Posts Tagged ‘Freshman’

What’s It Like?

Andrew Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

What’s it like?  How’s your roommate?  Do you like your classes?

Because APU starts a little later than many other colleges around the nation, I often bothered my friends to see what college was really like before I got there.  But they all had the same answer.  “You don’t know what it’s like until you’ve been there.”

Having been here nearly a month, I’m sorry to say that this answer has much truth to it.  But, I’m assuming that you aren’t reading this blog for me to tell you to wait an entire year to understand what college is like.  My job here is to attempt to give you a tour of what it’s really like to be a freshman, so that in April you can look past the pamphlets and the billions of emails to understand if this is the place for you.

Just so that you know a little bit more about me, my name is Andrew.  I am currently a freshman Spanish major, and was born and raised in the Sacramento area.  When I’m not hanging out with friends, doing homework, running, or watching movies, I am a member of the Latin American Student Association, the Honors Program, and of course, the APU blog!  It is my sincere hope and prayer that we can all come to know each other better throughout the year and that we can come to learn more about what this university has to offer!

Within the next few days I will be posting about the dorm experience (go Trinity), and I am very open to suggestions as far as blog topics.  After all, this is about what you want to know!  But until then, as they commonly say at orientation, “Welcome to APU.  We’re glad to have you here.”

A New Home.

Megan Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

In a few days, it will mark the one month point of living here at APU. Its surreal how fast time has already flown by, and as much as it’s strange adjusting to life somewhere other then at “home,” my new home here at APU is remarkable. I have the privilege of living in Trinity Hall, and I have to say that it is nothing like I ever imagined. In a good way. I don’t think you can ever prepare for the ‘amazingness’ that is college life. Being able to live in a hall with 40+ SISTERS is more fun then I could ever put into words.

"STREET MEET" with some of my beautiful sisters!

"STREET MEET" with some of my beautiful sisters!

I am blessed beyond means with an amazing Resident Advisor (RA); an upperclassman that loves on us and makes our experience here even more fun. In addition, her roommate, our Resident Advisor Roommate (RAR) is equally involved and is constantly around the hall hanging out with us girls. It’s crazy how fast a group of girls can bond- I could not be more thankful for this hall. Being able to constantly have someone to talk to, pray with, study with, or go to dinner with is a blessing. God has placed me exactly where I need to be and its a comforting feeling. I can honestly tell you though, that every single one of the freshmen dorms are amazing. Although I proudly would  tell you that Trinity Hall is the best dorm at APU, there is always something to do and there is never a dull moment in any of the dorms. Friends of mine that are living in Adams, Engstrom, and Smith (the other dorms) love it just as much as I do.

ANIMAL themed hall dinner

ANIMAL themed hall dinner

I remember just a couple months ago contemplating how life in the dorms would be. I was so used to everything at home; the people, my house, my family, my friends, my dog- that I could not picture myself somewhere entirely new. I am happy to report though, that life here at APU is priceless. I am already developing friendships that I know will exceed much past college, the living situation could not be better, and even though I miss my friends and family, it is such a loving environment here and it feels like home already. I consider my hallmates like family… It’s kinda rad to have two families now.

Beach Day!

Beach Day!

Busyness

Kelsey Bjugstad 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

Mexican Thanksgiving <3

Kelsey Bjugstad 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

San Francisco Art Trip for High Sierra!

JP Park Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Hey guys! Sorry I haven’t blogged in two weeks! I have so much catching up to do with you guys, and so much to tell you all! As everyone keeps saying again and again, college is super busy and time flies by so fast. I feel like it was just last week when I flew on a plane from Virginia to California to start college, when in reality, I’m already almost done with my first semester.

A couple weeks ago, me and the rest of the students here went to San Francisco for an Art trip, where we visited numerous museums and cathedrals. We visited the New St. Mary’s cathedral, Old St. Mary’s cathedral, the Mission Delores Basilica, the Grace Cathedral, the Legion of Honors museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the De Young Museum. It was so amazing!!! When I walked inside each of the cathedrals, I could feel God’s presence and aura all around me. We also took part in a Catholic mass, and that was pretty cool, too. The museums were all extraordinary. I saw art pieces of modern artists and famous ones like Picasso and Chigall(sp?).

In San Francisco, me and a few friends decided to hit up the party scene. The first night, I went to a techno club and it was awesome. I’ve never been to a club since I turned 18, which was in late August, so I was excited to go to one for the first time. Clubs aren’t as bad as everyone makes them out to be. The next day, me and a few other friends from High Sierra went to a huge club with a dance floor that lit up different colors. We had such an amazing time at the club. We celebrated my friend’s birthday, who was Candace from High Sierra. She had a blast at the club, and I’m glad we could all spend time together just to deepen our relationship. Here’s some pictures from our time in San Francisco, ranging from our museum, cathedral, and club experiences. San Francisco is definitely a unique and awesome city!

Grace Cathedral

Me and Jules in San Fran

Me and Jules in San Fran

View of some on San Francisco

View of some on San Francisco

Wandering through the graveyard at Mission Delores

Wandering through the graveyard at Mission Delores

Me and Candace in the busy streets on San Fran

Me and Candace in the busy streets on San Fran

Finally a Video!

Kelsey Bjugstad 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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