Kelsey Bjugstad’s Archive

Sixth grade, Spending, and Service-Learning

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Hi, I’m Kelsey. :) You might be familiar my face or name because I blogged my freshman year. I’m now a junior Communication Studies major and Psychology minor. I’m taking a few of my major classes and finally finishing up my general education classes. My last general education class I’m taking, other than bible courses, is Analytical Inquiry. Analytical Inquiry fills my math requirement and I’ve really been enjoying it. It’s an alternative to College Algebra for non-science majors. We focus on a lot of case-study math, such as learning about auto loans, inflation, and taxes. I love learning math that I know I’ll be using after college and can even currently apply to my life.

Another really great part of the class is the service-learning aspect. Service-Learning is a program at APU that allows students to learn by serving the community. We were able to teach a local sixth grade class how to use the car loan formula in order to pay the best price for a car. We looked at buying cars at high and low APRs (loan interest rate for the year) and rebates.

I really enjoyed our Service-Learning project. Not only was volunteering in general fulfilling, actually being able to teach the kids something relevant was extremely rewarding. While the two girls I was teaching only got through half of the worksheet because of time constraints, it was so fun to encourage, help, and teach them. Math is one of my worst subjects so it was nice to be able to understand the material and teach it to someone else. It was nice to see how excited the girls got when they started recognizing patterns in the formula and getting ahead of my instructions. I taught two girls at once which was great because they were able to help each other as well. One of the girls caught onto the formula a bit faster, while the other seemed to get a little behind and didn’t want to ask for help. I really admired the girl who picked it up quickly and yet I could relate so much to the one who needed just a little bit of guidance.

I really wish we could have had a little bit more time. It was so nice to have a break from my schedule and homework assignments to go teach the sixth graders. I’m really hoping future classes take advantage of our Service-Learning program. It was great! :)

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Busyness

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Ahh! It’s been such a busy semester! My unit load is the same, but my classes are harder this semester. Harder doesn’t necessarily mean bad though, all of my classes are interesting.  I decided I’d rather take classes that are a little bit harder where I learn a lot than take super easy classes where everything is simple and irrelevant.  Some days I feel like I regret this decision, but in the end I know it’s going to be way more beneficial.

This is especially true for my Christian Life, Faith, and Ministries class. ‘CLFM’ is a required bible class for all undergrad students. My professor warned us the first day of class to drop if we weren’t going to take it seriously and actually do the work. And he repeated that frequently. I’m so glad I stayed though! ‘CLFM’ doesn’t always have the best reputation because it’s a required class, but it really depends on the teacher. Mine makes the class so interesting! Actually, fellow blogger Ellie recommended the class to me :). I know I couldn’t do it justice by talking about everything we are learning about. Let’s just say the class is an hour and half long and I’ll think only 45 minutes have gone by. That is so much better than my three hour classes :).

Speaking of three-hour classes… that could also explain some of my busyness this semester. I planned out my schedule so I would have Fridays off this semester, which I love! The problem with not having Fridays is I have to make it up somewhere. For me, that is 7:30-10:30 Monday and Tuesday nights. I have a Philosophy and Fundamentals of Bio Lecture on those nights.  I’ve never been a big fan of Mondays, but I’ve definitely gained a new dislike for both Mondays and Tuesday. At the same time, my Philosophy professor’s goal is to teach us AND keep us awake and my Bio teacher lets us out a little early, so they are both do-able.  I just need to get some sleep Sunday nights, which doesn’t seem to happen all that often :)

My roommate and I (and another hallmate who often has slept over in our room) often stay up watching movies and TV shows pretty late. She has every episode of Friends, which I’d never really watched before now. We try to keep this habit going only on the weekend… but we sometimes just put it on to go to sleep, knowing we probably will watch the whole thing.  It’s a choice I make though; everyone can decide when they want to sleep.  I love staying up late and can rarely fall sleep before one but it gets hard to get up at eight in the morning.

Another reason I’ve been so busy is that I started working this semester! :) It’s an on-campus job, which is really nice when it comes to days off and finals week.  I also just really enjoy the office I work in, but it’s been a little overwhelming trying to adjust.  Its only 4 and half hours a week… but it starts at 8 in the morning, and that kills me :) On the plus side, I have discovered breakfast in the Caf is amazing. I get up a half hour earlier so I can get breakfast before work. Omelet’s and lucky charms cereal completes me. :)

In light of all of this.. I’ve been having a lot of fun too!!

Last Friday our hall had an event called GYRAD. GYRAD stands for Get Your Roommate A Date. Basically, you get your roommate a surprise date for a fun group date.  A lot of girls went with friends but a few brought their boyfriends too.  We went to Downtown Disney and played a game called  “Are You the Freak I Seek.”  Our RA organized a game where a few APU people dressed up in strange costumes and had passwords for us. The goal was to get all the passwords by finding all of the ‘freaks.’ The catch was that we had to perform a task for each password.

Activities included making giant pyramids, doing the ‘Single Ladies Dance,” introducing yourself to someone you didn’t know, singing Backstreet Boys and even a fake proposal. All of this was in the middle of Downtown Disney. We definitely drew some crowds and made some Disneyland visitors laugh :). It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend a Friday night with the 3rd North girls and their dates.

We are a talented bunch :)

We are a talented bunch :)

Last weekend we had a hall event called ‘Lazy Dayz.’ We all slept in and then our R.A. and R.A.R. (Our resident advisor and her roommate) made us pancakes :) It was nice to have a relaxing day with the girls in my hall. We ended in by dragging pillows, mattresses, and blankets into the Study Room and watching a Chick flick.

This Saturday I attended Mugs and Muffins. Mugs and Muffins is an event for all Trinity girls.  We’ve had two other ones, and everyone has really enjoyed them.  We always start with worship, although I missed most of it because I was running late. Have I mentioned I don’t love mornings? :) Then we have a speaker come. We had an admissions counselor and a science professor, and both had really great stuff to say! There is something about being able to just hang out as girls and talk about God that make getting up early (well… okay, 10:00) so worth it. This time we had the RD of the Shire/Mods. She was so great! She talked about getting through our fears with some great example! :)

Well.. back to the busyness of classes :)

-Kelsey

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Mexican Thanksgiving <3

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

My normal Thanksgiving consists of about 10 of my family members sitting around a table, eating some turkey, potatoes, and yams. I love those Thanksgiving, but this year I was eating homemade, fresh tamales with a different kind of family :)

A few of us eating the best Mexican food we've ever had!

A few of us eating the best Mexican food we've ever had!

Instead of going home for Thanksgiving I went to Mexico with the Mexico Outreach group. It was such an awesome experience! I honestly could talk (or type) for hours… so I’ll just give a few highlights.

I love everyone in this photo so much!

I love everyone in this photo so much!

Mexico Outreach splits us into different teams that go to individual sites. I got put on Global Team 2, which was such an amazing blessing! The Global Teams were made up of International Students and Third Culture Kids (People that had grown up in a different culture, often Missionary kids). It was so much fun to hear everyone’s stories about their life in Taiwan, Spain, or Japan.

Here are my team leaders Ty and Luke “helping out” with brownies for our bake sale. :)

'Lucas' and Ty helping Earl-Lynn and I baking brownies. Well.. sort of helping ;)

'Lucas' and Ty helping Earl-Lynn and I baking brownies. Well.. sort of helping ;)

Earl-Lynn and I joined Yui and Emily making cookies in Engstrom (One of the dorms)!

Cookie team meets Brownie team :) Love these girls!

Cookie team meets Brownie team :) Love these girls!

We got the number for the church a little bit later than most so we weren’t exactly sure what the pastor and his wife were going to have us do.  We knew there would be kids around and possibly some kind of construction.

Once we got to the church and met Mario and Leti (the pastors) we basically learned they pulled the kids out of school most of Thursday and Friday so we could just play with them.  Leti said they haven’t had anyone come to their church in two years, and the kids just love seeing American students willing to give up their time to be with them. We had two Sunday school lessons, but essential we just loved the kids and did whatever they were doing.

We bought some art supplies and it got crazy :) But crazy in the most precious, beautiful way.

Construction paper galore :)

Construction paper galore :)

Stickers were a must! We ran out so quickly! :)

Stickers were a must! We ran out so quickly! :)

Even the kitten got a crown

Even the kitten got a crown

Drawing the kids

Drawing the kids

Love her artwork!

Love her artwork!

Yui let us use very volleyball… and we had so much fun! Most of my time while we were at the church was spent playing volleyball with all the boys, although we did have an intense game of boys vs. girls’ soccer. The girls pretty epic-ly lost :)

They got a net the last day... it was so much fun!

They got a net the last day... it was so much fun!

Volleyball helped me be able to connect with some of the kids at first. I'm not great at volleyball, but my volleyball skills are much better than my Spanish skills ;)

Volleyball helped me be able to connect with some of the kids at first. I'm not great at volleyball, but my volleyball skills are much better than my Spanish skills ;)

I don’t know if I can even express how much I love these kids! Actually, I love everyone at the church. Leti knew Thursday night was Thanksgiving for us, so they switched their normal Friday night service to Thursday and made tamales and beans for us. It was such a sweet gesture! I know that it must of cost them a lot to feed both our team and the drama team that preformed, but they were so hospitable.  Later in the week, Leti took us to an awesome breakfast where we all had Goat meat. She wouldn’t let us pay, and my heart just went out to her. It makes me want to be more open and loving towards others in need.

Piggyback rides :)

Piggyback rides :)

Eating goat meat with our wonderful translator Jessica!

Eating goat meat with our wonderful translator Jessica!

I want to be in Mexicali right now. I’d so much rather be playing with the kids than studying for finals :) I have to go back to ‘The Fountain of Life’ church. I fell in love with all those kids you are seeing in the pictures… and I can’t help needing to go back. We were able to provide them with some plumbing supplies so they could have a working bathroom but there is so much their church is doing.

I gave a speech last Monday (the day after we got back, ahh was that stressful) where I mentioned Americans who go on short-term missions need to know that God is already working in the area and it isn’t our job to go and fix everything. Mario and Leti had us follow them to multiple sites their church is growing around Mexicali and we just prayed over the sites. God was already providing them with land, open homes, and loving families to help their church grow.

This is Mario and Leti in front of a plot of land that will hopefully be an extension of their church:

Soon to be a new church site! Keep praying!

Soon to be a new church site! Keep praying!

One of the best parts of this trip was my team. I know I already mentioned them, but honestly, this would have been a whole different trip without them.  We were the smallest group on the trip but it let us get so close! Each one of us brought something exciting to the trip, and I love them all! I can’t help but smile every time I hear the song “Fireflies’ :)

This is getting a bit long so I’ll wrap it up with one quick story. Please, please feel free to leave comments and ask question… like I said before, I could talk about my trip for hours :)

In our lovely van

In our lovely van

Well, we ended up leaving Mexicali around midnight Sunday morning because of rain conditions and some sickness. We can try to blame it on being tired and worn out but everyone in our car almost had a panic attack at 1 in the morning when we realized Yui had brought apples into the van.  We were almost to the border and you aren’t allowed to bring fruit over the border. Yui handed me an apple but I had no idea what to do with it.  There wasn’t a garbage can around and we were stuck in the border traffic. My group members kept yelling to throw it out the window, and that is what ended up happening :). Apples are degradable but at the time I was so afraid the Mexican police were going to be super mad! It got worse though; because Yui had put the apples all around the car in spaces so we could all have one.  We kept finding more apples, and they kept making me chuck them out the window! Oh, I love my Global Team 2. :)

groupwva

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APU All Access Weekends Are My Favorite :)

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

If you are even considering coming to APU, I would highly encourage coming to an APU All Access campus preview. I love APU All Access. I love it so much that I went to two of them and now host students who come. :)

I went to my first APU All Access my junior year.  My best friend and I had wanted to go to APU for years. Jana’s Dad is an alumni of the college so she had been here for Homecoming many a few times but want to experience APU as a student.  I had never been to APU and was hoping it would live up to Jana’s stories and what I’d heard from others.

My best friend Jana and I hanging out on West Campus in March 08 :)

My best friend Jana and I hanging out on West Campus in March 08 :)

I had so much fun my first preview weekend!  It was fun to experience dorm life, go to a chapel, sit in on classes, and just learn more about APU.

Jana and I again :) Seems like so long ago!! The background is the Darling Library (West Campus)

Jana and I again :) Seems like so long ago!! The background is the Darling Library (West Campus)

So why did I go to a second APU All Access? I know, it seems kind of strange. One of my best friends moved away in junior high and called me to tell me she was going to an APU All Access campus preview in January of my senior year.  I only get to see her about every other year and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a weekend. :)

Lainey and I at the January All-Access. We are sitting in the front row for a basketball game!! It was so much fun!

Lainey and I at the January APU All Access. We are sitting in the front row for a basketball game!! It was so much fun!

I was accepted in December because I did “Early Action” but I thought that another APU All Access could confirm my discoing. It definitely did! You may have heard that APU has great community and that everyone is really friendly, and its true! The best example that I experienced while I was visiting occurred after sitting in on a Journalism class.

We watched the Women and Men's teams play! It was pretty awesome. APU Basketball is kind of a big deal here :)

We watched the Women and Men's teams play! It was pretty awesome. APU Basketball is kind of a big deal here :)

The professor talked to me and the other preview student before starting class. He asked us where we were from and if we were interested in Journalism. The class was interesting but after it was over a girl in the class stopped us and asked us why we were interested in APU.  She shared her experience in the Journalism program and then asked us where we were headed next.  It was lunchtime so she offered to drive us back to East Campus even though we said we could easily walk or talk the trolley.  While driving us back she shared more about why she loved APU and how much she enjoyed her classes.

It seems like such a small gesture but looking back it really meant a lot to me as a preview student. A college student not even related to the All-Access program took time out of her day to spend time with, talking to, and talk about APU with some high schooler who, in way, interrupted her classes and routine. It just showed the honest friendliness and community at APU.

Honestly, if you have any interest in APU, come to an APU All Access campus preview.  I’ve heard the best way to choose a college is to go to the campus and envision yourself there. Personally, APU definitely fit that description and I easily ruled out others by visiting campus.

I had an awesome time hanging out with the girls who stayed in my room for All Access :) I’m so glad they enjoyed their weekend here.  Both are planning on coming to APU next year! Can’t wait to see you guys! :)

-Kelsey

P.S. Just a helpful college hint… ALWAYS randomly hit the “Control/Command S” button while typing ANYTHING.  While writing this blog and outlining the entire book of Exodus my Microsoft Word decided it would be funny to have “an unexpected error.” Not so funny when it only recovers half of each document. Sigh. Oh well :)

Also, if you are interested in an APU All Access campus preview you should go here:

https://www.apu.edu/admissions/undergraduate/visit/

(It gives dates, cost, and all the fun events that you’ll do :)

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Crazy Busy Day :)

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Packed day of class, service, alpha, and fun :)

When I refer to today, I mean Tuesday the 3rd :) I always write my blogs late at night and don’t have time to spell-check or see if they even make any sense. So there is usually at least a day delay.

Today has been a crazy day… but a really great day too. Here busy day

Slept in until 10:45 because my 8:05 Run/Walk/Jog class was canceled. This was an excellent start to the day. Not that it’s a bad class, but “Run-Run” as we like to call it doesn’t really motivate me at 8:05 in the morning. It’s a good class for avoiding the dreaded ‘freshman 15’ but it seems so early. I honestly am not sure how I went to class that early 3 days a week last year. Oh right, I went to sleep before 2. But that is my personal preference… Not everyone stays up so late. I just haven’t slept before midnight in at least a year.

Back to my day.. Sleeping in was amazing (and gave me 8.5 hours of sleep) but I was almost late for my 11:25 Health and Wellness class. My roommate and I both fast-walked to West Campus. I made it in time for our class discussion on dating. Health is often a lot of lecturing about eating right, making goals in life, and excising. It isn’t my favorite class but my professor makes it really simple with little homework and true/false tests. The class today started out ad an awkward but turned into one of the funniest class periods I’ve had all semester. Including a guy shouting “if I’m paying for her dinner it better be considered a date!!” Maybe you had to be there :)

Right after Class I went to Sam’s Subs to grab lunch. Sam’s is basically APU’s version of Subway and is definitely my favorite food place on campus. It also is probably the fastest place, which is really important if you have classes back to back.

From 1:05-2:30 I had Intro to Lit. We are currently studying Othello (a play by Shakespeare). We have daily quizzes each class that are usually really difficult unless you pay close attention to the reading. I’m happy to say I got over an 11/10 on the Act 2 and Act 3 Quiz. I feel like there is such a strong sense of accomplishment when I do well in the class because it isn’t the easy ‘A’ course.  The last half hour classmates volunteered to perform parts in the play at Seven Palms. Seven Palms is a small Amphitheater near the mail center on East Campus. It was nice to get out of the classroom but by the end of class I couldn’t wait to get back into my air-conditioned dorm room. :)

I came home (to my dorm) and planned on relaxing and attempting some homework but then I got a text at 2:55 reminding me I had a D-Group meeting in 5 minutes. I’m almost positive D-Group is short for ‘devotion group’ or a small group of girls that meet specifically to fellowship, have accountability, and be able to pray for each other. It was the second meeting but the first for me because I wasn’t able to make the first one. All of the girls seem to have conflicting schedules in the group, which left only three of us meeting today.  It was fun still to get to know my leader and another group member over a smoothie at Paradise Juice Cafe.

Right after the D-group meeting I walked to the Village so I could get a ride to The Homework House. The Homework House is a great opportunity for APU students to service (and get service credits) by tutoring at-risk kids in the Azusa Community.  Today was my third time working but I already love it. I tutored a high school sophomore with Algebra which went really well but also meant a lot to me because I remember getting tutored for the same class by my old small group leader.  It just shows how connected everyone is and it was nice to be able to give back.

Right after Homework House I had a meeting for Homework House at Starbucks. It was a really awesome meeting but I’m not gonna lie, one of the most exciting things was the fact the Starbucks Christmas coffee is out! Meaning Peppermint Mochas are back!! I’m not even that much of a coffee addict but I love Starbuck’s peppermint Mochas. And the Peppermint frappucinos. It just seems weird that its not cold or rainy to go along with the hot drinks :) It seems so strange it has only rained once since this season. Or that I almost had heat stroke while watching them perform Othello at Seven Palms. But I love warm weather and I’m going to be happy to miss the week-long rains.

I have to sign up for classes tomorrow.  I had my schedule fully planned out but when I looked today at my class options, two of them were already full.  Unfortunately, that meant I spent about 3 hours trying to redo my schedule for Spring 09.  I probably could have spent a little less time if I would have let myself take early morning classes, but honestly, that isn’t going to happen. It was probably my forth time messing with my schedule, I had it all planned out but then my advisor told me to change one class when I meet with her, and that threw off my whole schedule.  I’m also looking at studying abroad in South Africa which I’ll talk about in another blog but that also made me save some classes.

I had an Alpha meeting at 10 tonight too. Ah, I did so much today!  My leader made us Pazooki and we had fun just hanging out.

At 1:00am I realized I still had Intro to Communication Studies homework, which was happens to me a lot.  Like blogging, I tend to save my homework until later in the day. And by later in the day, I mean sometimes not finishing it until the next day.  Luckily, it was an easy, fun assignment where we had to create a page long movie plot that was marketable.

And now, I’m writing this blog around 2:00am on my iTouch because I can’t sleep. I really need to go to bed. Sorry for the lack of blogs lately, I’m blogging more now that midterms are over! Be ready to hear about All Access Weekend, South Africa Semester, and all the other exciting stuff.

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Finally a Video!

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

I promised the next blog would include videos.. so here you go!

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This is Karissa and Purple (Michelle) singing at an event called ‘Color the Night.’

Color the Night was an event to show APU creativity through student artwork and music . It was fun to see APU students play fun music and see all the beautiful artwork. :)

The next video has a story behind it.

Smith (the all guy hall) started dressing up for family/hall dinners.  Family/Hall Dinner is where you eat with your entire hall in the Dinning Hall. Not only do you dress up as the theme, you are supposed to act the part.  I believe the first theme for the Smith hall was Egyptians but it’s since been sheep, beggars, and other crazy ideas. Trinity 1st South has been waiters and first graders. Trinity 4th North have been really funny nerds and babies.

3rd North decided we wanted to go all out for our first ‘themed’ family dinner. Our theme was Safari, which meant we dressed up as wild animals. Yes, its a little bit crazy but it was a whole lotta fun :)

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