Ellie Kipps’s Archive

Next

halloween and homework.

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

So today is Halloween, and I’m writing a paper. I’ve never been super into Halloween after about age 10, but it’s been great to see carved pumpkins and some ridiculous antics around campus. Last night a few of my friends dressed up like old people and there were trick-or-treaters in the Mods (a sophomore living area), so I thought that was funny.

Right now, I’m trying to gear back up for another challenging week ahead. Sometimes it is hard staying focused with all these events around, but it has taught me a lot about self-control. Though, right now, I’m really distracted by quite a few things, including my plans to study abroad next year, starting at High Sierra, and then possibly on to Australia. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to go to Israel this summer, but I’m so excited about studying in High Sierra… it’s ridiculous. Hah. I’m also distracted, in a good way, by thinking about the things I learned this week.

This past week was Global Vision week, and basically it is a week where there all these events around campus that are Mission-minded, and are designed to make APU students think about the world as a whole, when sometimes we can get trapped in the bubble of southern california or america. All the chapels are internationally minded, and on wednesday, we had a chapel speaker who brought me to tears and created a standing ovation (which I’ve never seen) for at least 3 minutes after he finished. He was an exile from Libya, and was the most amazing christian I’ve ever met. I can’t honestly describe what he said, or why it affected the whole audience the way it did, but it was life-altering. I actually got the opportunity to talk to him for a few hours after chapel, being a part of the student organization here called MESO (Middle Eastern Student Organization), which is a group that strives to have open conversation about profiles and prejudices of the Middle Eastern nations, and delight in the different cultures that are predominately Muslim.

Anyway, I’ve got to get working on this paper, but I’ll post later on how halloween went. Hopefully I can get pictures of wacky costumes tonight. One of my friends is dressing up as a Scot, complete with a real kilt from Scotland. I’m a little scared. But he and I are going to go to HOLLAH-WEEN, an event in my living area that is designed to keep students on campus for Halloween, and thus keep them safe.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Undergraduate Experience | 2 Comments »

pumpkins and papers.

Monday, October 26th, 2009

My favorite season is fall, or at least it was in NorCal (where I’m from). I love when the leaves turn red and flutter down to the ground, and I love the crisp rain that speaks of hot cocoa and fireplaces and good books, but most of all, I love pumpkins: pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, and most of all: pumpkin pie. This morning I woke up missing that fall feeling from home, and decided to make pumpkin bread with real pumpkin and a special blend of spices that my family uses. Now my apartment is filled with the smell of baking bread, and I’m feeling pretty homesick.

It is a weird thing to feel homesick as a sophomore in college, but I’m sure I’m not the only one, especially of those here at APU where there home isn’t close. I only can go home on the bigger breaks: thanksgiving, christmas, and easter break, whereas my roommates live under an hour away from campus. I love being away from home, college is a time to get away and learn about new people and new places, but there are days when I miss my northern california roots and my northern california seasons (if you are wondering what the weather is like here, Azusa has one perpetual season: warm, though, don’t worry, you can still get snow like half an hour away [don't ask me how that works, it just does]).

Last weekend, I got the chance to return to my beloved northern california and visit a place I’ve never been before: APU’s High Sierra Campus. Tucked away in the mountains, in the middle of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, seconds away from Bass Lake is this sprawling campus that is a Christian kids’ camp during the summer and one of the satellite campuses APU has during the year. I honestly felt like I had been transported to Narnia (the kid’s camp has a Narnia themed disc golf course), and I was just waiting for Aslan to come out of the forest. It was beautiful.

The reason I went up there was to check out the campus for a preview weekend (like potential students do at main campus), and make sure it was where I should be next year. It is. My plan now is to spend my entire junior year up at High Sierra. Another one of the bloggers, JP, is a student up there right now, and it was pretty rad to get to meet him in person, after reading his blogs. He’s a great guy, and I see God working on him through being up at High Sierra, and that is a beautiful thing to see. It was good for me to be up there, to hike and shoot archery and read Karl Barth sitting on the porch overlooking the forest.

Here is a little movie I put together about my time at High Sierra, it’s silly and not well filmed, but oh well. And I also am including two other videos about High Sierra, one where our University’s President Jon Wallace (or J-Dub) talks about it, and also another one that the Study Abroad office put together. Have fun watching!

YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image

Alright, well, I have papers to write, so I’ll try to keep you updated as the semester continues to provide quite the challenge in the academic front!

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Undergraduate Experience | No Comments »

mountains and midterms.

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

This past weekend I headed up to the High Sierra Campus… which I swear I will post ALL about with video and pictures after this week.

This week is midterms. I’ve got two huge exams, and two huge papers due one after another. It’s weeks like this that really make me thankful for a God who meets us right where we are, even in the middle of extreme stress. Today at chapel, God worked on my heart and anxiety about this week and my attitude towards school through the worship and message. He reminded me that I’m here at APU in the classes I have for a reason and that I do really love school… even though it gets overwhelming sometimes.

I will post soon with fun pictures, but here is a sneak preview:

I may or may not be dressed up as an angry deadliest catch captain creeping a clown. May or may not.

I may or may not be dressed up as an angry deadliest catch captain creeping a clown. May or may not.

Posted in Undergraduate Experience | No Comments »

God’s got this…

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Many of the other bloggers have been talking about just how busy they are, and I 100% agree. As someone who love being academically challenged, I thrive in the demanding pace of my honors classes and my upper divisions. However… there is definitely a point reached (that probably has something to do with learning an extremely difficult language, not sleeping, and drowning in theology along with other life stuff) that you just want to say: I give up, Enough is enough.

I reached this point earlier this week but a blessed blessed thing occured: Study Day, which is a essentially a day off from classes to… well.. study. A lot of students used their ‘Study’ day to pontificate upon and studiously participate in the magical world of Disney (haha…) and some use it for… SHOCKER: Studying. I however used my study day as a much needed sabbath, a time to breathe and reflect and realize that I’m not surrendering the stress of school over to the God who holds All things in His hand. Right now, I’ve been personally going through Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and the coupled book of Spiritual Classics as well as daily devos with Buechner (my favorite theologian), so I spent time in those as well on Study Day. I say all this not in a spirit of flaunting or anything, but more as a reminder that despite the business of life there is first and foremost the priority to God and the priority of honoring Him with rejoicing in the day He has given. And sometimes that means taking a day off (weekends or study day), or if you really can’t manage a whole day, then at least a few hours of intentionally relishing in His goodness and His Word and surrendering over stress.

So life can get (and most likely already is) extremely busy and overwhelming. It is important to remember that, as my youth pastor used to say to me, “God’s got this, you can let go now…”

Peace be with you!

I’ll post a more spunky post soon (I’m going up to High Sierra campus this weekend to check it out as I’m planning on going up there in the Fall of 2010), so I’ll post pictures and stuff from that when I get home!

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Undergraduate Experience | No Comments »

…and fire…

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Living in community can be challenging from time to time… it can also include amazing events. This event was not one of them. Haha. Just kidding.

Every monday night my Resident Advisor, Josh Pena (who is great), makes a bonfire by the pool in our firepit and puts out music and smores stuff and hot water. It’s really as simple as that. But it’s great fellowship and a chance to meet neighbors. Unfortunately I’m sick currently and being out by the fire made my voice which is kind of gone weird sounding. Check it out:

YouTube Preview Image

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Undergraduate Experience | No Comments »

Go Away!

Monday, October 5th, 2009

So I’m sitting here in my lovely apartment after a whirlwind of a weekend. I most definitely didn’t get as much homework as I wanted to get done done… but I had fun, watched four movies (which for me… is ridiculous) but I’m using the excuse that I’m sick. Anyway, I was sitting here, doing a little bit of looking forward and thinking about possible plans for next summer. I’m planning on going to Israel this summer with the School of Theology to study the geographical and historical setting of the bible and take part in an archaeological dig. No big deal.

Wait. What? Rewind. That’s right. Going. to. Israel. To. Do. Summer. School. What?! The thought of it blows my mind. I doubt that the reality of it is even going to hit until I board the plane in June with the group of students and professors.

But I’m also throwing around the possibility of going on a summer missions trip this year, with may term and all, I figured out that I can actually do both. So there is a possibility that about 5 days after May Finals, I get on a plane, fly to Africa, serve there for about 5-6 weeks, come back, debrief for like 4 days, and then take off to Israel. For someone who is an adventure and experience junkie… the thought of this thrills my mind. Then, I’d be returning from Israel mid-July, taking some time off to decompress, packing my trunk, and heading off to Oxford for the fall semester of my junior year. Now I don’t want my reader to get the idea that this is some posh and lavish thing only people with a whole lot of money and their parents paying the whole way can do (because I’m certainly not in that camp).

For missions, you raise the money with your team. For Israel, you work and save and look ahead and say that if this is important enough for you to experience, it is worth taking the hit in finances. For Oxford, you pay the SAME amount for the semester as you would on the normal APU campus, and your scholarships are factored in.

APU has sooooo many possibilities! And those possibilities aren’t just for those fortunate enough to be able to not worry about the expenses. These are real possibilities for every student who comes here. To study abroad and do missions and even maybe get to do summer school in a foreign land (my roommate is thinking about doing summer school in Lithuania this summer). When APU says: GO AWAY! They mean it (in a loving manner of course). This school is about going out, living life in the fullest of the experience and the challenges and encountering God on a daily basis, whether it be here in Azusa, or in Isreal, or Utah, or Mexico, or Africa, or England, or China. Tomorrow is the Focus International Missions Chapel and I’m so excited! One of the main reasons I came to this school is the emphasis that this education, this life, these gifts and stories God has given us aren’t just for us. And that there is a whole wide world out there to explore and serve and get to know and fall in love with and hurt for.

APU understands that adventure and a broadening of horizons and experiencing God and new cultures is essential to the spiritual growth of Christian who are in this world, but not of it, and that’s something I absolutely, 100% love about this school.

So Go away! And See and serve the World!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Undergraduate Experience | No Comments »

Older Posts →