Well I'm back up here in the sunny Central Coast, although it has been quite chilly today compared to the nice heat in San Diego. My Spring Break couldn't have been more perfect, very relaxing and refreshing to spend time with my family. Unfortunately, it reminded me of how much I miss the comforts of home!
Oh well... now I'm a big bad Junior at UCSB. Yep you read that right, I'm a first-year JUNIOR at a prestigious university. Pretty darn cool that all that work in high school paid off. Though I'm a junior already, I'm still not entirely sure if I'll be able to graduate a year early. But boy oh boy I would love to do so if possible.
Later on in the week I'll prolly post a few pics of my Spring Break, which included stops at Disneyland and the surprisingly beautiful desert. The desert was actually green and just about all the cacti were in full bloom, it was quite a sight. Of course, we were only able to spend about half a day out there as the winds chased us out around 9 that night.
Well I'm getting ready to have some delicious food from the dining commons so I'll be able to blog a little bit later on.
Adios for now.
31 March 2008
13 March 2008
Some stuff floating around in my head...
Wow, I've been in the blogging frame of mine I guess these past couple days. There's been some stuff floating around in my noggin, for quite some time actually. I've had a sticky note posted on my desk since before Christmas to blog on this, so hopefully I can write it down so it sounds halfway decent.
Okay, so going to UCSB (or just about any college I imagine) I've been exposed to A LOT of stuff that I never had to even contemplate about before school started. It's very rare for my floor if there are no random girls running into guys' rooms, people drinking in the rooms, and recently I've been hearing people are moving on to hardcore 'psychedelics' to tickle their fancy. Wow.
Anyway, that's besides the point, the key thing that I'm interested in is the rationale behind these behaviors. Ready? Cause it's is not totally revolutionary... their rationale is the saying 'you only live once and that's it.' So in their view, we've got one shot at life and its up to us to make the most of it and experience as much as we can. One guy on my floor, who calls himself a 'fervent atheist' says when he's on the hardcore drugs, his entire body tingles from the 'top of [his] head, to the bottom of [his] feet' and he fears absolutely nothing, not even death. He says he's not afraid because once he dies that's it, and that would be good enough for him.
As I was sitting in the lounge listening to the above conversation while it was taking place (the atheist guy was conversing with another guy, both of whom were on something because they said the couches were 'breathing'), I was trying to visualize what it would feel like to feel this raw energy pulsing through me with no worries in the world. To be honest, my initial reaction was 'wow that would feel pretty good,' and at that point I nearly slapped myself for thinking that. Yeah, it probably provides a potent, yet temporary relief for life's struggles, but it certainly does nothing to wipe them away completely. At this point, I realized that God can provide that legitimately, and if I can learn to put things out of my worry and into his immensely comfortable hands, I won't feel as stressed and I won't see things 'breathing'--which would be pretty trippy I think.
This entire situation that is occurring not only on my environment, but just about everywhere else on the planet, is downright... sad, depressing, even a little pathetic. I know that sounds pretty harsh, and I feel that way only because I've been supremely fortunate enough to have grown up in an environment where I realize life has so much more to offer. I attribute this attitude to my family and my faith, and both have grown to become the cornerstones of my life.
So what I'm going to talk about is why I don't feel the need to go 'all out' throughout life, and I hope other Christians uphold this view too because it is quite important.
Okay, here goes.
For God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians, our life on earth is only temporary and if we can live by the tenets of the bible, by inviting Christ into our lives and accepting him as our savior who died for us so that we could live eternally, we will join Him in heaven. What a day that'll be eh? Anyway, I believe that is why (for me at least) the urge to go all out and experience things like the 'typical' college experience isn't there for Christians as much. I can draw a bit of consensus, cause, fortunately, the guys I'm living with next year feel the same way, which is such a blessing. And because Christians realize there is so much God is wanting to offer us, it makes it a little comforting to know we don't have to conform to the world's standards.
It's kinda cool to think that the reason I don't do these things is cause 'I might get in trouble' but instead, because I don't want these things to get in the way of my Walk and deviate from God's plan. It's a comforting notion, and I wish I had this attitude 24/7 because then I would always have a positive outlook on things, no matter the circumstances.
So hopefully the majority of this made sense, I've been battling a persistent headache for the past 2 days and now its starting to be a bother.
Hmm... now I guess now I can finally take the sticky note down, 'bout time too.
Cheers!
Okay, so going to UCSB (or just about any college I imagine) I've been exposed to A LOT of stuff that I never had to even contemplate about before school started. It's very rare for my floor if there are no random girls running into guys' rooms, people drinking in the rooms, and recently I've been hearing people are moving on to hardcore 'psychedelics' to tickle their fancy. Wow.
Anyway, that's besides the point, the key thing that I'm interested in is the rationale behind these behaviors. Ready? Cause it's is not totally revolutionary... their rationale is the saying 'you only live once and that's it.' So in their view, we've got one shot at life and its up to us to make the most of it and experience as much as we can. One guy on my floor, who calls himself a 'fervent atheist' says when he's on the hardcore drugs, his entire body tingles from the 'top of [his] head, to the bottom of [his] feet' and he fears absolutely nothing, not even death. He says he's not afraid because once he dies that's it, and that would be good enough for him.
As I was sitting in the lounge listening to the above conversation while it was taking place (the atheist guy was conversing with another guy, both of whom were on something because they said the couches were 'breathing'), I was trying to visualize what it would feel like to feel this raw energy pulsing through me with no worries in the world. To be honest, my initial reaction was 'wow that would feel pretty good,' and at that point I nearly slapped myself for thinking that. Yeah, it probably provides a potent, yet temporary relief for life's struggles, but it certainly does nothing to wipe them away completely. At this point, I realized that God can provide that legitimately, and if I can learn to put things out of my worry and into his immensely comfortable hands, I won't feel as stressed and I won't see things 'breathing'--which would be pretty trippy I think.
This entire situation that is occurring not only on my environment, but just about everywhere else on the planet, is downright... sad, depressing, even a little pathetic. I know that sounds pretty harsh, and I feel that way only because I've been supremely fortunate enough to have grown up in an environment where I realize life has so much more to offer. I attribute this attitude to my family and my faith, and both have grown to become the cornerstones of my life.
So what I'm going to talk about is why I don't feel the need to go 'all out' throughout life, and I hope other Christians uphold this view too because it is quite important.
Okay, here goes.
For God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians, our life on earth is only temporary and if we can live by the tenets of the bible, by inviting Christ into our lives and accepting him as our savior who died for us so that we could live eternally, we will join Him in heaven. What a day that'll be eh? Anyway, I believe that is why (for me at least) the urge to go all out and experience things like the 'typical' college experience isn't there for Christians as much. I can draw a bit of consensus, cause, fortunately, the guys I'm living with next year feel the same way, which is such a blessing. And because Christians realize there is so much God is wanting to offer us, it makes it a little comforting to know we don't have to conform to the world's standards.
It's kinda cool to think that the reason I don't do these things is cause 'I might get in trouble' but instead, because I don't want these things to get in the way of my Walk and deviate from God's plan. It's a comforting notion, and I wish I had this attitude 24/7 because then I would always have a positive outlook on things, no matter the circumstances.
So hopefully the majority of this made sense, I've been battling a persistent headache for the past 2 days and now its starting to be a bother.
Hmm... now I guess now I can finally take the sticky note down, 'bout time too.
Cheers!
11 March 2008
Still more pics...
Earlier today, I was working on an 8-page paper under the shade of a palm tree. How cool is that? There are very few kids in the entire nation that can say that. It's just mind-boggling.
Well tonight I had the sudden urge to go take pics of the sunset, and boy was I rewarded. It still blows my mind that I actually get to go to a school as beautiful as this.
Anyway, enough of me typing here... here's some of my beautiful photography. Not to sound conceited, but I'll wager they look pretty da*n good. Of course I meant 'darn,' not the other word. Haha.
My personal favorite is the last one with the sun behind the ivy. I looked like a total dork lying down taking this shot, but I think it looks pretty cool. There are a couple more pics that could be uploaded, and maybe they will in the future.
Okay, enough blogging for today. Maybe I'll blog again soon!
2/3 of the Way There!
So right now I'm in the 10th week of my Winter Quarter, which means I'm one week away from finals and Spring Break!! And that means I'm 2/3 of the way done with my first year in college!
This quarter has been going quite smoothly, as I'm only taking three classes. And as a result, I'm looking at A's across the board as long as I do well on my finals. So my first 4.0 would be a pretty sweet way to start break.
I'm excited to get out of the dorms, its been nice living on campus because everything is pretty close to where I'm living, but it will be so much better living with 5 other legitimate Christian guys. For many reasons, I've never been able to click very well with most dudes, but with these guys I think I'll be able to share a brotherhood that could last a lifetime and I'm so stoked for it.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting other Freshmen Christians on campus, and had a great time. I didn't know anyone except my housemates, and they knew pretty much everybody else because they go to Real Life (our Christian group on campus) on Thursday nights. I'll be joining them next quarter because I won't have class on Thursday nights!!
Anyway, we played this intense game called 'kajabe' (pronounced ka-job-e) and I won the first one, got second in the second round, and third in the third round. So by the end of the rounds, everyone pretty much knew me and I got a chance to impress the ladies. ;) We also played volleyball and other random games. All in all it was a ton of fun.
The pic to the right was taken at what's called Campus Point, overlooking the entire Pacific. We did worship there for the sunset and it was freezing cold! But it was pretty awesome, and reminded me when I got up for the sunrise in the desert with my youth group junior year to do worship.
After worship, one of my housemates (his name is Wade and I might be rooming with him next year) gave a short message on Unity and the importance of leadership. So I'm really really looking forward to get involved in this and I think the Freshmen class has a unique opportunity to grow pretty close in an environment that is in desperate need for more god-fearing individuals.
This quarter has been going quite smoothly, as I'm only taking three classes. And as a result, I'm looking at A's across the board as long as I do well on my finals. So my first 4.0 would be a pretty sweet way to start break.
I'm excited to get out of the dorms, its been nice living on campus because everything is pretty close to where I'm living, but it will be so much better living with 5 other legitimate Christian guys. For many reasons, I've never been able to click very well with most dudes, but with these guys I think I'll be able to share a brotherhood that could last a lifetime and I'm so stoked for it.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting other Freshmen Christians on campus, and had a great time. I didn't know anyone except my housemates, and they knew pretty much everybody else because they go to Real Life (our Christian group on campus) on Thursday nights. I'll be joining them next quarter because I won't have class on Thursday nights!!
Anyway, we played this intense game called 'kajabe' (pronounced ka-job-e) and I won the first one, got second in the second round, and third in the third round. So by the end of the rounds, everyone pretty much knew me and I got a chance to impress the ladies. ;) We also played volleyball and other random games. All in all it was a ton of fun.
The pic to the right was taken at what's called Campus Point, overlooking the entire Pacific. We did worship there for the sunset and it was freezing cold! But it was pretty awesome, and reminded me when I got up for the sunrise in the desert with my youth group junior year to do worship.
After worship, one of my housemates (his name is Wade and I might be rooming with him next year) gave a short message on Unity and the importance of leadership. So I'm really really looking forward to get involved in this and I think the Freshmen class has a unique opportunity to grow pretty close in an environment that is in desperate need for more god-fearing individuals.
03 March 2008
Quick Update...
Man oh man I wish I was more disciplined to go on here more often. Lots of stuff has been happening the past few weeks.
One of the biggest pieces of news is I now what I'm going to be doing for housing next year and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'm going to be living on what is known around here as DP, Del Playa Drive, which runs right along the cliffs of the beaches in Isla Vista. Though its absolutely gorgeous, DP has the glowing reputation as being the wildest and best place to party in Isla Vista. With that said, I'm living in a mini Christian community on this famous drive and it provides a unique missions field.
I'm going to be living with five other devout Christians next year, four of which are in my bible study. The guys in my bible study (Wade, Clay, Jon, and Raj) are all pretty cool guys and I'm excited to live with them for next year. The other guy is named Andy, and I've only met him a couple times, but he seems like a pretty cool guy too. We're living next to Isla Vista church, which is just another regular house on DP, though its different because they have services.
The house itself is a two-story duplex, and we're going to be on the top floor!! We have a little patio on top, which has ocean views... so pretty sweet. And that's only the beginning of the goodness of this house.... beach access is about a good thirty second walk out our front door and there is a little park area directly across from us. In addition, we have a prayer shed on our property and a study room shed... both of which are at least 500 square feet I'd say. And, we have laundry and parking off the street for our house as well. So to sum it up... I'm stoked!!! Oh, I also forgot to mention, every Friday night from 10:30-1:00 in the morning, the Christian community in Isla Vista meets up at our house and cooks burgers to give out to all the drunks running out on DP, and it provides a way to evangelize to others. It's looking like a pretty sweet deal!!
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