Recharging my battery #7

Talking with someone helps me to relax and become calm if I am worked up. I know there are people I can go to and talk with if I ever need to talk about things. Also, if I ever need someone to just sit there with me and hang out to help me feel better or what not, there are people who are close to me and they would not hesitate to do that. Sometimes when I get overloaded I just get all worked up or get frustrated. Talking helps me get back to where I was. It helps me release most of what is bothering me. Talking in person is the best, just knowing that the person is there, but then it would be on the phone talking, and texting as a last resort.

Active in comm. #5

This Leaf Relief that the athletic department is doing is something we are really trying to take seriously and helpe the community with. We had many people come in for a kids day at the college when the mens basketball team had a game. We worked a moon bounce and also did a few other fun things. During the Christmas break, our womens basketball team will be doing a few things such as going to a soup kitchen. I am hoping to get very involved with this because I really want to help people and just build up the overall strength of the community to help Goshen to grow what I can and also what we can as a team and department.

Volunteer #6

I worked for two summers as a counselor at a camp for special needs children called Camp-We-Can. This was the most unique opportunity for me. It was such a humbling experience and I look forward to it every year. They pair you up with a child and you are with them for the entire day. The kids who are in chairs or in general can get a horse ride, get helped into the pool to go swimming and even get a convertible ride. Many kids have never gotten to feel the wind in their faces like that. We also do arts and crafts projects they can get help with or do them themselves. These kids get so much enjoyment out of this and that is honestly enough for me. Those kids deserve it.

Role Model #4

About a month ago I realized how much a role model I must be on the team. We are such a young team and leaders/role models have to start to show. He asked me tell a post where to go on a certain play. Well I play point guard or shooting guard so I did not know where they post went. Well I had to go ask the senior and it just kind of made me realize a lot about what coach expects out of me especially as I will be stepping in next year as the point guard. He took me aside after practice and said that I had to start leading. This has been a very challenging thing because I never had to do that, even in high school. He's the coach so I will do that to my best ability. It will just be very hard. I am so glad our senior captain is the best at it, so I can learn from her and do everyday. Gaining the respect of my teammates is very important to me because it will make the team that much better, especially in terms of chemistry.

Politics #2

President-Elect Obama is planning to do a lot of things differently and this may be a great thing for the country or may not. He is planning to change some of the things President Bush is doing. Obama wants to put a tighter hold down on embryonic stem cell research. He will also be working with oil and gas drilling on federal islands and organizations dealing with abortions. Obama supports the creation of new stem cells from human embryos, but he objects to the destruction of them. He is also planning on overturning things that Bush sees as controversial dealing with abortion. The "Planned Parent" planning group was started during the Reagan administration, dropped by Bush, it will most likely be reinstated by Obama. This does not allow tax payers to perform or promote abortions overseas.

Recharging #7

One thing that a lot of people don't know about me is that I love to write, songs, poems and such. This is one thing I do if I feel inspired or just for fun. Writing allows me to get things out that I could not be able to say to a person or and idea that hit me and I was not sure how to word it.

Seeing as I love music, I have a lot of instrumentals on my computer. I take one of those and write a song. Some of them are very different and cover so many areas of my life. This really helps me get some of my frustrations out and just relax.

Volunteer

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a place all different athletes can come and talk about God. Again, we have many people here from all over the world. Every Wednesday night we get together to talk about our weeks, discuss God and how He is active, what we can do to help the spiritual development of our teams. Seeing that our group is so diverse, we get many different opinions and ways to look at things. We also get great ideas and other ways of doing things that we had maybe not thought of. This group helps us with so many different aspects of life and I am so thankful for it. It also gives a sense of community. Some athletes may not be comfortable in a small group with no athletes, so this really helps them.

Active in community #5

Some days I like to go into the recreation center in the mornings because it is when most of the elderly people work out. They are so nice and I love talking with them and getting to know them. It is great to hear about what they did and also what they continue to do in the community. This is a great way to get them to come to our games and support. Also, they could bring their families and have a great time with them. Being elderly and still exercising is such a great way to stay healthy and shows so much about them.

Role Model #4

The kids in my class where I observe/help/teach are such great kids and I can tell that they look up to me a lot. When I walk in, they get big smiles on their faces because a college student is there to see them!! The clothes I wear make an impact of how they see me as well as the teacher. How I talk makes an impact in how they may talk to a peer or even at home. Also, how my attitude is can rub off on them because they are so young.

Politics #2

Forner Vice President Nominee, Sarah Palin is back out campaigning. She threw her name in th hat of people still trying to get into the Senate. She is teaming up with Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss. Last week, former mayor of New York Rudy Guliani campaigned with Chambliss. Guiliani could be seen in the future election of 2012, however, Palin interestingly enough be in it as well.

Politics #2

The United States is the only industrialized country without a system of universal health insurance. For some reason, health care has always struck me as an interesting thing. President-Elect Barack Obama and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle are working on helping this issue. They are looking at implementing the same system that Canada has, the Single Player system. Their health care is privately proveded and publicly funded. Many times companies will not offer insurance to people who already have conditions. This could be part of why 45 million Americans do not have insurance. It could also factor into why 18,000 Americans die each year because they do not have their insurance covered. Obama and Daschle have not said for sure if they are putting in this universal health care, but they both heavily favor it. Barack wants to give subsidies to families of low income and making sure companies cover everyone. As of right now, there is a bill in Congress (HR 676), The United States Health Insuance Act. It discusses a way in which to hopefully attain the universal health care and not increase in the spending of health care. This sounds like a great thing for the country. I really hope the bill goes through.

Relax.. #7

With school being so busy, relaxing is what helps me get back to "neutral" so to speak.

Playing basketball does not really sound like something that would be relaxing, but it calms me down so much if I have had a very stressful day. It just clears my head and allows me to forget about everything. It lets me concentrate on shooting, dribbling, defense, and just improving my overall game. Working toward a certain goal allows me to have that sense of accomplishment. Another thing I do after practice to actually "relax" is just lay on my bed and listen to music, after I've showered of course. Putting on R&B helps to calm me down or even fall asleep if I need to. Also, slow Christian worship allows me to relax and focus on God, to have a little more time with Him. The recreation center again is a good friend of mine when it comes to calm me down because of the hot tub. I go in there and it just loosens up all of my muscles or something that is really sore. My teammates and I will go in there and that.

Role Model #4

Being a role model is a huge resposibility. I was just used to being the kid who always clowns and is just silly. Going into my junior year of high school, I realized that this could not be the case. Yes, I still do it today, but I'm getting better at when and where. We would have summer camps and teach these little kids (pictured left) basic basketball skills. In order for them to get the most out of what I was teaching them, I had to be more serious because I cared about them as individuals. Teaching these kids every summer is so much fun. You see many of the same kids coming back and you gave them drills to do. It is great to see what they have done with that. Also, many times these kids see me in the community and all. Some of them go to the church that I attend regularly, so it is very important to be a great example to them not just for basketball, but spiritually, and life in general. These kids talk to their parents and say they want me to even babysit for them which is great because they are such fun kids. When babysitting for them, they know there are things they can do and cannot do, so it's that respect that is earned. They know if you respect them, they will return that. Also, I go back to my high school now that I am graduated and see the athletic director, my old coaches, and even parents who still have kids playing and that. This makes me feel good when they ask how everything is and I return the question. Even teachers who are there strike up conversations, talking about class and the good times we had.

God Is LOVE #6

A Bible study is a place where people can come in to talk about God, learn, and grow. No one should judge about what someone says, what they look like, or even if they have a problem in their life and they are willing to share it. That is a huge step sharing. Well, in our group we have many people from all over the country. We have people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Guam, Etheopia, and the United States. Our cultures are many times so much different than the person sitting next to us. Some share about the trials they have had to overcome being Christian in their society. Others have shared about how God brought them through something and sometimes it is very hard to relate to. One thing that binds us together is our love for our Heavenly Father. We know that if one of us is going through something, he/she can talk to someone in the group about that particular thing and that person will be there for them. Meeting once a week is so great because it helps keep everyone on point, or hopes to. We are the gold and God is the goldsmith. One thing we talk about in our group is that we want people to see God in us. We want to be the best examples we can for Him. Many times we fail and get discouraged, but our group has learned through experiences and short videos we've seen that He is so forgiving. This is such a great group of people to be spending time with.

Trick or Treat #5

My team and I volunteered to go into the city of Goshen and pass out candy to kids for Halloween. This was to get to know many people in the community, get the Goshen College name out there, especially the athletic department. The people were very friendly and grateful for the candy and flyers we were handing out. We gave some free tickets to games and also let them know about the Leaf Relief, which is a program started this year to help out with different service projects and that all over.

Being outside for a couple hours, the group I was in had a very spacious radius to fill. Thankfully, we got all of the candy passed out and saw some pretty neat costumes as well. It was also fun to see people we did know because even they had no idea what we were doing it for.

We were a little nervous about going out and talking to people, passing out things and whatnot. We really did not know how to say,"Would you like some candy?" People do strange things, and I was thinking to myself if my parents would allow me to take something from a complete stranger. However, the kids just kept coming back for more candy which made us all laugh quite a bit. Once we were all out, we had a large box and were walking back to campus. People thought were were trying to get candy, which was not the case, so we quickly found a garbage bin to put the box. This was probobly the funniest part of the night.