Monthly Archives: January 2013

“Pain is temporary, glory lasts forever.” (By Sophia Cooper)

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That one cliché pretty much sums up my family’s trip down to the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl over Christmas break. Pain came from sharing the back seat of our cramped Volvo sedan for an 8 hour drive with my sister. But the glory came from Baylor wrecking UCLA 49-26, and that is much more memorable than driving.

Our family of four started our trip early on December 26, driving from our home in Saratoga down to San Diego in hopes of making it in time for the Baylor Pep Rally. There was the obligatory stop at In-N-Out for lunch (a California tradition), and we rolled in with just enough time to settle into a beautiful view at the hotel before heading down to the pep rally.

Amanda Tran (junior), Cody Wetsel (senior) and me at the Pep Rally!

Even so far away from Waco, there was so much green and gold spirit as there is at Floyd Casey Stadium! The Baylor University Golden Wave Marching Band did a great job of keeping the music loud as the spirit squads led us in cheers. Finally, the football team walked in and we all got an inspirational talk from Coach Art Briles. In a very packed ballroom, filled with green and gold, there was one sign for a specific football player – my sign! My friend Cody plays safety, so I worked hard the night before to make him a great (and very glittery!) green and gold sign to cheer him on during the game. He really appreciated the extra support.

 

Before the game, my family had quite a morning adventure. About 300 Baylor students were being bused from Waco out to San Diego for the game, and some of them had volunteered to hold the Baylor balloon in the Holiday Bowl parade! However, a series of unfortunate events made the buses arrive late to San Diego, so my family literally got roped into helping walk the balloon through the streets of downtown San Diego. My dad got really into high fiving the children along the side of the road, my mom was trying hard not to float away, and Katrin and I were just laughing.

Mom, Dad, Katrin and me walking the huge Baylor Bear Balloon through the Holiday Bowl Parade!

Finally, it was time for the game. We put on our green and gold, bundled up for the cold evening weather, and headed out to Qualcomm Stadium. It was so great seeing all the Baylor fans that made the pilgrimage from Texas to California! Even though there were more UCLA supporters than Baylor fans in the stands, we were louder cheering. It was so great to see our defense come together, Nick Florence throwing amazing passes, and our offense blowing past UCLA in every way. Our team played so strong, and they deserved that win!!

Tired as cold as we were, we headed back to the hotel late that night and got up early the next morning to trek back home. We flung our green and gold afar down in San Diego and helped bring home another bowl game win to Waco!

Religion Class – More Interesting Than I Thought (by Grant Siluangkhot)

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Baylor students are required to take six hours of religion courses to graduate. Most students decide to take Christian Scriptures for their first freshman semester and Christian Heritage for their second. I didn’t have any more room in my schedule last semester, so I’ve decided to take Scriptures this semester.

On the first day of Scriptures, we had a light in-class discussion with the professor about the class. One of the questions that popped up was, “Why are you taking this class?” Most of us just sat and grinned because we all knew (including the professor) that most of the students were taking the class “because we have to”. After some discussion of other reasons and explanations of the syllabus, I learned that this class might actually be really interesting.

I’ve heard disparaging stories from my classmates who have taken the class before me, so I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I dreaded the idea of reading hundreds of pages a night. Perhaps my classmates were exaggerating or I just got lucky with a cool professor because, so far, it’s not that bad.

The readings are light enough, and the topics we discuss in class are very thought-provoking. We’ve discussed problems with transmitting copies of scripture, conflict with translation, and the validity of the Bible. As a Christian, I think this will be a nice scholarly way to examine many aspects of scripture and the different opinions about it. I imagine that it would still be an interesting class to take for non-Christians, so they can get a better understanding of what the many Christians in this world are about.

New Lenses (by Gerald Cofer)

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Baylor has not only influenced me mentally, but spiritually as well. Last semester was a great semester at Baylor, full of encouraging friends and great teachers, but the thing that really impacted my life was the spiritual aspect of Baylor. Baylor is rooted and grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ and strives to empower the student body with something more than just owning a business or becoming the best heart surgeon after graduating, but Baylor empowers you with something that will last far longer, and ultimately a lifetime as careers and trades fade away. After returning back to campus from Christmas break, I reflected back on last semester and saw that every step of the way I was experiencing growth and many areas of my life that has shaped me into the person I am now. Baylor broke down many walls, expanded my education, and placed a hunger inside of me for a deeper meaning of life. Baylor is a great school to find yourself, and your place in life, because of the constant exposure of God through chapel, missions, and the teachers and students that create the atmosphere.

The Breakdowns in Life (by Lexa Johnson)

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Sometimes in life you may be heading down one path, but fate has other plans. Last night my friends and I were all heading to Dwelling Place, the college service at Antioch Community Church. I was driving all of us in my car when the check engine light came on; I figured that it wasn’t a big deal and that I would take care of it later. We made a quick stop at UPS so that I could mail off a package; however, when I started the car again it began to shake and it smelled like smoking rubber. Definitely not a good sign!

I parked the car and popped the hood to take a look. Unfortunately, none of my friends in the car knew any more about cars than I did. So, being a naïve college freshman and not knowing what else to do, I called my dad for help. My dad attempted to direct me through checking the engine and fan belt. After teaching me where the fan belt was, my dad was able to diagnose the problem. One of the coils had come undone and I needed to get my car to a shop or dealership.

Here I am trying to stay positive in the middle of the car diagnosis process!

Luckily the Toyota dealership is only two miles away from where we were. My friend Brittany was able to drive over and pick my friends up and she followed me to the dealership. I was able to safely drive there and it seemed like that would be the end of our problems for the night. However, once we arrived at the dealership we found out it was closed! Being my usual optimistic self, I hoped that someone would be there working late who would be able to help us. So we parked the car outside of the gate and hopped the fence to walk through the lot and over to the office part of the dealership. I knocked on the windows but the only people who were still there was the cleaning service. They said there was nothing they could do and I would have to find somewhere to park my car until morning when Toyota opened. Fortunately, there was an open parking lot next to the dealership that I was able to park in and leave my car until morning.

Of course the only way to end such an eventful night is to get frozen yogurt at U-Swirl. On Wednesdays at U-Swirl you can guess the weight of your yogurt and if you get it right then you get it for free! And just my luck I correctly guessed the weight of my yogurt. Free frozen yogurt quickly turned my night around! Through this experience I learned that it is important to understand that parts of the car and know their basic functions. Maybe next time I will be more prepared.