My Life, a List

• When did February get so far along?! Oh my goodness, you guys, it's the 25th! It's almost March, and then it'll be spring time! My first year of college is almost over! Okay. That's it. I'm done ranting.

• I don't really understand this whole boy/girl thing. What do all these things MEAN? Will someone please elaborate on the difference between talking, and dating, and being in a relationship? Does anyone else think we're splitting hairs? A date is a date is a date. Can we please call it what it is? Thanks. I appreciate it.

• And also? Please stop posting pictures of you and your boyfriend kissing on facebook. No one else wants to see that, I promise.

• I am being massively productive today. I was up at 5:30, and have been non-stop busy ever since. I volunteered for Mr. Huxford at a convention this morning, caught up on my emails, I'm completely up to date on my reading. When I'm done with this, I'm going to start on homework for NEXT WEEK. Look at that. I'm pretty awesome. :D

• Despite all my productivity, when I look at my planner? I feel completely overwhelmed.

• I still miss my parents. I don't know if I'll ever get over not seeing them every day. I went home this past weekend and I'll see them again in a week, but it's just... it's sad to not see them as much as I used to.

• When I see them on Thursday, it will be for my first choir concert. It's in Westside Chapel, and I'm so excited. I like the swirly dress I get to wear, I like the music we're singing, and I like that I.... get to see my parents and my best friend. :D

• Apparently my mind is only able to think in bullet points right now. I think it's pretty strange, actually, that my brain won't do paragraphs. Maybe all this school work is doing a number on me?

-Elizabeth

then there was a snuggie.

Ever become too comfortable? Just goin with the flow and not really making a difference?

...that's not cool.

In fact, it's so not cool that President Collins (ACC) spoke about it in chapel this past Wednesday and what's the best way to show someone being comfortable? By wearing a Snuggie... Duh. :)

Unfortunately I was out of town but some awesome people decided to text me and tell me the wonderful news considering how much they know I. love. Snuggies. Also, Sarah Huxford (one of my d-group leaders) sent me a short video from chapel that I will attempt to post here... *sigh* I love Snuggies.


---Jamie-Grace

Neverland

One thing ACC has taught me is that sometimes you have to be uncomfortable in order for God to really use you, and to grow spiritually. That is not to say that I am uncomfortable here, but more so to say that my being a student at a Christian college has certainly exposed the areas in my life that need to grow. Looking back from my first semester, I am surprised at how much I have grown in maturity and in my relationship with God. Thanks, ACC, if for nothing else, than allowing me to see my relationship with the Lord in a better, brighter light!

I know I said I was gonna try to slow down and not be as busy, but I chose a bad time to do it. My roommate Caleb is having his Senior Worship Concert next week. I'm pretty involved with it, from the music, to the skit, to the reception afterwards. Okay, so I think I'll choose March to slow down my schedule...haha!

I did end up getting to sing in Vocal Studio Wednesday. I sang "Kiss the Girl" from the Little Mermaid. It may be a kid movie, but that Sebastian dude can sing, so I chose that song because it felt like a good, easy song to learn, but also a fun introduction to singing on stage! Lo and behold, my voice teacher asked me to go ahead and sing yet another song this coming Wednesday...guess I didn't do too shabby, huh?

Adios!

(I'm not sure why this blog is called neverland btw, the is very rarely rhyme to my reason. :P )

-Lawrence

"You Are Dust and to Dust You Will Return."

I feel like I only blog when I'm putting off doing something important. Like.... a paper for story of Jesus' followers that's due in a week. The totally awesome library has these recliners and I'm sitting in one of them rocking back and forth.

On Tuesday, my friends and I had supper at Bryan and Robin Amick, who are older, married students living on campus (their primary appeal is their kitchen, I have to admit. ;) ). My family has the tradition of making pancakes on Fat Tuesday before we start our Lenten fast. I've had a hard time adjusting to not having my parents, and the Amicks were nice enough to let me pretend my life was normal. And my friends were nice enough to eat my pancakes.

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, we had a special chapel to celebrate. I don't remember if I wrote about it, but it was very similar to the Advent chapel. I've never been involved in a very formal church, and I think it's beautiful: in the spirit of a "time and place for everything," there are occasions when loud, joyful praise music should take place, but it's also necessary to temper that with solemn reflection. Ash Wednesday is one of those times.

It's easy, I think, to get caught up in the "friend of God" mentality and to overlook His perfection and holiness and our depravity. We sort of equalize ourselves and take God's love for us for granted. But really, that's a gross misinterpretation of how we should behave. How can you overlook what God did for us when He allowed His son to be killed because of our failures? Lent is the beginning of the season when God corrected our mistake, when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It's a serious event, and it needs to be treated seriously.

I obviously have very strong feelings about this season of the Christian year, so I think I'm done ranting. Maybe I'll work on my paper some? Maybe not. There's time. :D

Video of the Blog Post: I don't think I've mentioned my deep, abiding love of Rich Mullins to you yet. He's my favorite musician. The depth of his music simply blows me away. Listen to the lyrics carefully and think of what it means to be caught in the "reckless, raging fury we call the love of God." It's that fury that led Him to die for us.

-Elizabeth

Note to Self: Be less busy.

I've always been the type to need something to do, or feel like I'm lazy, and this week...well, let's just say I haven't felt lazy at all! Even though due to some scheduling complications I never got to sing in Studio, I'll get another shot on next Wednesday. In addition to that, I'm having a phone interview-thing with a church in Florida that wants to hire me after I graduate. I'm so excited, and they want me to start interning the next two summers to get me ready. If everything works out, I'll be moving there in May.

Speaking of May, it's shaping up to be a great month! There's the church thing, My birthday, My brother's birthday, Mothers day, seeing some well deserving friends graduate, just to name a few things.

We also had a snow day Friday. I needed that, just to catch up on everything (including sleep.) Mmm...sleep...sounds like a good idea. Well, after I finish this laundry. See ya!

- Lawrence

Nah, I Just Have Tourette.

"Everyone in class agreed with what the psychology professor had said. Few would dare to blatantly argue with a college professor anyway, but in this case, his statement was true and the entire class could see that. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a girl shaking her head. It was Jamie-Grace, the 16-year-old college freshman. He called her out and asked if she disagreed with what he said... She didn’t disagree at all and didn’t even realize she was moving her head."

Reading that paragraph it could sound like it was my most embarrassing moment but as this year at ACC has talked about defining moments? Yeah, that was totally one.

That paragraph is actually an excerpt from the SUSIE Magazine, a Christian magazine by Susie Shellenberger for young girls. Unfortunately, I did not express to them it was actually a female professor - my absolute favorite professor here at ACC. And yes, it's not the best to pick "total faves" but Mrs. Sadler (psychology professor) gave me something my terrified-of-college 16-year-old-kid-self didn't know I could have. A voice.

I'm a motivational speaker, so I'm used to speaking up about Tourette and I'm open to any questions. However the idea of living on a campus with new people and seeing them everyday made me a little confused as to how I would tell people, when I would tell them - if I would.

(What was I supposed to do have a motivational talk at the beginning of the semester and talk about my experience with overcoming Tourette? Maybe... I'll have to talk to Mr. Huxford about that one... ;)

So when Mrs. Sadler asked me, the girl shaking her head, if I disagreed with the statement? And I did? I simply said, "Oh! I have Tourette Syndrome" and boom - it was out.

My little statement that always finds it's way into some conversation... My few words I hesitate to say sometimes... My phrase I can say in my sleep (and probably do)... My awkward statement that often causes disbelieve... it was out of the open.

As I said before, I'm very open about it, I just don't always know how to tell people. So the chance to say it righ there in front of the entire class made it perfect. I'd already gotten to know most of the class through orientation so they really didn't care or see me any different. It also helped because we briefly (briefly, btw) discussed Tourette in class and OMG it's awkward when that happens and people don't yet... it's like having a conversation with somebody and realizing, once you walk away, that it's their birthday! (I'm sorry Anthony Nasser, Gerardo Mancilla and John Aymerich).

*sighs* Well, it's about 1:20 AM (actually it's exactly 1:20 A-WAIT! 1:21) and I'm leaving for Nashville at 5ish AM. Eek! I'll be filming Season dos of a Christian TV show called "iShine KNECT" as well as going to a few meetings. Lots of sitting, waiting, listening - as well as singing, acting and following God's plan like whoa!!

So I should go now! To check out the full SUSIE Magazine article, visit www.susiemagazine.com or go to Barnes & Noble... Kroger... and look for the February Issue with Brandon Heath on the cover.

...WHOA! Guess time has wrapped around because I'm staying up so late?? I just got hungry and I am not eating at this time unless it's a slumber party! Omg my 1991 is showing...

With lack of proof reading and sleep,
Jamie-Grace

PS - my mom (our mom...my sis Morgan blogs here too) spoke in chapel Wednesday! You can hear her message ("Mona Harper") and all of the other messages this semester by clicking download here! (Archives actually go back to Spring 2006 - crazy, I know!)

PSS - that first picture is of me and one of my CLM's freshman year, Staci. We were hiding in my other CLM's (Adrian) room to surprise her on her birthday... I should blog about that story next. Total party at ACC.


- Jamie-Grace

"The Block"!!!! no problem! ;)

Hi Guys,
I am currently in the middle of my junior and I in the teaching block. Boy is it tough! I have 18 hours and work! The good thing is I don't have extracurricular activities going on this semester, I don't mind that at all! Even though "the block" is super busy and tough, I really do enjoy it. I have gotten awesome experience that I don't believe I would be able to get somewhere else. I have been in a classroom every semester since I have been here at ACC and I have learned so much about becoming a better teacher. I feel like once I graduate from ACC I will be able to jump right into a classroom and be a great teacher. I haven't actually decided which grade I want to teach yet but I am pretty sure I want the younger grades. I believe with the younger grades I have a direct hand in helping them learn. I will lay the foundation for learning for the rest of their lives. Over-all "the block" has been stressful, it's not a walk in the park by no means, but I have learned a lot and it's been a good ride so far. By the time I graduate I will be the best teacher ever!!! ;) lol

- Alex

I like the morning time.

I've been getting up pretty early lately. I'm not sure why, but I just seems to enjoy the day more when I get a nice, early start. I'll read a little scripture, spend some time with God, eat breakfast, double check homework, shower, and head to class. Maybe I'm turning into a morning person. Geeze, I hope not...those people scare me.

I found out that I will be singing in my first private voice studio class on Wednesday. I'm pretty nervous, but excited at the same time. I think this first time being the ONLY one on stage is supposed to be a little intimidating. But if there is one thing this school is good at, it's pulling you out of your comfort zone, and into a place of vulnerability so that God can use our gifts that much more.

There's a SuperBowl party goin' down Sunday night. I think I'm going to go, just so I can hang out with some people I don't normally get to see. I'm not a big sports fan, but the CLMs have a pretty good habit of making sure there is something for everybody to enjoy at the school events. We'll probably end up playing apples to apples or something in the back of the room or something.

Okay, time to hit that morning routine I was talking about. Until next week...I'm off like a bad prom dress!

(Don't ask, I just heard that joke a few weeks ago...)

- Lawrence

Cold and Rainy Weather=Nap Time

Well it's freezing (well not really freezing just really cold) and rainy outside, and my flag football team has a game today. Even though I'm not a very good player, I still have fun out there. Mostly I just hike the ball then stand there and watch what happens. As much as I enjoy playing, I'm really not looking forward to being outside in this weather.
Right now I'm just curled up on the couch watching a movie, but I'm about to do some reading for my Graphic Novels class. Last week I read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. At the beginning of the semester I was dreading this class because comic books just weren't my thing. However, I really liked reading the Dark Knight. I also need to do some reading for my Christian Literature class. But Paradise Lost isn't nearly as entertaining as reading about Batman.
Well it's cold and I'm really sleepy. So I have a feeling that I'm going to put off that reading until I take a nap!

- Dana

ACC on the Go: Something New & Something I Loved

I have just realized that while I thought I posted this over a week ago, I had actually just saved it as a draft! Oh, technology!

On Saturday, the 23rd of January, 1 professor, 4 ACCers, and 1 of my good friends piled in Dr. Dycus' minivan and headed to Cleveland, Tennessee for the annual Lee University Literary Symposium. While excited about hearing the various creative and critical works of college students throughout the southeast, Kaycee (second from right in the picture below) and I were busy preparing ourselves for reading our own creative works--yes, we were both accepted to present at the Symposium!

Until that day, I didn't read my poetry aloud--especially not in a public setting. Ever. For me, my poetry was just something I was supposed to express on paper or in a book, right? Wrong! Through this Symposium, I not only got the exposure (and something to add to my resume!) but the experience of doing something totally knew with something I love--writing! From what I can hear, I felt as though my work was received well...I am so glad I had a supportive professor, supportive classmates (who also make great friends) to experience that with me. I believe this experience was encouraging for all of us!

Now for a picture of the crew:

From left to right: Dr. Dycus (Head of English Department--A really awesome professor! If you happen to come to ACC, be sure to take at least one of classes--you will not regret it!), my friend Dominique (She's a Photography Major at another institution, but I brought her with me because I knew it would be worthwhile and she was great company!), Merit (one of my new friends, I just met her this semester--she's a Business Major), Me! (An English Major...whom I believe is not even looking at the camera...), Kaycee (A Humanities Major, I jokingly say I want to be her when I grow up! She really is a great person and so much fun to roadtrip with), Becca (My fellow English Major friend! Fun Fact: We actually met at an ACC visitation day in 2005--5 years ago! It's crazy that it has been that long...she's fun to be around and we've been on ACC "field trips" together in the past!).

So if you're an English major, Humanities major (like Kaycee), or just someone who enjoys to write, at ACC, you will have this to look forward to every spring semester. I regret that I did not become more involved earlier on in my college career, so that's why I am telling you guys about it!

- Morgan

The View from Saturday

So it's 10:10 AM exactly, on a Saturday morning, and I am a) awake, a feat in and of itself b) not tired and c) eating dry cereal. More specifically, eating off-brand Lucky Charms.

Today is awesome because I will be at home tonight. A friend of mine (Adam) is working at Woodland Christian Camp this weekend, and he's going to be really close to my house, and he's kind enough to take me as far as Temple. I haven't been home in three weeks, and although my guy friends tease me ("It's called being independent, Elizabeth." "Yeah, independent.") there's nothing wrong with wanting to see my parents. When I was planning to go to Arkansas for school, I knew I'd never get to come home for weekends and I was okay with that. But one of the advantages of going to school closer to home is GETTING to be home every so often, and I'd have to be stupid to not take advantage of that.

Today is not awesome because I have so much stuff to DO! My Monday is chock-full of classes, study sessions, blood-donating sessions, and essays to turn in. I'm hoping to get a lot of it done before I go home so I can relax and hang out with the aforementioned parentals. Hence my 8:30 wake-up call. I'm going to go to some more homework.

- Elizabeth

Geeze it's early...

Yeah, so I'm not really the type to get up before 9 if I can avoid it, but my boss in the cafeteria asked me last night to come in and cook breakfast because the normal lady will be out of town...so here I am, at almost 6 am, no classes until 2, and I'm looking for my first (of many) cup of coffee.

Haha, but it's worth it, because I know that everyone will appreciate it. Besides, I like to cook. I've been in the kitchen since I was 14. It also feels good that my boss can trust me to get the job done, it's a lot of responsibility!

Meanwhile, I've finally found my routine for balancing classes, homework, work, friends, and you know good ol' God. There were a few days last week that I didn't get to spend time reading my bible as long as I normally do, and it scared me a little that it would be that way all semester, but now that the dust has cleared, seems like everything will work out.

In other news, ALL of my roommates are graduating! I'm so happy for them, but that means I have no idea who I'll be living with next semester. That's something I'm gonna work on, finding some other upper-classmen friends to live with. Sounds exciting!

Yikes! I gotta get started on breakfast! See ya!

- Lawrence

Hello, Hurricane!

I just finished up a chat with my friend Georgia, and sat down with a cup of coffee in the lounge. I'm wearing my pajamas already and am looking forward to a calm and peaceful night of relaxing before the week ahead of me sets in. I try to take these blogs in a literal--less metaphysical sense, but sometimes I just feel like sharing what's on my heart.

Everyone who's been... alive.. has experienced those moments of impending doom, where you can just FEEL something looming on the horizon. You know it's coming and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You have two options. One: Fall on your knees and give into the "inevitable" collapse. Two: Stand, facing this massive storm, screaming with everything within you, "Bring it on!" Prepare for it as best you can, then wait, confident and assured, resting in God's hands.

Lately, a couple of curve balls have been thrown at me, things I have no control over, things I don't need to have control over (and if they were really curve balls, things I have no hope of actually hitting). It's easy to fall back into old patterns of thinking and old habits, and more so, it's tempting beyond belief. I'm scared of what the future holds for me, and as I was discussing this with Georgia, she said, "Yeah, of course you're scared. But do you think ultimately something good's going to come out of this?"

"Two Bible verses come to mind," I replied. "First, 'For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.' This bit in Psalms sort of defines 'good' for me, 'As for me, nearness to God is my good. I have put my trust in the Lord.'"

At the end of this school year, I doubt I will be in love or even have a boyfriend. I don't think I'll have won the lottery (kinda hard when you don't play), or have all my dreams come true. But I do think I'll be near to God. And, as far as I'm concerned, nearness to God is my good. I trust him to know what the end game is.

So, I think as I wait for the impending storm, I'm going to sing, like Jon Foreman, "Hello, hurricane, you're not enough... you can't silence my love. I've got doors and windows boarded up. All your dead end fury's not enough. You can't silence my love."

Video of the Blog Post: Hello Hurricane by Switchfoot.

- Elizabeth

Oh, Holy Night

It seems as though "Holy Night" would be something said only during Christmas time but, oh... oh Holy Night.

Last night on Twitter, roughly 9pm, I saw the status of my friend Ayiesha. She's a Christian recording artist and was doing a live chat. I absolutely love her love chats, she's hilarious, her brother's hilarious, and they always sing and do random stuff - something worth watching!

Ayiesha was recording a new song and closer to midnight they started doing Q+A and just chatting. I was doing some homework so I wasn't really paying that much attention but I saw someone who was posting about free beats. Donald (Ayiesha's brother) started playing the guys beats and talking with him, it's was pretty cool they were, for the first time, doing free promotion on a live chat.

To make a long story short, it was aobut 1am and the chat was still going on. This time mostly talking to the young guy who initially posted about his beats. At this point Donald and Ayiesha were telling him about God and salvation and calling God had on his life - the guy has crazy talent!! Let's call him C. :)

Closer to 2:00 am most people had gone to bed except for Ayiesha, Donald, C, myself and about 10 of Ayiesha's friends. Reasonable, the "small" number 10, as live chats usually last up to two hours - at the most. But wherever two or three are gathered...

Ayiesha started playing worship songs, literally praying on a live chat, we were all saying encouraging things to C and praying and worshipping in our homes. Some of us in Georgia, some in Illinois, Texas... God was moving!

I believe the chat ended at 4am. We were all tired but honestly I didn't realize it.

The last was hour was filled with praise - C accepted God into His life.

Ayiesha was playing praise songs and just slap happy!! Haha. I couldn't even stay in my seat. Literally. I have never seen something like that. Someone accepting Christ in a video chat - it just adds to the fact that it's not Facebook and MySpace and other internet sites getting bad rep, but the way they are being used.

Every Twitter update or live chat doesn't have to be praise & worship songs, but as Christians we should be ready for that because we never know who is watching, who is listening or who should be. And the way we can be ready is by always posting clean stuff, never saying things that don't line up with our morals; just always being ready.

So, at 1pm I finally woke up. Ha. Still happy about God's amazing way of working but pretty frustrated about my throat. It. hurts.

I guess I would be OK with it if I didn't have a really big audition tomorrow? Yet I'm just praying I'll get better atleast for the next 24 hours. I'm chugging Throat Coat tea, about to take some Claritin and am gonna try not to talk.

Well, hello impossible.

- Jamie-Grace

On a rainy, winter night...

On a rainy, winter night...I celebrated God's love being evident as he secured a new job for me! I work in the Institutional Advancement office part time now. Cool, huh? It's not a big important job or anything, but it feels good to be able to assist the school even more directly.

Unfortunately, it also meant that I missed the housewarming party in Gilbert Hall, and had to skip Open Mic night tonight, mainly because it was raining and I was already tired from a long day of classes and working. But it worked out kinda well, because a lot of us who couldn't make it to the party and Open Mic were hanging out in my room, getting to know each other a little better. God works in strange ways, huh?

So with this new job, I can finally relax a little on my budget. (Can you say Dwarf House?) But my free time is a little more limited, but that's just part of being in college. I have finally been to all of my classes (No, I wasn't skipping...private music lessons are kinda complicated to schedule the first few weeks.) And I'm glad to say that I've started the semester out well. Now, I'm going to finish up a little English Homework, and run off to bed! PEACE!

- Lawrence

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

Today I went to class and it was so awesome! Dr. Blackburn turned into one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse and taught us how to add and subtract large numbers in our head. Then, I watched some upperclassmen wrestle over the last chocolate chip cookie in the cafeteria. Awesome!

I'd love to tell you about the rest of my day, but I am so tired, Diary, I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Love,

Elizabeth

- Elizabeth

Action Packed Weekend

Hey everybody! I know it's Monday, but since I didn't post last week, I'm posting this for last week, because it still feels like Sunday because we had Monday off and I didn't really get a Sunday because I was at camp all weekend and then had a student lock-in and never got to sleep until 9 a.m. this morning. Run-on sentence much?

Anyway, that was my weekend. We left Friday afternoon to lead worship at a camp in North Georgia, and what was supposed to be a 2 hours trip turned into a 5+ hour journey full of obstacles and pratfalls! But it was totally worth it to see how God turned the disaster of being 7 hours late into part of the message that the pastor of the church we went to Sunday used. Oh but wait, That wasn't the whole weekend.

Sunday night there was a student lock-in at the church I used to go to before I applied to ACC. It was great times, and even though I never got more than thirty seconds of sleep until 9:00 this morning, it was fun to just have fun and fellowship with my old youth group and church family. I can't wait until next year!

With the first week of classes down and all of my private music lessons scheduled, this semesters is turning out to be pretty darn amazing! See ya soon.

- Lawrence

pray for haiti - a beautful cliche.

I have seen it in Facebook status, Twitter updates, email forwards and blog posts. The "cliche" Pray For Haiti is everywhere I go.

In profile pictures, website introductions... everywhere...

and it's more than beautiful.

I found out about the storm when sitting with my mom on her hospital bed. (She is recovering, but please keep her in your prayers...) I felt my phone vibrate and the Twitter update, sent via text, came through. It was from my friend Aegis (currently in Haiti with the Hands and Feet Orphanage), in all-caps stating that they were OK but a 7+ earthquake had just hit, and there was a lot of destruction around them. Seconds later the Twitter update from her husband Mark stating the same. I stood up, in shock, and immediately shared the info with my family in the room.

My sister Morgan and I had talked about going to Haiti on that trip... our tickets weren't purchased and our bags weren't packed, but it gave us the thought, "What if we were there?"

Within minutes of those Twitter updates, I got so many more. Almost everyone simply stating, "pray for Haiti" or "I'm praying for Haiti." Some even saying, "Hanging out with my friends, still praying for Haiti."

Shortly after the news came on and we were informed about the earthquake by anchors. It was crazy... as the night progressed seeing more and more updates from Twitter, Facebook and the news... the storm was serious, lives were at risk and all I could do was pray.

I'm not there, if you're reading this you may not be there so all we can do is pray.

As time has gone on there have been more and more people saying to pray for Haiti. There are also numerous websites with opportunities to donate to Haiti - also amazing. All of the bad slack and reviews social networking websites receive should be reevaluated. It isn't the amount of people on Facebook, it isn't the fact that Twitter exists, it's how we choose to use technology itself.

I have seen it in Facebook status, Twitter updates, email forwards and blog posts. The "cliche" Pray For Haiti is everywhere I go.

In profile pictures, website introductions... everywhere...

this is the most beautiful cliche.

Mark Stuart is one of the founders of the Hands and Feet Project.
https://www.handsandfeetproject.org/home.php


- Jamie-Grace

The Good Reaction

As an English major, I write--a lot. Consequently, as the picture illustrates, I revise and then I am not afraid to react! I took this photograph last summer while "reading my old fiction" that I found in an old file box containing a book I was working on back in middle school. Though it was middle school, not a lot has changed in terms of reading old work and "reacting to it." Year after year, this has always been an issue in my writing until

last semester.

Thankfully, I decided to give something I wrote a chance at a little life. Dr. Dycus, who is the head of the English department and a professor here at ACC mentioned a Literary Symposium that was coming up in January 2010 at another university. They were looking for literary submissions from college students nationwide. I thought it was a good idea, and at the very last minute, I decided to give some of my poetry a shot. Yesterday I checked my email and found that my work had been accepted and I will be reading at the symposium! I am beyond excited. I guess reading and reacting to my work doesn't always have to be negative. Criticism + Positivity can bring great results!

I will definitely blog after the conference next weekend and let you all know how it goes. Hopefully I'll bring back some good "reactions!"

- Morgan

Dear World, Sorry I Suck at Blogging

Oh, hello there, once-a-week commitment. It's nice to see you again. How have you been? I'm doing all right. It's been tough to show my face here again, I admit, but I think we should patch things up and be friends again. Are you cool with that? I hope so.

Anyway, let's focus on the positive, shall we? I've been back at school for a grand total of three days. Class was canceled today because it snowed. I'm not really a huge fan of snow, honestly, and I know I'm going to get hate mail for that last comment, but it. Is. So. Cold! At any rate, I got some well-needed sleep last night out of the bargain, so I'm satisfied.

This semester is shaping up to be awesome. I'm looking forward to my classes (because I'm a nerd). The highlights of my semester? Introduction to philosophy, beginning guitar, and concert choir. I tried to teach myself to play the guitar a couple of years ago, with little luck, so hopefully this time will stick. I like singing, and I absolutely LOVED the ACC choir's Christmas concert (saw it three times, and loved it all three) and I'm looking forward to participating. Introduction to philosophy is a bit more..... hm. Well, for starters, it's on Monday nights from 6:00 to 9:00. I'm not sure how long sitting in a room for three hours is going to be fun, first of all. But I've been looking at the text books, one of which looks almost like a philosophy for dummies book and the other is meant to be a novel, Sophie's World. Also, I think the teacher (Stephen Bain) is the son or other relation of our librarian, and Mr. Bain-the-librarian is a wonderful man, with this excellent dry sense of humor. I think I'll enjoy the subject matter, and I'm looking forward to starting class.

In other noteworthy news, lots of new freshmen moved into my hall. I've been making friends, or trying to at least, and they all seem really nice. I had lunch with three of them today and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

In OTHER noteworthy news, I made an idiot of myself in my preaching class on Wednesday. Dr. Strother was calling attendance, and he called someone named Kelly. There's a new freshman girl named Kelly who moved into room 1 in Upper Head, and I said so, TRYING to be helpful. Dr. Strother makes a comment about how we weren't being very friendly, to not have ensured she came to class. Literally seconds after this exchange happens, a boy walks into class. "Who are you?" asks Dr. Strother and my friend Katie says, loud enough for Dr. Strother to hear, "That's Kelly." He asks, "Are you Kelly?" and the boy responds, "Yes, sir, I am." . . .Needless to say, this is NOT the same person who moved in next door in room 1.

Right, well, I've been working on this post for the better part of an hour, with various sundry interruptions. I think I've lost my ability to blog easily. Maybe with more practice? And I WILL have more practice. We're going back to once or twice a week, blog readers, I promise. Call it a New Year's Resolution.

- Elizabeth