The Azusa Pacific Blog

Hello again!

I apologize, as it’s been quite a while since we’ve last talked! So much has happened in the past month that I don’t know if there’s enough memory on our website to hold it all! I hope there’s still some readers that have stuck with me during the past few weeks while I’ve been away…

Well today is Monday, April 13 and Spring break has almost officially ended. Tomorrow its back to the grind as I work hard for the last three weeks of the semester and hopefully finish strong. A lot of great things are coming together for me in the near future, and the successes of the past few weeks have paved a path for me, but first let me tell you what I’ve been up to here at APU.

The last time we talked, I was preparing for my sister and her friends to come out and visit for their Spring break. We had a great time while they were here, and Kelly and I were able to show them around quite a bit! Santa Monica, Griffith Observatory, and Redondo Beach were some of the highlights for them. While they were here they even had the great opportunity to stay on my aunt and uncle’s boat at Redondo Beach for several nights. We had a great trip and it was such a blast to have my sister out here for a week.

After they left, it was time for the High Sierra Preview Weekend. As I’ve been working for the program this semester, I was able to drive up with the group and hang out at Bass Lake for the weekend! The student turnout was fantastic, and simply being able to see some old friends, relax in the woods, and eat some great food was such a wonderful time. Being back at High Sierra, even for just a weekend, and seeing potential students’ eyes widen as they explored the campus and learn about all the amazing things they’ll get to experience at Bass Lake reminded me of how amazing an experience that semester really was.

The following week was a big one for me, full of homework, presentations, interviews, and my 22^nd birthday. On Monday I attempted to celebrate my birthday, but was so swamped with preparing for Tuesday’s interview and Wednesday’s presentation, that dinner with Kelly in the cafeteria was the extent of it. Tuesday was the day I had been preparing for (and worrying about) for weeks. I was interviewing for an internship in the Admissions Office – a highly coveted position here at APU that a large number of students apply and interview for each semester. For our interviews, we were required to “sell” something to the interviewing Admissions staff. In the past, applicants have sold such things as ‘why you should go to APU’, ‘why APU is better than Biola’, and ‘why monkeys make great friends’. In my case, I decided to sell something that was very close to my heart – ‘why more bike lanes in LA are needed and beneficial to everyone’. The presentation was one I knew backwards and forwards, but still worried about. The interview went well, though, and I heard back on Friday in a very interesting and stomach-twisting second interview that I had received the position – which means that next year you might see me talking about APU at your very own high school, at a college fair, or here on campus if you come for a tour!

After the busy week had finished, Kelly and I were finally able to celebrate my birthday by relaxing, eating out at the Yardhouse (my favorite restaurant in Pasadena), and going on a couple great hikes and bike rides. She also surprised me with tickets to the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington – something I’ve been dying to attend for years now! She really knows me well :-)

As March came to a close and April began, only one thing was on my mind: Spring break. For the past several years, my good friend Brett and I have been dreaming up the trip of a lifetime. Every time we reunite during summer and winter breaks, we talk about how amazing it would be for him to come out and visit. Just in case he would ever be able to come, I had been planning where we might go and what we might see. And then this past January, he gave me the news that a recent business transaction had given him a free flight to Los Angeles. The time had finally come for our trip!

So on Monday, April 6 I picked Brett up from LAX and we began a week of touring around Southern California. Our first day was spent here in the LA area, and we visited Santa Monica, the San Gabriel mountains behind campus, and a great Italian restaurant in Venice Beach. The next day we packed up and headed north on the 101 freeway toward the coastal city of Santa Barbara. There, we spent the day exploring the city, enjoying some great food, and, at the end of the day, camped at the amazing Carpinteria State Beach. The next morning we woke up, tore down camp, and drove up State Route 154 north into Santa Barbara County wine country. We were blessed with amazing weather that luckily contradicted the weatherman’s predictions. As it was our first time in the mountains of Santa Barbara County, we decided to spend our day driving through the beautiful rolling hills, eating a great lunch in Solvang (where Lance Armstrong and the Tour of California recently rode through), and spending the evening exploring the region some more.

After a great couple days, we made the astonishingly short drive back to Los Angeles. On our way into town, we stopped at the industrial location where the television show The Office is shot. It took a little searching on forums and blogs, but we found the exact location and it was so neat to see the “Scranton Business Park” sign outside the “Dunder Mifflin” building.

The rest of break was spent watching movies, eating great food, celebrating Easter Sunday at Sierra Madre Congregational Church, visiting with old friends, enjoying the great weather we had all week, and of course, getting a little homework done.

Now, Spring Break come and gone, I anxiously await the last day of finals. My homework load is heavy and my scholarly drive weak, I have quite the journey ahead of me. I’ll update you all in about a week here once the most of it has passed. Until then, enjoy this warming weather and study hard! And for those of you who are wondering what there is to do out here at APU, I hope this blog has shown you just a taste of the amazing things you have to look forward to!

Santa Barbara wine country

Some sprouting grape vines

Doing a little bouldering in Joshua Tree NP

Brett and me on the Santa Barbara Pier

A lonely flower in the desert of Joshua Tree NP

Scranton, Pennsylvania? Nope - Van Nuys, California.

Someone informed me yesterday that the semester was already half over. It took me about five minutes and looking at several calendars to finally realize that this semester really was pushing into its second half. 

I can’t believe it.

Part of the reason its moving so fast for me is that I’ve been maintaining a very busy schedule since I returned to Azusa. It didn’t take long for me to get back in the swing of things here at main campus. Right away I started working at both of my new jobs: one as a representative for the High Sierra Program in the Study Abroad Office, and the other as the Photo Editor for the school’s newspaper, The Clause. 

As a representative for the High Sierra Program, myself and another alumni work together promoting the program through class visits and presentations, informational meetings, advertising around campus, and also working closely with the students interested in the semester by helping them line up their class schedules and securing everything for them to be able to make it up to Bass Lake. I’ve had such a great time working this job so far and its allowed me not only the opportunity to stay in touch with everyone from the program, but also the privilege to just talk to students and share about my experience and get them excited about it.

My other new employer, The Clause, keeps me busy with taking photos at big events here on campus such as basketball games, concerts, and conferences. Every monday we have a staff meeting where the editors and supervisors get together and discuss the last weeks publication, what the next week’s publication will look like, and what stories will be written. After the meeting we head over to the office where we continue the week’s work on the current issue, which is released every Wednesday after chapel. My job requires me to look at all of the photos taken during the week by myself and the writers, decide which ones will make it in the paper, and then edit them using Photoshop. This job has been great as well in that it has kept me shooting photos this semester on a regular basis and allowed me to continue doing something that I love.

Like I said, these jobs have been great, but they’ve definitely made life much busier than I was used to last semester. It’s been an adjustment getting used to the pace of life again down here in Southern California. Every day I’m forced to be on top of my game. I have a planner that helps me know where I need to be when and what I need to be doing. 

Life here and life at Bass Lake are pretty radically different, but I don’t know if I could say that one is better than the other. I loved having the solitude, the quiet, and the time to spend solely on studies and relationships. But on the other hand, maintaining a busy schedule and working jobs that help influence the entire campus is something that I’ve found to be really fulfilling. 

What I’ve found to be most helpful, though, in maintaining a sense of clarity and calm have been my bike rides. I’ve managed to fit in three or four great rides a week that take me up Glendora Mountain Road (what most Southern Californian’s claim to be one of the best climbs in the area).

Four miles up the road in Glendora, a beautifully paved road cuts into the foothills. Curving and switching back, it crawls gently, and sometimes not-so-gently, toward Mt. Baldy in the Angeles National Forest. The road is maintained on a regular basis by the City Works department, keeping rockslide and obstructions off the road and making it safe for cyclists. After climbing for about ten miles, the road forks, one direction taking you further up to Mt. Baldy, and the other back down to Azusa. 

With all the rain we’ve had down at lower elevations recently, the snow has been incredible in the mountains. My last several rides have been magnificent. As I reach the summit of the climb, the canyon opens up into the backcountry of the Angeles National Forest and the snow-covered mountains dominate the view. I took a few pictures to show you guys what I’ve had the privilege to see lately:

Some snow-capped mountains

My bike and some snow on the way up to Mt. Baldy

Me at the top of Glendora Mountain Road

Besides my amazing bike rides, I’ve got some very exciting times on the horizon: Next weekend my sister and some of her friends are flying out to visit me for their spring break. That same weekend my girlfriend and I will be attending our second concert at the incredible Walt Disney concert hall in downtown Los Angeles. The weekend following that I get to head up to High Sierra for Preview Weekend and visit campus and some old friends. And finally, at the beginning of April, my good friend Brett will be flying out to visit me for our spring break, on which we will be taking a road trip up and down California.

I’ll have much to be writing about in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Kelly and I in Altadena after a storm

I snapped this photo of downtown LA from a hill in Altadena during a storm

Another storm over downtown seen from a hill behind campus

Now I understand that the Oscars have very little, if anything, to do with my academic life here at Azusa Pacific University. 

But I’m a film lover. A lover of films. And I’ve been spending quite a few of my recent weekends at the local AMC. And let me tell you – I am excited for this year’s Academy Awards more so than any other year in recent memory, and that is because this year, I’ve seen almost every major film nominated. Now that’s a feat – an expensive one at that (especially at ten bucks a movie…whatever happened to five dollar movies? or at least a five dollar matinee?!)

So on February 22, myself and a number of my closest friends will be sitting in front of the television, ballot in hand, tuned into ABC at 5:00 PM Pacific Time to watch Hugh Jackman (don’t ask me why) host the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

So to prepare for the big night, I’ve filled out my own personal ballot of who I think will win the awards. And here it is:

Actor – Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Actress – Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Supporting Actress – Amy Adams (Doubt)
Animated Film – WALL-E
Art Direction – Benjamin Button
Cinematography – Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design – Benjamin Button
Directing – Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Documentary Feature – Man On Wire
Documentary Short – The Witness
Film Editing – Slumdog Millionaire
Foreign Language Film – Waltz with Bashir
Makeup – Benjamin Button
Music – Slumdog Millionaire
Music (Song) – “O Saya” Slumdog Millionaire
Short Film (Animated) – Presto
Short Film (Live Action) – New Boy
Sound Editing – The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing – The Dark Knight
Visual Effects – Benjamin Button
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) – Slumdog Millionaire
Writing (Original Screenplay) – Milk
Best Picture – Slumdog Millionaire

Now, every year it’s a struggle between who I hope wins the award, and who I think will actually end up winning. I vote based on who I think will be chosen by the Academy, but a couple awards this year, such as actress Anne Hathaway’s brilliant performance in “Rachel Getting Married” (and really “Rachel Getting Married” in general), the best picture category’s lack of nominating “The Dark Knight”, and best original screenplay for “In Bruges” are all awards that I hope will win. 

Come Sunday night, we’ll all find out!

A couple of friends from High Sierra and I got to get outside today and take advantage of this beautiful, 80-degree weather we’re having and do a little rock climbing! 

The spot: “Big Rock” at Perris Lake near Riverside, CA (about an hour from main campus).

After all the training and experience we received last semester and some extra time in the gym and reading up on some climbing books, we were ready to head out and do a little climbing on our own. We left at about 8:30 AM, were climbing by 9:30, and had a good 5 hours on the rock. It was a great spot for learners. There were all different types of routes and difficulties, and it gave us quite a few challenges that were fun to work out. 

We’re planning on heading back soon as it’s so close to campus! It definitely beats climbing in the gym…

Now I know not everyone takes away the same lessons and experiences from High Sierra. My reasons for going were far different than many other people on my semester. But that’s the beauty of the program. It has something for everyone. My interests reside in the outdoors – rock climbing, cycling, hiking, etc. Others’ reside in art, in relationships, in music, or a number of different areas. The great thing about High Sierra was that not only did I get to dive in deep into a world where I was able to feed my passions on a daily basis, but I was able to acquire a complete circle of other experiences. 

Coming away from Bass Lake, I was able to take a new passion of mine – rock climbing – and learn so much about it. Now I have the experience needed to continue that passion here in LA with some friends on the weekend. But the great thing is: rock climbing is just one of the dozens of experiences that made my semester what it was.

And I think everyone who’s been to High Sierra could say the same: you go in expecting one thing, and take away something completely different.

Big Rock (about 23 routes all together)

Dan setting up his brand new rope

Kenton checking out his cut finger

Justin stretching out the lat's

Myself moving up a 5.9

After a month off, spent almost entirely relaxing at home with my family, girlfriend, and friends, I’m back in Azusa – and let me tell you, it is so good to be back.

Christmas break was exactly what I needed. When High Sierra had finished, I needed time to decompress and get used to being back in the busy world again. The month off helped allowed me to get the rest I needed, see some of my favorite people, spend a huge amount of time with my family and girlfriend, visit some extended family up in Chicago and Minnesota, and see a bunch of great movies.

Oh, and allow me to tell you about the weather I experienced in Illinois…

I woke up one morning in early January to a -20 degree temperature reading on our thermometer…and that wasn’t the only day.

I believe the final count of extreme weather was around 3 power-outage-inducing, tree-down’ing, drive-more-carefully-than-you’ve-ever-driven-before ice storms ( One of which I was caught in on a 2 and 1/2 hour drive to Indianapolis at about 10:00 at night to pick up my girlfriend from the airport. The drive took 4 and 1/2 hours and I nearly died spinning off the road into the graveyard of cars already frozen in the ditch after having less luck on the ice than I did).

Needless to say, finally stepping off the plane in Ontario, CA was the welcomed culmination of a month spent in bone-shivering cold weather.

Since being back, the transition has gone amazingly well. There was a moment of hesitation, however, before I arrived on campus. As my roommate Aaron drove me back to campus from the airport, I was slightly worried about the new semester. I was worried that so much had changed since I left. I was worried that my friends might not call me when they got together simply because I slipped out of their minds. Being back in a class of 30+ people sounded intimidating. Would the constant events in my day to day life seem overwhelming and paralyze me from being productive?

I woke up the next morning – the first day of classes – and to my surprise, I felt energized for a semester of new classes, excited to be back in Azusa with my old friends, and ready to take on a new semester. Worry, stress, and the overwhelming feeling of being in a big city again have all taken a back seat these first two weeks. Seeing my friends again was like I had never left. They welcomed me back and I immediately felt at home again. The new classes are certainly bigger than my classes at High Sierra, but the knowledge and skills I picked up last semester have made me feel so much more comfortable in a big-class setting, allowing me to speak up more and share my opinions and answers with the class.

“Busy” is a word relative to how you see it. For years the word “busy” scared me. It brought with it connotations of stress, endless hours of work, and no sign of relaxation or fun. But since coming back from High Sierra, I’ve realized that there are two different ways to look at this word. I can be “busy” with dozens of things that have to get done, chopping away at homework like I would a big tree with an axe – waiting for it to come crashing to the floor so I can be finished and move onto the next thing, making “appointments” with different friends at the coffee shop just to catch up with them for a brief 15 minutes, checking them off the list and moving on to the next friend. Or, I can see my days as being “busy” with things that I get to do each day – enjoying the time I spend in the library and savoring my studies, getting on the bike and riding up Glendora Mountain Road in the morning before class – even if it means getting up at 6:30 AM, and hanging out with friends and appreciating each one of them and reconnecting with them, even if it takes time to get around to everyone.

I used to get so overwhelmed with the amount of things that needed to be done. My schedule could look pretty intimidating, and I found myself getting so stressed everyday, waiting for the weekend to come. But now I look at my days as opportunities. Meetings become time to connect with people. Classes become enjoyable and something I thoroughly look forward to.

Hopefully this optimistic mindset is something that I can hold onto this entire semester. If I know one thing, it’s that High Sierra has taught me to slow down and relish each moment, every person, and every opportunity.

In other news, I’m so pumped to be riding Glendora Mountain Road again. The riding at Bass Lake was definitely beautiful, but I really came to love my ride into the San Gabriel Foothills last year, and I’ve been getting up early most mornings to ride my favorite route. I took an early morning ride this weekend and met another fellow rider who keeps a blog on the route, and I actually made it onto her website! (http://glendoramtnroad.blogspot.com/).

And also, as some of you may have heard, the Oscar nominations just came out. I’m pleasantly surprised by some nominations, happy with others, and furious with a few. I recently have been catching up on a lot of nominated films, such as The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, The Reader, Man On Wire, and Gran Torino. It’s going to be a tough match this year for a lot of the categories – there’s been so many great films in the last quarter of 2008.

Are any of you following the Oscar race? Has anybody seen some great films lately?

Also, you guys can feel free to ask my any other questions about anything APU related! I’d love to answer them!

Hope everyone is well as they’re heading back to school after break. I’ll talk to you soon!

My friends and I took a trip up to San Luis Obispo last weekend and caught this beautiful view of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands on the way home.

So the High Sierra promo video I told you all about a while back is finally finished and up on the APU website! My good friend Anders put a TON of hard work into it and the final product is absolutely fantastic. 

In case you didn’t get a chance to read my earlier post about it, the video is a product of APU’s University Relations department and was shot and directed by a good friend of mine who graduated from APU’s Cinema Broadcast Arts program last year. He came up to the High Sierra campus back in October to spend a weekend with us shooting lots of interviews and footage of us studying, playing, and living life up in the mountains.

He’s been working super hard on the video for the past couple months and it’s so amazing to see the fruits of his labor. I feel so blessed to have been up there while this video was shot: now I have an incredible, vivid reminder of my experience at High Sierra for the rest of my life.

The video is up on APU’s home page, but here it is for all of you guys to check out!

Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/2752339