Camps

Every Sunday I work at the Wartburg Baseball Camp helping with kids from 7th grade all the way to senior in high school.  It will be tough today because I have so many assignments I need to finish up today.  For these camps, I have to chart the kids when they pitch so when they throw the ball to the catcher, I mark down where the ball went and if it were a strike or not.  It is an easy job and is fun to talk to the kids and give them pointers if they did something wrong.  I can see myself as a coach when I get older.  I think that would be a fun side job.  Overall, these camps are a good learning experience for me and good way to meet more people in the community.

Finals

Well, it is that time of the year again...finals. I am typing two papers this weekend with a presentation all due Monday, two tests Friday and one on Monday the 16th, but after that I am free to enjoy Christmas break with my friends and family.  I will be studying all day everyday until my finals are done, which is upsetting.  There is just so much going on and so many things due it is overwhelming, but it will feel so good when it is all over.  Well, I better go type more papers!

Being Sick

Well, I woke up this morning feeling awful. I went to bed earlier than normal last night because I felt like I was getting sick and sure enough I am.  I can't swallow without my throat hurting and I have the worst headache.  Being sick at school is worse than being sick at home because I don't have my bed to sleep in.  I have two tests this week and a paper due this week and I cannot get sick. This is a big bummer.

Birthday

Well it is that time of the year again...my birthday.  It will be weird not being home and celebrating it with my family.  Normally we go out to eat at one of my favorite places and do all the cliche birthday stuff, but that has to wait until I am home on break.  My birthday is the 19th so this Tuesday and I can't wait to be 19! It is my golden birthday so it will be awesome!

Mail

Well, the first few weeks I always got mail! And it was awesome! But the last few weeks I haven't gotten anything.  This doesn't bug me, but it is nice to get mail every now and then.  I am not upset at all don't get me wrong, but it is nice to get something every now and then!

Eating

I eat a lot.  Like way too much food and that has never been an issue with me because I can't seem to gain weight from eating so much.  I should be 300 pounds with the amount I eat.  Coming to college I heard about the "freshman 15" and those things which scared some people.  Not be.  I do need to start eating healthier though just in general.  I am not getting fat by any means, but eating some veggies here and there and some fruit can never hurt.  I will start my new eating ways today!

Henrietta Lacks Speaker

I went and listened to a speaker from the Mayo Clinic speak and talk about Henrietta Lacks.  She was interesting because she knew first hand what the HeLa Cells do and how they work.  I thought she was very knowledgeable and spent a lot of time on it, but she spoke in a monotone voice and everyone around us wasn't paying attention...including some professors in front of me.  I thought it was a good speech though.

Fantasy Football

I am in a fantasy football league with some of my good friends back home and we each put $20 in the pool for the winner to get at the end.  I went in thinking "oh I don't wanna do this" or "I won't win"....well I am in first place right now and can potentially win $160! I guess it really means don't doubt yourself ever because funny things can happen!

LETS GOO!!

Homework on homework on homework

I have so many things going on at one time in all of my classes it is overwhelming.  I am getting stressed out with all the work I have to do in the next two weeks.  I feel like in every class I have at least two assignments.  Very stressful.  Today, I am spending the whole day doing homework and I am not even sure I can get everything done either.  I don't put things off; I just have so much.

Going to be a long day of homework on homework on homework.

New Recruit

This weekend my roommate Dan and I have a recruit staying with us.  I am not sure what we are going to do, but we want to make sure his visit is as good as it can be.  I remember when I was being recruited I wanted to meet all the guys on the team and get to know them and the kid showing me around made that happen.  So I need to do that for the kid this weekend.

Should be a fun weekend with him!

Parents visited

This past weekend my parents visited for the first time since move in day! It was awesome for them to come and visit.  We went to the football game together, but sadly we lost.  My parents wanted to come down sooner and visit, but with how busy they are and with work it just never worked out.  

One of the best things to do when parents visit is to go shopping for new clothes and groceries.  So that was nice.  I can't wait until I go home and see them for Thanksgiving! 

Being Tired

I feel tired all the time.  Even if I get a good 8 or 9 hours of sleep I am still tired.  I think my body is so behind on sleep that it is taking awhile for my body to catch up.  Luckily for me, I don't have classes Tuesdays or Thursdays so tomorrow I am going to sleep forever and see if it helps!

Right now as I am typing this, I am about to fall asleep and the day hasn't even started yet; that's a good sign....

Fall Break

Today is my first day back from fall break and spending some quality time with my family.  It was the first time I have been home and the first time I have seen my family since August when they dropped me off here.  It was so great going home and sleeping in my own bed.  Seeing my dog's face light up as I walked into my house was priceless!  I went to eat at some places that I can't get here in Iowa.  Thursday night I went to the Minnesota Wild game with my dad and we won!

Going home was awesome, but I did miss my friends here at school.  I cannot wait until Thanksgiving break where I can see all my friends who are at different colleges and Universities and talk with them and be with them!

Another week in the books here at Wartburg College and it was a great week.  Started with doing well on an essay for english, did a good job at baseball and on Thursday my sister came and visited!  This weekend I went to UNI to visit some friends and went to the basketball game there they had as a pep fest.

Very good week and it's only 2 more days until I can go home on fall break! Haven't been home since August so I am well overdue!  I miss my family, friends at home, and of course my dog! He is the real definition of mans best friend and is always on my side!  Two more days and I am back to the homeland!

OutFly

Today is a great day.  Yesterday was outfly which is a day off from school once a year.  Whenever outfly is, the classes you miss are always made up on the Friday of that week and since I don't have classes on Thursdays anyway, I have Friday free from class.  It is nice to have a 4 day weekend and get two days off in a row to relax, get homework done, and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Being a freshman, my roommate and I went to the bell at 6:30 am after we heard the screaming and yelling of people saying "OUTFLY" along with a majority of the student body.  It was fun to see all the things they had planned and things to do.  Also, my sister visited yesterday and it was good to see her since I haven't seen her since August.  We went out to eat and then she went to my baseball game and watched me play!  Overall, it was a good Outfly day and I am already excited for next years Outfly.

Being overwhelmed is a big part of college.  I am having some hard times in my math class.  I work with a friend and we can never figure it out.  We understand it and then we don't.  We are trying to do homework right now and it is hard.  Also on top of that, I have a 8 page paper due tomorrow and I am getting stressed out with school.  Fall break cannot come soon enough.  I need a break from everything.  Classes are good besides that.  Everything is going well and I have good grades.

NPH

For the last 10 years or so my family has been supporting and being a part of a Orphanage in Mexico called Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos.  This is an orphanage home to more than 500 kids from a week old until 19 years old.  This place stole my heart when I went 4 years ago for the first time and I have gone 5 times in those 4 years.  This orphanage is a place where you cannot be adopted from; once you are there you are a part of the NPH family.  These kids come from the worst situations from sexual abuse from their parents, death of their parents, or worse.  When we first heard about this home we had to see what it was all about.

It started with my church.  They started going on mission trips which is when my dad and sister started going and 4 years ago I went for the first time with my church.  Since then, I have gone with my church two times and my WHOLE family two times and we just booked our plane tickets back a few days ago which is why I am blogging right now!

This amazing home stole my heart when I first took my first step onto the property and since then I now sponsor two kids, Jordi and Aileen.  My family has a total of 5 kids we sponsor and it is the best thing in the world.  I will be going down every year for the rest of my life.  The love, compassion, and sense of family there is breath taking and there aren't many words to describe how wonderful it is.

I can't wait to go back and see all the children as they run up to me and my family as we step off the bus!  This is defiantly a highlight for the me!

I am currently doing english homework and it is very hard.  We are typing an 8 page research paper on an Op Ed article and we need to use these search engines and I am having trouble finding relevant issues and topics.  We have to fill out this 5 page worksheet all about the results we find and these engines aren't helping at all.

This is very frustrating because we need to find sources and there is nothing on my topic.  But, if I go to a different website there is tons.  I am lost on what to do.

This weekend was Family Weekend at school.  There are many activities for families to do all weekend.  Unfortunately, my family couldn't make it this weekend.  They were in charge of a Gala or Fundraiser for an orphanage in Mexico my family sponsors and visits every year.  I am not mad that they couldn't come because the fundraiser raises over $1,000,000 a year so it is huge.

My family is coming soon though to visit and I cannot wait.  I haven't seen them since move in day here at Wartburg so it has been over a month.  I never thought I would miss my family this much, but I really do.  I love my family and I cannot wait for them to visit me.

Helping the Scouts

A few weeks ago, the Warburg Baseball team went to help the Boy Scouts run a 5K and a 1K.  Right at the beginning, I directed traffic and helped the people driving in where to park.  We directed which way to run, handed drinks, bagels, and other tasty treats to the runners as they finished, and had a great time with everyone.

It was very fun and nice to get into the community and help the local boy scout troop.  We got a free t shirt too, and everyone loves to get free clothes!!!

Another Week Done

Tonight I am writing about how this past week went.  As you know, I had the little incident with the whole closet falling on my foot and having to go to the hospital.  Besides that it was a good week! School wasn't too hard and I got a lot done.

We had our first two fall baseball games today and I pitched and did well.  I am very happy with that! I know we are going to have a great season this year and hopefully we can make it to the NCAA College World Series.  We came close last year, so this year is our year.

So far school is good.  Classes are good, friends are good, and I am loving it here.  I do miss my family and friends, though.  Not seeing my family for over a month now is sad.  That is the one bad thing about going to college in a different state.

I can't wait to see what this upcoming week has in store for me.

Crazy Week

Well, I am glad this week is finally over.  Monday night, after I got back from the pool with some friends, I returned to my room to find my roommate in some trouble with his closet door.  The door came off the rail and was falling apart.  I told him I would help him.  As I lift the heavy door, it hits the top of the rail and drops right on my foot.

As I was weeping in pain I manage to call my friends to come to my room to help, as my roommate decided to leave and get food.  The next day it is swollen as can be and many different dark colors.  I finally decide, after many friends telling me to go, to the trainer and she was she has to say.  She looks at it, sends me to the Clinic on campus, who then sends me to the hospital.

After a few hours at the hospital and a few x-rays later I find that it isn't broken.  Just deep bone contusion.

Now, it is Friday, I am out of the boot, and I can walk better.  It is still bruised pretty bad and many different colors, but I am just happy that I can walk.  I only had to miss one baseball practice.

Moral of the story....don't drop closet doors on your feet.  It isn't a fun ride.

Just had my first full week of baseball practices with our coach.  It is everything I dreamed off.  Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday we have practices.  Monday and Wednesdays are our strength and conditioning days.  They can be pretty hard, but in the long run it is all worth it.  I was sick for a few days during baseball which made it a lot harder.  Being sick is never fun and having to run with a bad headache and sore throat isn't the easiest thing I have ever done.

I am trying to get involved in things here at Wartburg besides just the baseball team and school, but it is very hard to manage all the things I have each day.  I am not sure if I can add anything more at this point, but I defiantly want to be involved in more things as I continue my time here at Wartburg.

First Week

Just finished my first week full week of college.  I had a lot of expectations going into college, and I can fully say now that college is the best thing ever.  Yes, the homework is hard and there is a lot of reading, but it is awesome.  All my classes are fun and the Professor's are all excellent.

I am playing baseball in college and I am finally fulfilling my childhood dream of being in the NCAA and playing college baseball.  We started practice this week for our fall season and it is everything I dreamed of.  All the guys are nice and inviting and we have a huge team unity that I have never had before.

College is great and I cannot wait to see what else it has in store for me.

Today I am answering the question: What is the value of education?

I believe the value of education is more than a piece of paper that says diploma and where you attended college.  I believe it to be the start of a new chapter in life.  The start of something new and with that education you can do things with your life that you never could have done before.  So many people go to college and truly don't know what they are getting in those 4 years or 2 years at the college, but what they are getting is something amazing and something that not everyone has the opportunity to receive.

I am at college for a few reasons.  One.  Everyone is my family has gotten a college degree and it is something that I grew up planning on doing.  Two.  Getting a college degree is important in finding and keeping a job when you get older.  It is vert hard to get a well paying job without a degree.  I am here for other reasons too.  I feel that God brought me to Wartburg College to do big things here.  If it is with baseball, or school I am supposed to be here.  

Going to college is more about the fun, parties, friends, and peer expectations; it's about putting yourself in an environment to learn and further your education to make you a smarter person and addition to human society.