Posts Tagged ‘Academics’

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Almost a JUNIOR… already?

Megan Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

I can’t believe that finals are in a few weeks and then this school year is officially over. My first two years of college have FLOWN by. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in my room during senior year of high school wishing I was just at APU already. And I can honestly say that this school, the academics, the things I am involved in, and most of all, the people have never let me down. To come to APU will go down in my life as one of the most important and one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I think in honor of a new class of students coming soon, I will make a list of all the things that I basically see when I look back on these past two years.

1. I see a really faithful, loving, encouraging God. A God that believes in me and entrusts with me BIG things.

I am sadly taking my very last required Bible course this semester. It is a class that undoubtably has changed my perspective on Jesus and the Bible. This class is absolutely WORTH the hundreds and hundreds of dollars APU students pay for one class. I am realizing looking back at the 5 Bible Classes I’ve taken that I am so lucky to get to take these classes with the faculty that APU has. As a girl that has only ever been to public schools, learning about the Bible in school is just about the coolest thing ever.

2. I see the Alpha Program. The people that I met in it, the leaders that I have been blessed with through it, the people that have encouraged me and made me into a better follower of Christ, friend, and leader. This program is bigger then just freshmen orientation, it is a life changer.

3. I see three incredible people that I have lived with. The two girls I live with now and the one I was randomly assigned with freshmen year are three of my dearest and best friends. I could talk about them forever. I am grateful to be able to be in Christian community with girls that is so intentional. Living with people can either be horrible or extremely beneficial and even more fun. Mine was the second.

4. I see a mission trip to Tanzania that changed my life.

5. I see art classes that made me a better Christian artist and designer.

6. I see the tight-knit community that can be found at APU if you seek and desire it.

7. I see a lot of quiet time with Jesus. A lot of struggling through passages in the Bible with Him, a lot of praying through rough stuff, and then a lot of meditating on His Word.

Then I see a lot of loud time with Jesus. Spontaneous, good-hearted dance parties with friends during procrastination for long essays and studying. Dinners at the Caf with a ton of friends talking about what God is doing in our lives. D-Group meetings and alpha meetings filled with endless laughter that I know brings joy to the Lord. I think I have seen how both being quiet and being loud and crazy can draw you nearer to Jesus. He is as real in fellowship as He is in Chapel and Church and individual prayer.

8. I see a lot of adventures spontaneously late at night with friends. The kind of moments that make you grateful for life. Going to get mashed potatoes at KFC, donut man trips, going to a beautiful cliff overlooking the city and talking about life, driving around Pasadena blasting music, going to see a movie or getting sushi with the roommate. So many moments and so few pictures. That is when you know it was a great night, when you forget to take any pictures cause you are having too much fun with friends that mean the world to you.

9. I see the people that I have been blessed to have as neighbors both this year and last year. It is easy to love your neighbor when your neighbors RULE.

10. I see learning what it looks like to be a leader. Learning what you want out to get our of life. Learning how to best use your passions and skills and major to serve the Kingdom. Learning what you are doing wrong in friendships and what you are doing right. Learning the benefit of being vulnerable. Learning how quickly deep friendships can be built. Learning that you can do so much more then you think you can. Learning the blessings of living in America and being able to be educated at APU. Basically- I have learned a lot.

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My life lately (ft. Instagram)

Megan Saturday, December 24th, 2011

This past semester has been a whirlwind of growing, new experiences, surprises, and so much joy. It has FLOWN by so fast and the reality is hitting me that I only have three semesters left. Needless to say, I am making the most of every single day that is left of college.

I am currently at home for Christmas Break trying to fill myself up with things to do and people to catch up with, so that time flies between now and being back at school in a little over a week. I MISS APU. I am so not used to sleeping in a room alone with no one to talk to at 1am when I can’t fall asleep. I am so not used to showers with pressure, full size beds, cable television, and my MOMS home cooked meals (I can’t complain about any of that though haha).

Anyways, here is my recap of what these past few weeks have looked like for me:

Alpha banquet marked the end of an experience I will never forget and I will hold so close to my heart forever. My beautiful AC leader Taylor (the one on the right) is literarily a God-send and has blessed my life in so many ways. The whole night was exceptional and such a blast seeing everyone so dressed up and getting to have our last spontaneous dance party all together. It is crazy to think of my life in July without this whole experience and all these people that have so greatly impacted my life.

The good news is though… dun dun dun… I was given the position of Alpha Coordinator for the 2011-2012 Alpha Leaders. WOAHHH. I basically have to pinch myself daily about it because I am still in shock. After lots of screams, happy tears, and freak out moments, I am blessed and blown away that I can say that my Alpha experience is surely not over with yet! And now I get to witness a bunch of incredible soon-to-be alpha leaders grow in community, relationships, and most importantly, with the Lord. HOW LUCKY AM I? I will have the honor to lead 10-12ish Alpha Leaders throughout the next year. I never thought that this whole opportunity would come up, I had other plans that I was pretty set on because I thought that the position of AC was too out of my comfort zone, and too difficult to get (a ton of really incredible people applied). However, God (in typical God fashion) gave me the thing I was the most uncomfortable with and I can truly say that I have never been more thankful that God’s plan much prevails my own. I am nervous, anxious, but so completely filled with joy and excitement about whatever God is going to do with my future.

My two wonderful roommates and Santa Clause hanging out at Christmas Chaos (the annual event thrown by RezLife before all the crazy finals begins).

What happens when its 11pm, your craving In-N-Out, and you have way too many finals to study for? You beg your roommates to go to In-N-Out with you and you bring your books, notes, and laptops. Boom. Life of a college student.

The best way to take a long (and much needed) break from finals- go to Starbucks, then go with your AC group to a street of homes decorated beautifully for Christmas, then finish the night off with Chipotle and the greatest group of people. I mean, if you are going to procrastinate, at least make it memorable :)

Last thing to do before I leave APU for Winter Vacation: go out and eat Sushi with my roommate. Check.

Last thing to stick in my car before driving home: MY PET FISH. I received him as a gift from my lovely alphie when my last fish died prematurely, I named him Al- suits him well. You can see I am enjoying not driving home alone… I just wonder if Al is.

 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! I sure am excited to celebrate the best (and my most favorite) birthday of the year! God bless.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” Proverbs 19:21

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Sixth grade, Spending, and Service-Learning

Kelsey Bjugstad 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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Note to Self

Megan Monday, November 21st, 2011

I could reiterate this fact a million times, as much as I have said it plenty before, the statement stands true that I could not imagine myself anywhere else besides right where I am. As we are nearing the end (sort of) of the Fall semester I am still astonished at how fast this past year and 3 months has FLOWN by. I feel like it was just yesterday I was stepping into a university (and a whole ‘nother world it seemed) of things that were so new to me. I thought lately about what I would tell myself 15 months ago as I was nearing move in day at APU, if I knew what I know now.

This post is pretty out of line of what I usually post, more deep perhaps, but nonetheless I felt it may be beneficial/exciting for those that are thinking about coming to APU or maybe even JUST found out they got accepted to APU for next school year (Congratulations by the way!) Know that everyones experience here differs, I tried to encapsulate the fact that I would not be myself without being here, yet it hasn’t always been the easiest of times. Life is life, after all. I do know though that if you end up here by the hand of God, view it as a blessing on the daily, and seek out why He wants you here, you will never be disappointed. NEVER. And you will be like me in the fact that you will never go a day wondering how life would have been if you ended up somewhere else. You will never have wanted to end up elsewhere.

Dear Self,

You are stepping into the future that you yourself never had planned in your wildest dreams, it can only be said to be God’s hand at work instead of your own. You had your own plan for your life, God said no, and as much as it didn’t make sense and it was tough to release your grip on your own life plans, it will make sense in a couple months time as to why you are at APU and not anywhere else. As nervous, anxious, and overwhelmed as you are, rejoice and yet be still because all that nervousness will fade once you truly come to grasp how great of a blessing God is about to place in your hands.

You are entering into a world of self discovery, growth, leadership, incredible friendships, and learning. You are going to step into the school as one person and step out of it another person entirely. God is going to use you in ways that you cannot even fathom right now. You are going to struggle, fall short, endure hard (and sometimes long) trials, but at the other end is such a hope and restoration found in Christ. He is going to bless you with a community of friends, of sisters and brothers, of FAMILY, that will never let you feel like you are doing life on your own. They will encourage you, uplift you, motivate you, inspire you, and love on you endlessly. You will be poured into at this university more then ever before, and you will be given amble opportunities (that you will take) to pour into others.

You will learn the definition of success that turns out to be one you could have never foreseen it being. You will live out that success by experiencing true joy and developing even more of a genuine, real faith.

You will allow yourself to be vulnerable with people like never before, you will serve until you have run dry and then serve some more, you will travel the one place you never planned to (Africa), and you will see sides of California that you never thought existed through a leadership position you never would imagine you are about to be blessed with (Alpha).

God will teach you what a woman of God looks like, what a man of God looks like, and what your life may look like in the end. You will be overcome with stressful exams, tough classes, endless projects, and long essays. But you WILL look back time and time again and realize how blessed you are for the education you are receiving. You will be blessed with an incredible roommate freshmen year that only God could have hand picked for you and you will be blessed sophomore year with two incredibly Godly woman to love and pour into your life. Why you ever stressed out with who you were going to live with is beyond me.

Please make the most of your time at home, days that you are stressed and miss your family you will wish you did. Please eat a lot of home-cooked meals and build the high school friendships you desire wholeheartedly to keep. Please don’t stress out about making friends, because when you set your two feet on APU’s campus you will never have to worry about who to sit next to at lunch or who you can come to during hard times. You may grow distant from high school friends you never ever thought you would, but you will grow immensely close to the most incredible friends that you could not (even in your wildest of dreams) have picked out for yourself. You will never have to sit at lunch alone (expect random people to sit next to you because they will here) and you will rarely even have to open your own doors (thats what happens when your surrounded with men that know the name of Jesus).

Please pray that your stress and anxiety would be replaced with peace. There is no use in stressing out about being about to enter into the most incredible, life-changing years of your life.

Love, Self

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Oh yeah, I’m here for academics.

Megan Monday, November 7th, 2011

SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN

invading the freshmen dance parties,

being weird with my roommates,

being consumed in how great Alpha is,

dressing up for living area events,

going out to dinner with incredible people,

and welcoming freshmen like a bunch of crazy people…

I have realized the truth of the matter. (Dun Dun Dunnnn) I’m here for school.

Sure, all the money your parents will be shelling out is not purely for academics, but a good chunk of it is. (Who knew a piece of paper at the end of 4 years could be so expensive!) As much as I feel it is more beneficial spending a night pouring into the lives of people and being behind in class the next day, at the same time I have had far too many lessons from God in how blessed I am to be educated here to push aside homework. (AKA: Teaching English in Tanzania this past summer and hearing student after student profess their career aspirations to me, it was 99.9% of the time one of three things: either a doctor, a pilot [so they can travel and see America], or a teacher. The options and opportunities are endless here but in other places it is not so much so.)

On another note, reality hit me when I checked where I am academically and realized that I only have a mere 40 units left until I can graduate. That translates to approximately 13 units a semester (my current load is 17 units) to graduate in the Spring of 2013… aka a YEAR early. So the question is, do I skip junior year or lack a senior year? Crazy right.

This reality check resulted in me seeking out internship opportunities and long story short, God TOTALLY provided and I am now a Set Design and Styling Intern as a beautiful store called Ruche. (Check it out all you girls that love vintage/girly/bohemian, anthropology/urban outfitters-esq clothes).

At least that took a load off my shoulders in regards to stressing about getting out there and being involved in “real world” design.

So all you high schoolers out there: GET PUMPED for how fun college WILL be but realize the real reasons you are here before it gets too late to raise that gpa and find those internships.

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Some Last Thoughts

Megan Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Next weeks marks finals week, and the last week of my freshmen year of college. The days keep going by faster and as much as I am excited for what next year and my entire future will look like, I find myself wishing time would somehow go by slower.

So here marks my freshmen year in a nutshell:

So excited to be moving into my new home!

Move-In day almost felt like it was straight out of a Hilary Duff movie (and I love Hilary Duff movies). Absolute madness, but one of the best days of my life. My stuff was moved in in no time and meeting my roommate was priceless.

Alpha Group 35!

My Alpha Group I met shortly after moving in and I had absolutely no idea what an alpha group even was. Come to find out, APU definitely prides itself on the whole Alpha experience, with a very good reason to. In the beginning, being with a group of 8 strangers was awkward (predictably), but by the end of Alpha I found myself wishing it would never end. Now I am going to be an Alpha Leader myself next year and could not be any more excited about it! It is one of the many ways that they help you transition easily to college life and meet new people you might not ordinarily meet.

Such a fun All-Access weekend!

Being an ambassador this year was the first commitment I made when I arrived at APU. It gave me the opportunity to host prospective students multiple times per year and be a part of All-Access weekends. It was such a blessing being able to see people fall in love with APU as I have. I cannot explain how many smiles and laughs I had during those weekends.

Young Life leaders!

Being a part of Young Life first semester was an experience I will never forget. I made priceless friendships and was able to serve God in the most amazing way. It was a new opportunity for me to put myself out there and love on high schoolers that were open to the Gospel.

Then, as God led me to no longer be a part of Young Life He led me toward being a part of the Office of World Mission’s Focus International mission teams. I found out at the beginning of second semester I would be going to Tanzania. I cannot explain how much God has been real to me through being able to be a part of this mission team. It has been without a doubt, one of the biggest blessings of being here at APU and I haven’t even left for the trip yet (it is in three weeks, crazy!). I never in a million years thought I would ever be going to Africa, it was never in my plan. But I realized that almost everything I have been changed by at APU was not originally in my plan. God’s plan is so much greater.

My hall in Trinity, Fourth South has been a huge part of my experience at APU as well. I have made so many life-long friends and I have learned so much by being able to live on my own and be a part of such a great community.

Spontaneous trip to The Hat with 4th South girls!

Last, but definitely not least, the courses that I have taken at APU so far have honestly changed my perspective on education altogether. I have had professors that changed my life because they changed my perspective on things in ways I never knew possible. Also, being a graphic design major, I am finally able to take design and art classes and it has been so much fun! I cannot explain how great it feels to finally be able to be educated in what I love. Also, words cannot do justice for how great of a blessing it is being educated by Christian professors. Each class (yes, even p.e., math, english, etc.) works faith and Christianity into its curriculum, which is amazing.

I think that everyone that knows me would know how much I would attest to APU being the greatest decision I have ever made. This year has been a crazy whirlwind of a year, but I have grown so much as a person and as a follower of Christ that I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If I were to give advice to incoming students at APU it would be to put yourself out there and do things that you never planned on doing. Enjoy living in the dorm while it lasts, because if you make the most of that experience, it will be one of the best experiences of your life. Don’t stress out, be excited for this year to come. And whatever you do, during the school year even though school can be stressful and overwhelming don’t let it get you to the point where you stop enjoying being here. Going to college is not forced, it is a privilege. Be excited, because a year from now, your life will be so different! The way that the community works here, and the way that God is present here, is enough to change your life alone.

Lastly, I want to say THANK YOU to all my readers for taking the time to keep updated on my experience here at APU! I appreciate it more then you’ll ever know!! If you have any questions feel free to comment and I would love to answer you! God bless.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28

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