What a week!

Hello everyone, I hope all is well in all your lives and spring is giving you a bit of warmth inside and out. 

Well, I must say, I have had an exciting week since I last posted, and I also have a confession to make. I will start with some of my activities, and will end with a secret that I have been hiding from all of you, just to keep the suspense level up (are you curious yet?).

 

Well, as you may know, preparations for the year's end are being made. Finals will be here in just about two weeks, and there is definitely an excitement, but also a bit of stress, in the air. Our Paideia papers are back, we finished our second-to-last bio exam, and it has been hard to stay focused as the spring warmth floods our nice, little campus here in Decorah. As of now, I have the feeling that my finals will not be too terribly difficult, but it is a little difficult for me to know this early. It is nice to have a sense of what to expect, having gone through the motions at the conclusion of fall semester. However, it is a new set of classes, material, and professors, so there are bound to be some surprises.

 

There are also the preparations for living situations next year. I got a last-minute roomate, since my current roomate is leaving after the year to head back to Sweden. He is a swell fella who lives on my floor, and we will undoubtedly have fun together. I have to go through room draw on Tuesday, so I'll have to wait until then to see where I end up. It is up in the air as of now.

 

In other news, unrelated to school, is the bike race I had today. It was the annual Time Trials here in Decorah. The weather was quite nice for it, contrary to what was expected, having lots of rain in the last few days. This year's race was a little rough for me. I didn't eat anything but a banana for breakfast, and part-way through the race, my energy level dropped, and I had quite a hard time for the remainder of the race. It is always a good race in which to participate, so if anyone out there rides mountain bike, show up next year for the race on last Sunday of April.

 

Okay, so here is my confession. For quite some time now, I have been considering a transfer to another college. The college is one that I had been looking at since last year's college search, and it has been in my radar ever since. It is not that I dislike Luther; that is not true in the least. It is simply the fact that I have lived in Decorah for 13 years now, and I don't want to miss out on anything the rest of the world has to offer. Because of this, I applied and seriously was considering attending another school in the fall. This past weekend, I went for a visit to this particular college (my first visit, as it is on the west coast) and didn't know exactly what to expect. Let me tell you, going through the college visit is extraordinarily different after having completed a year of college. I was constantly comparing everything I saw to what I was familiar with at Luther. And, to be completely honest, this other place didn't stack up. The campus was absolutely beautiful - old growth forest, surrounded by protected state park, and a huge emphasis on all things natural - but besides that, I wasn't all that impressed. It seemed to me that every time I was expecting to find something more appealing than that which is at Luther, I was unable to do so. It made me realize that I do not really need to branch out at this point in time, Luther is a good place to be. There will be numerous times for me to explore more of the world, and I am looking forward to those opportunities, but for now, I am content. It also made me realize all that I have to appreciate at a place like Luther or Decorah. It is one of the cliché ideas that all things familiar tend to be taken for granted.

 

I am not saying Luther is for everyone, and that is just a fact of life. However, at this point in time, I am pretty confident in saying that it is a pretty good fit for me.

 

Have a fantastic week, and I will be talking to you soon!

 

Peace,

Collin

One year later...

It seems appropriate at this point in time (as the school year is winding down) to head back through the past months and put myself, once again, into the position that many high school seniors are in right now. It is hard to believe that I have been a college student for around eight months. It hardly seems that long, but I have surely grown into the position.

 

As I recall, the college decision was nowhere near easy. I was constantly weighing the criteria, including financial aid, campus beauty, distace from home, friends' school choices, and numerous others. However, these concepts do not always balance out, which makes it even more difficult. However, no matter how big of a decision it is, it is not irreversible, and chances are, something good with come of whatever decision is made. The experience you will have wherever life turns next is invaluable and should be viewed as that - it's never a mistake.

 

My choice turned out pretty well. Luther is a nice school that has a lot to offer. Granted, I knew that coming in, since I have grown up around it, and kind of know the ins and outs of the school, but I was pleased to find that there are still parts for me to learn and experience. It offers me a new perspective on the community and campus, and gives me a new place among all of the residents of the college and town. I am sure I would have had an experience that would have been rewarding in other ways if I had attended a different school, but that is all hypothetical. There is little one can lose when attending a school such as Luther or all the other schools that are very similar (except maybe some money).  Do not worry about the decision itself, for the college experience relies more heavily on what you are willing to do with it, than the place at which it is done. Your success at school is more closely related to your ability to adjust and be flexible, taking advantage of everything your school has to offer. So consider that just as much as how big the dorm rooms are, or how tasty the cafeteria's food is. I wish you all the best of luck with whatever decisions need to be made in the near future, whether they are school related or not, we all need a little help sometimes. 

 

Peace,

Collin

Catch up

Hey everyone, sorry it has been a while since the last post, it has been a little hectic getting back into the swing of things after spring break.

 

I suppose I must tell you all about my spring break in Colorado. First off, I must say that it was a fantastic way to spend my break. I had a great time with all the lovely people in an amazing part of the country. We left Decorah on a Thursday morning at six - not bright yet, but still early - and drove for around 18 hours. It was a long, partially boring drive. The scenery was quite flat until we got into the mountains, but by that time it was dark, so we didn't see much. I was one of the few who could drive a stick shift, so I did a bit of driving, considering that is what kind of car we had. We rented a couple hotel rooms in a city called Carbondale, which is about 30 miles from where we did our skiing and got a good night's rest.

 

The next morning we got up early, as we would for the next 3 days, and headed off to Snowmass mountain. There are four mountains that make up the Aspen ski area, and we visited two of them during our three days of skiing. We arrived at Snowmass right as the lifts were opening, and spent most of our time at the top of the mountain, skiing on very nice light snow, whereas the bottom had a little wetter snow (it was spring skiing after all). I was on skis the first day, and felt pretty good about it. The second day, we also spent at Snowmass but I switched off halfway through the day to a snowboard. I kept that for the third day, which was when we head to Aspen Highlands - a different mountain. The main reason I switched to the snowboard was because on the second day we got a really nice snowfall of about 4-5 inches, and it is really fun to snowboard in powder. So I split it half and half between the two modes of transportation, and I was really glad I did that.

 

The last day at Aspen Highlands was cut a bit short. Typically we skied from about 8:30 or 9 to 4 or 4:30, but there were rumors of a nasty storm hitting the area, and we wanted to outrun that on the way home. We left about 2:30 and drove for about 8 exciting hours before settling in for the night in Nebraska. We rose again early and drove the remaining 10 hours through the flat country and lots of rain before finally reaching Decorah and having a nice warm dinner in the caf. What a treat.

 

The skiing was fantastic, but something that was really neat and should not go unmentioned was the time spent with the people on the trip. The car rides, dinners, ski and hotel time were really great because of the conversation and developing friendships. I rode in the car with some really cool people and that made the trip fly by in a way it would not have if I had been making the trip alone. That is one thing all you prospective students have to look forward to. There are some really amazing people at Luther, and when you meet them and spend time with them, it really can change your outlook on things. You can make invaluable connections with the most unlikely people. It is fantastic.

 

I hope you all had a great couple of weeks. This is just a taste of something that happens at Luther that is available for students to take advantage of. Like I said, it was a fantastic trip and I would go again in a heartbeat. So all you students coming in the next years, hook up with the Backyard Wilderness Pursuits (BWP) group. It is a great thing with which to be involved! See you next time.

 

Peace,

Collin