Ben, ‘11

This past stretch has been quite an adventure to get through, but I have finally made it to Thanksgiving Break. I am not going home like seemingly every other student. Instead, I am going to New York City to hang out with three of my friends from high school who all attend school along the East Coast.

Like I said, though, it’s been quite the stretch to get to this point. I worked very hard on a paper for Campaigns 2008 that dealt with a reform issue for several days last week. For my topic, I supported online voting. I’m happy with the paper and am glad to have it done. It wasn’t even due until early December!!! I also had a major Accounting test last Friday. I haven’t done as well in that class as I would have hoped, so I wanted to study extra long. As my professor recommended, I studied ten hours. That is a lot of information being pounded into my head regarding treasury bonds, amortization of interest, stocks, and so much more. I claimed the classroom in my residence hall as my own for hours on end in order to study. When I left to get a quick snack, I returned to find a mini bag of skittles and a Snickers bar from a mysterious someone on top of my books. It really made my day. I took the test and realized I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but this class’ tests are hard. I’m afraid I might have to abandon any hopes of an A in that class, which is basically the first time I have ever had to do that in my academic career. I’m slowly coming to the realization that perfection is nearly impossible. Still, I did fantastic on another paper I got back for another class, which made my day.

Gifts from a stranger amidst my study materials

Also, our football team has made the playoffs. Only sixteen teams from across the country make it. My friends and I thought we had lost this past weekend, thus eliminating us from any chance of the playoffs. We led 20-0 at one point, yet managed to let it slip away. The telephone sports information desk reported that we had lost 23-20 in overtime. However, we had actually gotten the field goal and won. So, we look ahead to a return to the playoffs. Our basketball team also opened especially strong, almost knocking off a well-ranked Syracuse team. Almost. I also discovered that Kevin Smith, one of our basketball players, made ESPN’s Top Ten Plays for his dunk at Spider Mayhem a few weeks ago. He was the #1 Play of the Day. Here it is:

An amazing dunk

The main thing of late, though, is 222. This is a conference through InterVarsity that took place in Hampton, Virginia. It brings InterVarsity chapters from all over Virginia together. There are several tracts and I chose Leadership, naturally. It was a great tract for me. It discussed burnout, our motives for leadership as well as our methods. Most importantly, it brought up the difference between things that are urgent and things that are important. Overall, it was a really great event. I was on the fence for a long time, but finally decided to go. Despite it being classes and lectures for a good share of the weekend, it was great to get away with friends. We stayed in an amazing hotel and basically let ourselves go. We were all tired from a long week of work and it showed. We had pillow fights, jumped on the beds, held a dance party, did a Sonic run (my first time ever), and so much more. I’ll let pictures do the rest of the talking for me.

The amazing hotel we stayed at

Some of the University of Richmond IV contingency at 222

Worship at 222

Beginning “Trainwreck” as a chapter

The University of Richmond group at 222

HAVING FUN:

Jumping on the beds like kids

Starting dogpiles

Pillow fights

Wrestling to show who is the manliest

Having “crazy walk” contests

Run to Sonic for a late-night snack

Popping in through the moon roof to say “Hi”

Instigating a dance party

Me trying to reel in my friends to come dance with me
Letting go and just dancing

Goofing around

Introducing Jenna to Chick-fil-A for the first time

The game Trainwreck was one of the highlights of the weekend. The way it works is one person is in the middle and everyone else forms a circle around them. The middle person says something that is true about themself. If it is true about anyone else, they must get up and switch chairs. The person left without a place to sit is stuck in the middle and starts the process over again. It gets quite intense. I have battle wounds from this game. Anyways, it was so much fun because we learned very interesting things about some of the people in the group. One of the highlights included our leader, who is a male, admitting that he cried during the move “Casper”. Another highlight was someone admitting that, when sick as a child, he became confused and told his parents that he was an aphrodisiac. That’s all I’ve got for now. Enjoy some turkey for me and have a great Thanksgiving.

Quote of the Week: “Consider the postage stamp, my son. It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.” -Josh Billings
Thought to Ponder: What’s another word for thesaurus?
Shout Outs: Those who attended 222
YouTube Video of the Week:

Daring stunts