Finals

These last two weeks have been absolutely crazy!!! It's been so stressful, but I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just 3 tests and I'll be done with my first semester of college. That seems insane to me that I can already be done with a whole semester! It's gone by so fast, and I've had a really good time with everything. My classes went better than I expected they would, and I think I've transitioned well to the workload. I still need to work on time management but for the most part I think I've done pretty well. As I think back to the beginning, to my first day on September 2nd, I can't believe everything I've gone through. There have been some lows but mainly a lot of highs; I can't wait to see what next semester and the next 3 years here will bring. I know now that I really made the right choice by coming here, and I know it was God leading me to where I was meant to be. As I write this last blog, I've realized that even though it was kind of a pain at times, it will be nice to have these to look back on and read. I can see what some of my own personal thoughts were on the first semester of college, and it will be cool to have for future years. So now I say goodbye blog. It's been an interesting experience and I enjoyed it. Signing off....Justin Buzick :)

Sphere

I'm glad I chose Sphere for my final project because so far I've really enjoyed reading it. I've always wondered if there is life on another planet and what those beings would be like. It's hard because I'm not always sure how it would fit into my faith. Can I believe that there are other life forms out there and still believe in God? I think you can because I believe science is a way of explaining acts of God. Maybe the Big Bang is what started the universe, but the conditions for what happened to created the universe had to be so precise that it's almost impossible for me to believe that there wasn't a higher power behind it. Then who are we to say that God didn't allow those conditions to form life elsewhere in the universe. It would definitely change the collective human psyche if we discovered life on another planet, but I don't think we would have to abandon our religion. Anyway I just thought it was kind of interesting to think about while I've been reading Sphere. Would they be vastly more advanced then we are or would they be primative like cavemen? The other question would be how do we communicate with them? I never really thought about how much of a problem that would be until I started reading the book. It isn't like we could just call in an alien translator. It would be incredibly difficult, and I don't really know what a good solution would be. Anyway just interesting to think about!

Final stretch

As we come to the final week of fall classes, I was amazed, looking back, at how fast this semester has gone. It's been a really great experience for me, and I've grown and matured in a short amount of time. It's been great becoming more independent and not being able to rely on my parents for everything. I surprised myself by how well I adjusted to it all. I'm a quiet and shy person generally so having to do things on my own and meeting new people was kind of scary to me for awhile. Everything went so well thought, and it seems silly now, all of the worrying I did over going to college. Although times can be VERY stressful, like this upcoming week is going to be, college has been a blast so far. It really forces you to manage your time, which is a good thing. This past week I procrastinated a little too much and now this week is going to be a tough one, but I think that it's a lesson I can learn from again too. I really can't believe a whole semester has gone by. I'm already 1/8 of the way done with college. Soon the year will be over, and I'll ready have a 1/4 of college behind me. Wartburg has been a blessing, and I'm so grateful for all of the experiences I've had so far. I look forward to 3 and 1/2 more years here, that is if I survive the upcoming week and finals.

CWW

There is a black hole in my life right now and that would be Christmas with Wartburg (CWW). Lately it has been sucking up all of my time with 2 or 3 hour rehearsals each night. I feel two different ways about it because it's a lot of fun. I really love to sing, and the sound is incredible with all of the choirs together. In that sense it's really fun, and I really enjoy it. On the other hand we have to stand basically the whole 2 hours, which is exhausting and it's just a really long time to be rehearsing. We also have to memorize 7 or 8 songs, which is a lot especially when we've only had the music for about 3 weeks or so. I think the performances are going to be really awesome though, and I'm excited. I just have to not think about all of the work that I have to do in the next couple of weeks and enjoy it. It's a really cool combination of music, and I like listening to the other groups perform. This is my first time experiencing Christmas with Wartburg, and I suppose the positives outweigh the negatives in the end. I think the concerts will be amazing and my family is coming to one so it's another chance for me to see them. That'll be nice to kind of split up the time in between now and Christmas break. I just have to survive these incredibly long rehearsals, not pass out, and memorize my music. Hopefully I can do all of those things :) and really have a great time with Christmas with Wartburg!

Thanksgiving

We have this tradition in our family that before we eat Thanksgiving dinner we go around the table sharing what we have been thankful for this past year. As I sat there thinking about what I was thankful for, I was overwhelmed with all of the blessings I've had this year. My senior year was one of the best years I've ever had before. It was so much fun, and I made a lot of lasting memories with my friends. It was a great way of closing out one chapter of my life. The summer was a blast, and I did so many fun things throughout it. One of my biggest blessings has been coming to college and having a smooth transition. I've made great friends that I'm so thankful for (Zach, Amy, Abbi, Megan, Carmen, Ellie, Sarah, Paul, Nick, and Josue)!! I've really transitioned well to being on my own and the challenges of college classes. It's probably the thing I'm the most thankful for. I've had great health throughout the year, my dad has a job, I have an incredibly awesome and supportive family, we have a nice house to live in, and I haven't had a lot of major worries. I'm thankful for all of these things, even though it's easy to forget about them. As you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for! I'm so blessed, and I hope this year goes as well as last year did.

Slow-walking people

There are a group of people in this world that I sometimes want to punch in the back of the head. Those would be the slow-walking people of the world. I know it's violent, but it is so annoying at times. Why do you have to walk so slow? Other people have places to be and things to do. We aren't all able to move along at your leisurely pace even though we may want to. Walk faster! It's also annoying when you take up the whole freaking walk-way. If you're going to walk slow at least do it off to one of the sides instead of smack dab in the middle. It's like on a track, slow moving people stay to the outside so the rest of us can pass you if we need to. The worst is when there are two slow-moving people walking side by side and taking up the whole walk-way. Sometimes I don't want to go around. It might be muddy or maybe there's snow on the ground. It's especially annoying when they see and they still don't move out of the way so you can get by. Like your conversation is so vitally important that you can't pause it for 10 seconds while I walk by. I don't believe it! This is probably the most random ranting I've ever done, but it's a big pet peeve of mine. I believe I can control my violent urges, but hopefully I don't encounter too many slow-moving people and then I won't have to worry about the temptation.

Stress

I feel like lately my life has been one never-ending wave of stress. There is always something that needs to be done. Since I've come to college, never has there been a moment where I could just sit around and watch T.V. because there wasn't anything else I could be doing. I hate it at times, and I wonder if society has become that way over time or if it has always been like this. There is a constant pressure to succeed and a fear of failure that can be very overwhelming at times. This has all led to a huge amount of constant stress in life and it's all stress that is man-made. There are no forces in the world that state you must get an A on your biology test, yet if I don't get one on my test tomorrow, I'll be disappointed in myself and never stop to think about what I learned from it. Life isn't measured by what you learn anymore. It's all about your successes and failures, and the stress from trying to make sure your successes outnumber your failures is difficult not to be overwhelmed by at times. Sometimes it makes me want to just quit and become a hobo living on the streets, but I don't think that will happen. I don't really want to be a hobo; sometimes I just convince myself that it would be easier. I just need to find better ways to manage my stress, and one of the ways I do that is giving myself sometime to relax even if there are other things I could be doing. It keeps me from going crazy, which is a good thing. Now I can finally have somewhat of a break this week, and I can't wait.