There's more to life at Bethel than classes & seminars

Beyond the green is a place students to share the joys and hardships of being a Thresher.

  • Mudslam, AKA The Dirtiest Volleyball You Have Ever Played

    Mudslam, AKA The Dirtiest Volleyball You Have Ever Played

  • Mod Life: Finding Fun Amidst Stress

    Mod Life: Finding Fun Amidst Stress

Concert Choir Tour 2015

Concert Choir Tour 2015

The choir's annual spring break tour took them into churches of various denominations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, where they experienced amazing hospitality from an equal variety of people.
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Bethel in bloom

Bethel in bloom

It seems like we just turned around and suddenly it's spring all over the Bethel campus.
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Spring Fling 2015

Spring Fling 2015

Above is a photo from 2015's Bubbert Awards fun. The Bubberts capped off Spring Fling week, which also included Ultimate Trivia, laser tag, Capture the Flag and Bethel Olympics. Plus an Iron Chef Cook-off with a secret ingredient...
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The end of another school year

The end of another school year

Wrapping up, finishing up and moving out, as another school year ends. Our bloggers appreciate coffee, friends, beautiful coffee, summer plans, study breaks and ... coffee.
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My Last August at Bethel

Hello to the Bethel community,

My name is Eric Preheim and I am now a senior at Bethel. Reflecting on who I was and where I was, four years at Bethel has changed much about my life.

I am by no means ready to hit cruise control and coast to the finish. At the same time, I feel the need to “experience” college and participate in every single activity less and less. My energies have been realigned to focus on my final (sigh) soccer season, finishing up my academic year strong and connecting with and supporting the many people at Bethel I have come to admire, appreciate and continue to learn from.

When I am not at practice, in the classroom or studying I can usually be found at Applebees eating half-priced apps with my girlfriend, Kiley, or enjoying the music of the on-campus bluegrass band, The Flannelbacks.

In true Bethel fashion, this year has already provided me with new opportunities in my career path of interest, marketing, and put me in contact with new people that I can already call friends (I live with 5 new transfers and the soccer team has doubled in size).

It is only August but another great year seems to be on the horizon. I look forward to sharing more good news and the occasional struggle of living as a senior at Bethel College.

Until next time,

Eric

Summers in North Newton

Greetings from North Newton, Kansas!

This is the summer before my senior year at Bethel College and it is my first staying on campus. Rather than go back home, I have decided to live on campus and do adult things – buy groceries, make dinner, work full-time and go to bed by 10 p.m. This small preview of adult life has been an adventure that I am fully enjoying.

Being on campus is great because I am able to see friends and faculty that I would otherwise not see for the three months of summer and I am able to be involved with the preparation for the upcoming school year. One of the greatest perks is being able to participate in (both as a referee and player) the summer soccer league put together by the Bethel soccer coaches. There are two full men’s divisions and a women’s division and five hours of soccer twice a week.

There are student workers all over campus, doing anything from maintenance to graphic design to research. Much to my surprise, this campus does not shut down and fall into a three-month-long sleep. Instead, the campus is busy as ever with a sense of anticipation and excitement in the air. Can’t wait for everyone else to join us in North Newton soon!

Eric Preheim

Farewell. Auf weidersehen. Adíos. Adieu. Ciao.

So, my loyal readers, it has taken me a couple weeks to find time to write my last blog for Bethel College. I have been busy relaxing at the lake with no time to write this blog (in all actuality, I had time but chose not to — hey, I was on vacation!).

So, just like they tell you, graduating is the best and worst day of your undergraduate degree. Getting an A on that Organic Chemistry test or forgetting your speech in Public Speaking cannot compare to you feeling as happy and sad as you do on graduation. You are so excited to graduate and move on to the next chapter in your life. You actually get to join the big-kid world. But that is scary, too. At the same exact time you feel ready to join the big kid world, you’re not. You don’t know how to be an adult. You have no idea how to pay bills, cook, sign a lease, or do your own taxes.

Not only are you happy and scared but you are also heartbroken. You don’t want to leave the place that became home for you over the past four years. The family that you cherish. It’s hard. It’s hard to give up a routine. It’s hard to embrace the change. There are so many things you see daily that you will miss. Like the beautiful Ad Building glow at night. Like the campus blossoming with flowers in the spring or splayed with leaves in the fall. Like your friends that you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with everyday. Or of course the family you’ve made in the Mods. Like your favorite professors in Mojo’s. Or your coaches walking down the sidewalk.  You’ll miss having YOUR seat in Convo and kicking freshmen out of them at the start of the year.

However, with all of this, you must not get too broken up. You will be able to see your Bethel family again. You’ll meet up with your Modmates numerous times to reminisce about the good ol’ undergrad days but you’ll make new memories, too. You’ll also of course come back for Fall Fest. Who can miss that? You will visit random days because you just need somewhere that understands you. You will get to play in Alumni games and of course come back for concerts.

So remember this. Graduation is a happy, scary, sad day. But that’s the beauty of it! Enjoy every minute of it. Because you will never have a more special day with an even more special family.

Roll On, Threshers!

With much love,

Brooke

Tourin’ Italy and Beyond

On May 19, the class Renaissance Art History embarks on a journey to Italy. Myself included, there will be about 12 of us going.

The class is led by David Long, who has done this before, and is bound to be a great one. We will be visiting Venice, Padova, Florence, Rome and the Vatican, among other destinations in Italy.

After 10 days of fun in Europe the trip will conclude…BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! If you choose to stay in Europe and travel, you may!

I will have the pleasure of going to Munich, Interlaken (Switzerland) and Paris. This trip is sure to be one full of memories and new experiences. I hope to take many pictures like the one below in Florence.

Until next time America,

Eric

(I hope everyone caught the Toy Story reference in the title.)

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Packing Up

Well, it’s that time of the semester again.

Everyone says goodbye to friends and some people are sad while others are excited for the future. Plans are made to work or to study or even to travel. What everyone seems to forget is the dreaded packing up.

Typically exam week causes people to let their room get messy and forget about this aspect of leaving. Finding a place for one’s couch, fridge and microwave are among the stressful parts of moving out.

Cleaning up the mod’s shared spaces among one’s room can be an all-day affair. I would recommend that you make a conscious effort to keep your space clean all year so you are not burdened the last day to clean up and are instead just focusing on ways to get your things home.

Despite this underrated factor of moving day, there is so much excitement this time of year that it always works out.

Eric

Two of my favorite things…

Coffee and art!

As much as I loved Mojo’s Coffee Bar before, now I’m completely in love. I’ve noticed recently that the baristas bringing me my coffee are putting some nice latte art atop my drinks.

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Especially during this stressful week of finals, a cute little heart on top of my cup of liquid motivation is just what I need to be inspired and hit the books hard.

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Thank you, Mojo’s, for your beautiful and tasty drinks!

-Kiley

Brooke’s Declassified Finals Survival Guide

Here is THE guide to a successful week of finals….

First off, study the heck out of the material. Seems kind of obvious, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because that is all you can do.

Second off, put off studying. Go outside and play disc golf with your friends. Choose a movie over looking at your notes. These are the time you’re going to remember, trust me (I’ve been through this for four years now).

Third off, drink TONS of coffee. It helps,  I promise.

Fourth off, counteract the coffee with lots of water. Please be sure to stay hydrated.

Fifth off, go out and binge on fast food, ice cream, soda, and all other absolutely terrible food choices.

Lastly, love the fact that you are studying or taking a study break. These are the moments that are going to be with you for the rest of your life, and they are important. Friends mean everything and you would not be surviving this hellish week without them. Enjoy the stress and bask in the glow of sleep deprivation.

Every minute of this week is glorious.

Live it. Cry a bit during it. Love it.

Brooke

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The Week Before Finals Week

This week is literally death for everyone involved. Why this week is so much worse than actual finals week? No one knows except the professors.

All of us students go through hell the week before finals because for some odd reason every professor decides it’s a good time to pile up the assignments due. For example, I have two papers, two exams, one presentation, and of course the usual homework all due the week before finals.

My load isn’t even that bad. Others have it way worse than I do. I have a friend who has a biochemistry exam on Friday! What is the point in that?! The students don’t get the exam back in time to study it and it just stresses them out more. It isn’t helpful.

Another thing I do not understand is why professors want to grade these things? Why in the world would someone make all of these assignments due? I know for a fact each professor has at least two classes they are teaching. So that means even more work! Professors should conduct study groups all week instead of assigning projects. This way kids actually pass their finals.

The only way to get through this week and make it to the next is by lots of coffee, lots of laughter, a little bit of crying and zero sleep.

Good luck to all of you enduring this week of stress.

Brooke

 

Bethel’s Iron Chef Cook-off

Last week, Bethel hosted a number of fun activities and events as part of our 2015 Spring Fling. One of my personal favorites was the Iron Chef Cook-off.

Similar to the popular TV show, contestants were given limited ingredients and a time constraint of one hour to prepare an appetizer, entreé and drink for the judges.

Ingredients ranged from eggs, to pineapple, to whipped cream to a myriad of spices and seasonings. Oh and one catch — we had to incorporate the “secret ingredient” into our appetizer and entree. The secret ingredient was revealed to be scallops, a type of seafood. My team and I were utterly confused as how to incorporate this into our meal, as none of us had ever cooked with scallops before.

Somehow, we pulled off a bruschetta appetizer (topped with sauteéd scallops of course) as well as a mango-scallop fried rice with tropical infused sweet tea to drink.

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Bruschetta

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Entreé

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Sweet Tea

 

 

 

Although we did not win the $100 prize for first place, we had a blast cooking and laughing with each other.

My team of expert chefs

My team of expert chefs

Everyone who attended made some interesting and yummy food, and the whole thing was a great turnout. I can’t wait for next year’s Iron Chef Cook-off!

-Kiley

Getting the Job

Okay, followers, this post here is a biggie.

Recently in convocation, we had a presenter come speak to us about ways to excel in interviews. It helped. Kind of. Most of the things he mentioned a lot of us knew already and it didn’t quite “fit our fancy” on what we thought we would like to hear about. So with my marvelous interview experience (an experience of less than 10 interviews), here are my 10 tips for you.

1. Make sure you pee beforehand! This is clearly number one, because you do not want to go through your entire interview needing to take a whizz and not being able to concentrate on the task at hand. (If you do need to pee, don’t be embarrassed, just use the bathroom so there are no accidents.)

2. Brush your teeth REALLY well. No one likes stinky breath.

3. LAYER on the deodorant. You will be sweating like a pig.

4. Wear comfortable shoes. Nothing is worse than aching feet all day (but of course make them comfortable “professional” shoes).

5. Brag about yourself. What you are there for is for them to better understand who you are and how successful you are. This is not a time to be modest.

6. Lunch time: Eat everything on your plate. You did not pay for it, so why not? (Also, it shows the money spent on you was well worth it.) Note: Do not eat so much you need to puke.

7. Tell jokes. Be humorous. No one likes a Debbie Downer. Showing you have a personality is key.

8. Be personable. Tell them interesting things about your life that show you HAVE a life outside of the workplace. Allow them to see the real you (as long as the real you isn’t awful).

9. Do not only ask questions about the company. Ask questions about them, too. Where they are from, how many kids do they have, etc. This shows you’re interested in them as a person, not just an interviewer.

10. Send a thank-you note in the mail. This shows that you actually care. An e-mail is impersonal, and shows zero effort.

I hope this helped. Good luck to all of you seniors (and others) trying to make it in the real world.

Brooke