http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/blog_undergrad Azusa Pacific University Blogs en-us Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:51:00 PDT Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:51:00 PDT http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/10360/
I can't believe it, I'm sitting here, and finals week is just around the corner!  Before I know it, my dorm will be packed up, I'll be heading home, and summer will be in full swing!

I'm so thankful for this year; it's been an absolutely life-changing year, and I feel like I've done so much learning and growing and changing, I wonder if people at home will even recognize me now. 

It's cool to see what everyone is doing this summer!  It's typical of this time of life, but I have friends going to literally all corners of the world this summer!  I get to spend almost three months in and around Kenya, and I know people going to every continent!

I can't wait for sophomore year; I got to choose my best friends to live with next year, and I got a sweet job!  I'm going to be an intern in the admissions office, so if you happen to come for a tour next year, I might be your tour guide!  I'm looking forward to it, yet it blows me away how quickly time is moving here.

I'm going to throw a handful of pictures at you; I went to San Francisco over Spring Break, we had a cool hall event last week, and last night I hiked Garcia Trail (the mountain behind our school) with some friends!

I will hopefully get a chance to write at least once more before I leave; may God bless you as you finish up your semester!
]]> Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:51:00 PDT http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/10243/
Life at APU is still great; the weather here has been sunny and warm for the most part.  It's the time of year when students have to figure out their classes and schedules for next year, which can be stressful, because it forces you to decide what major/classes you are taking. 

Another fun part of the semester is Spring break, and making plans for the summer!  This spring break I'm taking a trip to San Francisco/the bay area with some friends just to relax, visit people, maybe do some camping and just take a week from school.

In college, summers are the best opportunity for world experience.  I've got friends who are traveling to all corners of the globe this summer.  Some are going for APU mission trips, and its funny to see all of the unique and creative fundraising ideas they come up with.  Others (like myself) are going through other means.  I'm going to Kenya with two of my friends, to explore their homeland a bit, and then to be a counselor at a Christian summer camp. 

So, that being said, whatever you do, make sure and take some time to travel!  It will be worth the global experience, and besides, you can work for the rest of your life, it's not like you need to do that in the summer! 

Life around school has been fun; most recently was another sort of preview weekend, where a number of students came and stayed around APU for a few days, exploring what it would be like to be a student here.

Also, APU put on "Night of Champions," which was a blast!  This is a huge event which is thrown for jr. high and high school students across L.A.  They come to a huge exhibition on campus with concerts, professional skateboarders, In-n-Out, and other things, and then get to come into the gym for another huge concert, and a number of speakers/performers who share with them the good news of Jesus Christ.  It was really a great event to help out with.

As this semester moves on, finish strong!  And if you're coming to APU next year, I can't wait for you to experience this awesome university.  Until next time!
]]> Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:39:00 PDT http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/10129/
Life moves on, although it seems to move at a much quicker rate in college!  This semester is almost halfway over, which blows my mind.  It has been a great time of learning and growing, whether in the subjects of school, in friendships, in knowledge of myself or in relationship with God.

It's about this time of year, I think, that most people begin looking toward the future, whether short term or long term.  This is what that looks like at APU:

First, summer trips - APU offers close to 30 different mission trips that you can participate in over the summer, literally going all over the world.  I have friends going to Russia, Argentina, Uganda, and a whole number of different places.  You spend most of 2nd semester bonding and getting to know your team, which is very beneficial.

Many people have to work during the summer naturally, but I would encourage to use your time at college to experience as much of the world as you can!  It will be worth it to you in the long run.

Another aspect of APU is our study abroad programs, which many people ask about.  APU actually has a few study abroad programs that have been initiated and sustained through our university, so the financial aid from APU generally transfers straight over.  With opportunities like that, why not take a semester to really stretch yourself?  Included in these programs are Downtown Los Angeles, High Sierras (California), Oxford (England), Lithuania, and now South Africa.  Along with these are a number of other countries that you can study abroad in, with study abroad programs whose credits transfer back over to APU.  This would definately be another strong recommendation of mine; I'm planning on taking a semester off both sophomore and junior year to study abroad, and I can't wait! 

Well, that's all for now!  I've got some sweet pictures about recent adventures that I'll post soon! 

-Tyler
]]> Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:46:00 PST http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/10028/
I've got to admit, being an avid basketball fan, that this is one of my favorite times of the year.  APU basketball is one of the most exciting sports to watch in the NAIA, and the Cougars rarely let us down.  In fact, the men's team has one 13 of the last 14 conference championships and has been to the NAIA national tournament every one of those years. 

So here's a quick glimpse of some of the more exciting parts of the season so far:

First of all, no list of APU basketball games would be complete without mentioning an APU-Biola matchup.  The Cougars showed up to Biola as the favorite, and for the first half, they played like it,  controlling the game and the scoreboard.  However, by early in the second half, the Eagles had fought back and were in control, up by 10.  All this did, however, was set up an amazing APU comeback, as the Cougars went on a 14-2 run in the final minutes, winning the game on a pair of free throws with 5 seconds left.  The atmosphere in the packed out gym was awesome. 

Check out a YouTube link which shows the final seconds and also shows a prank that we pulled on the Eagles at the game:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xubRTHzdhgs

And of course, a few photos:






The Cougar men followed up that Biola game with a 40 point blowout of a good Point Loma team at home, and then got revenge on Westmont here at home as well.  The Cougars lost a heartbreaker in double overtime last night to first place Concordia, but APU is a good team this year, and I expect they have the ability to go very deep in the NAIA tournament in Kansas City this March.

Keep up on the Cougars at www.apu.edu!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures:







]]> Sun, 04 Feb 2007 13:51:00 PST http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9947/
I hope that everyone is back in full swing here in the new year, and whatever resolutions you made, may you keep them!

Just a quick update:

Home was fun; I spent quality time with my family, caught up with just about every friend that I hoped to catch up with, worked some, slept WAY too much, took in some University of Kansas basketball, and took my little brother to a Chiefs game.

There's a two hour time change from school to home, but based on my weird sleeping and eating schedule during my three weeks home, I don't think I even let myself acclimate to central time.  Christmas was great though; my parents were very lenient about letting me continue to exercise my new-found college/adulthood at home, which I appriciated even though it was probably tough for them.

So here we are; it's good to go home, good to come back.  One of the best parts about second semester, in my opinion, is that it doesn't take a month-and-a-half to get used to being here.  I already know the guys in the dorms, we have friends, we have plans, and pretty much everyone is ready to go (socially, maybe not academically).

One of the things I get to do is work with the admissions office, and those of you who are perspective students who read this probably know that Preview Weekend is coming up!  It's going to be a great time of meeting people around campus and getting a feel for APU, and to be honest, it's a great way for God to point you in a direction if you're still undecided.  So come to Preview Weekend!  I'll see you there.

So there it is.  I'm here, feeling my way through 2nd semester.  Am I excited?  Yes.  Am I nervous? A bit.  But I'm learning more and more the way God is bigger than I ever thought, and as one of my favorite songs in chapel said today, "in Christ alone I stand."

I'll write again once I have a cool story or something fun to share; enjoy some of my random pictures from Christmas break and the first 2 weeks back.
]]> Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:07:00 PST http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9850/
It's been a while since I last wrote, but here we are, wrapping the first semester.  It's absolutely flown by, some days I feel like I just got here.  I'm ready for home though, I haven't been back yet.  A little winter weather will feel nice (it's still 80 here consistently). 

Thanksgiving was fun, I didn't go home like most people from school did, but my sister and one of my good friends from home flew out here, and I got to spend some time with them.  It was a great time to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving.

We stayed in Wildomar (at my friend's dad's place), and from there we had pretty easy access to San Diego and Los Angeles.  My sister wanted to see the area, so we went to San Diego one day and LA the next, just to explore and see what we could find. 




The end of Thanksgiving really kicked of the holiday season around APU.  Campus is quite a bit more festive than I would have imagined, everything is decorated (our dorms are having a big decorating competition.....the girls are, at least), and there seems to have already been a number of Christmas parties around campus.

My hall and our sister hall, plus a handful of other people, all went to Pasadena on Friday night to celebrate the first day of December.  We went ice skating which was a blast, and we also made it on to FOX news, who was doing a live broadcast on the sidewalk.  We crowded around the camera and made sure they saw us in our tacky Christmas sweaters!  We topped it off with some 21 Choices frozen yogurt, and it was a great way to get into the holiday spirit.





Oh, here is my complimentary SoCal "cutlure shock" moment of the week:

2 of my friends and I went to Hollywood last Thursday with an upper-classman we all knew.  He'd invited us to the taping of a music newsmagazine TV show called "CD USA," and we thought it'd be cool to be in a studio audience.

Little did we know that one of the live bands playing would be Switchfoot.  We found ourselves at the front of about 80 people (enough to fake a studio audience on TV), watching Switchfoot play two of their new songs.   My friend Josh got a drumstick, and I was actually holding the lead singer's guitar during a certain part in the song when he went to play on the drums.

The most ironic part about it all is we literally got paid to be there.  We walked away with about 20 dollars each, like it was a strain for us to have to sit through a Switchfoot show or something.  Weird.

I hope everyone reading this has a great finish to their semester, that the Holidays would be a relaxing break, and that we would all use our break to reflect on what Christmas is all about.  See you in 2007!

-Tyler


]]> Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:28:00 PST http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9736/
This last weekend was the first of APU's Preview Days.  High School Juniors and Seniors (and college transfers) from all over the place made their way down to Azusa to check out the campus and decide if APU was the school for them.

I'm in a group called "Ambassadors," which is a group of about 40 freshman students that help with Preview Days, and are in charge of hosting and hanging out with students.  So, I spent the weekend with some awesome guys (shout out to Jimmy and Seth!), and had a blast with all the preview students.

If you're reading this and are debating about coming to a preview weekend, I would encourage SO strongly to make it a priority, especially if you have any inclination towards APU.  While I can't tell you EVERYTHING we did, we took in some Azusa culture (i.e. Donut Man) and some SoCal culture (i.e. Laguna Beach late at night).  So once again, come to the next preview weekend!

One of the coolest nights so far this semester was last Monday.  We had "Midnight Madness," which was a huge pep rally for the APU men's and women's basketball teams.  It was capped off by a dunk contest between 2 of the star players for the Men's team, showing some amazing skill.

Let's just say I'm stoked for basketball; college ball is my favorite sport to watch period.  Throw in the fact that APU is currently ranked 3rd in the NAIA nationwide, and it's no doubt that this campus is STOKED about the basketball season.  The national tourney in March is being held in Kansas City, so maybe if (when) the APU team makes it that far, I might have to take a road trip back to my home with some guys from around here.

Oh by the way, our soccer teams are both in the playoffs, which is exciting to watch.  They're beasts out there on the field.

Word of advice: make sure that if you are interested in APU, don't take my word for what we do here, or anyone elses.  I wasn't sold on APU until I visited for the SECOND time.  So just don't miss your chance to find something that could potentially be a great opportunity!

Until next time!

(Sorry there aren't pictures!  I don't have a camera at the moment)


]]> Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:53:00 PST http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9655/
We can always use a good update on student life around APU, right?

Well there have been tons of things going on!  I'll tell you guys about a few of them.

One of the fun things to happen recently was "Roomate Date."  This is when your roomate asks a girl to be your date, and your entire floor goes out for the night.  2nd South's "roomate date" was an absolute blast; we went to Pasadena for Pizza, 21 Choices ice Cream, and then came back to APU to carve pumpkins as we get into the fall season.

My roomate went with his girlfriend, and he asked a really good friend of mine to go with me, which meant we had an absolute blast.  Here are some pictures! 






Another fun event was my trip to the San Diego area two weekends ago.  Some of my good friends are from Escondido, which is near San Diego, so we went down there for the weekend.  We went to a homecoming football game on Friday night during a very unusual San Diego rainstorm, Seaport Village and Coronado on Saturday, and Church Sunday morning before heading back.  It was a blast.





Other fun happenings would be camping on Mt. Baldy with my Alpha group, a trip to Chinatown with some buddies, and eating some amazing Ethiopian food in Little Ethiopia the other night. 

This is Homecoming week!  Should be a blast! 

Until next time everyone!


]]> Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:47:00 PDT http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9654/
Well it's about midway through the semester, and in college that means things are already looking ahead to Christmas and next semester.  It's amazing how fast time flies here. 

Things have been going well; today I went to my Ministry and Service (MAS), which is what you sign up for to gain ministry credit.

Basically, it works like this:  When I graduate, I need to have 120 "hours" of ministry and service fulfilled.  This can be a lot of different things, from mission trips, to helping community kids with homework, to helping at a church, to serving behind the scenes in many different contexts.  So, that means about 30 hours per year.

Typically what happens is this:  A ton of MAS-approved organizations hold a fair on Cougar Walk early in the semester, and students sign up for the organization they would like to help with, unless they coordinate it on their own.  This way the students are exposed to all the options, so they can find the best fit.

I signed up with the Say YES program, which is an after-school program for kids on Skid-Row in downtown Los Angeles.  Every Tuesday, we load up my car, make the 30 minute trek downtown, and spend our afternoon with the kids.  I've been hanging out with high schoolers, playing basketball and helping with homework; it's been a great experience.

The MAS requirements can be a very positive aspect about APU.  Sometimes we have to be forced out of our comfort zones, but once we are out of them, we gain new insight and new rewards we would have otherwise never gotten.  I know I have been personally rewarded; it's not everyday that a guy gets to go into Skid-Row to try to model Christ to the kids.

One word of caution:  Find a service opportunity that fits who you are and what you are all about!  You will get burned out in the process of college life otherwise, but if you are serving where you are capable and passionate, it'll be just the opposite.  So if you come to APU, look for ways to get involved!  You'll be really blessed by the life experience you gain from it.

Until next time!
]]> Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:36:00 PDT http://www.apu.edu/blogs/tyler/9584/
Obviously, going to a Christian school with 3 or 4 chapels a week may incline some students to grab a little extra rest on Sunday mornings.  However, from my short time here, I would say already that getting plugged into a church is far more important than you might think.

The difference between church and college is apparant, and I think they both point us toward God in different ways that give us a richer understanding of him.  But I don't think a student can be as fully developed by pursuing one and depriving the other, especially with the reasoning that "I get all the church I need here at school."  Because, it's simply not true, the benefits of a real church are different and neccessary than those at school.

First off, you can check off the first 4 to 5 weekends of your college life by walking 2 or 3 blocks, if you wish.  Los Angeles has more churches than there are weekends in a persons life (or at least it seems that way sometimes), so naturally many students check out different churches for half of their college career, waiting to settle on that "perfect" one.

Also, being that there are so many churches here, there are no doubt some famous ones.  On a given sunday, I could go hear Rick Warren, or John MacArthur, or Erwin McManus, or a number of other Author/Pastor/Teachers.

There are a ton of ways to get plugged in at a church.  My roomate Josh is already a volunteer youth intern at Lake Avenue Church, as a way to fulfill some of his Ministry and Service required credit.  At the same time, he is learning skills and church life in a way that will benifit him and equip him in the long run in terms of ministry.  From music, to high school, to nursery care, a good church will generally have a place that you can feel needed and appreciated.

Myself, I have begun to get plugged in with some leaders at a place called Mosaic, which is spearheaded by Erwin Mcmanus, a popular christian writer and thinker.  I love how missional it is, and when I'm there, I feel like I'm part of a movement, not just a church with four walls.

I'm going to begin playing drums on their worship team next Sunday at their Inland location in Chino.  There are about 5 places where Mosaic meets, and this is the newest one, which is exciting, because it gives me a chance to see this part of the church grow from the ground up.  I'm also a part of a group called "Life in Christ," which meets on the APU campus once a week to go through a semi-bible study about the values of the church.  After this, I'll be able to be on "volunteer staff," which opens the door to a whole other world of opportunities of service and leadership.

So, from my vantage point, going to Azusa provides the great benifit of having a million different churches to pick from, in order that you might find the one that fits you just right.  It's a lot easier to get involved than you think, and it can truly enrich you in a way college can't; and believe it or not, there are a ton of evening services as well, for those of us who enjoy a little extra sleep now and then.

Until next time!  (Sorry, I don't have any pictures this time, I've pretty much just been taking them from my friend David until I get a new camera.


]]> Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:47:00 PDT