Wow!!! This week is full of lots of fun study breaks, which help relieve the stress of all your hard finals for the up coming week. Let me see there is a nacho bar tonight and a parent’s association gift that is to be given out to all Bethel Students. I always look forward to the nacho bar, and the gifts are pretty cool. My freshman year we got a thermos, and my sophomore year we got these cool coffee mugs with the famous Ad Building imprinted on it. Not only will there be nacho fun tonight along with our gifts from the parent’s association, there will also be a study bar with lots of snacks, cocoa, and coffee so you can stay up late snacking and being hyper, well and I guess to study as well. Read More

It’s Saturday, and I am wrapping up the end of a crazy week! Not as much homework as last week…but still very eventful.First, on Sunday we had our annual Deutsche Weihnachten, or German Christmas, service. As the name indicates, it’s a tradition that involves a Christmas service entirely in German. And when I say entirely, I mean that includes all hymns sung by the congregation, all songs sung by the choirs (the Concert Choir, Men’s Chorus, and Women’s Chorus), the sermon, and all the scripture readings. Literally the only parts of the bulletin that were in English was the part telling people where their offering was going (Mennonite Central Committee disaster relief) and the part warning people not to spill their candle wax after lighting their candles and singing “Stille Nacht.” It’s something unique that I have really come to find gets me in the Christmas spirit! Read More

Well, last Sunday was a very special day to me. We had our first band-only concert. I am proud to say that the audience was fairly large, especially considering the foul weather. Some of my in-laws attended (my two year old brother-in-law made the cutest remarks during the quiet parts heehee), and several people from my church attended. Thank you!I am also excited for this Friday’s convocation–the annual Messiah Sing! Last year the instrumentalists played on everything, the edition was new to us, and it was waaaayyyy hard. This year, the woodwinds are only playing on the choruses, so I have it easy. Read More

I try not to complain about my schedule. (Though, I admit, I’ve done a good job venting about my finals if anyone asks.)And I’ve been debating whether I should even mention such a thing here. But I feel compelled to warn everyone of the rigors of my load; I do not wish it upon anyone else. Read More

This semester, the music department has been an exciting place to be. The weekend before last was a special concert where the Bethel College Chamber Orchestra got to play with the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra. We did some really awesome pieces like the Carnival overture by Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky’s March Slav. There was also an amazing baritone soloist and our very own Jim Pisano on clarinet. The orchestra worked really hard, and I think that the combined concert benefited both the Chamber Orchestra and the NMKSO. I felt like it was the best concert I have been involved in at Bethel–and it was very satisfying to perform. Read More

The end of the semester is approaching, and this is the time when teachers will pile things on you at the last minute. Especially next week, which is the week before finals, there will be last minute projects, tests and quizzes, so hit the books and don’t stress, because the end is near.