A Grace update (it's been a while!)

As you may know, I spent this past summer in Perú, South America. I traveled with a group of 24 students from Goshen College as a part of a study and service term during the months of May, June, and July. I lived with a host family in the country’s capitol, Lima, in the district of Lince for six weeks while I studied language and culture, and another host family for six weeks in the impoverished and oppressed community of Chimbote where I served in different social service programs with the Catholic Parrish, “Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro,” which translated means “Our Lady of Perpetual Help.” I found this to be the most rewarding and challenging part of the summer. These experiences further reinforced my desire to serve internationally once I graduate from college. Our group also traveled to Cusco, the ancient Incan capitol and visited the famous ruins of Machu Picchu.

Autumn brought with it the beginning of my fourth and final year at Goshen College. I am presently living in an on-campus house with six other senior girls who I am close friends with. This fall I acted and designed in Erik Ehn’s The Saint Plays, a five-piece selection of Ehn’s massive collection of abstract, one-act plays based on the lives of historical saints, using parallel connections to “modern-day” saints to emphasize human qualities we can connect to. The language used in these pieces is highly poetic and image-laden, and our representation of these ideas resulted in a very movement and body based presentation. This play was especially meaningful to our department because of the loss of fellow theater student and close friend Deanne Binde this summer, who was a passionate Catholic. The playwright wrote a piece about Deanne and her patron saint especially for Goshen’s production. Our show was chosen to perform this January at the American College Theater Festival in Saginaw, Michigan – the first time ever in Goshen College’s History.

Christmas vacation was a welcome break from the stress of school life. I spent time with family and friends, and was especially excited to interact with my goddaughter Hailey, who is already one and a half years old! I really regret how infrequently I am able to be a part of her life due to the distance between us and my busy schedule. I also experienced the new sensation of having my wisdom teeth removed, and the intense soreness resulting thereafter. I was blessed to be able to spend the New Year in Kalona, Iowa with my boyfriend Nathan and his family before heading back to Indiana to help prepare The Saint Plays for competition.

Now that second semester has begun and classes are in full swing, I find myself thinking a lot about my future as graduation rapidly approaches. I have a full plate this semester, including classes in Ethics and Morality, Playwriting, Methods of Social Change, and a Senior Seminar. I am also working as a student assistant in the Financial Aid office, and have just begun an internship at ADEC’s day center for adults with disabilities, where I will be leading drama therapy sessions two days a week. The clients’ abilities range from profoundly disabled to relatively high functioning. I hope to have a final showcase performance as a goal to work toward on April 11. I am definitely looking forward to my house’s “Hour After” performance on February 6 and 7, and coffeehouse type concert where we sing and play different pop songs and skits for the school. I am also participating in chamber choir, where we will be engaging in a Midwest tour of Mennonite churches and schools during Spring Break (February 20-March1), including stops in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa.

On April 18 I will be producing and performing my senior theater recital, a collection of original, collaborative, and published work. The following weekend on April 26, I will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and a minor in Social Policy. Three days later I am flying to Spain for a three-week History and Culture course in Madrid and Morocco. Following the completion of this course I will be meeting up with my long-time friend Lisa Long who is spending the year in Hamburg, Germany studying with an extension of Temple University. We will be travelling by rail for two additional weeks to Barcelona, Milan, Venice, Vienna, Prague, and Berlin. I am really looking forward to seeing the countryside and getting a taste of European life.

I plan to spend the remaining summer months at home in Antioch, Illinois, working and saving as much as I can because at the end of August (God-willing) I will be leaving for 11 months of voluntary service in Africa with Mennonite Central Committee’s SALT program. I am still the application process, but I promise to keep you updated as I learn more information about this next exciting step in my life. Upon returning the states at the end of July 2010, I will focus on getting ready for graduate school in the fall where I plan to earn a Master’s of Social Work degree.

John Lennon is credited with the saying “life is what happens while you are busy making other plans,” and from car accidents to dropping a major six semesters in, I can certainly relate to that statement. Personal flexibility in an invaluable trait, one that I continue to work to improve in my daily life. Despite my long list of ‘things to do,’ I truly believe that a person is not defined by what they do but who they are. More than anything, I wish to serve others in order to provide the highest possible quality of life, to and engage in mutually uplifting, genuine relationships. In a society obsessed with accomplishments, productivity, and personal gain, this is can be quite challenging. To quote my Peruvian friends, we simply need to take life “poco a poco,” little by little.

Many blessings to you in 2009!

I guess it's about that time...

I guess it's about time for another update. Upon review of my last depressing and emo post, I realize that I may have come off a bit, well, overdramatic and unappreciative. I have had a good, solid experience during my past two years at Goshen. I have a lot of great, supportive friends - I think what I was trying to get at in that last post was how disconnected I felt at that point in my life - there is a big shift from having a lot of super close friends in high school who have known you for most of your life to college where everyone is fending for themselves in terms of relationships. I am very thankful for the relationships that I have here, it's just different.




But anyways...life: it's been quite the adventure! Since my last post, I traveled down to Bayou La Batre, Alabama with a small group of students from my college to work with Mennonite Disaster Service on some post-Katrina clean up. During the first week of Christmas vacation I installed almost an entire (very small) house's drywall (with other people). It was a very eye opening experience as well as a lot of fun. We visited the Gulf Coast for a picnic on the last day and I saw the ocean for the first time! Hooray!



I spent the rest of my break with friends and family instead of working at Culver's as I have for the past five Christmas vacations, and I don't regret it at all. A groups of ACHS choral students, alums, and I also visited and Christmas caroled at six local nursing homes and hospitals, which was a very meaningful experience - we were able to sing on the same rehabilitation unit I stayed in two years ago after a car accident. It was awesome to see all of my therapists again and see what a profound impact the simple and utterly free gift of song had on the patients.

                                                              

Second semester started off with a bang - I bid my roommate Joanna farewell as she prepared to depart on SST to Cambodia and the hopped in a car and traveled to Milwaukee, WI with our theater department to participate in our region's American College Theater Festival before classes even began.

On Janurary 20, 2007, my best friend Lindsey Yates got married to the love of her life, Scott Badtke. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding. It's weird to think of her as married now, but I know she is happy and I am so happy for her.



In continuing with the social work program, I enrolled in Social Service Field Experience. As the title suggests, there is a field experience component of the course that requires 40 hours volunteer service and observation with a local agency. I chose to do my placement at Bashor Home in Goshen, which is a nonprofit program run by the Methodist Church USA that provides a variety of services including emergency shelter care, substance abuse treatment, alternative elementary school, lock-secure residential care, among other programs including the HOPE program which I worked with this semester. The Hope unit is a residential program for "sexually maladaptive youth," meaning 8-13 year old boys who have been charged with sexual assault through the court system. It's pretty intense stuff, especially considering most of the boys also struggle with other psychological disorders. I feel like my empathy and understanding have really grown through my experience at Bashor. I also took courses in World History, Oral Communication, Abnormal Psychology, and Organizational Communication.

I have continued my federal work-study job as a student assistant in the college's financial aid office, which has surprisingly been a lot of fun. The counselors are hilarious, and Jeanette (the administrative assistant) and I get along really well. I also participated in this year's production of the Vagina Monologues, directed by Hannah Johnson and Greta Weaver. I can honesty say that it was the most enjoyable and satisfying theatrical production I have been a part of while at school here.



Over spring break I visited Philadelphia, PA to hang out with my best pal Lisa and explore the city. It was a blast! I absolutely LOVE city life. In March I applied to be a Resident Assistant on campus in the dorms for next year, and was accepted. I will be RAing a floor of freshman and sophomore girls on Miller 4 during the 07-08 school year, and I can't wait!



I was also involved in two other theatrical productions this spring - I acted in our winter one act play called "The Boardroom" as well as the spring mainstage, "The Sea gull" by Chekhov.

Another update

An update on Grace!

Greetings all! I hope 2006 finds you well! I just wanted to give you all a quick update on my situation and assure you that my recovery has gone extremely well and I am feeling wonderful. This entire process has been miraculously quick, and much less difficult than anyone had anticipated.
        This summer I spent three days a week in physical and occupational therapy. I took my first steps with a cane towards the end of July, and I was completely free of the wheelchair by mid-August. I moved into school on August 20^th here in Goshen, Indiana at Goshen College where I am double majoring in Social Work and Theater. As many of you know, due to some nerve damage I had no extension in my right wrist, hand, or fingers. My occupational therapist made me a special brace with rubber bands that pulled my fingers back so that I was able to write and perform other tasks. I used this brace until mid-October when I was first able to slightly raise my wrist again. The nerves and muscles were very weak at first, but everything was up and fully operational by November. It was about November that I also began walking without a noticeable limp, too. If you saw me today, you would never recognize me as the pitiful, messy, and broken girl in the wheelchair from June.
        Things at college have been going great! This past fall I stage-managed the school’s main stage production of “Much Ado about Nothing.” I took academic courses in theater, poetry, human biology, and the intro social work class. I also took private voice lessons and participated in our campus chorale. Christmas break was stressful, but I sincerely enjoyed my time spent with family and friends. Upon arrival back at school, my roommate threw me a surprise 19^th birthday party! Second semester is going really well. I am currently stage managing our spring main stage production of “After Mrs. Rochester,” which is an English play based on the life of Jean Rhys, the author of Wide Sargasso Sea. It’s very interesting because it combines the story of Jean Rhys’ actual life with the Jane Eyre story and many elements/characters from Jean’s novels such as Wide Sargasso Sea. I am taking academic courses in bible, theater, and two sociology classes. I am taking voice lessons and singing in choir again as well.
        While school has been a challenge with my various physical impairments, I am so grateful that I was able to start on time and have been able to do all that I have been able to. God has been so gracious to me and has blessed me far more than I deserve. Thank you for supporting my family and I throughout this process. Your prayers and kind words have meant more than you know. God bless in ’06!