This post has nothing to do about Scar or The Lion King. I was trying to thing of an appropriate title that encapsulated the craziness of the past few weeks and this was the first thing that popped into my head. Thus, a title is born. There is some truth though–this whirlwind of life has been mad and I am a king.
Not actually a king. Just to clear that up.
Man, there is so much to write about I don’t even know where to start. I gotta reference my previous post about armadillos to see where I left off…one second…
OHHH RIGHT. Okay so I was talking about friendships and relationships and stuff like that–which is perfect cause I’m going to talk about that again.
But I’m also going to talk about how I became a murderer so don’t leave yet if you think friendship is boring.
This summer has been mad. Mad crazy. Mad fast. Mad fun. Mad at Cracker Barrel for not giving me more hours. Well, I wasn’t super mad…but it would’ve been nice to have made a little more cash this summer. I’m sure Lancaster Cracker Barrel made BANK this summer.
But I can’t believe that I started school at Southeastern University last week. Like, my family moved to Florida, I had an entire summer, and then school started. But where did the summer go? My sisters started their new high school this week.
Adjusting to new area = check. Adjusting to new schools = in progress. Adjusting to August heat in Florida = nope nope nope.
Seriously guys, I want you to visit me, but I don’t ever want you to visit me in August. Maybe this is just a particularly bad August (I have no way of judging), but it’s been swelteringly hot, horribly humid, and it rains every single afternoon. Which makes beach plans mildly frustrating.
Speaking of visiting, we’ve had several visitors so far (shout-out to Jared Horst and Brooke’s field hockey squad) and it’s been so much fun. It is no trouble for us to host you–it’s our ministry and our pleasure–so please do not hesitate to ask about staying with us sometime!
Back to my life: school started last week. I’m gonna be straight with you–the first couple of days of orientation were miserable. I was frustrated, discouraged, and generally doubting my initial conviction that SEU was where God wanted me to be. I wasn’t prepared for how difficult the transfer process is. There were classes I was told I needed to take that I thought I wouldn’t need to, there were logistical things I was trying to work out but some administrative staff weren’t being very helpful (although some were!), and there was just a general lack of information given to me as to what I needed to know going into that week.
I am so thankful for a certain string professor who had graciously given me her phone number back when I auditioned in January, because my connection with her and her willingness to help me adjust was such an incredible encouragement during those first few days. Also making one friend in a fellow honors student transfer (and music major!) helped keep me sane during the craziness (madness).
And let’s not even talk about the price of textbooks. Or how they take days and days and days to arrive.
But God totally proves Himself faithful again and again, right? With school starting again, I took a serious look at my finances to figure out my financial plan of action over the next few years. And I got really depressed. Because my bank account reflected that I have very little wiggle room–and I had forgotten to factor in the textbooks.
God’s always in control though and I think it’s ridiculous how easy it is for me to forget that–to start doubting God and try to handle it on my own (which only creates more stress and worry and general lack of smiley faces).
I walked into work last Thursday night, overwhelmed with school but glad to be in an environment where I know what’s expected of me and I like who I’m with (surprise of surprises, I like my coworkers) and God showed up. I made significantly more money than I expected to make during a two and a half hour shift. And then, Thursday night and Saturday morning, I also made more than expected. Sunday was a flop, but still. Anyways, it was a pleasant reminder that God is in control. He knows my financial needs.
He knows that perhaps staying one more semester than originally planned is in my best interests. And maybe He has something really cool in store for that extra semester.
I went into Southeastern hoping to be student teaching during the Fall of 2017 and graduating that December. However, due to being out of music theory for so long, I wasn’t able to test out of all of SEU’s theory courses…thus adding two more courses to my already jam-packed schedule. So I needed to add another semester. At first, I was really bummed about this. But as I’ve come around, I’ve gotten more excited about it and what God could potentially use this extra time for.
It’s funny though. Some of my friends who I started out as a freshman at Houghton with will be graduating from grad school with their master’s degree at the same time I’ll be graduating SEU with my bachelor’s. Sometimes that depresses me a little bit. But when I actually think about it, I haven’t wasted my time at all. My year off of school was incredible and I’m so grateful for the experiences I had during it–not to mention being able to spend so much time with Christopher during the last year of his life! No, I wouldn’t trade my education path for the standard route and graduating at 23 with a master’s degree.
Now let’s talk a little bit about my actual experience at SEU thus far. I love every single one of my professors. No joke. If for no other reason, the professors here at SEU are a compelling reason to attend. They are passionate about their faith, deeply concerned about their students, and enthusiastic about their subjects. Every single one of my professors has communicated to me directly (in some form or another). That shows a level of commitment that I honestly haven’t really seen at other universities. Now, this isn’t a bash at Houghton. Houghton has some phenomenal professors. But I’m saying EVERY SINGLE professor I have a class with this semester has already made a positive impact/impression on me. That definitely speaks to the school’s wisdom in hiring educators.
Because of how much I enjoy all my professors, I am thoroughly enjoying all of my classes. Yes, including Personal Financial Stewardship. My favorites thus far are Educational Psychology (already gave my first presentation! Which I will talk about in a minute…) and Men’s Choir. Weird, I know, but Men’s Choir has been so much fun and I’m looking forward to getting to know the other guys involved.
Alright, I’m going to wrap up this post with a comment about my first presentation in Ed Psych. There is so much more I could tell you, but you’re probably already tired of reading this and you probably keep checking the clock to see how much of your life you’re wasting by reading about mine 😉 So shoot me an email or FB message or something of the sort if you want to talk more–I’d love it.
Anyways, the presentation: so in Ed Psych we had to choose a website and give a 10 minute presentation on the website–essentially explaining it and how it might be useful to teachers. It was a simple project. It was easy. But understand the significance of this project for me: this was my first presentation with the mindset that one day I will be an educator. One day, standing up in front of a classroom teaching will be what I do daily. This wasn’t just a simple student presentation anymore. Never again will a presentation be a “simple student presentation” for me. This was practice. This was preparation. This was a glimpse of the future.
Let me tell you: it was awesome. It was so cool to stand up there, in front of my peers, and be in control of the information. To explain something. And even though the internet went down halfway through the presentation (another unfortunate SEU fact–the wifi is incredibly fickle), it was an amazing experience. It’s hard to explain to someone who doesn’t want to teach, whose goal is something other than teaching. But there is a distinct difference between doing a presentation as a student and doing a presentation as a future educator.
All that to say, I loved it and it confirmed my desire to teach. Every day I think of different things that I’d like to incorporate into my teaching. My desire is still to teach at the elementary level–and honestly, when I think about it, my favorite things are playing games with younger kids and music, so elementary music is the obvious path.
I’m doing well here in Florida. Life is good. If I can ask for prayer for one thing, it’s this: I deeply miss belonging to a friend group like I had a Houghton. If you could pray that I can make lasting relationships here, that I might find some really awesome people to hang with, I would really appreciate it.
If you read all the way through this, you’re a true warrior. For funsicles, post “I am a true warrior” on my Facebook wall and don’t tell anyone why. See how many people get super confused. It means a lot to me that you’ve read this and that you care about my life.
LOVE FROM FLORIDA
Chad
Mountains Waiting 
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