Romans 13.1

Something new that I have just decided this week to start is an everyday devotional. Weird, I know. There is no real reason why I would start on March 22 (since that date doesn't hold any type of significance), but I thought it would be a good time to start none the less. On Monday my devotional focused on Romans 13.1, which talked about respecting those in authority over us. This verse seemed to hit me very deep for a few reasons. With everything that is going on with all my classes it seems sometimes almost impossible to get my work done and still have somewhat of a life. Most of the time I blame my lack of sleep, or bad grades on the professors saying that I was not prepared for the exam, or I didn't understand it. No matter what it was I seemed to have a negative attitude about all my classes and work. On Monday when I read this verse talk about conviction. I knew right away that I can not blame my misfortunes on someone else, and that even though I may not agree or like what my professors say or asign in class, I still have to do it and respect them because they have been put in authority over me. While this may not be the easiest thing to do, scratch that it is super hard to do, I am going to remind myself of what Romans 13.1. This verse also meant a lot to me for the reason that someday I am going to be the one in authority over a group of students. While I know that on any given day my students are going to hate my guts for no reason, I am going to remember this verse and try my hardest to respect those that have been put in authority over me. And who knows, maybe my actions will rub off on those around me.

Growing Up to Fast!

Everyday I am one day closure to graduation, and that means one day closure to the real world. This past weekend I went home and talked with my parents about "things". In this talk we began to discus my future and what could happen in the next few years. While this talk proved to be very good and beneficial, I still could not shake my thoughts about the future. Like a lot of other people my age I have a plan of how I would like the next 5 years of my life to unfold; whether or not things will actually turn out that way I'm not certain, but I still have that plan. It is weird to me thinking about the future because I still only feel like a kid. It seems like only yesterday my mom was driving me and my friends to soccer practice, staying up all night with my friends and playing sleeping bag tag, tping the neighbors and doing other various kid things. Now, its hard to think about having a career, getting married and having kids; I don't feel old enough or ready.

I guess the main point that I am trying to make is that I know that I am thinking way to far in the future. But I guess that who I am. I always like to be well planned and have a general idea of how I want things to turn out. Whether or not I stick to that plan or things turn out the way I wanted to is hard to say and also depends on the situation. Whatever happens in the future I will be ready, even if it doesn't turn out just how I planned ;)

Going Outside the Box

Yesterday in church the focus of the pastor's message was on going outside or looking over the box. He placed up on the main screen a picture of nine dots and he asked if it was possible to use four lines to connect all the dots. While a few members in the congregation were able to find the solution to the question right away, I was not able to complete the puzzle. He then went on to say that we get so caught up with the dots and thinking how everything has to stay within the box. He said that sometimes we put God inside a box and that we don't truly have faith in his in a stressful or trying situation. It turned out that he was right, not only about putting God in a box but also about the puzzle. The only way to solve the puzzle was to have the lines be larger then the box region of the dots. Lately it seems that I have been so caught up in everything that has been going on, whether its school, completing projects, work or family issues I have definitely been putting God inside a box these past few weeks. When you in school it seems like nothing else matters. Life outside school doesn't seem to exist for me. It is so easy to get run down and discouraged with everything that is either due or getting ready to be tested.
So my plan for these last few weeks of school it to focus on the here and now. To not let my mind dwell about tomorrow and to not put God in a box (personally I don't think I can find a box big enough). For these last few weeks of school I am going to spend my time focusing and finishing my studies and enjoying these last few weeks with my senior friends. Should be interesting to see how things play out!

Hail to the Chief

Today in forum was the Bluffton University Student Senate President debate between the two candidates Joel Wildermuth and Caleb Elsea. As a member of student senate this debate is very important, because after this debate the polls open and students can then cast their vote for whom they want to represent them in the 2010-2011 school year. Today I had the privileged being the time keeper for the debate; which basically meant that I was in charge of making sure that the speakers didn't not go over their allotted time to speak.

Both candidates did very well, with both the prepared questions and the questions asked by the student body. While each candidate had something different to bring to the table there were several issues that the candidates agreed upon. One such issue is the improvement to recycling on campus, and taking a more active role in the "Go Green" movement. Even though the candidates agreed on this issues they also had different ideas of how if they were elected what they would want senate to look like and what they would want senate to do.

While the candidates had some similarities on their issues, the style of the two candidate seemed to be very different. Joel seemed very methodical and planned with all of his answers. He also put a great bit of detail into his answers. Caleb knew the information behind his answers, and his answers were short, sweet and to the point. It will be very interesting to see how the student body reacts to the two candidates and who they want to represent them in the upcoming school year.

Burning the Midnight Oil!

One thing that they don't tell you on your college visit is that it is a must to become accustomed to very very very late nights with little or no sleep in order to get everything done. While part of staying up late might be because of procrastination, however that is besides the point. I would say that the average college student is lucky to 5 hours a sleep a night. For me I am lucky to get 3 to 4 hours a night. This semester alone I have pulled two all nighters; without having more than a 10 minute nap here and there the next day. And tonight I am going for good old number 3!

This is the normal process for my all nighters.
1.) make myself coffee with lots of creamer or fake sugars
2.) get my facebook creeping out of the way so I can focus on school
3.) get into comfy clothes (sweatpants, t-shirt, hoody, glasses and such. It doesn't matter if I match because no one will see me)
4.) put on Harry Potter movie (watched a Harry Potter movie the first time I pulled an all nighter and have done it ever since!)
5.) study, study, study, oh yeah and more studying!
6.) depending on how much I have done and how much I have to do, take a break around 4 a.m. and go the restroom, brush my teeth, or shower or just sit and not think about school
7.) get back to work and finish whatever I have left to do

While there is massive flexibility to this schedule, this is approximately how my nights tend to go.

Well wish me luck and I hope that your nights are spent conversing with the Sand Man as apposed to staying up and cramming for midterm exams!

Home Sweet Home!

So 5 hours later, driving through 3 states, changing a time zone and over 300 miles later I am back home in good old Bluffton. This past weekend even though was on the best weekend because of upcoming midterm exams, but this weekend was much needed. Time away from campus and away from the stresses of school, but now its back to work I go! Tonight is going to be a late one! Getting ready for this upcoming week of studying, tests, and papers that are due before spring break.

While this next week may be crazy and stressful I am still looking forward to some free time and random things that might happen. Midnight Waffle House runs, Wal Mart tag, and running around campus like a crazy; I can't wait to see what this week will bring!

Hello From Illinois!

Hey Everyone!
This is my first time ever doing a blog from another state! This weekend I am spending time with the family of my good friend Jon. The drive was very long for me(considering that it only takes me ten minutes to drive home)! Even thought the drive was long it was still very enjoyable to be away from campus.

List of events for the day include:
1.) Driving around Jon's home town
2.) Eating at Jon's favorite burger place (something that we don't have in Ohio)
3.) Hanging out with Jon's family
4.) Going to see his older sister perform in a play "A Few Good Men"
5.) Scary movie night (maybe?)

So the next time you hear from me I will be back in good old Bluffton. Have a GREAT day!

ROAD TRIP!

With everything that has been going on there has been a date on my calender that I have been counting down to, and its finally here! This weekend it will be my first time visiting the "windy" state; AKA Illinois. I will be going home with my good friend Jon and we will see what misadventures we can get ourselves into. Going on this road trip is a good thing and also a bad thing. Its a good thing because I enjoy anything that takes me off campus for awhile, but its a bad thing because it is the weekend right before midterms. However, even though I will be having a weekend of fun in another state I will still be bringing school work with me to complete on the long car ride.

Now that it is midterm time everything seems to be winding down. In just one week we will have spring break, which marks the half way point of the semester. It just hit me the other day by this time next year I will have a little over one year left here at Bluffton; which is both exciting and scary. Life never really seems to take a break when you are in college. With tests, papers, work and somehow having a life, everything seems to be moving very very fast. Still with how fast things are moving I am still excited for the future. I am excited for new opportunities, new friendships, and new experiences. So while many of Bluffton students for spring break will be going someplace much warmer and with far less snow, I am looking forward to having a break and hopefully slowing things down a bit and enjoying my time here at Bluffton!

Time is ticking away!

One thing that has taken some time to adjust from high school to college is the amount of schooling you get in a single semester. I high school even though you would have Christmas break that would be the half way point, in college the light at the end of the tunnel is SPRING BREAK! While it seems that every single student here on campus is packing their bathing suits and heading to a beach for the week, I will be staying here on campus and working. I am in no way complaining, it would just be nice to have a break longer than two days.

Something that has also taken time to adjust to is how much faster time seems to go. In high school a school year seemed like a lifetime; whereas in college a school year seems to be measured in the blink of an eye. It simply blows my mind that I am almost done with my second year of school. It is also strange to me that I am that much closure to being in "adult world". While I am excited to be growing up I am also sad to seem some very good friends go. This year will be very hard, I have so many senior friends that will be moving on! This summer will be good to plan so last visits before they start their grown up jobs, and some weddings to say good bye to some amazing people. I am sure that I will see them again, but when is the real question.

While all these thoughts are running through my head, and time continues to tick; I also think about how much I have changed in the 2 years I have been here at Bluffton University. I am a little taller, gained weight, older and altogether more awesome. I am not afraid to try new things or meet new people. I also know what it means to be focused and to put everything that I have into my work. I can't wait to see how I will change in the next two years!

What I like to do!

Every year me and a group of my friends spend the weekend in the Mansfield area hiking, siting seeing, and just having fun hanging out. This trip is something that I look forward to every year! We stay with my friends grand parents and get three AWESOME home made meals a day, lots and lots of stories and just spend quality time (which you can never have enough of).

Wen we are not stuffing our faces with food we always go hiking, and see different things in the area. Since we are from Northwest Ohio and everything is very flat, its really nice to see the beautiful hills. I mean who wouldn't love to visit a place like this!

Wow Thanks Phil!

Happy Groundhog Day!!!! If you ask me this holiday is really under celebrated and should be one of those few holidays that schools should take off and observe the mystery of a nations fascination with a furry brown animal crawling out of a hole and waiting patiently to see whether or not he casts a shadow. Absolutely riveting! As most of you already know we are in for six more weeks of winter (according to the groundhogs). No lie I was excited to go outside today since the past few days have been so nice with warmer weather and LESS SNOW! But no, good old Punxsutawney Phil just had to see his shadow, and as a sign of good faith in his prediction it had to snow. Awesome ha.

Other than the lovely snowy weather that seems to be never ending, things are going very well. Staying busy with classes, work, and meetings but not getting overwhelmed so everything is good. Something that I am very much looking forward to is going on a road trip with some friends in a few weeks. This will be my first time traveling to the windy city to spend the weekend with my friend and his family. Even though it will be around a 5 hour drive I am still looking forward for the opportunity to leave campus and visit someplace that I have been before.

So while these weeks seem to be lasting forever, I am pushing forward. But until the trip I had better keep up with all my school work and what not because that is what college is all about ;). Watch your step and have a great day!

The Magic 8 Ball

In the church service I attended today the pastor made a very interesting point that has stuck with my all day. He made the comparison between a magic 8 ball and the Bible. The comparison was that when we shake a magic 8 ball no matter what the answer we get we will continue to shake the ball until we get the answer we want. Sometimes we do the same with the Bible; when a verse has strong convictions or does not tell us what we want to hear so we simply find a different verse that will tell us what we want to hear. Talk about deep! With everything that is going on in my life school, work, and relationships with my friends it seems like I am constantly trying to find something always agree with us, even though its not right. It reminds me of my favorite line to a song "sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth". I think this verse says it all because no matter how much we try and sugar coat things the truth will seems to find us out in the end. Putting off homework, not completing an assignment or blaming everyone else around you when there is no one else to blame but yourself. I guess this is just another one of those lessons you have to learn with grown up.

However, no matter how much we try to sugar coat the truth I know that there is one book that will keep me in line. Something else I am also learning with age is that it takes putting time in to get time out. Even if its taking ten minutes out of my day, that ten minutes adds up and that time spent will help to guide me in this thing called life.

Oh Mr. Sandman

When you think of college you think of staying up late and sleeping all day no matter if you have classes or other things to get done the next day; and this is said to be the typical life of the college student. Well what about in the situation where the college student wants to go to sleep and tries but to their best attempts to get rest just can't seem to cut it? That’s me, Clete Stechschulte, crazy hour sleeper person.

Since being here at Bluffton I have come to appreciate "nap time". Whether it is 20 minutes between class or having the afternoon to catch up on some much needed sleep. I have truly become accustomed to having my daily nap. I have also been well adapted to sleeping just about anywhere, which is sometimes a blessing but sometimes I fall asleep on someone’s couch which is very awkward depending on the couch. ;)

Something that I have tried to change this semester is to have all of my work completed by 12 a.m. so that way I can manage a solid 7 hours of sleep. For some reason this seems to be impossible. Whether it is being on duty until 2 a.m. or a strange noise in the hall that keeps me up, I have been able to accommodate it all and still get some shut eye. However, there is always that one acceptation. Recently I have tried to get ample amounts of rest for the upcoming day, but no matter how hard I try and how much I want to sleep I simply am not able to slip off into dream land before the clock strikes 3 a.m.

While my sleep hours seem to be ever changing I take this as another stage of being in adult world. Having to be at a job 8 to 5 everyday no matter what my sleep was at night. It seems that college does more than just prepare you for your future job; it also prepares you for life. Its finding the meanings to those lessons whether they are obvious or not. So whatever the reason for my "crazy sleep hours" I am looking for the positive. And also a nice place for a nap. :)

Life is good!

Hey everyone out there! I am happy to report that everything is going simply AWESOME! I am enjoying all of my classes, and I have been able to manage my time to complete all of my work and also stay on top of all of my meetings and other activities I am involved it. While this feeling is very welcomed, it is also very strange for me. I have also been the type of person who works best under pressure when there are 6 million things to get done. But so far this semester I have been not only able to get my assignments completed on time, but I have also been able to put time and effort into them and I really like that.

Since things seem to be going so well right now I have come to realize that attitude plays a large role in my general feelings about things. If I go into a class with a negative attitude then I am less likely to spend time doing the work assigned and less likely to put the full amount of effort into the class. I don't mean in any way to say that classes are my absolute favorite and I look forward to them everyday, but I am saying that I am trying to prepare myself for life after Bluffton. This week in forum there was a guest speaker named Tom Sine who talked about life after Bluffton. During his talk he asked if we would turn to our neighbor and would talk about where we see our lives going after Bluffton. Naturally I was sitting next to a senior who is preparing to graduate and move on with their life. While they seemed not know exactly where they were heading, they were still moving onward. When it came time for me to talk about where I see myself I couldn't. Up until this semester I have viewed school as something that I have to do as apposed to something I choose to do. Which I believe has effected my college experience until this point. After Christmas break I was really unsure if I was in the right major, if I liked the activities I was involved in and whether or not I was at the right school. Now that I have had time to lay everything out and think about the future I have been able to kind of in a way trim off the things that bring me down, like my negative attitude. While I am still very much a perfectionist I have still be able to focus my attention on the more important things such as attending church, schoolwork, my true friends and also taking time out for me.

While this philosophy is still very much a work in progress I am going to continue to be positive and do my best at whatever I do. Not going to lie its going to be difficult, but I think I am getting to that stage in my life where I am going to put aside the poor me attitude and focus on positives in my life. That way when I do reach grown up world my attitude will be able to handle whatever life throws my way!

Right back at it!

Now that break has come and gone it seems like a distant memory. Classes are in full swing with homework, projects, and lovely labs. And with all these things naturally comes the large amounts of homework and late nights trying to get everything done. Filling in my agenda with due dates and the times of meetings it hit me that this is going to be a very busy semester. Even though this semester is going to be busy I am going to try and also focus and taking time for me and having at least sometime to relax! While I may have to cancel a few times on my relax time its nice to think I am at least thinking about relax time this semester.

Along with classes and meetings I have also began to think about the future. Right now I am considering adding a minor. Crazy? I know, I mean I don't have the most free time in the world but I realize now that I need to break up the amount of science in my life. So batting around that idea, I have also been thinking about what lies for the summer. This week I have an interview at the summer camp that I worked at this summer. I loved my time there and not only made some really good friends but I also learned a lot about myself and who I am and where I am going. The only downside is that the job is demanding and does not allow for a lot of time off to do the normal summer things like just laying around or going on random trips with friends. However, that is also a good thing. Being away from home for a long period of time I feel I gain more independence and getting one step closer to adult world.

While I am contemplating all these things at the beginning of this semester I am hopeful and optimistic. I am excited for new opportunities, new relationships, and also getting on step closer to being a grown up. CRAZY! Haha

Signing off!

Back at it!!!

Hey all!

This is my first post in awhile. The reason for my blogging absence is because I have found that the older I get the more there is on your plate. This past semester I realized that I was involved in to many activities and not able to focus. Now that It is a new year and a new semester I am refreshed, rejuvenated and ready for the new year!

The start of a new year means the start of new resolutions, new classes and new possibilities. I am extremely excited for the possibilities that this new year holds. The classes I am taking this semester are more focused on my major which is very exciting! I am looking forward to all the research projects, papers, labs and tests. While it may seem like a lot, to me it seems easy compared to my last semester. It seems though that when you are in college you loose all track of time. At the beginning of my freshman year 50 minutes seemed like an eternity, now it seems that the days, weeks, months, and years just fly by. At the end of this school year I will be one step closure to graduation and the real world and having a grown up job. Which to me is both exciting and scary at the same time.

Although this school year is going way to fast I am going to enjoy every minute that I can. All the late night Waffle House runs, Taco Bell runs, playing shopping cart tag in Wal Mart, late night movie nights, oh yeah and getting an education :)
So blessings to you in this new year of opportunities and new year of adventures!

Out!