Monthly Archives: March 2015

I am by no means an artistic guy. I can color between the lines like a champ and select the best PowerPoint template with ease, but anything more is a hassle. I appreciate colors and modern designs, but when it comes to producing it myself, I leave that for the visual arts majors. Regardless, I like to try new things. For that reason, and the desire for better looking walls in my apartment, I helped organize the Global Village Craft Night.

We decided on string art as the craft for the night, and people loved it. We cut out 12 inch long pieces of wood, painted them black, and printed out templates for residents to follow. To do string art, you just need to pick a design, nail in nails to outline the image, and then draw string between the nails to illustrate the image. The final result is a modern and colorful work of art to compliment any living room or coffee table. Hammering in the nails took some time, but we all sat around a table together and laughed about the designs we were attempting.

I made a soccer ball, which only used black and white string, while others used an array of colors to make small birds, Chinese characters, mountains, and even New Zealand. The warm spring evening was perfect for the event, especially since we were relaxing outside in the grass. Some residents even crafted friendship bracelets with the extra string. By the end of the night we all left with a new creation of our own. I still have plenty of wood pieces and colored string left over as well. I know what I’ll be decorating with this summer.

So I walked into my first class coming back from spring break, and my professor greeted us with, “Welcome back! Guess what? After this one, we only have four weeks left!”

…What?!

I couldn’t believe my ears. Despite how long each school day feels, the semesters feel shorter every time around… It’s funny to me how students don’t seem to realize just how much professors also can’t wait for summer break. I could hear the echo of relief in her voice!

So what to do with these last four weeks? The final month of the semester is always the most chaotic. Students are juggling projects, presentations, final exams, part-time jobs, relationships, and so on and so forth…and, the soccer season for us won’t end until early April. Plus, I’ve got this wedding to plan. Did I mention that I have final exams, part-time jobs, relationships, and soccer to juggle too? I did? Oops.

The Bible says that the Lord will walk alongside us in our struggle. College students all over the world had better hold onto that hope if they intend to finish strong. We at Cal Baptist are especially fortunate to be reminded of this truth every day. Sometimes I wonder why the Office of Spiritual Life crams the majority of our chapels into the second half of the semester, but right now I’m truly wondering if the intention was to provide a little wisdom and sanity during our most trying time.

As I enter into these last four weeks, it is critical that I remember that I am fortunate enough to be in a place where I am blessed with the company of professors and mentors who truly love and look out for me and my wellbeing.

Here we go. Time to juggle.

Well, here we are, post-Spring Break and ready for the home stretch!

Setting aside the fact that this is my last post-break home stretch (insert internal squeals), I have been amazed at what this semester alone has taught me about undergrad life and what it has done to prepare me for life beyond.

For one, I recently realized that nothing quite prepares an individual for pursuing Kingdom advancement like years spent building authentic community in a learning environment. CBU has espoused innumerable relationships for me that have allowed me to grow in honesty, active pursuit of purpose, and greater love for the Creator and for people. I am just beginning to realize exactly how much all this has meant to me.

CBU provided me and all other students with an environment in which it was okay to be candid and let ourselves grow into more of who we were made to be. We came together as strangers, asked the hard questions, wrestled through all that was new, and came out with friendships that grew us exponentially. We empowered each other to continue this process and take what we’ve learned elsewhere. If that’s not meaningful community, then I don’t know what is.

As my undergraduate experience is drawing rapidly to a close, I have been able to place one foot out the door into post-grad life and get a feel for what will change. I am convinced that there are more wonderful people to meet, more jobs to tackle, and more ideas to engage. I am also encouraged to realize that my time in college has prepared me to face all of this head-on. The classes I’ve taken with people who soak up and apply knowledge everywhere they go has been the biggest encouragement to me that God is still active in his people, and he still has big plans for the world at large. I look forward to seeing how this continues to play out in the final home stretch.

Throughout the year, I have had moments where I struggled. There were days when I would wake up unmotivated, but something in me still made me get up and make the most of my day. It wasn’t until recently that I realized what kept me going all this time.

Being at CBU, I have made plenty of great friends, however there is this one group of girls I grew exceptionally close to. Just before spring break, one of these girls left for two weeks for a family vacation. I and the other girls whom I had grown close to knew that we would miss her. What we didn’t realize was that every single day, the rest of us were at our best because of her.

Her being gone opened our eyes to how much each girl in our group means to the rest of us. When one is gone, things begin to fall out of line. When she returned home, everything was back to normal, and we were all at a peak performance. Her absence meant that the remainder of us had to rely and encourage on each other to press through.

We came to the conclusion that each girl is a vital piece to how the group acts as individuals. Just like a puzzle, we fit together perfectly, and when missing a piece we just aren’t complete. I continued to push through every day because I knew that this group of girls would be there when I woke. They have all had such a positive influence on me, and I don’t know where I would be without them.

This past Friday marked an extravagant, colorful event for the international students of CBU. In India, “Holi” is a beloved, highly anticipated event that the Indian people celebrate to mark the close of winter, and the new beginnings, specifically “new harvests,” that roll in with springtime.

CBU’s International Center promotes enormous efforts to make our international students feel welcomed into the wonderful, family-oriented community we’ve developed here. One of the ways in which this welcoming is promoted is through events that honor and communicate specifically with our international students.

As I said before, Friday evening marked a very colorful tradition for the international students of CBU. We call it our Color Festival, and it is meant to honor and educate our students about Holi by bringing its main elements onto our own campus.

During Holi, Indian locals throw colored powder in the air as a symbol of the beauty of springtime. They’ll dance around, laugh, and enjoy the event as the colors cover their bodies, leaving like a living art piece.

For this event, CBU provided all the colors, and the students provided the fun! Lancers, international as well as local, flooded the Front Lawn for an evening of Indian music, bursts of colored powder, and fellowship with classmates. Each attendant left the event covered in a literal rainbow of memories!

There have been many events happening here at CBU lately. However, my favorite event that I have attended this year was Holi: Festival of Colors. This festival is originally celebrated in India to honor the victory of “good” over “evil” (Holi Festival), and the arrival of spring and the end of winter. Because CBU has a diverse student population, we love to celebrate many diverse cultures. CBU International Center hosted a Festival of Color. This was an open invite for all CBU students so we could be a part of this grand celebration.

The night was filled with performances of traditional Indian dances and songs. We all danced and sang along. But what is a color fest without color? This was my favorite part of the night. We were all given bags of colored powder in which we were to throw it in the air as well as on those around us.

After the all of the powder was gone, I look to see that we all are covered from head to toe in multicolored powder. We were all having trouble recognizing one another since we all looked the same. In witnessing this, I saw it as a strong metaphor of God’s grace and love. Though we are all different on the outside, once God covers us in his grace and love, like the colored powder, God sees us all as equal and loves us all the same. Holi was definitely an eye-opening and fun experience for me. I can’t wait till next year.

Holi Festival http://www.holifestival.org/

Watch out CBU.

You have a visitor coming to campus. Not only is this visitor one of the most awesome people I know, but he might be a future Lancer. This person is none other than Logan Cheryl MacMillan, also known as my little brother. (His middle name is not really Cheryl. I just had to poke fun, what else am I for?)

Thinking over this visit, I developed a checklist for things I’m hoping to do while Lo is here. Here is what I have come up with thus far.

1. We have to hit up every single dining option. I know there is a lot of hype about the food at CBU, and allow me to confirm that none of this is undeserved. We not only have the best Caf I’ve ever eaten at, but we also have Brisco’s to serve all grab-and-go needs, Chick-fil-A to fill all soul food cravings, and El Monte for whenever you just need to build your own burrito.
2. We have to swing by most of the new facilities. First on the list has to be a visit to the Community Life office to show off the discounted movie, day trip, or theatre tickets. No other office understands the wanderlust needs (and budget-friendly needs) of CBU students quite as well. Then we of course have to let our sibling rivalry run loose at the Rec Center to have a go on the rock wall.
3. I will have to show him slices of everyday student life. Will this involve sitting in on a film class even though he’s ditching high school to be here? Yes, sorry Logan. This will also include a tour of the various RA lodges during duty hours. There is no better way to experience loud, candid fun than by paying a visit to the box, no matter which area you live in.

I know of no better way to highlight the goodness of CBU in such a short period of time than doing all of the above. It’s going to be an awesome few days.

All engineering students entering into their senior year must choose two Technical Electives (TE) to complete during their final fall or spring semester. One course must be related to their specific majors while the other can be any upper division engineering related course After 3 years of predetermined course scheduling with little variations, the option of having options is a creative relief. As a person who enjoys being in control of the situation, I will enjoy being in control of this one. The question then is to decide on a course. The caveat of “engineering related” does seem to limit my choices to yet another physics related lab science, but with some creativity and conveniently arranged class times, I arranged my most interesting and non-electrical engineering semester ever.

For the first TE, I will take Mobile Applications Development, which is a senior level Software Engineering course, but on a completely new topic. Ever since I bought my first smartphone, I have been fascinated by apps and the functionality they offer. I’ve had several ideas for apps through the years, but with no real understanding of how to create one, those ideas amounted to nothing. I’m hoping to make my smart toaster app interface a reality by 2016, which will not only revolutionize the toaster industry, but will also allow me to slide my finger across a screen instead of having to physically place bread in said toaster. This is the future I want to live in, and this class will make it a reality.

Of course, an app is only as enjoyable as it is visually pleasing, which brings me to my second course: User Interface Design. Although it sounds technical, the class is actually from the graphic design department and focuses primarily on aesthetics rather than coding. Any excuse to get away from the engineering building is a huge a plus, but the course will also directly compliment the other. I want to learn Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, too, so this is a must. I can’t wait to get started.

If there is one fun meal that I know how to make with a group of friends, it is homemade pizza. I only just learned this new skill last semester, but since then I have mastered the art form. Just buy dough for a dollar at Trader Joes, some tomato sauce, a little cheese, and few slices of pepperoni and you have yourself a perfect little pie. I like sharing fun activities like this with my friends, so it is no wonder I made an event out of it.

Last Wednesday was Global Village’s Make Your Own Pizza and Pizookie event, and it was a blast. We place tables on the lawn between our apartments and laid out a line of pizza ingredients starting with the dough and ending at the toppings. With rolling pins and flour, the night started with rolling out your own dough, which quickly become a fun mess of flour and pizza dough tossing. Tomato sauce followed along with cheese, and then more toppings than our pies could handle: pepperoni, green and red bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, onions, and spices. We brought out all of our cookie sheets and still had a number of people waiting to bake their personal pizza. Between two of our apartments, we had ovens baking several pizzas at a time, while residents hung out with beverages and snacks outside. I rushed between my second-floor apartment and the lawn to check on the ovens and show residents proper rolling techniques all night, but I enjoyed helping out as well. At the end of the night, we cleaned our big pizza pan and rolled out one final pizza, only this time with cookie dough – the Pizookie. No pizza cookie has ever tasted that amazing, and no event has ever attracted so many Global Village residents. We baked over 30 pizzas that night. Too much fun.

The life of a student surely does move along at a quick pace. It is easy to lose track of the weeks as the days all blend together, but there is a great deal of value in celebrating even the smaller moments of college life. Like the one I encountered earlier this week.

I sat in one of my Christian Studies classes that I am taking purely for fun – and as a senior, I love the fact that I get to do that. The lecture was particularly lively, which is always great, but the thing that really stood out was the fact that nearly every student in the class added input at one point or another. It was clear that everyone there was engaging the material and looking for ways to truly understand and apply it. By the time class ended, all too soon, the professor took a few moments to say what every class dreams of hearing:

“I’ll tell you, this is my favorite class in years. If I could teach courses with students like you who ask questions and are actively involved, I would be thrilled.”

And friends, this is one of the many reasons why I love college.

While we are in the midst of midterms, I have to say that this is one of my favorite midterms weeks I’ve ever had. Each exam is spread out evenly, I had time to enjoy a visit with my man’s family, the chapel message was on point this week, and classes never cease to amaze. Learning is supposed to be active. A key part of this is the ability to approach your professors and really learn from them. At CBU, I can say that this has happened in awesome ways throughout all my years here.