Well I think this week has be the most hectic week of my life. I had 3 tests, two of which I did not do so good on. But thank God for teachers who give extra credit!!!! I have not had time to do anything this week, so I am pretty excited that it is the weekend. I think that this week has been the week where i realized that this is not a vacation, I am not able to just sit by and watch life go by. I actually have to study and get involved here. This is something unusual to me since I never had to study in high school.
Some of the things I have learned this week is that studying is more than just reading over the pages in a book and thinking I am prepared for the test. This is not how it works for those of you who have not figured it out yet. You actually have to think about it and grasp an understanding of the material you are going over. The other thing I have learned is that you need to do your math homework, even if the teacher does not take it up or grade it. This is also new to me, well kinda. In high school i never did my math homework either, but the teachers still checked to see if I had done it. And when i did not do it, i got a zero for my homework grade, but I know what was going on enough to get a good grade on the test so I ended up ok. Well Mr. Killman does not take it up or check if we did it. So my thinking was "Hey! Im not going to do it at all and it will be like high school." I WAS WRONG! This is why I made a 64 on the test.
So I guess you could say that this week has been a learning experance for me. Now that i know that I actually have to study to pass in college I think I am a little more prepared for the next week. Other than the accademic aspect of this week it was good. I think I am finally getting into a grove here, I am learning that i do not have to be involved in everything. I am also learning how to manage my time a little better. Well thats about it for this week.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
3. "To be or not to be, that is the question"
Okay, last week i posted a blog discussing the choices between right and wrong. This week I have decided to talk about change. Before I left my home town I kept telling myself, "This is a chance for a new start, you can make your self who ever you want to be." And I still think that, this is a chance for a new start, and I can make myself who I want to be. As we go though life we all make mistakes that we wish other people never knew about. But some things are inevitable, people will find things out about you that you wish they never knew. So when I came here no one knew anything about me, nothing was expected of me, which was nice. Before I left I was thinking to myself, which qualities of myself do I want to chance, because after all, I can be anyone I want to be.
Well when I got here, I acted the same way I did at home, my personality did not change, nothing about me changed, except my surroundings. For a while I was disappointed. I mean, I had planed to change, to become a new person. But I figured out something, If I had attempted to change everything about me, then it would not be the real me. Now will I change over time, of course I will, but it will not be because I forced myself to change. As we mature, we change this we can not help. But I'm glad we change, in fact I think I would be more disappointed in myself if I did not change at all while at college.
I guess what I am trying to say is to be who you are, be real. If I had changed like I thought I wanted to, I would be a fake. The person I would have changed into would not be me, but rather the person I thought that people would like me to be. So it may sound childish, we have all heard it a million times, but I am going to be me for me, I am not going to conform to just "fit it". Your best friends in life are going to like YOU for who YOU are, not what other people think you should be. Life is too short to conform just to fit it. Don't be caught in the lie that you have to fit into a certain mold to be accepted.
Well when I got here, I acted the same way I did at home, my personality did not change, nothing about me changed, except my surroundings. For a while I was disappointed. I mean, I had planed to change, to become a new person. But I figured out something, If I had attempted to change everything about me, then it would not be the real me. Now will I change over time, of course I will, but it will not be because I forced myself to change. As we mature, we change this we can not help. But I'm glad we change, in fact I think I would be more disappointed in myself if I did not change at all while at college.
I guess what I am trying to say is to be who you are, be real. If I had changed like I thought I wanted to, I would be a fake. The person I would have changed into would not be me, but rather the person I thought that people would like me to be. So it may sound childish, we have all heard it a million times, but I am going to be me for me, I am not going to conform to just "fit it". Your best friends in life are going to like YOU for who YOU are, not what other people think you should be. Life is too short to conform just to fit it. Don't be caught in the lie that you have to fit into a certain mold to be accepted.
Friday, September 12, 2008
2. The choice of right and wrong.
Do I choose to do right or do I choose to do wrong? What is right? What is Wrong? Growing up we are taught to do what is right, and not to do what is wrong. At first we are taught what the difference between right and wrong are by our parents. As we mature our morals begin to get challenged, and we begin to discern for ourselves what the difference between right and wrong is. Leaving for college has been an event in my life that has forced me to mature. Right as I arrived here at MC I was faced with some decisions to do either right, or to do wrong. With out my parents here to guide me, I was on my own to decide what to do.
One of the things I was most excited about when leaving for college was that I was going to a place where I was known by no one. All my life I have been watched very closely, partly because my father is a pastor, and because of that, people seem to hold me to a higher standard than other people my age. Do I think that is wrong? No, in I Timothy it speaks about the qualifications of a pastor. In verse 4 of I Timothy it states, " One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity." Believe it or not this puts a lot of stress on me. because what ever I did was reflected back on my father. So my thinking was that if I can get away from where people know me, I can do whatever I want, and I will not have to worry about people watching me. I was wrong.
It occured to me not long after I got here, that it did not matter who my parents were or what their jobs were, I represent Jesus Christ. Forget being held to the standard of your earthly father, no matter where we go, we are always held to the standard of our saviour. He expects way more out of us that our earthly father ever could. Have I failed since I have been here to represent Jesus in the way I should? Of course I have, but this is something I will always continue to work on. So remember where ever you go, you are always held to a higher standard than that of your own.
One of the things I was most excited about when leaving for college was that I was going to a place where I was known by no one. All my life I have been watched very closely, partly because my father is a pastor, and because of that, people seem to hold me to a higher standard than other people my age. Do I think that is wrong? No, in I Timothy it speaks about the qualifications of a pastor. In verse 4 of I Timothy it states, " One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity." Believe it or not this puts a lot of stress on me. because what ever I did was reflected back on my father. So my thinking was that if I can get away from where people know me, I can do whatever I want, and I will not have to worry about people watching me. I was wrong.
It occured to me not long after I got here, that it did not matter who my parents were or what their jobs were, I represent Jesus Christ. Forget being held to the standard of your earthly father, no matter where we go, we are always held to the standard of our saviour. He expects way more out of us that our earthly father ever could. Have I failed since I have been here to represent Jesus in the way I should? Of course I have, but this is something I will always continue to work on. So remember where ever you go, you are always held to a higher standard than that of your own.
Friday, September 5, 2008
1. 500 miles away, but still at home
Some of you may know me by now, but for those of you who do not, I am Jared Willis and i am from Valdosta Georgia. For those of you who watch ESPN that's "Title Town". When looking for a college to attend I knew I had to leave home. Not because my parents made me or because i hated the people there, I left home so i could meet new people and experience new things. I had been considering MC for a while and felt like that was where God was leading me. So i applied. When i got the acceptance letter i was excited beyond belief, who couldn't be, you get to live on your own and make your own choices. I mean is that not what is all about...right? For a while i thought so, and for a while i lived with the mentality of "Yeah! I'm finally out of here!" But when it came time to leave everything for real, your friends, your family, everything you have ever know, its a different story. Don't get me wrong, i was still excited about leaving, i just started to realize what i was leaving.
We left south Georgia and drove north to Atlanta. In Atlanta we spent the night with my grandmother, woke up the next morning and headed to Mississippi. We arrived here in Clinton mid-day August 20. When the morning of the 21st rolled around i began to get a little scared, but still excited nun the less. My family helped me move into the dorms and get settled, most like all of the other freshman. When it came time to say goodbye to my family one last time, it hit me even harder, the people that I have been so dependent on for the past 19 years of my life are no longer going to be there at my ever becking call. It was an emotional time for everyone, mostly for my mom, but they left and i went back to my dorm.
Lets jump ahead a few weeks to today. I have started classes and meet new friends. I have found that the people here are very nice and accepting for the most part, but you will all ways have a few that are still living like they are in high school. So with all this said i would like to thank you all for making me a part of the "MC family". I can truly say that I am 500 miles away, but still feel at home.
We left south Georgia and drove north to Atlanta. In Atlanta we spent the night with my grandmother, woke up the next morning and headed to Mississippi. We arrived here in Clinton mid-day August 20. When the morning of the 21st rolled around i began to get a little scared, but still excited nun the less. My family helped me move into the dorms and get settled, most like all of the other freshman. When it came time to say goodbye to my family one last time, it hit me even harder, the people that I have been so dependent on for the past 19 years of my life are no longer going to be there at my ever becking call. It was an emotional time for everyone, mostly for my mom, but they left and i went back to my dorm.
Lets jump ahead a few weeks to today. I have started classes and meet new friends. I have found that the people here are very nice and accepting for the most part, but you will all ways have a few that are still living like they are in high school. So with all this said i would like to thank you all for making me a part of the "MC family". I can truly say that I am 500 miles away, but still feel at home.
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