One of the reasons why I love APU is because of its diversity, but because it is God-honoring, it is open. No ethnicity or social class is considered supreme; we all pay $30k one way or another to be at this university. I love the opportunities being here has presented. At my high school, we had whites, hispanics, and two half japanese half dutch. That's it. Here, I see, as corny and cliche as it sounds, a rainbow of people, and it's beautiful. I love it. i LOVE embracing the cultures and languages. It makes my life so much more interesting and satisfying.
I think the key to embracing the diversity here at APU is to really have an open mind. We all come from different backgrounds and situations, but in reality, we're all here for one reason, and that's to put God first and let Him take control of our lives.
God created us all differently for a reason, but because He created us, we have to embrace the beauty of His creation.
I love it.
No joke.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Global Vision Week
Global Vision Week was definitely a good experience here at APU. I really enjoyed the diversity in the worship at chapel and felt like I learned a lot in general. I really liked the booths set up on Cougar Walk because of the different missions or organizations we could get involved with. I went on a mission trip to Mexico and it changed my life, so seeing all of these really made an impact. I really liked how they sold things that went to a good cause, not just to someone's pocket.
I love the whole Trinity Challenge/hemp bracelet/cookie idea for the school in Sudan. That was pretty awesome....
aaaaand I really hope to go on a mission trip soon!
I love the whole Trinity Challenge/hemp bracelet/cookie idea for the school in Sudan. That was pretty awesome....
aaaaand I really hope to go on a mission trip soon!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Racisim/Genocide
I really enjoyed the speaker at Beginnings. It was amazing to hear the Holocaust story told from an actual survivor, rather from a movie or history book. I loved that she didn't take crap for everyone; she showed her strength after all she'd been through. She never once hid the fact that she was Jewish to try to get us to accept her as Christians which is so admirable in this world. I thought she was hilarious and adorable, but also she genuinely cared about us and the efforts we could make to change the world.
I thought it was ironic to have Beginnings on Tuesday and then my Ambassador meeting on Thursday, because we talked about how to approach different races at the preview weekend coming up. The speaker brought up a really interesting point - they make "flesh" colored bandaids, but they're only the color of OUR flesh - not black, brown, or any other. Apparently they've made different shades, but I've seriously never thought of that before. Anyways, it was just interesting to know all the proper ways to address people from different ethnicities, and how when we say certain things that seem okay to us, in reality... they're SO offensive.
I thought it was ironic to have Beginnings on Tuesday and then my Ambassador meeting on Thursday, because we talked about how to approach different races at the preview weekend coming up. The speaker brought up a really interesting point - they make "flesh" colored bandaids, but they're only the color of OUR flesh - not black, brown, or any other. Apparently they've made different shades, but I've seriously never thought of that before. Anyways, it was just interesting to know all the proper ways to address people from different ethnicities, and how when we say certain things that seem okay to us, in reality... they're SO offensive.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sexual Assault, Body Image & Pornography.
I have definitely dealt with body image throughout my life, but most recently in high school & college. I think it was my sophomore year when I started starving myself & working out 2-3 times a day. I remember getting in a fight with my mom, raising my arms, and having her smile because I had muscle tone under there. People told me I looked good, but I didn't feel good. It took me physically harming myself to get compliments, and for the most part, I wasn't okay with that. It's always been a struggle for me, but now that I'm in college, I feel more pressure than ever. Southern California is a different world. It should be on it's own clock. People have SO much more pressure to be perfect because we're so close to Hollywood. It'd ridiculous. Everyone here is perfect, and I feel inadequate. I'm working on that, I swear, but I'm not going to lie, it's something REALLY hard for me to deal with.
I don't know what to say about sexual assault, but with pornography... I know it's a huge struggle for guys. I personally haven't seen or had a problem with it, but I know friends who do. I think the best thing that we, as women of God, can do, is dress modestly and not like a slut. We don't want to be compared to those fake women in the porn anyways, so why do we dress like them? We don't stand for kinky sex or anything even remotely close to that, so we should keep whatever we have covered & respect our future husbands in that same sense.
I don't know what to say about sexual assault, but with pornography... I know it's a huge struggle for guys. I personally haven't seen or had a problem with it, but I know friends who do. I think the best thing that we, as women of God, can do, is dress modestly and not like a slut. We don't want to be compared to those fake women in the porn anyways, so why do we dress like them? We don't stand for kinky sex or anything even remotely close to that, so we should keep whatever we have covered & respect our future husbands in that same sense.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Alcohol
Alcohol has played a major role in my life. My mother and my sister's boyfriend are both alcoholics. Neither one will accept their problem. I guess being around it has prepared me for what can happen if I drink, but it has also forced me to realize that I can potentially get addicted if I try it. I honestly don't have any interest in the whole partying scene, but I'm not going to try to control someone else's life. If they want to experiment, that's fine. I've seen the long-term effects of it and I think that has forced me to skip that phase.
My mom still calls me when she's drunk, crying about what's going on, hoping to find some encouragement from her 17 year old daughter. I don't even know what to say to her. I wish I could come to her for advice instead of vice versa. I needed her shoulder to cry on, but instead I let her use mine. It's been hard growing up without her being a full-on mom. I did have to learn to cook/clean/take care of myself at a young age. I guess that makes me a little bit more independent than some people, but at the same time, I really do think I missed out on a lot of my childhood. Being farther away from my mom at APU has helped our relationship a lot. I think it's sort of the whole 'out of sight, out of mind" scenario, but I'm not really sure. I pray for her every night and hope that she will let God work in her life, but so far, she has been denying it. I can't give up on her. I know she can change. I believe in her. I love her. Even though it gets rough, I love her so much. I can't let her alcoholism define who she is. It's not fair to her, and it's not fair to me, because if I let it define her, then I'm letting it define me as her daughter...
I know there's drinking on APU's campus. The only thing I have to say about that is that I hope people won't deny it. If you do it, fess up. Be honest. If you aren't, people will look to you as a hypocrite rather than a Christian. I don't know, it's really a sticky situation.... I'd rather not talk about it anymore.
My mom still calls me when she's drunk, crying about what's going on, hoping to find some encouragement from her 17 year old daughter. I don't even know what to say to her. I wish I could come to her for advice instead of vice versa. I needed her shoulder to cry on, but instead I let her use mine. It's been hard growing up without her being a full-on mom. I did have to learn to cook/clean/take care of myself at a young age. I guess that makes me a little bit more independent than some people, but at the same time, I really do think I missed out on a lot of my childhood. Being farther away from my mom at APU has helped our relationship a lot. I think it's sort of the whole 'out of sight, out of mind" scenario, but I'm not really sure. I pray for her every night and hope that she will let God work in her life, but so far, she has been denying it. I can't give up on her. I know she can change. I believe in her. I love her. Even though it gets rough, I love her so much. I can't let her alcoholism define who she is. It's not fair to her, and it's not fair to me, because if I let it define her, then I'm letting it define me as her daughter...
I know there's drinking on APU's campus. The only thing I have to say about that is that I hope people won't deny it. If you do it, fess up. Be honest. If you aren't, people will look to you as a hypocrite rather than a Christian. I don't know, it's really a sticky situation.... I'd rather not talk about it anymore.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Strengths & Weaknesses
Woo
Empathy
Responsibility
Adaptability
Restorative
Woo... I suppose woo could be a weakness in the sense that I never REALLY get to know people to their full potential. I could be really distracted in making friendships and recognizing potential long-lasting ones. People could think that I don't really care about getting to know them, which is probably the one aspect of this strength that I don't agree with. I loveee getting to know people... so I hope they'd never see me that way.
Empathy can really suck. Just recently I was talking to my mom and, because she's going through a lot, I feel what she's feeling. It makes it really hard to be happy sometimes. When you feel for everyone else, you get wrapped up in their emotions and lose sight of yourself. I guess being empathetic just means being overly emotional, which... trust me, i know, as a girl, is VERY annoying.
Responsibility can seriously keep me from doing a lot of things. I also get stressed out easily because I feel like I have to get everything done. I think it forces us to put pressure on ourselves, as if we have to do everything perfectly. That, in turn, can lower self-esteem and overall make us feel inadequate, which is lame.
Adaptability... can destroy responsibility. If I "go with the flow" too much, i won't get anything done. I have to learn boundaries or I will fail miserably at this thing called college. It can lead me to unpleasant situations that could possibly force me to compromise my morals.. which i'm DEFINITELY not okay with.
Restorative. I can forget to build myself up and only focus on others. I won't fix my situations; i'll fix yours. I put my burdens on the back-burner and they eventually explode into a massive ball of flames. I know for a fact that I do this. However, I really feel like if I can help someone else, my problems will go away. The truth is, though, that they don't - they fester and get even worse.
All in all, I hope my strengths will turn me into a much stronger person. I hope that I will be able to handle situations better and be more equipped for life. I hope I can take better approaches to my situations and truly understand that I am blessed with these strengths for a reason, but that does not mean that i can take everything on myself. I have to give it up to God.
Empathy
Responsibility
Adaptability
Restorative
Woo... I suppose woo could be a weakness in the sense that I never REALLY get to know people to their full potential. I could be really distracted in making friendships and recognizing potential long-lasting ones. People could think that I don't really care about getting to know them, which is probably the one aspect of this strength that I don't agree with. I loveee getting to know people... so I hope they'd never see me that way.
Empathy can really suck. Just recently I was talking to my mom and, because she's going through a lot, I feel what she's feeling. It makes it really hard to be happy sometimes. When you feel for everyone else, you get wrapped up in their emotions and lose sight of yourself. I guess being empathetic just means being overly emotional, which... trust me, i know, as a girl, is VERY annoying.
Responsibility can seriously keep me from doing a lot of things. I also get stressed out easily because I feel like I have to get everything done. I think it forces us to put pressure on ourselves, as if we have to do everything perfectly. That, in turn, can lower self-esteem and overall make us feel inadequate, which is lame.
Adaptability... can destroy responsibility. If I "go with the flow" too much, i won't get anything done. I have to learn boundaries or I will fail miserably at this thing called college. It can lead me to unpleasant situations that could possibly force me to compromise my morals.. which i'm DEFINITELY not okay with.
Restorative. I can forget to build myself up and only focus on others. I won't fix my situations; i'll fix yours. I put my burdens on the back-burner and they eventually explode into a massive ball of flames. I know for a fact that I do this. However, I really feel like if I can help someone else, my problems will go away. The truth is, though, that they don't - they fester and get even worse.
All in all, I hope my strengths will turn me into a much stronger person. I hope that I will be able to handle situations better and be more equipped for life. I hope I can take better approaches to my situations and truly understand that I am blessed with these strengths for a reason, but that does not mean that i can take everything on myself. I have to give it up to God.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Strengths
According to StrengthsQuest, my top five strengths are:
Woo
Responsibility
Adaptability
Empathy
Restorative
Woo, meaning "winning others over" definitely applies to me. I LOVE to get to know people and make new friends. I'm not usually intimidated by new people. I don't exactly agree that "wooers" don't truly get to know people, because I honestly love to do just that. I enjoy having random conversations, doing ridiculous things, or just being around good company. It's definitely one of my favorite ways to pass the time. : )
Responsibility? HECK YES! I definitely have taken on the responsibilities of my family and feel the pressures of that at APU, even though I'm 400 miles away. I guess being forced to grow up at an early age makes me responsible. I always have to get my homework done (even if it means staying up until 3AM like last night!). I take it as a huge compliment when people find me to be responsible. I think responsibility also goes hand-in-hand with trust; people trust that I am responsible enough to get the job done, but also to be there for them when I say I will. That's also something that I value. I love that people can depend on me.
Adaptability. Yes, I'm very adaptable. Most days I think of the future, but there are certainly some days when I dwell on the past. I'm well aware that it has shaped who I am today. I think I have adjusted to being at APU pretty well, but I'm not going to lie - I'm SO homesick! I can't wait to go home October 26. I make plans, but I often break them. I don't mind taking the time to help someone out, go have a good time, or basically do anything to avoid homework. I'll admit, it definitely distracts me, but I think that's part of growing and learning. I have to ADAPT to the things I'm dealing with down here. I have to get used to the work load and balance my social life (I am a wooer, after all!).
Empathy. I DEFINITELY empathize with people. I can tell right off the bat if something is wrong, and it kills me to see other people suffering. I think maybe because I've been through so much, I know what it feels like to feel almost every kind of emotion possible. I've been there, and I've survived. Maybe that's why I want to be a nurse. I know I couldn't have survived the whole hospital ordeal if I hadn't had nurses there to make me really believe I would be okay. I just want to tell everyone that no matter what they face, they WILL get through it. I know it in my heart. If I can be the shoulder someone needs to cry on, the ear to listen, or give the advice someone needs to hear, I feel like I have fulfilled my purpose for the day. I just LOVE to be there for people. I can't even explain it. I just absolutely 150% agree that empathy should be one of my strengths.
Restorative. Well, I don't really like to solve problems... at least in the academic sense. I enjoy helping people sort through their crises and such, so I suppose that could make me restorative in an emotional/mental sense. I hope that makes sense. I am definitely my toughest critic, and I'm brutally honest sometimes, which isn't really restorative... but regardless, I think it does suit me in one way or another.
Woo
Responsibility
Adaptability
Empathy
Restorative
Woo, meaning "winning others over" definitely applies to me. I LOVE to get to know people and make new friends. I'm not usually intimidated by new people. I don't exactly agree that "wooers" don't truly get to know people, because I honestly love to do just that. I enjoy having random conversations, doing ridiculous things, or just being around good company. It's definitely one of my favorite ways to pass the time. : )
Responsibility? HECK YES! I definitely have taken on the responsibilities of my family and feel the pressures of that at APU, even though I'm 400 miles away. I guess being forced to grow up at an early age makes me responsible. I always have to get my homework done (even if it means staying up until 3AM like last night!). I take it as a huge compliment when people find me to be responsible. I think responsibility also goes hand-in-hand with trust; people trust that I am responsible enough to get the job done, but also to be there for them when I say I will. That's also something that I value. I love that people can depend on me.
Adaptability. Yes, I'm very adaptable. Most days I think of the future, but there are certainly some days when I dwell on the past. I'm well aware that it has shaped who I am today. I think I have adjusted to being at APU pretty well, but I'm not going to lie - I'm SO homesick! I can't wait to go home October 26. I make plans, but I often break them. I don't mind taking the time to help someone out, go have a good time, or basically do anything to avoid homework. I'll admit, it definitely distracts me, but I think that's part of growing and learning. I have to ADAPT to the things I'm dealing with down here. I have to get used to the work load and balance my social life (I am a wooer, after all!).
Empathy. I DEFINITELY empathize with people. I can tell right off the bat if something is wrong, and it kills me to see other people suffering. I think maybe because I've been through so much, I know what it feels like to feel almost every kind of emotion possible. I've been there, and I've survived. Maybe that's why I want to be a nurse. I know I couldn't have survived the whole hospital ordeal if I hadn't had nurses there to make me really believe I would be okay. I just want to tell everyone that no matter what they face, they WILL get through it. I know it in my heart. If I can be the shoulder someone needs to cry on, the ear to listen, or give the advice someone needs to hear, I feel like I have fulfilled my purpose for the day. I just LOVE to be there for people. I can't even explain it. I just absolutely 150% agree that empathy should be one of my strengths.
Restorative. Well, I don't really like to solve problems... at least in the academic sense. I enjoy helping people sort through their crises and such, so I suppose that could make me restorative in an emotional/mental sense. I hope that makes sense. I am definitely my toughest critic, and I'm brutally honest sometimes, which isn't really restorative... but regardless, I think it does suit me in one way or another.
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