I was looking through some old photos on my computer the other evening and saw some pictures from my high school graduation. I hadn't looked at them in a long time, and was enjoying looking at how much my friends and I have changed since then.

I haven't seen some of the people in photos with me since graduation, and some of my friends I am just as close to now as when we graduated. In this picture, I am standing with my best friend in the entire world, Lisa.

Lisa and I have been friends since fourth grade, and even though she came to CUC with me for one semester, she left to go to LaSierra to start pursuing her major in the sciences, which CUC didn't offer.

We both have changed so much since we left high school. I'm engaged and almost a senior in college, while Lisa has turned into a genuine California girl, complete with a Starbucks addiction and a year-round tan.

We'll both be back in our hometown in Virginia in a couple weeks for Christmas break, and I can't wait to hang out with her, go shopping, get our nails done, eat Thai food...all the usuals.

Some of my best memories from high school involved Lisa--we were both "undercover band geeks," got good grades, had the same friends, enjoyed the same inside jokes and took all our of classes together.

I love college and wouldn't trade my experiences for the world--but the one thing I would definitely change would be the distance (the entire United States, in fact) between Lisa and I.

What friends from high school do you miss?

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog

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The CUC orchestra (NEYE) is traveling to New England over midterm break, which starts tonight officially. We leave tonight at 2:30 a.m. (yes, you read that correctly) to pull an all-nighter up to Massachusetts for our first concert.

Although I'm tired and could really have used a break just to relax at home, I'm super-excited about going to New England. My family lived in Massachusetts for three years when I was younger, and I have fond memories of those times. I loved the weather, the coast, the restaurants, all the parks...it was amazingly fun.

One of our stops on the trip (when we're not in concert, of course) will be in Freeport, Maine. My family travels almost every year to Nova Scotia via road trip and ferry, and we always stop in Freeport. It has so many outlet stores...Nine West, American Eagle, Dooney & Bourke...lots and lots of shopping!

But, what really put Freeport on the map was the the fact that the L.L. Bean flagship store is located there. This giant behemouth of an outlet store has waterfalls (inside and out) and more outdoors equipment and clothing than you could ever possibly need. And although I can't say I'm particularly outdoorsy, you can't go to Freeport without stopping in L.L. Bean.

My father and I used to be pretty avid bicyclists, but that's slowed down quite a bit since I've come to college. Nonetheless, in Freeport, L.L. Bean also has a cycling shop beside their larger store, which offers a plethora of biking goodies.

There are lots of restaurants...oh, and did I mention a Ben & Jerry's?

So, yes, I am looking forward to midterm break. Midterms weren't so fun, but I am fairly certain they'll be more tame than finals, which are always tough on everyone. Better take a vacation now while I can!

For more information on the NEYE or touring with us, e-mail music@cuc.edu.

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog

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It's definitely gone from summer to fall/winter in one day here in Maryland! Yesterday I was sweating ("glowing") and today it's freezing! I walked outside this morning with Molly (my dog, remember?) wearing a t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, and oh my gosh! That was not a good idea.

It was so cold. So cold. I shivered and shivered while I waited for Molly to do whatever she needed to do, and then we both sprinted back inside to the relative warmth of my apartment.

So, I laughed when I saw this cartoon, because it's so ironic and true. It seems like whenever the weather gets chilly around here, people drag out the coats and scarves in an instant. I love wearing a scarf as much as the next person, but some people wear the most obnoxiously-lengthed ones. You have to wonder how they make it through the day without getting clotheslined when their scarf gets caught in a door or something.

All I have to say is that I was getting fairly sick of the incessant hot, humid weather, and this cool air is a great change. About a month ago, we all thought the week of cool, crisp air was permanent, but tricky Maryland did it again, and we had a full-fledged Indian Summer the past few weeks.

Orchestra has a concert this weekend and we have a four hour (yes, four) rehearsal tonight.

Hopefully the church we're rehearsing in (Spencerville SDA) won't be cold!

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That photo to the left adequately describes how I'm feeling right now. How, you ask? Well, I feel burned out. Tired. Overworked. I need a vacation.

It's nearly midterms, which means every student at CUC is feeling the allure of midterm break, Thanksgiving and Christmas loom ever so much closer than before. I, in particular, can't wait until Christmas break. My family will be spending the holidays in a condo in Florida. My boyfriend--now fiance--will also be coming with us, and he's never been to any of the Disney amusement parks. Shocking, I know, how someone could live nearly 25 years without meeting Mickey firsthand.

Well, the past few days have been a blur. I've had music rehearsals (there's an orchestra concert this weekend), papers due and, of course, I had to completely upload, re-vamp and prepare the old Columbia Journal website for the new content.

I'm interim editor of CUC's newspaper right now--the Columbia Journal. My sponsor, Mitch Tropin, and I decided that it was in the best interest of the paper to put it online for now while we re-work some logistics with the print version.

I'm excited about the articles we have right now, and I hope that we can entice more people to write as we are now paying per word for freelance writers. Staff writers get paid more. Money is always a big motivation!

Our next task with the CJ will be to change the look-and-feel (i.e. "the way a website looks). It's a little dated, yes, but we just needed a template right now to get our content online. Luckily, this template was completely at our disposal, and we didn't have to do a huge amount of site editing, which is great. I just needed somewhere to unload these articles and photos!

I hope that the students here at CUC will embrace an online version with the same enthusiasm I have. I'm looking forward to us having the ability to update at-will, instead of having to wait for print turnaround and whatnot.

But, until then, I'm exhausted! I'm trying to stay grounded in the present right now and not look too far ahead. I've found that there's nothing more stressful than worrying about the next day, when you haven't even finished up the one you are living in.

So, that's my nugget of advice for today. Check out the CJ and let me know what you think!

E-mail me at columbiajournaleditor@gmail.com or cj@cuc.edu.

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog

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My sister and I went to the Takoma Park Street Festival yesterday, and didn't stay long (although the festival was great) because of the overwhelmingly awful heat wave that took hold of Maryland the past two days. Luckily the weather forecast seems to show some improvement over the next week: temperatures in the 60's soon, I hope!

While at the festival, Jera (my sister) and I sipped pina colada smoothies and browsed the farmer's market goods. We purchased a loaf of homemade white bread and much to our amusement, tore pieces off the loaf and ate it as we walked back to our car.

Homemade bread is so good. No words can describe the differences between Wonderbread and an actual homemade loaf. There were so many delicious varieties offered, we finally settled on white just as a way of getting out of making a decision. Chili cheese bread? 5-grain? There were too many options.

I'm actually hungry now, seeing as my nutritious breakfast of Cocoa Puffs and coffee has worn off and I am left with a gnawing feeling in my stomach that is telling me to eat, and soon.

I have such a long day ahead of me (don't ask, just thinking about all I have to do might give me an ulcer) and so I know I have to eat in order to keep my energy up.

Lots of my friends don't eat breakfast, and then I have a few friends who don't eat lunch so they can have a huge dinner.

What meals do you skip occasionally, and why?

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog

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After College Days concludes, all I want is a giant cup of coffee the next morning. Actually, as I write this in the Enrollment Services Office, I am sipping a generous cup of delicious brew.

Let me tell you something about working in the Enrollment Services Office around College Days: you don't get any sleep because you are stressed about your to-do list, your boss makes you do crazy errands, you must complete all logistical tasks in time for the arrival of students and then you are expected to work the actual event. And work we do. Over 20 hours in the span of two days, in fact, one of which is supposedly a "school day." How do we do it? Lots and lots of caffeine, and a little bit of adrenaline to boot.

I was in charge of planning an (admittedly) last minute breakout session this year on behalf of the Communication Department after a miscommunication (ironically) in our office prevented any planning before two days prior to the event. So, Jackie to the rescue!

Luckily, it all came off without a hitch (except for our lack of sleep), and I'm so happy I don't have to worry about this craziness for another year. Of course, the academy students had a great time. CUC has fine-tuned their College Days planning from when I attended back in 2004, and it's much more efficient, fun and relaxed. On Monday, when the students were riding boats and exploring Georgetown, my sister and I (she helped our office out on Monday) bought some clothes at H&M and Starbucks and relaxed for a few minutes. Nice!

Well, as for the rest of this week, I'll probably be a little over-tired and a little unmotivated, but I'm glad all the academies had such a wonderful time.

If any readers went to College Days this year, what did you like most about it? Give me some feedback!

Labels: Jaclyn Wile, student blog

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