Halloween on Campus

October 31, 2012 by in Campus Life | Comments Off

It is a gorgeous 70 degree day — almost too good to be true for Halloween to already be here! Every year on Halloween night Bethel participates in something called Trick or Treat Off the Street which lets families trick-or-treat here on Bethel’s campus. Every dorm room or mod can sign up and we get signs to post on our doors if we will participate in handing out candy to the kids who come to trick-or-treat. The past two years I have been a part of it and our mod is doing it again this year. I am quite sad though because I will not be around all evening due to a night class. Hopefully the rest of my modmates will get to enjoy all of the great kids and their costumes who come by though.

Over the weekend Bethel celebrated Halloween early with a Halloween Rave hosted in Mojos by SAC. After an hour of dancing and music and food there were contests for the best group, individual, couple, scariest, and crowd’s favorite costumes. There were some very creative ones — old men, board games (including Hi-Ho Cherry-O and Hungry Hungry Hippos), the couple from the movie UP, and the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz. My boyfriend and got an idea from one of the librarians to do Jack and the Beanstalk. We spent the afternoon scouring the Etcetera Shop downtown to make a beanstalk costume for him and Jack for me. We ended up getting 2nd place in the Best Couples Costume contest! We were happy with that.

What to do when you’re bored…

October 30, 2012 by in Campus Life | Comments Off

Hey all!

I recently began thinking about times when I feel there is nothing to do at Bethel. However, I soon realized that this should be a rare occurrence considering all the activities and events that seem to be happening throughout the week. Honestly, if you were to look at the calendar on our website, there is usually an athletic event, concert, or student activity going on!

If your problem is that you don’t want to go alone, drag along a friend, or just be brave and go by yourself. You will be surprised at the friends you can make by attending. Not only will your friend base grow, but your knowledge about new sports, plays, or concerts will too. Maybe you simply never know when something is going on. The solution to this is really simple: pay attention to emails, ask around, check the online calendar, and some groups even post on Facebook and Twitter, so watch for those.

A Vocational Education

October 30, 2012 by in Study Abroad | Comments Off

On September 3^rd I arrived at the city of Barcelona with the program of Brethren Colleges Abroad and twenty one students from small Liberal Arts colleges from across the United States. Then, most of us felt unprepared for our study abroad experience, and some, including myself, were nervous about the idea of studying in Catalonia’s most prestigious university. As October comes to an end, I am now finally able to say that I feel like a real student at the University of Barcelona. I am comfortable attending classes, talking to my professors, commuting from one department to another and even spending time outside of the classroom with other university students. Yet attending a university in a foreign country can be challenging and requires fast adjusting to the oddities and complexities of university life outside of the US. In this blog post I would like to share with you what I have learned about Spanish higher education and offer you an inside view into the intricacies of attending the University of Barcelona.

Service Day, Serving for life

October 26, 2012 by in Service | Comments Off

This past Wednesday was “Service day” for Bethel’s campus. There were lots of opportunities and ways to get involved including cleaning up Sand Creek Trail, landscaping, painting and deep cleaning the Agape House. Some people also went to Et Cetera shop to help price and put out clothing, others went to an Elementary school and cleaned and helped teachers with odd jobs and some even got to interact with the children as well. The tennis team also had a “service” going on where those that were available could help clean out the tennis shed and tie down the tennis windscreens.

Unfortunately I was not able to participate in service day this year but Maria Day my Spanish professor reminded our Spanish class of something very important. One of her philosophical thoughts. That was that not only should we do service one day for service day, but that we should serve every day whether it be in a big or small way. She said that even something as simple as a smile or a hello can brighten someone’s day and can be a form of service.

I think that is a good reminder for me and for us all of the kind of mind set that we should have about service and about one of the goals for our lives, not only giving back to our community on “Service day” or through volunteer work if you participate in that as well, but giving back to the people who are in your life, to those who are in your life permanently or those who just pass through, to those who are important to you and those who you might not know as well, even a simple smile or caring about how they are doing can be just what someone needs to get through the day.

Settling into School

October 24, 2012 by in Study Abroad | Comments Off

It’s hard to believe that I have been living here in Greece for almost six weeks and that I’m almost done with my third week of classes. Time moves strangely here, fast and slow at the same time. I have a feeling it’ll be time to say goodbye before I even know it.

One thing that is easy to countdown here are my classes. Unlike the U.S., my classes only meet once a week for three hours (with the exception of my Greek language class which meets twice a week for 90 minutes). Additionally, the university I’m attending is on a quarter system which means our term is only 10 weeks long, instead of the typical 15. Ten class periods. That’s all you get before the quarter is done and the last class session is when you take your final. Time flies in the Greek higher education system.

It’s definitely taking some time to get used to, but it has its advantages. Because we’re not restrained to one hour, we can do a significant amount of lecturing and discussion in the same class period. My school also has an online intranet user, so that we can have discussions on discussion boards online outside of class. Even though we don’t see each other multiple times a week, which I’ve found can definitely affect the relationship I have with my fellow students and professor, there seems to be a certain sense of focus in class that I find can be lacking in classes back home sometimes.

On-campus jobs

October 21, 2012 by in Campus Life | Comments Off

With such a small campus one might expect that on-campus employment would be rare, but many students find time to pick up hours for on-campus jobs. New students receive information about the long list of on-campus jobs during the summer or at the beginning of the year, and then the mad rush to claim the top-choice jobs begins. Some people can attain jobs like tutoring or grading through recommendations from professors. Science classes often hire lab aides as well. Read More

Bigs in Schools

October 20, 2012 by in Service | Comments Off

It is difficult to believe that we are over halfway through October already! The school year has continued to fly by. Fall Fest was only a week ago and I finished up all my midterm exams this week. Even amidst the neverending homework assignments and due dates one of the highlights of my week is still the same as every year — going to see my little sister for Bigs in Schools. Read More

Festivities In the Fall

October 19, 2012 by in Events | Comments Off

This last weekend marked another glorious Fall Festival. Despite the weather, many alumni, local newtonians, and visitors from in and around this great state of Kansas joined in the awesomeness. Lot’s of new years cookies, verinike, and kettle corn to fill those hungry tummies of ours. I personally helped feed a countless number of people with verinike by working the both at Fall Fest as well as the Taste of Newton.

Fall Festival

October 17, 2012 by in Events | Comments Off

Campus let out a collective sigh of relief on Monday. This past weekend was the annual Bethel College Fall Festival, which serves as a homecoming/fundraiser/fun time for everyone. Alumni run rampant on campus while their children are prepped to be the next generation of Threshers. It’s one of the biggest weekends for prospective to visit, with 40+ on campus on Friday and more throughout this week.

Fall Fest is scheduled around the first home football game in October, or sometimes the last one in September if the schedule is strange. It starts on the Thursday of that week with the Taste of Newton, an event in downtown Newton that brings blocks of food booths together. That’s always one of my favorite parts because it brings together the Bethel community and the Newton community. There’s all sorts of concerts and performances of local groups from jazz bands to the Azteca dancers.

Friday is kind of an awkward in-between day with the STEM symposium in the afternoon and classes cancelled in the afternoon. The theatre department’s Fall Fest production also starts on Friday evening.

Saturday is the big day of festivities on campus with a whole list of events and booths on campus. Student groups and a few outside organizations use Fall Fest as a major fundraiser. It’s a lot of food like the Taste of Newton. The festivities conclude on Sunday with a campus worship service at Bethel College Mennonite Church and the final production of the play or musical.

It’s quite a stressful weekend for students involved in those activities, but the rewards are great. Besides the fundraising from having so many people on campus it’s also a time to reconnect with recent alumni and family. And don’t forget the great food!

Another Fall Fest in the Books

October 16, 2012 by in Events | Comments Off

Last week campus was busy with volunteers from the community rushing around to prepare for the 42nd annual Fall Festival. Spots were staked, tents were assembled, and the anticipation for the weekend was all around. Bethel College was anxious to celebrate it’s 125th anniversary.

The event kicked off with the Taste of Newton on Thursday night, which I was able to attend for the first time this year. The past two years I had either basketball practice or to help work the volleyball games. It was a new experience for me, main street was full of people and the smells of delicious food filled the air.

Friday was busy as well, campus visit day brought with it a large amount of perspective students and athletic recruits. Afternoon classes were cancelled to allow students to attend the STEM Symposium, but also served as a time to catch up on homework before the busy weekend. I used this time to take a nap (after homework of course).

On Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to find that it was raining, so I slipped on my polka dot rain boots and grabbed my umbrella before heading to the booths I was scheduled to work. As a radio show host for KBCU-FM 88.1, I volunteered to work the radio booth from 9-10, due to the rain however, we did not have one. I trudged back to my room knowing my family would soon be here to help work the Russian pancake booth for Women’s Basketball.

Luckily the rain disappeared and there was only a light sprinkle here and there. I worked the Russian pancake booth with my family and members of the team, then headed to the Collegian booth to sell newspaper subscriptions. When I was done I finally got to enjoy lunch and walk around.

Overall, I think the weekend was very successful. I got to see my family, talk with community members, and the weather did not put a damper on this year’s Fall Fest. I can officially say I’ve attended three Fall Festivals at Bethel and look forward to next year’s!

~Samantha

Archives for October 2012