The Underdog

Here's to the rebel
Here's to the underdog
Here's to the one person seeing color in the black and white world
Here's to the victim
Here's to the out outnumbered
The crushed, the defeated
The abused, the abandoned, the silenced
The crippled, the starved, the wounded

Here's to the protester
Here's to the one who didn't fit in
Here's to the one who was brave enough to speak
To think

Here's to the one who questioned
Here's to the one who was not appeased
Here's to the one who stood up
Here's to the one who was not afraid
Here's to the neglected
Here's to the imprisoned
The ignored, the punished, the tortured

Here's to the one (because sometimes one all there is)

Sometimes I think we forget that Jesus was not a celebrity. He did not wear a tie or have a traveling makeup and wardrobe team. He was not famous. He was not the voice of the majority. The things he said were not socially, religiously, or politically correct. He was uneducated and poor. People probably wondered why he didn't settle down, get a job and fit in. Jesus was a rebel. He has masses of enemies despising his every word, waiting for the chance to capture, arrest, torture ,and execute him. The government did not like what he had to say. The church did not like what he had to say.

Jesus was radical. Jesus was an underdog. Thousands saw him as an enemy, a threat.

And yet this man, hated and attacked, was the very Son of God On High. The very Prince of Peace. The only Savior of every man, woman and child. This man was Love incarnate and offered the most valuable and earth-shattering words ever said.

So here's to the rebel. Here's to the one who ought to be silenced, arrested, and killed. Here's to the one who sees truth walking down the road and follows, leaving behind everything he has.
Here's to the one who sticks out because there is something wrong and the world needs to change.

So here's to the outnumbered
Here's to the "crazy" one
Here's to the one without an army
Here's to the underdog.

My First Semester of College: Lessons Learned

Wow. I survived my first semester of college!

I just recently finished up a journal that I had been using for a few years. Before I put it on the shelf, I flipped through it to see what has happened in these seasons of life. One thing that I noticed was that between now and January 2011, my life has changed drastically! No longer am I in the cycle of 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th grade. No longer am I waking up at 5:30am. No longer am I seeing the same people every morning. No longer am I driving the same roads, stopping at the same stop signs and traffic lights. No longer am I sitting around the dinner table with people of different generations. Heck, no longer do I get to see babies…or dogs! (Often when I see large squirrels I reminisce about seeing dogs...sigh...)

But with the giving up of all these familiar things comes the taking up of new things. New people, a new bed, new food, a new routine, new habits, new flavors of gum you find stuck under your desk, new friends, and new experiences. And what with all these new things, decisions are made and lessons learned. So for the sake of lists (which are amazing) I put all (or most) of what I learned into a beautiful, beautiful list. You’re welcome.

1. (And this is the most important) Your first semester of college is not going to be magical. Wait a minute; don’t tell me “Carissa, I wasn’t expecting it to be magical. Actually, that word didn’t even come to mind…” Shhh, I know. But deep down a lot of us do have high expectations for college. Especially in high school, it seems like we’re bred to think of college as the trophy at the end of a race. In some sense it is because high school is long and unnecessarily hard and college is in fact much better than high school. But all the striving and longing about college can lead to fantasying. You picture your college-self completely put together, hip, and with-it. However, there are some difficult things about picking up your life and moving it somewhere else. Making friends can be awkward and sometimes you wish that these people would know all your inside jokes from back home. (I can’t even tell you how many times I had to end my sentences with the phrase “Uhhhh, it’s from The Office...”) But it’s okay. You will learn when the dining hall is (and isn’t) open. You will learn that you don’t have to ask the professor before you use the bathroom. You will find those people who will laugh even when you overuse the phrase “Smooth move, Ferguson.” Be patient and don’t be discouraged. It’s all worth it.

2. Don’t expect the party to land on your doorstep. Some amazing things have happened since those lugubrious beginning months. I think that I spent too long waiting and wishing for amazing things to happen while I was sitting in my dorm room. So to fix that, I joined a Bible study. I get to hang out with awesome upperclassmen in an awesome on-campus apartment with other awesome freshmen and talk about awesome, faith-challenging topics. I went to an off-campus dinner cooked by students where I met more people and had good conversation. I joined the Sustainability Club where I met ever more upperclassmen and get to talk about things that I care about like wholesome food. I joined the Public Relations Society on campus where I get to bond and collaborate with people in my major, who share talents similar to me. All of these things happened when I was out of my desk chair, shaking hands, and connecting with people over things we had in common. The party may not land on your doorstep, but it does exist. You just need to get up and go.

3. Be yourself. Okay, I just made the Cliché-O-Meter go from 1 to “It's nice.” But seriously. To start off, I admit to being a little weird. During the beginning of the semester I was a little frustrated with the lack of people I was able to connect with. Everyone was exceedingly kind but there was a dearth of “kindred spirits.” Being a reserved individual is certainly a disadvantage when it comes to friend-making. However, I have discovered that my innate characteristics have in fact been very useful. Toward the end of Fall semester, I was chosen for two roles on campus that have been incredible and so enlightening. While I was worrying about my personal life and not fitting in, others envisioned me serving in awesome opportunities. And somewhere in there, I did find wonderful friends here that I couldn't live without. I never would have seen those things coming. However, God does have a plan for you, just as you are.

4. This kind of goes along with #3 but be passionate. Let me tell you a sad story. Once upon a time there was a little girl. She loved to draw and color. Hours and hours were spent at the kitchen table with a plastic ice-cream tub full of crayons and a stack of printer paper. She doodled on every church bulletin, every homework sheet, every napkin. She won artist of the month in first grade. She was proud to be the best “draw-er” in the class. She took art classes in middle school and discovered the beauty of oil painting. But as she entered high school, she became focused on schoolwork. Every homework assignment needed to be perfect. Every test needed to be aced. There was no time for anything else because schoolwork was the most important use of her time. She filled up the extra time in her schedule with classes like microeconomics. Slowly, gave up art classes outside of school to focus on the burden of school, which was becoming heavier each year. The margins of her notebooks were void of doodles and miniature works of art. Sketching pencils were put in the backs of drawers and the wet paint on the lids of their tubes dried into crusty bits.

As you can imagine, that girl is me. Once I came to college, I realized that there were people who were doing that thing which I loved so dearly, art, everyday. In their classes they got to sketch figures onto big pieces of paper, glide color onto a canvas for homework, and find inspiration to complete assignments. They took art classes all through high school, with hours of studio time under their belts. And there I was, the one looking in the windows, armed only with the insufficient boast of being an elementary school prodigy.

Because of this, I never again want to discourage myself, or anyone I meet, from doing what they love. Do you love videogames? Play videogames! Become a programmer or a designer! Do you love sports? Play sports! Become a professional athlete or a sports team manager or a sports broadcaster! Do you love Twitter? Tweet! Go into social media! Do you love the outdoors? Go outdoors! Go into ecology or horticulture or sustainability! Do you love cooking? Cook! Become a chef or a nutritionist or write a book about food! Do you love to draw? Doodle! Become a graphic designer or an illustrator or sculptor! Do you love talking with people? Talk! Become a counselor or a therapist or a talk show host! Whatever you do, don’t do it because your parents have planned it since before your conception or because it’s the most practical or because it makes the most money. Do it because you love it.

So there you have it folks! I’ve learned a lot of little things along the way too, like not to turn on the AC when there’s ice inside it or not to attach your bulletin board to the wall with sticky-tack when it’s hanging in front of your head. But maybe you should learn those things for yourself. As for the big ones I mentioned, I hope that you listen to the words of Eleanor Roosevelt when she said:

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself."

~ Carissa