefully I’ll have so more fun posts later this week and next!

Willamette Wednesday: Actually it’s Tuesday

I’m mixing it up this week, y’all. Tomorrow I will be somewhere between Salem, Oregon, and Arlington, Texas, all day (Way to spend the 4th right? Woo traveling!), plus it’s the 4th of July, so I thought I would post my weekly update on Tuesday instead!

4 weeks down, 5 to go
Things in Oregon are still going well, but I’d be lying if I didn’t mention my mid-summer hump I’ve hit. As you might have read yesterday, I’m a wee bit homesick College-Station-sick(?). I miss my friends, I miss my roommates, I miss my bed with sheets that stay on the mattress (mine here fall off every night, though I don’t miss my bed bug infested mattress). I miss playing music with other people. I also miss the sunshine. And having a car. (Lucyyyy, I miss youuuuu.)

Don’t get my wrong; Oregon is wonderful. I wouldn’t exchange this experience for anything, and it’s taught me so much. Plus where else am I going to experience a Tandem Bike Rally. (I feel like that’s something that would happen in Stars Hollow…) I’m just gettin’ real with y’all and telling you I’m not this 100% fearless, independent woman. I miss Texas sometimes, too. That being said, it will be nice to visit Arlington for a few days later this week for my cousin’s wedding! I won’t see any A&Mers, but I will get a healthy dose of my Frazier fam, which is always great.

Work
Work has been more of the same, though I did go to an nearly-all-day assessment “workshop” on Thursday and got this rockin’ nametag which pretty much sums up what I’ve been doing job-wise all summer.

Too bad they misspelled Willamette… (As they say here, it’s Willamette, dammit!)

Free Time
This weekend was full of Oregonian activities including a Saturday winery tour and wine tasting at the Willamette Valley Vineyard and a Sunday afternoon at Salem’s local multicultural festival, World Beat. World Beat made me miss Italy and all the international friends we made there. It also made me wish I had made a bigger effort to get to know the international students when I worked at the Y and that I had time to work with Fellowship’s English Conversation Clubs back at A&M. Maybe God’s placing international students on my heart, and I should look for an internship in the International Student Services office. Who knows…

Wine tasting at Willamette Valley Vineyards

ALSO I’ve been taking advantage of my bike! And I haven’t died. I’ll be honest; I haven’t ridden in the streets much. I know it’s polite and all, but it technically isn’t illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalks in most of Salem, so I tend to stay out of the way of cars and take the sidewalk when I can. Plus I get off and walk it if there are a lot of pedestrians. I rode 10 blocks to breakfast on Friday morning and have ridden to two coffee shops, too! My next goal is to ride to the really cool coffee shop that’s further than I’ve been before… it’s like 15 blocks away. I have high aspirations y’all.

Jesus Talk
Spiritually, this summer has been interesting. While it’s been an incredible time of rest and rejuvenation, I’ve still been longing for spiritual more intimacy, and to some extent, growth and challenge. (Am I weird for not being content to just have a summer of spiritual rest? Maybe I’m weird… of maybe it’s holy discontentment…) Some of my quiet times have been dry and discouraging, and although I know the Lord is here with me, he doesn’t feel as close. I can’t hear him as clearly. Or maybe I’m just not listening well. It’s probably that. Well, regardless, I’ve started a reading plan through the YouVersion app on my phone in conjunction with #SheReadsTruth, which has already delivered some nuggets of awesomeness. I also caved and bought Jesus Calling after hearing so many good things about it, and it definitely delivered some blows of truth from day one! It’s been good for me to get into the Word a little bit and chew on some truths before I even get out of bed in the morning.

(Side notes:
1. It is scary how easy it is to buy books on my Kindle. I hardly even thought about buying Jesus Calling before I had clicked “okay,” purchased it for $7.50, and had it wirelessly delivered to my device in a coffee shop. I mean, that’s not that much, but it’s just way too easy to spend money on that thing! I gotta be careful about that haha.

2. I just found out you can get a Jesus Calling app for $10. I have actually just been reading my Kindle edition on my phone’s Kindle app… but the actual Jesus Calling app looks like it has so cool features, so maybe it’s worth the extra $2.50.)

Anyway, I think that’s all that’s been up over the last week. Next week I will have been to Texas and back with news of my cousin’s wedding! Stay tuned for more adventures of Lindsay.

I’m no Merida

I have been told by many people this summer that I am incredibly brave. People are amazed that I would just pick up and move to Oregon without knowing anyone. They’re astounded I just picked up and moved to Missouri for college without knowing anyone. They think I’m this confident, independent woman who just makes friends at the drop of a hat and isn’t afraid of being alone. In some respects, part of that is true. I like to think I’m somewhat confident and independent (though I think that sentence just negated the “confident” part). I do make friends fairly easily, and I enjoy my alone time.

But y’all, if I’m being real, what you don’t know is that I’m homesick right now. I’m sitting here missing Columbia. I haven’t truly been homesick for Columbia in ages! I’m missing Colorado, and LT was two years ago. I’m missing College Station and Texas A&M. I’m missing my beautiful roommates and their daily friendship. I’m missing my homegroup and our crazy antics and shenanigans. I’m missing the dudes at the Dudeplex. I’m missing the people I play worship with on some Sunday mornings. I’m missing people able to play music with others in general. I’m missing people who would get excited and care that Mizzou and A&M are now both members of the SEC. There, I just word vomited all my homesickness out.

And I hate admitting this. I want to be brave. I want people to think I’m independent and confident. But that’s just my stupid pride. And that actually isn’t so good. So here I am telling you. When it comes down to it, I’m just not that brave.

(I am, however, a fiery redhead with a Scottish background, so in that sense, yes, I am like Merida. The blog post title is mostly a play on the movie’s title.)

Going to Mizzou wasn’t that big of a deal because it was college. Everyone picks up and starts a new life in college. You’re encouraged to break away from your high school friends and meet new people. Even though I knew no one going to Mizzou, I also knew lots of people would know no one at Mizzou. And we could know no one together. Plus there were all sorts of instruments in place to help me meet people at Mizzou: my Summer Welcome group, my residence hall, my FIG. That doesn’t count.

As for Oregon, yes, I moved here not knowing anyone, but I also knew it would only be for nine weeks. You can do anything for nine weeks. I also did a lot of research to ensure I wouldn’t be totally alone here. I friended the two ACUHO-I interns on Facebook before I even got to Oregon after I asked my boss if there would be other interns here. I researched churches before I left so I could start meeting people right away. People saw that as be just being a planner, but it was also me not wanting to be alone.

And even though I’ve met some great people here and really never run out of things to do, I miss my friends. I miss my home(s). I miss CoMO. I miss Colorado. I miss CStat. (I even miss Arlington a little, but actually not all that much. Sorry Mom & Dad and Blair and grandparents! I’m not used to seeing you that much… that’s the only reason why! I promise it’ll make sense by the end of this post.)

Ever since I moved to Mizzou, I have never truly been without friends. I had my Mizzou friends at Mizzou. I stayed in Columbia with friends for two summers. I went to Colorado for a summer, but I went with Mizzou friends, and in fact, it was nearly all my close Mizzou friends that went! I moved to College Station, but I also already had friends there. I went to Italy for two weeks, but that was only for two weeks, and I at least was starting to become friends with most of my teammates.

This summer, this Oregon summer, is the first time I have truly moved somewhere without knowing anyone or having a group of other newbies to cling to. This is the longest I’ve been apart from my CStat friends. (This is not even close to how long I’ve gone without seeing my family, hence not missing them as much. This is somewhat normal for how we function these days.)

This is quite possibly what post-grad-school life is like. And that terrifies me. People say I’m brave and can just move somewhere without knowing anyone, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I don’t want to do that when I graduate.

Searching for a job is like a big scary black unknown for me right now. Thank God it isn’t happening for 10 months. If I had my way, next fall I’d working in College Station, Austin, Memphis, San Marcos, the DFW, Mizzou or Pitt. Where I know people. Or where there are GCM churches. Where I would not be alone. I see these SAAHE second years recent grads who are off starting their lives in totally new places. They are the braves ones.

I dread starting over. I don’t want to have to share my life story with a new set of strangers. I don’t want to have to re-explain who people are when I tell stories from my past. And I realize this will happen even if I stay in CStat or move to another GCM campus church or back to Mizzou or whatever. I’m going to meet new people, and I actually enjoy making new friends. But only if I have some constants. Even moving to CStat was hard in that aspect because even though I had a few close friends there, I still had a support system to rebuild. I remember thinking to myself, “Crap. I have to find my new Amanda Craven (one of my closer female friends, peer discipler, and confidant).”

Anyway, now I’m just letting my fears out all over the page, which is silly because I know God is going to take care of me wherever I go. I will be okay if I stay in College Station. I will be okay if I end up moving to Montana or somewhere equally as random and far away. In fact, I will be better than okay. I will be great because the Lord’s plan for my life is more than my tiny, homesick mind can fathom. And if this post makes me sound miserable, don’t worry, I’m really not. I’m just excited that in five weeks I’ll be back in Texas. I’m going to enjoy my last five weeks here, but I’m also glad it’s only five weeks.

I just wanted to dispel this myth everyone keeps believing. I’m not that brave! I am only able to do this, to have this experience, because I trusted God with my summer. I know I’m supposed to be here, and it’s been really, really good for me. It’s been restful. It’s been professionally helpful. And it’s been revealing, socially and professionally, about what I want in the future. Just think. If I hadn’t come here this summer, this whole new experience might have been at my first job, which hopefully will last more than nine weeks. At least now I won’t be surprised by my homesickness in the future. I’m coming to terms with it. I don’t have to hide it out of my pride. I’m learning to accept my inherent need for true community, unconditional support, and deep friendship. And that’s worth nine weeks of missing.

Willamette Wednesday: Hitting my stride

Welcome back for another weekly edition of Willamette Wednesday! Here’s what’s been going on up in Oregon.

Work
Work has picked up pace considerably, and I finally feel like I have at least a few things to show for from my summer here. I’ve started writing assessments for orientation, which has been more challenging than I had anticipated. Sure, I took an entire class on assessment and even did an entire assessment project from start to finish, but y’all, writing questions to prove learning outcomes were met for orientation is hard. That being said, I don’t think I want to be the next Sandi Osters*. Don’t get me wrong; doing all this assessment this summer is a really great chance to practice and get more experience in something that will undoubtably be a part of whatever job I go into. I just don’t want it to be my entire job.

*Sandi Osters was our assessment professor and is the director of Student Life Studies, the student affairs assessment office, at Texas A&M.

Free Time
More of the same! This past weekend I finally stayed in Salem for the weekend, saw Brave, and ate the most delicious berries from the Salem Farmer’s Market. (Side note: Oregon has delicious, fresh berries all the time everywhere, and I’m kind of addicted to them.) I should have spent a good chunk of my Saturday designing the program for my cousin’s wedding next week… but I just watched Felicity instead. Oops. Sounds like I know what I’m doing tonight! I finally got a bike, but I haven’t been able to ride it yet due to a few busy nights and rain…

It’s cold.
Speaking of rain… and I know I sound like a huge spoiled jerk here to my friends watching wildfires in Colorado and my melting friends in Texas… BUT IT IS TOO COLD HERE. I can’t move to Oregon long-term. If this is summer, I don’t want to see the other seasons. I don’t really remember what the other side of 65 looks like. It’s been days since I’ve seen the sun in its full glory. I want to wear shorts and Chacos. I miss my hammock. Ok, complaining over. I’m going back to Texas for a few days next week, so I’m sure I’ll get blasted with sweltering heat and humidity then and appreciate the dampness and grey skies when I get back to Oregon… maybe…

Church
I have committed to going to Outward Church for the summer! It was the second church I tried, and though I was skeptical of Acts 29‘s ties to Mark Driscoll (the jury of my mind is still out on him), I’m liking Outward a lot. The atmosphere reminds me a lot of The Rock and Fellowship, and it has a similar demographic of people, though there are a lot more young married people than I’m used to. That’s cool, though, because I get to be in a community group of mostly 20-somethings from all parts of life: in school, working, single, married… it’s nice to hear from so many perspectives in discussion! It’s also pretty cool to see this community group in action because it is allowing me to live out a book my homegroup in College Station is reading this summer. This summer, the leadership team for our group plus a few other people (like me!) are reading Community: Taking Your Small Group Off Life Support by Brad House with hopes to apply some of its theory to Shockwave this fall. Because Brad House is a member of Mars Hill (Mark Driscoll’s church, which is a part of the Acts 29 network), my community group at Outward seems to be modeled off a lot of this book’s principles. It’s nice to have our group in Texas read about it, and then I can report on how it looks in practice! It’s also neat because our friend Dale is currently interning in Seattle and is attending Mars Hill this summer, so he gives us another perspective on the book’s advice!

This summer is going by so fast
I can’t believe July starts next week. This summer is flying by. I made a calendar at work to map out the projects I’m working on, and I can see all the weeks I have left on one page. Less than six weeks left! Six weeks is still sort of a long time, but I need to make sure I’m making the most of the glorious free time I have left!

Well, that’s all for now. Until next week, much love from the Pacific Northwest!

I love college. I love TV. This is perfect.

So ’90s.

Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just weeping over an episode of Felicity.

Wait, it’s not 1998? Dangit.

See, after a 6-month journey (that I’ve really been meaning to blog about!), I finally finished all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager on Netflix Instant. So then I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself. There are so many shows on Netflix I’ve been told I would like!

Dr. Who, Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Firefly, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dawson’s Creek (I realize most of these shows totally give away the fact that I am a complete and total nerd)… plus I’m sure there are more.

But what I ultimately decided to watch was Felicity. Before I started watching last week, literally the only thing I knew about Felicity was that everyone in the real world was really upset when the main actress cut off all her hair. That’s it. That’s all I knew. But then I found out it’s a J.J. Abrams show about a girl in college. J.J. Abrams of Lost fame, y’all. College, y’all. I loved Lost! I’m getting a master’s degree in college. I gotta watch this show!

Who cares that it was on from 1998-2001 and sometimes I kind of want to punch Felicity for liking Ben and just tell her to date the cute RA Noel (who was adorably persistent in Grey’s Anatomy this past season as well… and I’m only like 8 episodes in, so forgive me if this turns out to be bad advice later on). I’m loving it so far. I’m loving the student affairs professionals who help one character through a traumatic acquaintance rape (hence the weeping). I’m loving the adorable but helpful RA. I’m loving the totally unrealistic depiction of college dorms res halls. This show is my jamz right now.

Sadly, the show is only four seasons, so I’ll probably get through it and move on to my next show fairly quickly!

What should I watch next? What show do you love watching on Netflix Instant?

Willamette Wednesday: Welcome!

(This post was originally published Monday on my SAAHE cohort’s summer internship blog. You can read it here.)
Greetings from cloudy, cool, Salem, Oregon! After a whirlwind May of finishing school, visiting Italy for two weeks, and being in Texas for a week, I am excited to finally be in one place for a solid nine weeks.

I flew out of Dallas early Saturday morning, which required me to wake up at 4 a.m. Central/ 2 a.m. Pacific. After stopping in Albuquerque and then switching planes in Oakland, Calif., I flew into Portland, and it was all I expected and more. So many hipsters. And there was a Columbia outdoor store in the airport. I hung out there for an hour or so before my shuttle to Salem arrived. I wish I could say I watched beautiful Oregonian scenery pass by on the hour-long drive, but honestly I just crashed and slept most of the way.

The bay at the Oakland, California, aiport.

Upon arriving in Salem, my head student leader for Willamette University’s Opening Days program, Molly, picked me up and took me to get food at Safeway. Groceries are way more expensive here, but there’s no sales tax… so there’s that. I spent Saturday night settling in to my apartment and unpacking and promptly got in bed at 9 p.m. After being in 5 time zones in the past week, my inner clock was frazzled, plus I was exhausted after a long day of travel.

Sunday brought me to try out a local church on my own for the first time, and my 20-minute walk to the church (summer of no car!) was made brisk due to the 53° degree weather. I was glad for my somewhat-ironic plaid flannel shirt to keep me warm on the walk, though some of the Salem natives seemed content in shorts and sandals.

After church I met up with the two ACUHO-I interns that are here this summer as well, and they walked me downtown and to the Willamette River. They’ve been here for two weeks or so, so they know a little more than me and were happy to show me around. Good news: there’s a ton of stuff within walking distance of my apartment. Also I should be getting a bike Monday or Tuesday. We’ll see how that goes. Although Willamette is technically an “urban campus,” this is no Chicago or New York. It reminds me much more of Columbia, where I went to school at Mizzou — a big-but-quaint downtown area full of local shops and restaurants. No sky scrapers, but just across the street from the Oregon Capitol there are five GIANT sequoia trees planted on the Willamette campus. I think I’d rather look up at those than buildings anyway.

One of the five Sequoia trees on the Willamette campus, known as the Star Trees.

The story behind the Star Trees.

The Oregon state capitol is across the street from campus.

I started my job in the Office of Student Activities today! I spent most of the day just filling out paperwork and setting up my computer and email, but I am excited to get further acquainted with the university, their staff, my office, and my job. I’ll be doing a few assessment projects and helping advise part of the Opening Days programming for the fall, but mostly I’ll be learning about the world of student affairs on a campus of 2500 rather than 50,000! I’m excited to learn.