This past Friday was the Winter Gala. This is like a Christmas prom or semi formal for college students. It was a VERY chilly evening which made walking to and from the events of the night a little uncomfortable but despite the bitter cold, I had a wonderful time!

 

 

 

It started off with a dinner served in Memorial Hall by faculty and staff. The decorations were beautiful and the food was delicious. There was also a place up on stage decorated  for taking pictures with your dates and friends.  After the meal was the Jazz concert. My friends and I went to listen and it was a great performance done by the jazz students here at Bethel. There was also supposed to be horse-drawn carriage rides but unfortunately because of the cold they were canceled. After the Jazz performance we headed to President White’s house for cookies and hot drinks! Again, the snacks were delicious and they also had a Santa that you could take a picture with which was fun! Following all of these activities was the last event of the night: the dance.

The evening was fun but waking up the next day I, along with many others had to start focusing on the finals waiting for us once the weekend was over. I’ve spent a lot of my time ever since in the library and Mojo’s, but the end is in sight!

Last year around finals time I began blogging about “stress buster tips” to help get students through finals, professors through their end-of-the semester work, and for anyone else who is dealing with a lot of stress. I decided that I will include a little bit of that this semester so be looking for my next blog about ways to reduce your stress!

This Thanksgiving break has been different than all my other years at Bethel. Instead of getting Wednesday through the weekend off, we got a whole week off starting last Saturday. At first I was a little bit skeptical about the break because I would have rather had our normal Thanksgiving Break and add the rest of those days on to Christmas break to make it longer. However, being able to have this longer break has been really nice! I’ve been able to put a lot of time into projects I need to get done that I might not have had without the extension of break while also being able to spend plenty of time with my family. 

At the beginning of break I took a day or two to just relax, then I worked hard on a take home test, being able to spend big chunks of time on it to get it done. Then I was able to take a few days off for the actual holiday. I was able to spend time with family and extended family for Thanksgiving, eat DELICIOUS food, talk about things we are thankful for, watch basketball and football, set up our Christmas tree, make Christmas goodies etc. Now, I have time to take another day to focus on homework to get the rest of it done so I can relax the last couple days of break.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you were able to remember everything you are thankful for and spend this holiday with people you are thankful for!

Today, the theme of our chapel service was Thankfulness. 

One of the points that was brought up among the speakers was being thankful for the little things. This was a good reminder for me. I get so stressed with school work and the end of the semester that I forget to take time to step back and be thankful for some of the little things that I take for granted. These are things such as even being able to attend Bethel College, to get the college education, to have a laptop to write my papers on. To be thankful for my health, that I have all of the necessities and so much more. That I have such wonderful support systems in my life including my family and friends. 

Last year, I wrote a blog about what I was thankful for and so I wanted include its contents here because it is still applicable along with a few additions. As you read the reasons that I am thankful, take time to think about what you are thankful for, including the smaller things you may, like me, have taken for granted.

In this season of Thanksgiving I thought it appropriate to write a blog about the things that I am thankful for about Bethel. Thus I have titled my blog “A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart” which comes from Veggie Tales and one of their songs called “The Thankfulness Song.” (If you are interested in seeing/hearing the scene with the song in it here it is!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhcI-HXicwY!

I am thankful for the tennis team and am excited to begin our spring season together.

I am thankful for the choral groups I am a part of and the tremendous music we make together.

I am thankful there are study rooms in the library available when I need a place of peace and quiet to study.

I am thankful for Mojos and their tasty drinks and delicious cinnamon rolls! (Who also have a great environment for studying).

I am thankful Bethel is such a nice campus, small enough to feel like a close-knit community.

I am thankful for my whole mod of girls: Alli Rudeen, Katelyn Melgren, Alyssa Scheuerman, Melinda Regehr, Michelle Unruh and my roomate Allie Hipp. We have such fun times together, even if it is sometimes getting on each other to study:). 

I am thankful that Bethel is close to home so I can still see my immediate and extended family often (and come home for laundry and my mom’s delicious cooking!)

I am thankful that my sister Miranda although now graduated from Bethel and married, is still in the area so we can have frequent lunches together. 

I am thankful for the professors and their dedication to their students and their availability to help on an individual basis.

I am thankful for friendships that I have built on campus along with closer relationships within my mod.

I am thankful for the beautiful scenery on campus, especially with the new landscaping they have completed thus far.

I am thankful for the “little things” that I mentioned above.

And last but definitely not least, I am thankful for simply having the opportunity to attend Bethel College. 

This past week has been full of Halloween festivities. Last weekend was the weekend Halloween dance and costume contest in Memorial Hall.

Prior to the dance, my mod and some additional friends went to a pumpkin patch where we did many fun things including playing in a “corn pit” (like sand just with corn kernels) and making a train down a long slide After we had our fun at the pumpkin patch we went to one of my modmates houses to carve pumpkins and have dinner. We had a wonderful time and after we were all full of good food and good conversation we headed back to Bethel so that we could get ready for the Halloween dance and costume contest!

At the dance, this years contest in my opinion was the most creative of my Bethel career yet. We had Zipperfaced Zombies, the Disney movie Aladdin cast, a rainbow with a pot of gold (my mod + Bree), Miley Cyrus, Mario Kart characters, and many many more. The dance ended this weekend of fun.

However, the Halloween fun wasn’t over yet! On alloween day, our mod participated in “trick-or-treat off the

street.” This is where the mods or rooms that want to participate have a pumpkin decoration outside of their door and people from the community can come to campus to trick-or-treat. Whoever has the pumpkin by there door has candy! My mod decorated our door and played Halloween music out into the courtyard for the occasion. It was so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes!

So to summarize, it was a great week full of fun and festivities, but now it is back to the books for me!