I’ve done it. I’ve finally completed this school semester.
It really wasn’t as difficult as others have been in the past, which is nice.
But now I only have one left. I’m saddened by this fact, mainly because I’ll
greatly miss all the friends I’ve made here, who have become like a second
family to me. This semester I’ve done crazier things than previous semester,
often with the rationale that I won’t be here much longer; which I just
realized is an awesome metaphor for us on earth. Compared to eternity, we’re
here for a very short amount of time; we might as well use our time to the best
of our ability.
I’m
also looking forward to finishing up school here. That will be one more chapter
of my life completed. The exciting part will be starting the next chapter,
which I currently know nothing about. However, with this kind of story, I can’t
just look up spoilers on the internet, which is either a good thing or a bad
thing: probably a good thing.
Thanksgiving
So
since I finally have free time again, I can now write about what I’ve been
doing the past few weeks, apart from schoolwork.
Well,
shortly after posting my blog post about heaven, Thanksgiving break arrived. I was already planning on not going
home for Thanksgiving this year, mainly because plane tickets from Ohio to
California and vice versa are crazy expensive if you get them too last minute.
Also, the semester ended like two weeks afterwards so it would have almost not
been worth it. So instead of going home, I went with Xander to his house.
Xander is a friend in the unit whose house I’d been to a couple times before.
Since I already knew his family, it was nice to spend Thanksgiving in a family
setting I was already familiar with.
During break, I did hardly any
homework, which was pretty nice. I didn’t have too much to work on anyway,
because like I said, this semester was generally very kind to me. So over break
I got to sleep in, hang out with people I knew, and watch a ton of movies.
Movies we watched that I can remember off the top of my head include The Abyss, Tremors, Dawn of the Planet
of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, Guardians of the Galaxy, Source Code, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Interstellar.
Thanksgiving break was only about five days I believe, and this is eight
movies, so that’s at least one movie per day, which is excellent. I also played
some more Minecraft (finally slaying the Enderdragon), played a bunch of board
games, and started reading a book called The
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which I had never heard of before, but
was told is excellent.
I also played
a lot of guitar, because I greatly enjoy playing my guitar when I have free
time. And while there, I got to do something I’d never done before but always
thought would be awesome. One room of the large basement of their house has
been turned into a recording studio or sorts. It was in that room that I had
the awesome opportunity to plug my guitar into a sound system, play around with
the settings, and also sing into a microphone while playing guitar. I played
around with several songs, then actually ended up recording one song, just to
say that I did. I was greatly helped by Xander’s dad, who helped set everything
up in the “recording studio.”
For those who are interested, I
recorded a song by Ed Sheeran from the soundtrack for “The Fault in Our Stars,”
entitled “All Of The Stars.” I mainly chose this song because I like it, and it’s
generally easy to play (it doesn’t have any bar chords). In the recording, I performed
all the singing and guitar, but Xander’s dad did all the mixing, recording, and
editing. He also added a track in the background of him playing bass. If you so
desire to listen to this recording, it can be found here; just know that I didn’t do any vocal warm-ups before singing
and I also was recovering from a cold. I have also only been playing guitar
since the beginning of the summer. Basically what I’m trying to say is, don’t
expect this recording to be the greatest thing you’ve ever heard. I know that
everyone is always their own worst critic, so I’m taking a big step in actually
putting this recording online for other people to listen to. I plan on going
back to Xander’s house for Easter break next semester, and Xander’s dad and I
are already planning on recording something else; hopefully one of my more
favorite songs, like something by Owl City.
The End of One Semester, the Beginnings of the Next
I
should mention by the way, that I was finally
able to sign up for classes for next semester! It turns out that all I had to
do was borrow a ridiculously large sum of money. I kind of think that God was
testing my trust and patience with this, seeing how long registration could be
pushed back in order to see how much I really trust God. I’d like to say that I
trusted God the whole time, that in the end I always knew that things would
turn out alright in the end, but there were a few times when I was beginning to
think that I would not be coming back to school next semester, or maybe even at
all.
After
getting back from Thanksgiving break, I had about two weeks to draw a graphic
novel, complete a World Mythology paper, create a dictionary of Cedarville
terms as my lexicography project for History of the English Language, and study
for several exams. I finished the World Mythology fairly early, and I think I
did decently on it. The dictionary was fun to make, but I completed most of it
very last minute. I had a lot of fun finishing the graphic novel project for my
Graphic Novel class. The other two students in my group wrote the majority of
the story and I was the designated artist; basically I drew what they told me
to draw. But as the artist, I had ultimate final say about what went in the
novel. Therefore, I added visual cameos of Kim Possible, Indiana Jones, the
Joker, Scar (from The Lion King), and
our teacher. The story was set in a circus, which is why I was able to add such
a variety of characters.
Apart
from finishing assignments, I also spent part of those weeks preparing for and
participating in Campus Christmas. This is an annual event at Cedarville in
which all the dorms on campus decorate their halls/units and people walk
through them. Last year, our dorm’s theme was “Civil War in the North Pole.”
This year our theme was #ImpeachClark2014 and #SupportClark2014. This was
basically two competing campaigns about whether or not we should jokingly
impeach the SGA (Student Government Association) Chaplain, who lives in our
unit. One side was the impeach side, the other support, while in the middle section
we had a riot going on, complete with someone wearing my Guy Fawkes mask
“fighting” against someone with a riot shield. On the impeach side we had a
section called “How the Clark Stole Christmas,” based on “How the Grinch Stole
Christmas,” and on the other side we had the story of how he saved Christmas.
When I found out they were going to do a parody of this, I immediately
volunteered to write the poems; which can be found here.
Earlier
this semester I applied for a spring break missions trip, and I just found out
during Thanksgiving break, that I made it! The missions trip I’ll be a part of
will be located out of Hawthorne Gospel Church in northern New Jersey, which is
largely the reason I chose this trip. This is the church my dad basically grew
up in, and it’s only about fifteen minutes from where I used to live. So, I
guess my main reason for applying was so that I could visit that area again and
have the possibility of visiting family and friends, and also seeing my old
house again. But I also applied for the trip, because I’ve heard good feedback
from people who have gone on these trips.
Almost Home
As I’m writing these last
paragraphs, I’m sitting in the unit lounge, it’s almost midnight, and my uncle
and aunt will be coming to pick me up and drive me to the airport in about five
hours. I’ve packed everything I need (hopefully) and now I’m just finishing
this up so I can then go to bed (that is unless I choose to watch more Parks and Recreation first).
I
detest flying, and airports. I’ve had too many bad experiences with delayed
flights and such in the past, and nearly every time I fly I get a headache. The
only thing that will keep me going tomorrow is the knowledge that I will be
home at the end of the day.
To Mom,
Dad, Rachel, Debra, and Joseph,
I should be arriving in Fresno tomorrow around 3:00. I miss
all of you, and I can’t wait to see you again!
I love
you, and see you tomorrow!
-Michael
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