PLAY!

So let me set this up. Last weekend I took a group of students from University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, where I work, to Jubilee, a christian conference for college students held each year in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. This was my 6th year going and pretty much love it every year! 

At Jubilee there are: large gatherings, where students from over 30 or so colleges all come together to hear from amazing well-known speakers and sing along and worship together.....then, there are also workshops - or breakout sessions where students go to hear different speakers talk about how we can connect our faith to our vocation, careers, & passions. 

This year, speakers included author & director of Restore International, Bob Goff (look him up!), Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham's grandson), and author, Derek Mellaby. There are also exhibition tables if you're interested in seminary or summer camps or mission/social activism. 

This year, Jubilee also held an essay contest asking for submissions about where God is working in your life as a college student and how you hope to serve him in your career as a result.

The following article is by the winner, Brittany Tietje, a student at Slippery Rock (SRU) who submitted her story to The High Calling, a Christian magazine. 

Play as Work

Recreation, simply put, is the grown-up way of saying “play.” Play relieves stress, increases physical and mental fitness, and introduces new ways of learning. And the public is becoming more aware of the benefits of recreation as part of a healthy lifestyle. But in a world filled with “go-getter” attitudes, competitive spirits, and the drive for “keeping up with the Joneses,” where is there time for leisure and play?

I have often wondered this myself. A college senior and an avid lover of the outdoors, I would much rather go hiking, spend the day rock-climbing, or even sit in a tree and read than go to work or class. As I draw closer to entering the work force, I view my future with significant trepidation.

Most discussions with working adults who intend to offer their advice and support for my future include the forewarning that “college is the best time of your life, so have fun now.” While I appreciate their concern, I can’t bring myself to believe that God calls us into careers that bore and frustrate us on a daily basis.

I deeply believe that, though this earth is broken due to the fall, God works in and through us so that we can experience His goodness in our everyday lives. That includes work. Recently, I began to realize the potential for recreation itself to be a kind of work that shows this goodness.

Imagine this scenario. Your office team has been working on a big project, and while the deadline is rapidly approaching, advancement has suddenly stopped. Unfortunately, the team seems unable to refocus as a unit to finish this project. Your boss decides to send everyone to a team-building workshop. You spend the day on a ropes course having fun and playing games that challenge you and the team mentally and physically. The facilitator works through the elements to increase communication, encourage negotiation, highlight varied strengths and weaknesses among the team, and promote overall ability to function at a higher level together. The next day at work you not only have some valuable memories and laughable moments to reflect upon, you also have an experience to draw from that sets you back on track for completing that big project on time.

I am a Parks and Recreation major. My career goal is to glorify God through play. As I look to my future, I see the opportunity to be the facilitator in the above scenario.
God is glorified by people experiencing a community that knows and cares about its members. God is glorified by people discovering the strengths He has given them and how to use those strengths. God is glorified by children and adults learning in nontraditional methods about valuable skills such as teamwork, acceptance, forgiveness, endurance, and patience; all skills that can be developed through experiential education activities. That is why I see this scenario, and others like it, as a way for me to glorify God.

I still expect life after college will be a lot of hard work. Life in college is a lot of hard work. More importantly, I’ve realized that the key to enjoying my future as much or more than the present will be to choose every day to find some little way to play, and then use that moment to serve others and glorify God.

Post written by Brittany Tietje, a senior majoring in Parks and Recreation Management.

-- This article is the first of four in a series that will introduce the next generation of young professionals to our High Calling readers.

Epic Fail!

So....clearly I am a horrible, procratinating blogger...

• I do not follow through on blog goals
• I blog maybe 5 times a year
• I usually have very little to say until it comes time for (NHL playoffs)

But one of my New Year's resolutions was to at the very least blog once a month, and maybe, just maybe that will turn into twice a month, and then hopefully once a week!

Well...wish me luck!

Christmas 2012: Let's Do This!

Christmas 2012 Let's Do This!
To close 2012 out with a bang I thought I would have my own 12 days of Christmas...

This time of year everyone is either SUPER busy...or running around shopping...or trying to find the true meaning of Christmas...well, thats not what I am doing. I just think that going along those lines, this time of year does present opportunities for reflection, and that is what I had in mind too. 

So, beginning Dec. 13th and leading up to Jesus' birthday I wanted to share things that have either impacted me or that I have learned over the past....they might be silly, serious, funny, or nostalgic, but I was hoping it would be fun and enjoyable.

To accompany these...lets call them 'teachable moments', I wanted to include something fun so I will also be counting down (in no particular order) my favorite xmas movies. 

So in 2 days..Let the Countdown Begin!

Playoff Predictions - Cup Finals!

So let me start this off by reviewing how we got here:

Round 1 -  4-4 

Round 2 -  1-3  ...so currently I am now 5-7. Not too awful, but not great. The western conference pretty much blew it for me. What else is new...I have said before that I mostly watch east coast teams/games given where I live so that's the excuse I'm using. Plus, who saw the Devils going this far? Not me. So let's see if I can redeem myself in the Finals..cross your fingers! The Stanley Cup finals will match the LA Kings vs. the NJ Devils, a great match-up. But how many of you saw that coming? Be honest. 

Just think, the Kings got a new coach halfway through the season, traded for Jeff Carter at the deadline, barely made the playoffs and now they're in the finals??? It should be a tough, physical series. I don't think the Devils have seen such a big line like the Kings have. Also, the Kings are really aggressive offensively, a big change from the Rangers. We'll see how it goes.

As for my prediction, I am going to pick the Kings in 6. Reasons? Here ya go:

1. I hate the Devils (2nd to Philly, slightly ahead of Detroit)

2. The mullet. -- Barry Melrose coached the Kings from '92-'95. And it's been 10yrs since their last Cup appearance, so they are due.

3. Great goalie match-up: Marty Brodeur v Jonathon Quick...Marty has the experience, but Quick's got the stats GAA, Save%, and wins. Going with the youngster.

4. Road Trip. The Kings are 8-0 on the road in the playoffs! That's insane!

5. Underdogs. Besides the fact I usually root for them. No #8 seed has ever won the Cup.All that being said....

 GO KINGS! 

NHL Playoffs Round II!

Well alot of teams let me down cough *pens*, cough *bruins* but that's behind us and now we are onto the second round...I think my picks were better than the teams played and many of the games I think went 6 or 7 so it really could have gone either way. (At least the devils saved me <-- irony anyone?) But anyways onto the next round of picks....read 'em and weep:

2nd Round Picks:

East: Rangers (in 7); Flyers (in 6)
West: Blues (in 7); Preds (in 6)

The pens really disappointed, no defense, weak goal tending, and the stars didnt show up until game 4. And the Bruins weren't much better, I will miss you T.T!. The Rangers were on the brink and the Devils barely kept my upset special alive.  So in this round, I think the devils can't keep the magic going against the Flyers, not enough to win 4 games, so I have to pick Philly for the sake of my pride. And now the Flyers, excuse me while I puke, are the hottest team right now, so I'll give them one more round.And now for NY...c'mon Rangers, do me this one favor and I'll pick you the rest of the way.  If Philly doesnt lose, then I at least want Ovetchkin (sp?) out of the playoffs. The Caps are just not physical enough and I question their goal tending as well.

Out West I love ALL these teams! And while I am an East Coast boy, I dont care who, I just want the West to win. I am not just jumping but leaping on the Nashville Bandwagon! Let's Go Preds! They just seem so sound and well coached, so Preds over Coyotes. No dumb hits or suspensions boys!! Play nice, but play hard! As for the Blues/Kings I could go either way. Outside of the Pens, I loved both these teams growing up mostly because they were so bad for so long, it just appealed to me. Both teams have tremendous talent, Quick and Elliott are playing on another level...it will be by far the best hockey played this round. Its such a tough pick but pick rhymes with Quick and that spells Kings! haha isnt that part of a song? anyone? Oh well, go LA! Best of luck to you all, and goodnight!

2012 NHL Playoffs! Let's Go!

This playoff season will mark my 2nd year participating in the annual Aaron Reinard Hockey-Blog Spectacular!

Opening Round Picks:

East: Rangers (in 6); Bruins (in 6); Devils (in 7) Pens (in 7)
West: Canucks (in 6); Blues (in 7); Hawks (in 6); Preds (in 7)

This year's opening round is really hard to gauge, least for me. All four lower seeded Eastern Conference teams won their season series against their higher seed opponents, so it's hard to be super confident, and so i have each match-up going 6 or 7 games. Out West its even crazier. The Canucks have never won the President's Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same year. So are they really the favorites? As you can tell I am by no means confident in my picks, but I will throw my inhibitions to the wind and we'll see how it shakes out.

Rangers have looked pretty steady all season, but 1994 is a long time ago, so they will have to stay strong if they are going all the way, plus the Sens just don't seem like they are on the same level. Equally hard to go against last year's champs, so I have the Bruins (and my boy Timmy Thomas) beating the Crapitals. Sorry Ovechkin, still don't like you. Now for my Eastern Conf. upset I'll take the Devils over the Panthers. First time in team history Florida has won their division? - hard to believe, so I'll take experience over the upstarts. As for the Pens/Flyers, yes I am a homer but its also because I share Aaron's hatred for the Flyers. Pens need to step up the D and sure up Fleury's miscues over the last month. Only reason I have it going 7 games is due to Sid's health. But c'mon Line 1 - Malkin, Line 2- Crosby, and Line 3- Staal? What is not to like?

As for out West, I cannot express how much I really want to pick the Kings over the Canucks....but I'm not. Vancouver's in the same situation as last year, best team, great weapons, but as good as Luango was last year, he's been inconsistent down the stretch and it might hurt them to go back and forth with their goalies. Next I like the Blues over the Sharks. Again inconsistent play from San Jose worries me, but they are scrappy so it should be a good series, maybe 7 games. Coyotes/Hawks should be a good series too, even though they won their last 5 games and 11 of their last 12, having never won a playoff series, Phoenix still has to show me something. Lastly, I am loving the Preds and if Rinne can duplicate his play from last year's playoffs they can beat Detroit in a slug-fest and get to the conference finals.

Back to School

So since I am so sporadic at blogging, I decided that I should really make a new commitment to it this year - sort of a new years resolution.

This past week was my first week in Practicum. Basically, practicum involves spending time in a school building, in my case that building is Laruel Jr./Sr. High School. And because I am in the Counselor Education program, I pretty much shadow their counselors around, help with office tasks, and work with students.

So far I have enjoyed it, but already find it very tiring, which means i need an earlier bedtime. However, I am really excited to get my hours and learn more about the career while interacting with the students. I am trying to make it a low stress time while I am there and hopefully it will be a good experience.

My hope is to continue blogging about my experience and share stories and pictures with friends and family. We'll see how that all work and if I can find time. Welp...here goes nothing!