I was having a conversation with my hall director yesterday about how at North Central you don’t actually tell people what you have going on in your week, instead you reply to the, “how are you doing?” question with a simple response…”It’s week 8.” I will call this the “week X” response.

I argued that we tend to overuse the definition of our feelings by saying what week it is, because every week has a different meaning for every person. To exaggerate my point, at the beginning of the term, you might hear a conversation like this:

Person A:”Hey Jane, how’s it going?”

Jane: “Oh, you know, it’s week 2! I just can’t believe it!”

See, in this instance, Jane is already using the “week X” response to show that after beginning the term, she can’t believe that her life has so rapidly progressed up until the current point in time of it being week 2! One could argue that week 2 shouldn’t really stress anyone out because you may only have a few assignments as you are being initiated into a new class, but we still the “week X” response to convey a very strong emotion.

My point being, it’s week 8.  For almost any NCC student, this means a ridiculous amount of tests, papers, presentations or other such assignments as each professor’s last “HURAH” before finals come.

I guess I will have to except the “week 8″ response for a few more days now, but you better believe that after spring break, I will be cringing during those first few weeks when the “week X” response again takes its seat as the uniform meaning for “stressed”.

Here is an image that encapsulates my weekend.

This, my friends, was Dan Schacht’s (man in the black t-shirt in the bottom row) first ever, human pyramid!

This weekend a bunch of us rascals from campus ministry took a retreat to Riverwoods Christian Center out in St. Charles (only about 45 minutes away). It was a really sweet time for us to just get away from the hectic schedules most of us keep. (Especially around mid-terms). You can see from the photo below that I got plenty of rest.

We spent most of our time just hanging out with each other. We played two really intense games of capture the flag, in the woods, which ended in a draw between the two teams. My team, which will now be referred to as “team win”, was made up of some stud athletes, including NCC’s own, Director of Campus Ministry, Jeremy K Gudauskas. (Add him as your friend on Facebook.. it’ll be great.) He brought our team to victory by making a seamlessly executed sweep behind the jail of the other team and out of enemy territory with the flag to end the game. Gorgeous. All I did was distract the other members of the team by running wildly toward the base from the other side of the jail. All props go to our fearless leader.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying some quiet time and worship. We had some really talented musicians with us, fortunately, which made for 4 guitars worth of necessary, and unplanned for, luggage space.

Now I am back at school, after watching the best Super Bowl in history (yes, I said it). Go Giants. My to-do list is a little out of control, but it seems much more manageable after this great weekend.

That title sums up my weekend.

Friday night at the Union was a benefit show for the organization Bryan House. Here’s a blurb: “Just over one year after the untimely death of Bryan Guzman, a living memorial will be dedicated in his honor. “Bryan House” is a 5-unit apartment complex that has been purchased in Aurora, and will provide a year-long program to enable refugee families to save money for a downpayment on a house.”

We had three really sweet bands play including Dan Guzman, the brother of Bryan Guzman whom the foundation is named after, The Young Sea and The Company of Thieves. About 150+ people showed which made for a great night of music and friends, what the Union is all about!

The rest of the weekend was committed to the NFL playoffs and the couch (a little homework, too). Sadly, I was disappointed with the outcomes of 3 of 4 games but what can you do. If anyone asks, I don’t think the Cowboys lost because Tony Romo went to Mexico with Jessica Simpson.

Its back to school today with 3rd week in full swing.

Sorry for the short post. I will try to tell funnier stories when they come.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’m not entirely sure of the origin of that saying “Happy New Year”, but I can confirm that my new year, at least the beginning of this new year, has been just that, quite happy.

Our 6-week D-term break almost convinced me that I could spend whole days playing Ninetendo Wii Bowling from the couch, not have a consistent showering schedule, eat delicious home-cooked meals everyday, and have my exercise be snow-blowing the driveway. All of those things are not my reality any longer. I’ve returned to Naperville to subject myself to the crazy schedule that is “my life”. Here’s an example. Day 2 of being back at NCC:

8:30 Wake up

9:15 Arrive to work to go over CLC organization budget/Eat Breakfast

10:00-12 Class: Conflict Resolution

12:00-12:30 Write-up CLC budget for Finance Committee meeting/Go to Chapel service

12:30 Present budget at Finance Committee Meeting

1:00 Meet with advisor

1:30 Eat lunch

2:00-4:00 Meet with a friend who was studying abroad Fall Term

4:00-6 Class: Religion and the Political Order

6-Bedtime: Homework/Organizing my weekly schedule/watching the Iowa Caucus results/Dinner

PHEW.  Somewhere in there I had time to email my dad for his birthday, hang out with some of my residents and give lots and lots of hugs to people I haven’t seen since the summer.  Through all of this insanity, however, I have found a lot of excitement and exhilaration. I love my schedule. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have chosen it. I also love low blood pressure. What I really need to do is find a nice middle ground for these two affinities of mine. We’ll see if that can happen by the time I graduate. T-minus 5 months!

I hope you all had fantastic breaks that included snow ball fights, hot chocolate and your friends and family. Some of you may have had sunny, beach-filled vacations. To you, I say “I hope you look awkward with a tan in January”. I’m not bitter.

Side note: Hello to the Farsalas family. If you are still reading this blog,  I would love to watch your children. 

Until next time.

Readers,

I send my apologies for not having blogged in such a long while, but let me tell you it has been an adventure! I returned home from my 11 day trip to Ireland last week which left me with a little jetlag and a lot of memories.

Ireland is as beautiful as people say it is (and I have plenty of pictures of green hills and sheep to prove it). Because I am a poor college student and my intentions of traveling to Ireland were to see my also, poor, best friend, I didn’t do all of the touristy things that most people do when they go to Ireland. No Cliffs of Mohr, no Giants Causeway, I did, however, do and see the following things:

1. Completed the world’s largest hedge-maze. (N. Ireland)

2. Saw the oldest church in Ireland- built in 432 AD. (N. Ireland)

3. Watch a real game of rugby.

4. Saw the dry docks where the Titanic was built. (N. Ireland)

5. Saw the most bombed building in the world. (N. Ireland)

6. Drank tea instead of coffee. (You can’t find a descent cup of coffee until you get to Dublin).

7. Ate fish and chips.

8. Played softball on the “pitch” instead of the field.

9. Saw where C.S. Lewis lived, and the inspiration for the character Aslan from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” (N. Ireland)

10. Saw the murals and the peace wall from the Catholic/Protestant conflicts (N. Ireland)

Despite all this fun, I was eager to come back home and sit in my living room and watch football. (I did, however, catch a Cowboys game on Thanksgiving while I was there).  A good cup of coffee was also on my to-do list. Now I am enjoying the laidback atmosphere of D-term, catching up on a few books I’d been meaning to read and some hours of sleep that I had neglected. Home, sweet home.

Happy Holidays! More to come soon.

This week has been intense. Not only is it week 10 and I’ve had 2 papers and a presentation due, but it is the week before I head off to see my best friend in
Ireland. She is studying abroad through North Central in
Limerick, Ireland with a few other NCC students. As the week has gone on, I’ve gotten more detailed shopping lists and more excited IMs with the countdown of days until I arrive.

Here is a picture of what we’ve done since Amy has been gone. (Take note that this is at a pumkin patch in Wisconsin, not Ireland… I don’t even know if they have pumpkins in Ireland.)

If you haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone about studying abroad in college, the time is now! Although I didn’t get a chance myself to study abroad, I did have several opportunities within my undergraduate career to travel overseas. I’ve been to Albania twice to teach English, and Thailand last December to work with a ministry in
Bangkok. I have had several friends, though, who have taken this great opportunity to study within a different culture in their four years at NCC. Some have gone to London, others to
Kenya; I even have friends who have gone as far as China/Japan! Currently, I am living with an exchange student from
Kenya. How appropriate seeing as I will be heading to
Zambia for a year after I graduate. The emphasis that North Central has put on the study abroad experience has even benefited students like me who chose not to travel the seas to study the books.

So if you are even considering studying abroad, let me tell you, GO! Here is the link to the international programs website, check it out, leave me a message and tell me what you think. International Programs. Where do you want to go? Where have you gone? What a great time we live in, where as young adults we have so many opportunities to see the world!

I’ll keep you updated on my travels and I hope you take a look at the website. Have a great Thanksgiving!

When you come to North Central, you will hear over and over again that you’re “just a train ride away from the great city of Chicago.” Friends, I want you to know that this is absolutely true. Your dreams of spending long afternoons in Grant Park or nights out on Clark St. can come true! This weekend I hopped in my car (I know, not exactly the train ride I promised) and headed to the city with one of my best friends from high school. He had driven all the way from Minneapolis to spend the weekend in the Windy City with a few more friends of ours.

The 35-45 minutes we spent in the car on I-88 and I-290 flew by (I will make no comment on the speed at which we were “flying”). The next 48 hours were filled with Chicago-delight. Saturday we spent roaming Clark and Broadway Streets looking for hidden treasures, or non-Starbucks coffee shops, and walking through ritzy art galleries while we were severely under-dressed.  We did find a really great used bookstore that any claustrophobic person would have not thought twice about stepping foot in, and ended the day with cooking dinner in our friends apartment, overlooking the lights of the city.  Sunday we spent at a church downtown and in the afternoon headed to the Contemporary Museum of Art for free! (Yes, that means enjoying Chicago for $0, thus far).  After spending some time contemplating the mind-bending art, and watching the first half of the Patriots and Indianapolis game, my friend and I headed back to the burbs.

I do admit that there is a sort of comfort that comes along with driving down Ogden St. back to campus, where the buildings can only be four stories high, after having been one of the greatest cities in the country for a few short days, where the skyscrapers tower over you. I appreciate having the comforts of home and being almost in view of the Chicago skyline, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. Enjoy it while I can, right?

Friends, these are exciting times.  Not only are you reading the first-ever blog by Whitney Roberts for North Central College (which is not a big deal) but you also get a backstage pass, or I’ll atleast describe what it would be like for you to have a backstage pass, to Derek Webb’s show at the Union.  First things first, I thought I would share with you a very honest portrait of my condition on Tuesday nights. Yes, in this picture I am enjoying a delectable serving of Carribean Jerk wings at Buffalo Wild Wings (will now be referred to only as “wings”).  Every Tuesday night at 10:00pm a random group of friends of mine show up at wings. We’ve been going to the same restaurant almost every Tuesday for 3 years. Needless to say, one thing I won’t leave college without is a very developed skill for eating with my fingers.

So at this point you might be asking “Whitney, why did you title your very first blog ‘DWebb day’? To that I would answer “Because DWebb (derek webb) is one of the most influential musicians in my life and I got to spend the day with him and his band (and wife and baby) on Friday.” CRAZY. Here’s how it all went down: one of the hats I wear on campus is working in the office of campus ministry and service. Jeremy Gudauskas, the Director of Campus Ministry and Service, sits in his office immediately to my left and often asks “Whit, who should we bring to the Union.” One such conversation happened about a year and a half ago and I got my hopes up and said, “Jeremy it would be sweet if we could get Derek Webb to the Union.” By golly, last winter (almost a year from last Friday’s show) he was playing at the Union. Jeremy is actually a magician, imagine that. So after we packed the Union last year at his show, he agreed to come back. Currently he is on tour for his new album, The Ringing Bell, with his wife Sandra Mccraken, also a musician, and his full band. They agreed to make a stop in good ole Naperville to hang out with us Friday and it turned out to be fantastic.

I was incharge of making sure all of the band members and bus driver got to the hotel when they needed to to sleep/shower etc during the day. I was also responsible for being at the Union when the bus arrived. To my dismay, we didn’t know what time they were going to get there, for sure, but they had mentioned possibly arriving at 7:00am. Guess what time Whitney was up and ready to go on Friday morning… you got it, 7:00am. After calls to the hotels to confirm our early check-ins and all that jazz, I made my way over to the office waiting for the bus. They finally got to the Union at around 10:30am. The rest of the day consisted of 40 miles worth of trips to the hotel (probably 10 trips), load-in of equipment, sound checks, stocking the consession stand, setting up tables, sweeping floors, and finally letting all 170 of the eager fans in at 7:00pm. Dwebb day was a success. I left thoroughly exhausted, as I should, and they got back on their tour bus to head to Wheaton for their Saturday night show. Jeremy got a call, already, from their manager asking if it made sense for them to do another show next year… maybe this Dwebb day will turn into a NCC holiday?