SE Speaks

The lazy days of Winter Break are over, so now everyone is trying to re-adjust to their school schedules, plus any extracurricular work we have, too.  For example, I found out recently that I am going to be planning and organizing the events for this year’s Springfest, which is an annual tradition here at Southeastern full of really fun and exciting competitions and games in which any SE student may participate.

Originally, Springfest was an event held during finals week.  The idea was that playing games with your fellow students would relieve stress during what would normally be a tense week for college students.  However, because of the popularity and competitive nature of events like Mud Volleyball, Springfest was actually consuming a lot of students’ time during finals, which would actually cause them to study less and stress-out more.

Now, our SE Student Senate designs and hosts Springfest usually in late March or April, and our participation is huge.  Last year there was somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen or twenty teams, each with five to eight members, all vying for the coveted Sweepstakes Trophy.  Last year’s events included games like the Kickball and Mud Volleyball tournaments, as well as a very muddy obstacle course.

This year, we plan to bring lots of new events into the mix, like Ultimate Frisbee.  I am also currently experimenting with this stuff called Oobleck, which is basically a cornstarch and water mixture that is a liquid unless you apply force to it, in which case it behaves like a solid (this means you can walk across a pool full of it if you go fast enough.  Check it out on YouTube).

I don’t have any doubts that this year’s Springfest is going to excellent, and although I may have my work cut-out for me this semester, I’m still genuinely excited for Springfest Week to start.

Jerreck Uncategorized

So, in case you missed it, yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Here on campus, that’s become quite a big deal. We go with the whole “it’s a day on, not off” ethos, and organize a huge group of people to go out across the town and do good works for the day.

My group went over the Wesley Center, where they have just built a new add-on to their building, and it needed painting. The Wesley Center, by the way, is campus ministry run by several different churches working together. It’s a great place. I, personally, had never been to the Wesley Center before Monday, but that made it more special.

You see, there was a lot of painting to do, and a lot of trash to pick up around the outside of the building because it was a newly finished construction job, but there something like twenty or thirty people there to help do all that work. And I have to say, it was pretty touching. I know a lot of the people helping didn’t usually go to the Wesley Center, and know several of them were like me, and had never been. But we were all gathered to do what little part we could in the short amount of time we were there.

We weren’t doing it out of a guilty sense of obligation, or because we were being paid. There was simply a job that needed doing, people that needed help, and other people willing to help them. And none of were judging or being judged by our physical appearance, what religious or spiritual group we belong to, where we were from, or anything like that. We were all united by the content of our character. Which makes me happy, deep down.

jswoboda Uncategorized

In case you haven’t noticed, we are smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. Spirits are running high, and togetherness is in the air. And nowhere is it greater than right here in North Hall. Why? Because there has been a special event for each of the recent holidays here.

First, Colton and Kristal (RAs) got a bunch of people and vans together, and for Halloween we took a haunted tour of Ft. Washita. It was so cool. When we came back, I started telling everyone about the ghost of North Hall, which, of course, you are free to believe in or disregard, as the case may be.

Second, Jenna (another RA), celebrated Thanksgiving by eating an entire turkey. Then she got a bunch of people together in the lobby and made each of them eat an entire turkey. Oh, did I mention the turkeys were made of Oreo cookies, and were only about four inches high? Because that fact might be important.

And third, Matt broke out our North Hall Christmas Tree and we had a Yuletide shin dig. Yes, people have shin-digs in college; it’s the future, isn’t it? But there were presents, and games, and pies (oh my). Including a game that is a card-based version of scrabble… sort of. But it was a word game, so I won, naturally.

Oh, did I not mention? I’m a bonafide English Major. Well, English Education major. Well, until I graduated. Now I’m an Art Major. So… English Ed graduate/Art major? In any case, I’m a fiend for word games.

Anyway, that’s all for now, have a good Xmas.

John

jswoboda Uncategorized

So, I don’t know what kind of events you expect to see on a college campus, or perhaps what events you have already seen on a college campus, but I can almost guarantee that you haven’t seen musical chairs played with Heavy Metal music. Let me tell you, it’s a great experience.

Last night saw the first occurrence of, what will hopefully become the annual, Metal Fest. It was an all-out celebration of Metal music and Metal culture. I think there were a few dozen people there, so it wasn’t the biggest party we could have had (Mardi Gras next semester will blow it out of the water), but it was a blast.

I was honestly surprised at the amount of people that knew a great deal about the history and life of Heavy Metal. I mean, I know that it’s a strong subculture (I myself am a part of it), but it’s not the most vocal or public of groups, so I didn’t realize just how strong it was here on campus. There were people I’d never met who showed up and had conversations about who was better, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden, and talked at great length about the new Brutal Legend game.

Come to think of it, I think the embracing of subcultures is probably my favorite thing about college. I really enjoy the celebration of groups that don’t normally get celebrated. I’m okay with the mainstream, too, don’t get me wrong, but there are so many more rich experiences to be had when you go to things like the Theological Forum, or Metal Fest, or Dramapalooza that just can’t be matched anywhere else.

jswoboda Uncategorized

Don’t expect to be bored to often in college, there’s always something going on. Lately, a lot of my time has been devoted to community service with Honors and Southeastern. We’ve helped organize clothes at a local resale store, painted buildings around town with the Durant Main Street program, run a food drive for families feeding families, and refurbished some of the flowerbeds here on campus with new flowers and mulch.

But even though I’ve been hard at work, it’s still been a lot of fun. I think Honors students have this innate ability to turn everything we do into a game. For example, painting a wall turned into painting each other. We even have a game we play where if you think about the game, you lose THE GAME (if you’re an honors student and you’re reading this, you have just lost the game).

Ha, but now I’m rambling, I should stop before someone calls shenanigan on me. Till next time

Jerreck Uncategorized