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.