just like that, it was over...

I should most likely be working on my take home tests due next week but my mind is too distracted. My parents are on their way to Philadelphia right now to move me out and by 9PM tonight, I will be home for summer. Summer is always bittersweet. When I was in high school, I loved it. My life consisted of camp, Creation, mission trips, vacation, hanging with friends, and getting some sun!

My friends at Messiah have become my life and when summer comes everyone goes home, which is farther than just 15 minutes away. My life feels so empty without those people for 3 months. I am sitting hours away from the end of junior year. I have to finish up two things when I get home, most likely tomorrow. Next year, I am a senior. When did that happen? There's no way I'm ready. It's almost time to figure out my next move, but more on that later. Now back to this semester in Philadelphia!

What a semester full of new friends, exploring a city, and learning many new things! Don't get me wrong, I had those times where I was homesick for Messiah but overall this semester was great! I was very excited to come and then right before it was time to move-in I wasn't sure I wanted this. My time in Philly can't be compared to Athens or even Messiah. At first, all I was doing was trying to compare it but as time went on I let it become its own experience. I was able to explore Philly a lot. The best part is that there is always still more to explore, so I suppose I will just have to come back!

Although, I don't feel that I have made much of an impact on this city, I have learned. Now that I have learned about this city, I am responsible for doing something about it. I haven't figured that out yet, but I'll get back to you.

Philadelphia, you have been such a fun experience! I am so thankful for this opportunity.

I always cry on move-out days. Because I studied abroad twice this will be my 5th time moving out. Whenever I move out, it always means that everything will change. I'll lose some friends, I'll make some more, I'll be somewhere else, and I'll be older. This time is probably going to be the hardest because in just about one week, some of my friends will be graduating. The two years before this I didn't really know anyone who was graduating so it didn't affect me. Some of my close friends will be receiving their diplomas and moving out of Messiah for the last time. Everything will change. There are times when I feel as though I shouldn't have gotten so close to so many people because now I am left really really sad. I am holding on to the hope that all the memories were worth the sad goodbyes. My life has been forever impacted by at least 7 of my friends who are graduating next week. I am forever grateful that our paths crossed and they were able to leave their mark on my life. I am so blessed.

So here I am, just minutes away from packing up my junior year of college. Everything will change, just like it always does. I'll be sad, I'll be happy, I'll be challenged, and I'll grow. I'll be brave and strong and I'll never give up. Most importantly, I'll continue learning about myself in the midst of change.

it's always sunny in philadelphia

This past weekend was great!

Friday night we had a backyard garden party! we had catered food which included exotic sandwiches and sushi! then we had a 4 hour dance party! it was SOOOO fun!

You can always find Katie Breiter on the dance floor!

Kelly McElroy and I

Making compost at Urban Tree Connection

Saturday morning we headed out to help at Urban Tree Connection. We pulled weeds and all that jazz! On the way back to MCPC, Larry, Laura, Laurie, and I went over to the Fresh Grocer to pick up some things. After that we went back and ate the leftovers from the night before. Everyone else went to the Philadelphia Zoo in the afternoon and out to dinner in the city at night. I took a shower fast then got on the train to Harrisburg! My mom and dad picked me up and took me home. Then I went out to Messiah and met up with Heather and Danelle. We went to Acclamation's Spring Concert to see Heather and Liz. They did awesome!

After that Heather and I went to Kristy, Ashley, and Kate's apt to hang for a bit. We ended up reading Kate's journal from a year ago in Greece. Which was sooo fun to read haha. We were only there for like 20 minutes when Liz invited Heather and I to a movie at her apt. My friends said "you want to sleep here but you are about to ditch us?!" my response was "....they're graduating and youre not."

Sunday was sooo lazy. I was supposed to have soccer at Bucknell but it got canceled because of rain and fog. So instead Kate made us pancakes! Roz, Kate, Ash and I watched Freedom Writers all afternoon. Oh and we threw an apple at Kristy from the third floor of Kelly apts hahaha. We are soo mature. I went home and then to youth group and then it was time to take the train back to Philly.

This week is so busy but because writing in here is like therapy I figured I could use it. :)

I have 2 presentations and 1 paper down. I still have my internship portfolio, my 4-5 pg research paper, and my group presentation for counseling to complete by the end of this week.

And then next week I have 2 take home finals :) haha i love you temple. Also I have a 10 page research paper which I don't think will be too hard because I can write about anything related to group therapy!

Gotta keep pushin through all this work. Tomorrow we are having our biweekly SAB ice cream party in the 2016 lounge which is always a good time!

The biggest thing to look forward to though is going to be our trip to the beach. One of my friends is organizing a camping trip to the beach right after finals to kick off the summer! It will no doubt be a BLAST!

Isaiah 40:29

we're only taking turns holding this world

Last weekend Heather, Danelle and Kristy came and spent the night Friday. We went out to eat and toured the city a bit. It was a little cold but still fun.

I have so much work in the next two weeks

Human Sexuality presentation - April 26

Third World presentation - April 26

Counseling presentation - April 29

4-5 pg research paper - April 30

Internship portfolio - April 30

10 pg research paper - May 6

Human Sexuality test - May 7

History and Systems take home final - May 10

SOO MUCH TO DO.

I doubt anyone reads this but writing on here is kind of like therapy. I get to say whatever I want and people will read it. I mean no one does but its the idea of it.

This weekend is Celebration weekend and it also extends to next weekend. Here are some of the events we will be doing

April 23 - Backyard Garden Party

April 24 - Service Project (9-12), Philadelphia Zoo (1-5), Dinner in the City (6-8), Outdoor Movie (9-?)

May 1 - Centennial Ball at Grantham

May 2 - Broad Street Run

May 3 - Celebration gathering including cookout and talent show

May 4 - Phillies Game!

I'm all booked up until the end of the semester!

Summer is always bittersweet for me. I love everything that comes with summer but I wish I was going through summer with my Messiah friends because then that would be the BEST!

Alright, I'm out for now.

oh this has gotta be the good life

So I haven't updated in over a month. Here's a recap of the past month...

March 19-21: The weather was BEAUTIFUL! We spent the weekend outside! Lots of roof deck time! Saturday morning we went to a service project and we also went to free Rita's. Later in the afternoon we went shopping and exploring in Center City. The weekend was just awesome!

March 26-27: I don't remember what I did on Friday night or Saturday morning. ha. Well Saturday afternoon I took an adventure by myself to New Jersey for Greece Reunion! I took the train from Temple station into Trenton. Then switched there to a train to Metropark station where Kristy and the others picked me up. From there it was about 15 minutes to Tori's house! Romanos and his friend Stolis came and it was great! Tori also brought two of her roommates, Liz and Montana! It was a blast!

April 2-4: I went home for Easter weekend. Which turned out to be a very interesting weekend. Friday night I was bored out of my mind. I watched tv and went to bed like like 11. I'm lame, I know. The weather was great on Saturday so I went out to breakfast with Deb, JP, Dad, and Grandma. After that Deb and I went to the mall to look for dresses for Centennial Ball. We rode in style in the Mini Cooper Convertible with the top down! Then I went to get my eyebrows waxed...bad idea. Some of my skin came off. Long story. Ask me about it if you want to know. On Sunday I went to church and then hung out with Ashlee! We drove by her family's new house and hung out with Gary and Tamali for a little! haha. On April 5, President Phipps came to speak at Community Gathering and afterwards we had loads of desserts all homemade by Debi. She's great!

April 9-11: Friday night a few of us went to an Italian restaurant called Pietro's. It was very good. On Saturday I slept in, although I wasn't really planning to. At 2pm we took an SAB trip to Eastern State Penitentiary. It was a really cool place. After that we went to Philly Flavors for ice cream. A few of us ventured off to Logan Square and chilled at the fountain just talking and hanging for an hour. Then Lisa, Bekah and I went to Walnut Street to go in a few stores. Later that night Kelly and I were going to watch a movie. Well Kelly made us popcorn and burnt it. She didn't realize it was burnt until she opened the bag and the smoke came pouring out. We quickly opened the back door to the roof deck when all of a sudden the fire alarm went off. Kelly and I left the bag of popcorn outside and went downstairs and out to the street. There were only like 6 girls in the building and we called Josh to come turn it off. The firemen still came and inspected it. We are hoping to avoid the fine of 75 which they charge when there is a false alarm. This morning I went to church at Epiphany with Laura, Meredith and Kelly. It was really good and there was a guest pastor. This afternoon I will just be working on homework and maybe hanging outside a little bit.

I have registered for my classes, although I am still waiting for one to get an override.

On Tuesday it is Spring Fling here at Temple which I hear is like an all day street fair type thing. With vendors and rides and music. I also heard there are lot of intoxicated students. That should be fun to watch.

This upcoming weekend, I am hoping to have some friends come visit.

There are only 4 weeks left and three weeks of class. This semester has flown by.

Here's to making the best of what's left!

DISNEY!

Today is the first day back from Spring Break. It's hittin' hard. I worked on a take home mid term for 5 hours last night and pretty much didn't want to wake up this morning.

For Spring Break I went to Disney World with my family! I flew down on March 5th and stayed until March 10th (Kristy's Birthday!)
We went to all of the parks; Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios. Also made it to Downtown Disney three times. One of the nights we took a taxi to Universal Studios to see Blue Man Group which we had front row center tickets for! It was sooo cool! :)
The sun was amazing, and the weather was great. It was in the 70's during the day but at night it went down to the 40's which was cold. The trip was great and we had fun!On Thursday after Disney I went to Messiah to hang out for the day and night. I saw lots of friends!!! It was soooo great! First, I hung out with Danelle and Amanda! I went over to Kristy and Kate's for dinner! Then I hung out with Liz! :) After that I hung out with Katie and Kelly and then went to Powerhouse. I also hung out with Heather but only for a little :(
Friday I went to school again and did some research in the library then I went to the union with Katie, Amanda and Danelle. After that, Katie, Kelly, Danelle and I went to Brusters. We BLASTED music the whole way there. It was soooo fun!
Saturday was just spent hanging around and then Sunday I went to my church which was great because I hadn't been there in like 2 months. Then I took the 5PM train with Becky back to Philly and did homework for the whole night. ughh.

I'm not really sure what this week has planned, other than a ton of homework. Some of which I need to do for 4:30. Peace for now.

but the city, it calls her now

Common Text Immersion Weekend:

Friday night we went to dinner in the city! We had the option of a few different ethnic restaurants in the city. I went to New Delhi, which was an Indian restaurant. I don't think I have ever had Indian food but I liked it. Some of it was very spicy!

Saturday morning we were supposed to have an outdoor service project but we couldn't because of the recent snow. At 2pm we went to the chapel where we had discussion and worship from Joshua Grace and the Psalters. The Psalters are a band and they are very unique and sing songs from many countries. They are very radical. After that it was time for dinner in which we had a catered meal from Qdoba which was delicious. We decided to set up the karaoke machine and we all sang to every song for like an hour! That was sooo fun! The big event of the night was ice skating down at Penn's Landing which sits on the Delaware River. It wasn't cold because I dressed very warm!

Sunday morning I went to Epiphany for church. I do really like that church. I like it more and more every time I go! That afternoon we went to the Philadelphia International Flower Show. I wasn't sure if I would like it at first, but when we got there I realized that plants and flowers could be used for art. I was amazed at all the displays! Some of us came back to MCPC to watch the USA vs. Canada hockey game. Was that ever intense! Two of our students are Canadian so they were rooting for them and the rest of us were cheering for the US. As everyone knows, Canada won. Bummer. That night I just chilled and then Heather came! She had some grad schools visits set up for Monday morning. Heather came to sleep at MCPC so she wouldn't have to drive far in the morning. We just hung out and did pretty much nothing. It was nice. She slept in Katie's room because they have an extra bed in their room.

This week will consist of classes and homework. I leave for Florida on Friday but I am leaving Philly on Thursday so I can go home and pack. Have a great week!

they said we'd burn so bright, we'd burn this city and go

Not too much happened this week.

Monday we had community gathering and a former player from the Philadelphia Eagles came and spoke. He is now a pastor in New Jersey. It was a very good gathering and I learned a lot!

Oh my gosh, I had no classes yesterday or today. Counseling Theories was canceled for Thursday morning since the beginning of the semester. They were calling for snow that day so Phila Public Schools closed and so I didn't have internship. Then today I was supposed to have three classes all of which were canceled. I got an email saying Human Sexuality was canceled. Ricki texted me this morning to tell me that History and Systems was canceled. Finally I got another text saying Urban Ed was canceled. I was going to go into internship today to make up some hours and make up my hours for next Thursday when I will have to miss but of course the schools were closed today. Philadelphia maybe got 3-4 inches of snow! Ridiculous!

Yesterday I was lazy and slept til 12. Today I woke up at ten. I went to the Tech Center this afternoon with Sarah, my friend from high school who goes to Temple.

This weekend in Immersion Weekend. It is a weekend where we focus on our common text and work on building community. I am not going to update anymore because I will describe it all at the end of the weekend!

My parents left for their Caribbean cruise this past week. They flew to Florida on Sunday and boarded the ship on Tuesday. My sisters and I will meet up with them in Orlando, Florida on March 5. My dad sent me a text the other day, I'm assuming from one of the island. I replied but then didn't hear anything back. I'm sure they are having a great time! Hopefully, my mom isn't doing too much work while on vacation. She took her laptop, blackberry, etc with her!

Have a great weekend! Peace.

but life ain't so bad you know...

Sunday afternoons are always bittersweet. They are relaxing while at the same time you know you need to do homework. You want to just soak up that last bit of the weekend but you know tomorrow you will be sitting in class. I will start my homework soon after I write about my weekend.

Late Thursday night I decided I would attempt to go visit Amy at Eastern. On Friday after my classes I called her to get it all figured out. I took the R5 train that evening at the Temple station and got off at the St. David's station. Amy was there to pick me up. We made a stop at WaWa to get some food then we went to her school. A few people were hanging out in a lounge watching the olympics so we decided to join. Curling was on...

"Why are those guys mopping the floor?" - Amy

I love that girl! haha. After a while down there we went to her room to just hang. Later that evening we went to meet up with some of her friends. Amy, 2 of her friends, and I went to watch The Hangover. About 11:45 we decided we want to order Dominos. So we ordered pizza, cheesy bread, and wings haha. oh man...at least it was good!

We went to bed around 2AM but didn't set an alarm because Ames said she never sleeps in. We woke up at 11. We were both just really tired I guess. We got ready and went to King of Prussia! We only bought clothes in Old Navy. It would be so crazy for that to be the mall that you went to just like Capital City is the mall I go to. We spent about 2 hours there and went back to campus to go to the Eastern vs. Del Val basketball game. Amy and I had to leave a few minutes early in order for her to take me back to the train station. I was able to take the train there and back by myself!

I made it back to Temple just in time to go on the PSAB trip to Gino's and Pat's cheese steaks. That was a fun experience! It was cold though so we ate and left. When I got back I ran into Katie and her family and they invited me to join in celebrating her birthday. We had cake and she got some neat presents! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

I was able to skype with Heather after that! Mmmm that is always a fun time!

The last activity of the night was watching a movie with Bekah, her friend Jeff, and Derek. We watched the Prestige although I was doing other things and missed the first 2o minutes anyway.

This morning I went to Epiphany with Josh and Derek. The service started at 11:15 and let out at 1:10. The services are longer than what I am used to but the pastor is very passionate along with the rest of the congregation so I didn't even notice what time it was. The earlier service which starts at 9 is shorter and I usually go to that one when I have lots of stuff to do.

This afternoon I am just hanging out and working on homework.

My dad texted me today and told me that my mom and him were on their way to Florida for their cruise. He said I can contact them until Tuesday. I had no idea they were leaving so soon! The next time I will see them will be in the Orlando Airport on March 5. Then it's off to Disney!

cause i'm bigger than my body gives me credit for

So I have my first test of the semester tomorrow. It is in Human Sexuality, but it is an essay test. We were given 4 possible essay questions and one will be picked. It is open note too. We can even write all 4 if we don't want to go to class tomorrow. I think I will just outline all of them and take the test in class. We also have a group project in that class. I don't even know who some of the people in my group are. There has been no communication between us. I sent out an email but I didn't hear back from anyone. I am thinking I will have to take charge.

I had my internship yesterday and today. Yesterday we held our 1st grade group. Our topic was on friends. We read a story about a boy who was new to a school but didn't know how to share. The activity that we did was a worksheet where they drew a quilt and inside they drew pictures of what they like to do with their friends. It went very well! I definitely enjoy working with that group!

Every Thursday when I get there at 11 there is a meeting going on so I usually just sit in on that and then after I do different things. Today the counselor had to teach 4th grade corrective math and she brought us (the interns) with her. I helped her by handing out tickets when they got answers right and reading out of the book what to do and the answers. The rest of the afternoon, there really wasn't much to do so I just did random little things.

Last night I went to Zumba which is a workout class. The music is Latin and it is mostly like dancing! It is quite the workout though. You can burn 600-1000 calories in a one hours session (approx).

Tonight I need to work on my essay test for tomorrow. I am not sure what this weekends plans are. Bekah's friend Jeff is coming on Saturday. I met him last fall when he came to visit. I assume we will be doing some exploring around Philly. Always so much to do! Peace.

i've been all around the world, i've been a new sensation...

Last week we had two snow days! I was definitely getting bored on Thursday and I just want my routine back. Although we did have a fun snowball fight one of the nights. Friday I had two classes and then Amber and I left Philly to go to Messiah. I went home first but then I spent most of the weekend at Messiah.

Friday night I went out to dinner with the family for my dad's birthday but after that I went to Messiah to see my friends. The first person I saw was Heather! Which was soooo exciting! Then I hung out with Danelle and Kristy! Kari came too! A bunch of us went midnight ice skating which was pretty fun. A sleepover with Kristy and Heather followed. I just love those two so much!
Saturday morning we slept in and Shalisa had made us breakfast. I also go to see my other friend Heather and Liz in the afternoon! I had to run home fast to get my camera because that night was the Owl City concert! Kristy made us dinner with amazing pasta and salad. There were 7 of us at dinner. Travis was there and we took on our roles as VIP. Nothing new there! ;) The line for the concert was all the way through the building and into the athletic hallway. The opening band was Alpha Rev and they were very good. Owl City came on shortly after and they were good also except, I only knew one song! I met up with some more people at the South Side Cafe! Then Danelle, Amanda, Heather and I made a random Sheetz run haha. Finally after a long day I went back to Kristy's apartment and her and her roomies put in a movie. Heather came also! She loves me! :) I watched maybe two minutes of the movie before passing out.
Sunday morning the group of us decided to go to CLA. Well Kristy guessed that it started at 10:45 and so we planned to leave at 10:30. Let me paint the picture for you at 10:32...Kristy - dressed, finished hair but not makeup. Shalisa - finished make-up and hair, in sweatpants. Ashley - I'm not even sure what she was doing. I am completely ready so I go get the car and come back and wait for them. They come out one by one every few minutes! Could the morning have been any more ridiculous. So we leave for church at 10:55. Luckily we got there and found out it started at 11 so we were only a little late. After that I got swiped in to Lottie. Haven't been there since last semester. I had to go home to pack to go back to Philly and finish some things up. My dad drove me back to school and I visited different friends until 8 when we left for Philly.

This weekend at Messiah was great. I'm so blessed to have such great friends!

Yesterday, I had three classes in the morning which weren't too bad. I had the afternoon to write a 3 page paper for internship class and I managed to finish it with a half hour to spare! That class is so weird because it is only Katie and I in it and Debi our Professor. So you have to do your work and speak because there are only 2 people! Sometime I hate speaking up in class so it is annoying for me to have to do that when I don't feel like it.

Well today I woke up pretty late, about 7:15. Got ready as best I could then went downstairs. We were all talking and whatnot and Ricki checks her email and tells me that our 8AM has been canceled! I was like seriously! So I went back to my room and watched the Bachelor and slept until internship at 11. So today at internship I had my first session with the little girl in Kindergarten that I am going to be working with. She is soooo cute! I started with a little small talk then I filled out an 'All About Me' sheet with her. Then I talked with her about feelings. The reason she is coming to the guidance office is because she has mood swings a lot and doesn't handle them very well. We listed different feelings then I showed her cards with faces on them and asked her what feelings were on them. After that we played Guess Who. She said she knew how to play but I she didn't really. Hah, I kept having to tell her what to ask me! So cute! I asked her if she wanted to come back sometime and talk again and she said yes. It makes me really excited that I may be able to help someone. I've also gotten to know a few other kids personally and when they see me in the hall they get very excited so I just pray I can make some sort of a difference. I also sat in on correctional math for 4th grade, the D.A.R.E. Program, and a guidance class for 5th Grade on anger management. Today was a very good day at the internship.
Tonight Bekah and I are going to the movies after her night class. So I need to get some work done before that. I'm not sure what the rest of the week has to hold but we'll see.

In other news..
The Bachelor: I really hope that Jake doesn't pick Vienna. She definitely annoys me and I think Tenley is a better match. Two more weeks until the finale...it seems like forever away!
Olympics: I wish I had cable in my room so I could watch it. I have barely watched any of them! I want to make a better effort to watch them! Especially since I have olympic apparel.
Disney: 16 DAYS!!!

I think that is all for now! As always, thanks for reading!

snow and the city

Almost halfway through the week. At the end of this week I am going home and also making a visit to Messiah! I can't wait to see some friends and have a sleepover! :)

Let's see this weekend...REWIND.
On Friday it was Erin's birthday so a bunch of us went to Dave and Buster's to eat and play arcade games! It's like the Coliseum, if you've ever been there! That was very fun. We took the subway there and then after that it was still like a ten minute walk and it was just starting to snow. You can imagine when we came out a few hours later that there were a few inches of snow on the ground. What did we do? Had a snowball fight of course! Jon even had one with a business man in a suit. The man commented on how it was perfect snowball snow! Some excitement occured at a stop on the subway on the way back when about 15 teenagers jumped the gates and got on the subway. The lady in the booth turned the alarm on and it was chaos. The boys came right onto our car and were walking around yelling away. Luckily, we got off at the next stop.

Saturday morning we woke up to lots of snow! Somewhere in Philly they got 28 inches! I believe we only got about 18 where we live. I've never seen such a little amount of traffic on Broad Street.
This is a view from the roof! Which is pretty sweet I may add! Some of the boys even built a snowman on the roof! After this a bunch of the students went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to go sledding. The steps of the museum is the place to be when it snows. That's where everyone goes to sled! The Rocky steps. I did not go however, they said it was a blast! If only I had brought some snow clothes. Bummer. That night a few of us just watched a movie. There wasn't really anywhere to go!

Sunday, we were going to go to church around the corner but it was canceled because of snow! So we didn't go, and I went back to sleep :) That afternoon we took a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This time to go in it instead of just sledding at it. It was a beautiful day even though it was cold.

You can see everyone walking into the museum here!

View from the steps!

That's my city! It's beautiful.

After the art museum we went back to MCPC for a Super Bowl party sponsered by PSAB with pizza and wings and desserts made by Debi! The food was great and we loved the commercials. It was a very fun time!
In other news, our room started leaking that day. Maintenance came on Monday and attempted to fix it. It is apparently snow that is leaking in from the side of the building. They replaced one of the tiles but they other two are still wet, but at least there is no annoying water dripping into buckets anymore!

Classes yesterday and today went well. Not much to say there. except...

SNOW DAY TOMORROW! How exciting! Not sure what we will do yet, prbably just hang and do homework. seee yaaa

here in these deep city lights

I am now 3 weeks in to my experience here in Philly.

I'll start with classes.
The work load is definitely less than I would have at Grantham. The work consists of mostly reading. In two of my classes I have at least one group project sometime later in the semester. In all of my classes I have at least one paper. Other that than it's pretty much just reading. History and Systems is probably my most boring class, but the small workload makes up for it ;)

Internship:
I just completed my second week at Dunbar School. I work there 10 hours per week. Last week consisted mostly of observing in the office and in classrooms. This week I got to work with students individually and I even worked with a group of 1st graders and led a session on bullying with the two other interns. We are going to continue that group session with different topics every week. Sometimes when students get kicked out of class for disruptive behavior I get to talk to them about what happened. Other times we get to play games with students to get them to open up. It will definitely be a great experience and I am looking forward to more hands-on opportunities.
We have done some fun things since orientation so I will share those. One Saturday a bunch of us went down to South Street and went exploring. There are many cool shops and restaurants down there. I went and saw Avatar in 3D. There is a movie theater down the street so a bunch of us went there last Tuesday. On Friday, Kristy and Travis came to Philly and we went to the Lakers/Sixers game! It was awesome! It was my first NBA game and so that was very exciting!! This past Saturday, we took a PSAB trip to Reading Terminal Market, which is a warehouse type place with loads of food vendors. So many options! After that 4 of us went exploring and shopping. We visited the Comcast building along with Love Park. (I have posted a picture from Love Park) We went shopping on Walnut Street, which is where all the good shopping is. There were some designer stores as well as stores like Gap, H&M, etc. While we were shopping it started to snow! So we made our way back to campus.

Its the weekend again so that means more exciting things to do!
I am not totally sure what my plans are this weekend but on Sunday we are taking a PSAB trip to the Art Museum and we are also having a Super Bowl Party. I'll update again soon. PEACE.

new city. new experiences.

new semester. new city.

I was up late packing on Friday night because of course I saved it until the last minute. I planned to wake up around 5:45 AM Saturday to finish up some things but I either didn’t set or missed my alarm. Our plan was to leave at 8 but since I didn’t wake up until after 7 we didn’t leave until after 9. We pulled up to the building around 11 and I checked in and got all my keys for everything. Then I moved my stuff in which didn’t take too long because there were people to help. Bekah was already moved in but she wasn’t there while I was moving in. After moving in I said bye to my parents and headed off to the first orientation session. We listened to the RD speak and we were then sent off to campus tours. I had a fun group and it was a lot of fun to see the campus. ITS BIG! Blocks and blocks long in every direction, I feel like. At 4 we listened to a Temple Police officer speak about how to be safe and then we were introduced to the staff. Then it was time for dinner, which we got to choose a restaurant to go to. Bekah and I went to Thai food with 4 other students and 3 staff members. We were also introduced to public transportation as we took the subway into center city. I keep calling the subway, the metro because that was what it was called in Greece. I get so excited when the voice comes on to announce the next station but when it isn’t the Greek lady; I remember I am in the states. It was very fun and neat to get to hear lots of stories about Philly.

Sunday morning started off with church which we got to by taking the city bus. We were given a list of churches to sign up for and I went to Spirit and Truth Fellowship. It was different than what I am used to but it wasn’t anything crazy. Hey Liz, one of the songs we sang was in Spanish. It started raining right before we left for church so that was messy. However, after church it was raining pretty hard and we missed the bus because church ran longer than expected. Our options were to wait for another bus which wasn’t going to come for a half hour or walk like a million blocks to the subway. One of the girls with us who attended that church last semester called a man Jose who she became friends with this past fall. So he came and brought a van to take us all back because we had to get back to eat lunch and leave for bowling. The van pulls up and there are 7 seats in this utility type truck. There are 17 of us!!!! We piled in, and I have to say that we had so many laughs on the way back to campus. We got back to MCPC and ate pizza which was followed by our first SAB trip to Lucky Strike, this very classy bowling alley. We bowled and hung out all afternoon. Arriving back we ate dinner at Johnson and Hardwick the equivalent of Lottie. So different though because it is bigger. We had another orientation meeting after that for about an hour and then we headed for dessert in the city, which we signed up for at orientation. My group went to Naked Chocolate…filled with chocolate candy, chocolate drinks, and chocolate fondue. It was fantastic!! The rest of the night was just spent hanging out!

As we all know Monday was MLK day so our morning started off with service projects. Six of us went to Berean Presbyterian Church across the street to help out there. The church is very old but beautiful. We dusted, swept, mopped, wiped, put together a bookshelf, moved furniture around, and set up the new youth office. And when I say new I mean they recently cleaned out
an old storage room and we put a desk, a computer, and a printer in there. We did that from about 9-12 and then we ate lunch at J&H. Then 3 friends and I went to the bookstore to buy books! So much money! After that we checked out the library to see what it was like and it is so different from our library at Messiah! Then we had a meeting followed by dinner and our Town Hall Meeting. At this particular meeting we discussed our community and we as a group decided on the rules. Our visitation hours are from 10AM-4AM with doors open or closed based on personal preference. So there are only 6 hours of no visitation! We aren’t in Grantham anymore! Quiet hours are also shorter although I can’t remember the exact hours. We decided to make attendance at Community Gatherings (chapel) on Monday nights required but not recorded because we all knew we would have to go to them and it’s really not a big deal and I hear they are fun! The debate lasted for 2 hours and by 8:45 we were all ready to get out of that room! Another meeting with our RA came after that! The meetings never end here! After the meetings finally ended a few of us just hung out for a little and then I got organized for the start of classes the next day.

IF YOU ARE STILL READING THIS…THANKS! (I know it is very long!)

A random fact I learned was that approx. 47,000 cars drive in front of our building everyday!

Ah, the first day of classes has arrived! Tuesday was our first day and my first class was bright and early, 8AM. I have counseling theories, although it isn’t called that here. Ricki Vallana is also in the class so we went to it together and there were about 3 people waiting outside the room so we ask a girl with her back turned to us if she was waiting for counseling and she turned around and it was Amber Henry! What a surprise! We talked to her for about 15 minutes, we got there a bit early ;) As more students show up, still no professor. Alas, at 8:05 she comes down the hallway. Her name is Marquita Williams and she is this vibrant African American woman. The class goes as you would expect; introductions, syllabus, etc. Prof Williams talks about her class and her education background. She seems like a very intelligent woman and will be getting her Ph.D. in May. Also weird to have a professor who doesn’t have a doctorate! After about 30 minutes she ends class! So strange to get out early! I feel as though at Messiah we would be jumping right into the material! Not at temple, I suppose. Ricki and I went back to the book store to buy our books for our MCPC World Views class and then we walked back to the dorms. I then changed my clothes and headed over to the nearby elementary school where I am hoping to get an internship in the guidance counseling office for this semester. I met with Ms. Flores the head of the counseling offices and I will be going back on Thursday at 10 with my child clearance forms, resume, and letter of introduction. I walked back, which is only two blocks and met with Debi Peterson, who is in charge of all our internships/field work. I talked with her about the internship and she was very positive about the opportunity. We will have to see. Tuesday evening I had my MCPC course. We take it right here at our campus and it’s in my section so I don’t even have to go outside to get there! I may drop it depending on the internship because if I get that then I will take the class that goes along with that. We took a break for community dinner. Monday – Thursday, a lady brings over food for us to eat and we are allowed but don’t have to attend. It’s pretty convenient though. That pretty much sums up the first day of classes. Later that night Jake and Larry came over and we hung out and they helped me reorganize the music on my computer! What good new friends!

This morning I had three classes all in a row. My first one at 9 was History and Systems of Psychology. The much dreaded upper level class for psych majors! It doesn’t see as though it will be too bad. Our midterm and final are take home essay test! And we have a research paper. My next class at 10 was human sexuality. I’m fascinated! The teacher seems great too! We jumped right in talking about sexuality. The final class of the day at 11 is Schooling and Education in the Third World. All we did today was talk about how the class is going to be run and my professor went on and on about class participation. I am not really sure what we will be learning so I can’t say much about that course yet. That’s enough about classes because they just started. With the first two days of classes out of the way that only leaves one thing left...homework!

Thank you so much for reading this, I know it’s a lot. I hope I was able to portray a small view of what my semester in Philadelphia will be like!