Vikings + Volunteering (also FINALS) : Summit Semester Week 11

I can't believe we're on the final stretch! One more week and this Colorado adventure is over! Check out all the fun that happened this week!

What happened this week:

     Sunday was such a fun day! It was our Guy's Appreciation Day. We had church and free time in town afterwards like normal. A majority of the girls got back to the lodge right after church to start prepping (décor and food) for the evening's activities, while some of us girls stayed in town until all the guys left for the lodge (us going with them), so it seemed less obvious what was really happening. The girls all dressed in plaid with fun braided hairstyles and charcoal war paint. Our appreciation night was Viking themed. We had all the guys participate in a viking themed version of capture the flag, to which they all got face paint and got really into it. I was in charge of taking photos all evening, to which I was very happy to do. After capture the flag, the guys were escorted up to the dining hall to a “champion's feast”, including large turkey legs, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, corn on the cob, and grilled veggies. The guys were given multiple letters written from a selection of the girls, and a wooden mug for root beer, to which they could all take home. They also got coasters made from the aspen trees we're surrounded with on the property, that had their names burned on the top with a descriptive adjective and our class's logo burned on the bottom (i.e. Hudson the Bold, Alden the Merry). The guys thoroughly enjoyed the evening, with constant “thank you” and “wow this is so cool” comments coming from them all throughout dinner. After dinner, which was super delicious, we had a variety of manly games prepared for the guys to play in the girls' lodge. They wrestled and tried to steal each other's bacon and other crazy games like that. After a full night of fun, they ended the evening with our movie night of the Dark Knight, which was a movie every guy has wanted to see since we got here and was chosen because the winners of Farvest Hall chose the movie. All the guys were super pumped, and it was a great movie. We had a heated discussion afterwards, which made me super tired and I went to bed immediately after the movie ended, but not before telling everyone to shut their mouths or leave the building (they were being a bit too loud in a building that you can hear everything). Overall, it was a successful and fun day.

     Monday was a blast. We had our day off, something that hasn't happened in a while. We had an optional trip planned for downtown Durango, to which I happily went. I spent the drive there reading, and had a relaxing time once arriving in town. I hung out with Emma and Bella, making us the three amigos for the day. We went to a crowded bookstore (the one I visited with Micaela last time), where I got a book on the history of Middle Earth (win!); we ate delicious burgers and handcrafted cream soda for lunch, spent some time studying and calling family in a coffee shop, and even got some overly priced and homemade chocolate for home. My evening consisted of me sleeping on the drive home and before dinner, having leftovers for dinner, and going to sleep.

     Tuesday was an emotionally draining day. The morning was really good, got to sleep in a little but still got to breakfast on time. We had study time and family meeting following breakfast, to which I had a hard time. Family meeting consisted of discussion on finals (boo), Thanksgiving week (yay), and going home (boo x2). Dustin read letters from former students about what going home after Semester is like, and I was an emotional trainwreck. I was bawling my eyes out and made me miss my family and also not want to leave. After lunch we had work crews, to which I was out in the shop painting bunk beds. I got pretty dirty but I felt pretty successful. We had dinner, which was delicious, and I had some great discussion with Cheryl Kaye, my amazing mentor. We had small groups that evening, which were awesome. There was great discussion about the article we were supposed to read and also about what life will look like when we go home, what we expect to do and what we've learned while being here. We also shared some pretty crazy dating stories and other crazy stories and laughed super hard. Following small groups, there was supposed to be another game of Murder in the Dark, but the one that was putting it on, showed up too late. So we played some card games and I discussed travel plans with Bella and ate cookies and made silly videos. It was a great end to a long day.

     Wednesday was slightly stressful, but also very great. We had our last class on Hebrews in the morning, which was very interesting. I want to specify if I haven't already (I had to correct our maintenance manager at lunch about this), that our Hebrews class is teaching on the biblical book Hebrews, not about learning how to speak or understand the Hebrew language. Just a piece of information you should know, if you hadn't figured it out already. (Though learning the language would be awesome!) After lunch, I crunched down on studying. I got a good amount of work done, but I started stressing about finding information in the book, so I took a break and called my parents. They were getting very excited (as well as my baby brother) about coming to see me, as I am getting extremely excited to see them. I can't believe that I'll see them in four days after not seeing them for (about) seventy days! I finished studying and went to dinner. It was our last meal with Kent, one of the students, because he was going home for Thanksgiving, so we prayed over him. We studied English literature in class that evening, then had brownies and ice cream for Kent's departure. I worked on another assignment with a group after eating the brownies (a biblical timeline), then went to bed.

     Thursday morning I woke up an hour earlier than normal, in order to say goodbye to Kent. About half our crowd woke up to give our hugs and were all still in our pajamas. Some just woke up to say goodbye then went back to bed, which I don't blame them for! We gave hugs and told stories and promised to visit him at his family's restaurant in the near future (especially those of us who are also from Texas and it's easier to make the drive). We went to breakfast later and even after that, class in English literature and church history. Immediately following lunch, we had study time and exercise time, to which I studied and exercised (big surprise there). An hour before dinner, we had a collective effort to create “awkward family photos”, to which everyone dressed in mix matched patterns and turtlenecks and fanny packs and bad hair to create the worst photos as a Summit Semester family (hence the name, awkward family photos). It was such a fun time, full of awkwardness and laughter. The photo session took a good long while, so the majority of us were still dressed awkwardly at dinner, which made everyone who didn't participate laugh and uncomfortable. After class, I finished up all my assignments due at finals, which was a huge stress relief. I helped some of my peers with their assignments and went to bed with one less weight on my shoulder.

     It was actually pretty warm come Friday morning, which was so strange. Our dish pit had breakfast and it was our first time to completely finish all the dishes before class started, so we were very proud. We also had our last classes with Dr. B that day, which was bittersweet. We talked about poetry and the Protestant Reformation, which was very interesting and slightly redundant, but it was all good. After lunch was work crews, to which they asked for volunteers (that never happens – it's normally already assigned) for kitchen, to which I happily raised my hand. Who doesn't love working in the kitchen, in opposed to outside in the rain? Later I found out that while we volunteered to work in the kitchen, everyone else was released from doing any jobs whatsoever, in order to study and prepare for finals the next day. That was such a considerate gesture, and while I appreciated it, I didn't really need it because I had already studied enough. I happily made blueberry muffins for next week (gotta prep for Thanksgiving!), to which I found out that I needed to double the recipe and had only done so on half the ingredients...oops. We had a good time in the kitchen though. We had our absolute last class (before finals) with Dr. B after dinner, which was very bittersweet. Many of us sat in the chairs and original seating arrangements that we did for our very first class, which made it even more bittersweet. My stomach decided to be very unhappy during class, which made class a lot more uncomfortable. It helped that it was a Q&A, so no new material. I spent the rest of the evening in my room, on my bed, with a heating pad on both my stomach and my back, switching every few minutes. Molly, one of the female mentors that is most acquainted with medical stuff (she's an EMT), thought that I had the same symptoms and possibly the same illness that my roommate has been dealing with for a few days already, so she (Molly) announced us officially quarantined (just to be safe). Looks like we'll be spending a lot more time together for the next few days!

     Saturday was finals day! I woke up not feeling any better than the night before, which was quite a bummer. The first final we had that morning was on Church History, which was pretty hard. We had five essay prompts, to which we had to choose four to write about. Thankfully we only had to write a few sentences, not a full essay (same applied to every exam). All the questions had to do with everything that I didn't fully study on, which was pretty annoying, but I still think I did alright on that one. I finished a bit earlier than others, so I escaped to my room to rest. The second final was on English Literature, to which I had to use examples from the people and texts we studied during the semester to answer the four questions. I used Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to answer them all (he said it was okay), and I thought I did pretty well on that one. Madison and I finished quite a bit before our official lunch break, so we went for a walk to get some air. We were quarantined again for lunch, which was depressing. Our last final (the final final, if you will) was on Christianity and Politics, which I knew a lot more about than I thought. I thought I did really well on that one too. I finished that last final, comfortably, in about thirty minutes. I went to nap after. The nap didn't last long though, because a group went on a celebratory Sonic run into town and I was pulled into going. It was a lot of fun. We had dinner back at the lodge, to which I was still quarantined... I went back to my room after dinner to shower and do laundry and clean the bathroom (that hasn't been done but one other time in the past three months...sorry mom). We had our movie night on Saturday instead of Sunday night, and we watched Remember the Titans. I sat on the upstairs couch, watching over the balcony to the projector on the wall. The movie was SO good! If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. It's a great football movie (it's so strange that I dislike football, but love football movies!). I went to bed in such a great mood, knowing that I have no more tests to stress over and no more assigned books to read and no more bathrooms to clean, but I'm free and confident in my work and in knowledge that I would see my family the next evening! Could my life get any better?!

What I learned this week:

     I learned how important it is to take in the little things in the midst of chaotic big things. Such as taking time out of preparing for finals, to dress up silly to take awkward family photos. Or to work on assignments with your friends and spend more quality time together, instead of secluding yourself to get it done and risk hurting friendships. Also, I learned that it's not worth stressing about things that you can't control. Finals are inevitable at the end of any school semester, and as long as you study and try your hardest, it's not worth stressing about what the outcome will be.

What's going on next week:

     My family is arriving Sunday evening! To say that I'm excited is an extreme understatement. We have so much to catch up on and three months worth of hugs to make up for. I've been counting down the days, and eventually the hours until I can see their faces again. What a great time it will be!

     Thanksgiving and graduation are this upcoming week! Lots of food to make and activities to do in order to get ready for those two important events. A lot of my classmates' families will be coming later this week to participate in Thanksgiving and graduation with us, which will be so much fun.

     I'm going home come Saturday! This week will be a week of bittersweet tears and hugs, as I am so sad to leave the family I have created while here in the beautiful Colorado, but I am also ready to return home and see my family and church family and return to the normal daily living (that includes getting back to work and driving myself places!). It will be weird transition of going from the new normal to returning to the old normal. Also, I'll be back in civilization where I'll have cell phone service all the time and not just once a week, and I'll see different people daily, instead of the same forty all day every day. It will be quite a change. We'll see how that goes!

Thanks for following along with me as I do life!

Blessings,

Becca

It was fun dressing up for Guy's Appreciation!

We had fun in the crammed bookstore in Durango.

Waking up early to see Kent off... so sad to see him go!

Awkward family photos!

My quarantined buddy/roommate! We survived illness and finals together.

Celebratory Sonic outing after finals!