THIS RAIN NEEDS TO NOT

This is about to turn into a real heated rant real fast.

So, Rider's campus is small.. About a 12 minute walk from one side of campus to the other. We don't need a bus to get to class and all of the buildings are within a decent walking distance.. On a good day.

Today was probably the rainiest, worst-weathered day this campus has seen all year. I used to love the rain. I liked to take pictures of windows with rain drops on them or sit outside in the rain for fun. It was never a burden to me. Until this year. Rain, snow, and even below freezing weather all discourage me from leaving my dorm building.
I got rain boots for Christmas. I never felt a need to have them in the past, and I couldn't understand why I needed them now.
But now, now I completely understand.
I don't know why, but Rider is literally the most uneven campus in probably the entire world but you can't tell when the sun is out and everything is dry. Days like today, you need a boat to get to class. I swear every single path around campus had some sort of 5 foot deep puddle in the middle of it. This totally wouldn't have been a problem a few months ago. I used to wear my rain boots every single time it rained, even when it drizzled. And everything was dandy. Somehow, somewhere in all of those days of utilizing them, they've accumulated holes--on the bottom, of course. Now stepping into any puddle over and inch deep results in soggy feet for the rest of the day. The worst feeling in the world.
Nothing was worse, though, when I walked to class in the pouring rain and realized that my backpack flap was open and my stuff was soaked.. Later I discovered that wearing my backpack on my chest prevented it from getting  wet when I was using an umbrella. Try it sometime.
To top it off, I had a lot to do and a lot of places to be today. That meant a lot of walking. In crappy weather like this, campus seems to grow 40x in length and the desire to walk anywhere is nonexistent.

With all of that in mind, a couple of weeks ago I brought home my winter jacket--the only jacket I have that is almost completely water resistant and capable of keeping me warm in this weather (and that has a hood that covers all of my head). I had to double up with hoodies and leather jackets because it was raining and cold. That meant a lot of layers, a lot of things to carry and a lot of places to walk. Just not a good day.

But apparently it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow?! I hope so.

I don't know how much more of this weather I can take. I have a feeling Summer isn't going to happen this year. (Or even Spring for that matter)

Cross your fingers.

Missions on Campus

Christian missionaries around the globe tend to travel long and far to reach out to poor communities, repair damaged property, build water wells in 3rd world countries, and even hold secret church meetings in places where it is illegal to practice Christianity. They fundraise for months, maybe even years, so that they can embark on these endeavors. For this reason, almost every Christian thinks that in order to fulfill a "mission" they must gather thousands of dollars, fly themselves, with a church group, to another country, and do labor all day, everyday. Missions trips like those are great - they give us Christians a chance to show God's love through the kindness of giving up our time and physical aid to those who need it. 

Commonly, though, a lot of Christians my age seem to neglect the mission field in their backyard. For me, the backyard is my school campus. The mission field here is endless.

I never got a chance to understand that concept until this year. Since serving with The River (InterVarsity Christian Fellowship), I started to become more aware of life outside of the "Christian bubble." There could be someone living down the hall from me that has never heard of Jesus, the Bible, or Christianity--at all. This was new to me. 

As a fellowship, we've seen how important it is to address this. As a Christian, God has put so many people in my life who have planted the seed, watered it, sat me to the sunlight, and gave me the nutrients to grow into the daughter of Christ that I am. 

I want to help plant that seed on Rider's campus. Next year I have been called to serve on the leadership team for my fellowship - a position that is really important to me. I want my campus to be exposed to a better life with Christ, just as I have been.

In order to prepare for the up and coming school year, my leadership team and I will be attending Basileia (a student leadership conference in upstate New York) from May 17th - 22nd. We will leave the week-long training more equipped and ready to go out and evangelize to our campus and spread the love of Christ. I'll also get to grow in my own personal relationship with God in order to become a more developed leader. 

Would you invest in my leadership development & spiritual formation? 

Here are two ways you can:

1. Prayer.

During Basileia: for unity, transformation & clarity as we hear from God and plan for the next school year. 

After Basileia: that we put what we've learned into practice and continue to seek God as we go forward!

2. Financial support: The cost of the trip is $375. Included in the costs are room & board, excellent training, and the opportunity to get away from the business of life and hear from God in community. (For details you can contact me, Emily Kelley).

From Tumblr to Roommate

Just like any soon-to-be high school graduate, I was very excited to send in my tuition deposit for the school I'd be attending for the next four years. This is a big deal. I picked this school all by myself. My choice.
Anyway, so I posted it on Tumblr. Why? Who knows. Like I said, I was happy.
(In case you need proof that I'm not lying)

Shortly after posting this (April 28, 2013), I get a message in my ask box. I don't remember exactly what it said but it was from this girl who was also going to Rider as freshman. I kind of creeped on her blog a lot and I noticed that she reblogged a lot of the bands that I like (actually just a lot of All Time Low). I decided then that she was cool and we could be friends. After trying to communicate via Tumblr ask box for a few days, we added each other on Facebook and followed each other on Twitter. Here's our first conversation:

I look back at our Facebook messages now and just laugh. I don't actually talk like that. And I don't remember what her profile picture was. I think it was someone from All Time Low. Oh and don't forget the classic ;D I added to that... Actually, yeah, forget all about that. Let's move on.

During the process of talking to Delaney, I was also talking to about three other people, desperately hoping to make friends before moving into school. This was a really weird thing for me. What if I liked someone enough to room with them? Should I ask? What if they don't want to? Would they say yes because they feel guilty? .....This was starting to sound like a really complicated relationship status.

After a while, I kind of just stopped talking to the other three girls. Delaney was all I had left and I was scared she hated me. Obviously, she didn't. I remember very vividly the day we became "official."

I was on my senior trip in Disney world. My friends and I were on a monorail to Epcot and I got this message:

So there's that. We exchanged phone numbers and accepted each other as "roommates" on our housing application and now we live happily ever after in a tiny freshman dorm room on the third floor. (Did you know that heat RISES?)

Living with someone is weird at first. Especially if you're not very talkative, like me. I got used to it quickly, though, and now I find it even weirder when I go home to not have someone to talk to at 2 a.m.

The roommate process didn't freak me out as much as I thought it would. I think I just got really lucky. And if Delaney had never messaged me, I don't know who I would be sharing a room with or if I would have ever been friends with her.

Taking risks is a good thing. You just never know. The worst someone can say is "no."

And I'm glad I didn't :)

Look how cute we are.

P.S. We also attempted a YouTube channel! ---> http://www.youtube.com/user/emandde

I know, we don't update much. Just - be patient. We're still getting used to this college thing. 

Fear of Responsibility

I hate to say it but I actually consider myself a very lazy person. I think I developed this terrible habit somewhere in high school. I refused to take honors/ AP classes (after a bad experience) even when I had the grades to and I wasn't really involved with any clubs. I was a little bit during my freshman year--but it all went downhill from there.
Trying new things has always made me really, really anxious. I hate going to new places without someone I know and I always get nervous talking to new people. This has effected me my entire life so I guess I've gotten used to it.
But I bet you could guess how high my anxiety levels were, moving into college. Completely new people, totally different atmosphere, way more opportunities, and the pressure to get involved in as much as possible. I mean, I only have 4 years at this school. 4 years. is. absolutely. nothing. I can't just sit on my butt all day and not go out and take advantage of the campus while I'm here.
In the fall, I made it my mission to join as many clubs as I could. I signed up to join a lot of different things: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, photography club, the school radio station, the TV studio, adventure club, student entertainment council, and probably a bunch more that I don't remember off the top of my head.
Unfortunately only a few of those clubs emailed me back, so those were the only ones I really got involved with.
This semester and last I got a job with Bronc Vision. It is almost the perfect job for a communication student like me. We basically shoot, broadcast and control all of the technology behind the basketball games, wresting matches, volleyball matches, etc. Whenever there was a game, I was always busy doing that.
I also helped film a segment for "Backstage Story", a music news program on the school's TV network, called "Alternative Route."
I joined photography club for a day. Then I got an email about the business fraternity needing a photographer for the semester. I'm not really a photographer and my camera isn't really the best but I decided to go for it. Almost every week, on Tuesdays, I spent an hour photographing some professional business person for them--at least I was getting paid, right?
My favorite organization, and probably the only one that, to this day, does not make me feel anxious about, is InterVarsity. Every Wednesday night we have "large group"--a time for us to come together to worship God and hear a short sermon. I also joined a Bible study, lead by one of my friends from high school, on Monday nights. I have done so so so much with the fellowship that I would love to talk about but I shall save that as another post for another day. :) Anyway, starting next year, I was chosen as business coordinator for the fellowship and basically, I'm going to have my hands full. Although, I will have an amazing team of other leaders to work with.
To top all of that off, I went ahead and applied to be photographer and photo editor for the school newspaper! Today I shot and edited the cover photo for tomorrow's paper. I guess this means I should get around to buying a nicer camera. Ya feel? If I get that job, I'll be even busier with my Tuesdays. I'll have classes all day: 9:45am - 9:30pm. Plus, the paper is put out every Wednesday so I would need to have the pictures edited and sized by then. This is all hoping I get the job. So, keep your fingers crossed!

Despite all I've been involved with, all I've worried about, and all of the homework that I didn't even get to mention, I really am enjoying my college experience. I just hope the next 3 years doesn't go as fast as the first one did.
I feel like my life has been changing so much in these past few months - but definitely for the better.
By the time I graduate, I'll be a pro at organization and responsibility! After all, you have to learn something  from an education... Don't you?

Don't be afraid to make yourself busy. And have a great time doing it.

And be careful out there, iPhones shatter easily.