It's Your Life… What You Gonna Do?

Fall or Winter?  Which Season is Best Here at MVNU?

As midterm break comes to a close and the second half of the semester starts—it makes me think about how fast fall semester is going here at MVNU this year.  It makes me look back to the memories of last year and it makes me look forward to the memories I will make this year.  It’s funny to think about all of the change that occur in a year and all of the things that stay the same.  When asked the question what is your favorite season—I always answer fall.  The changing colors everywhere in nature,  the smell of the fresh air as the breeze passes through, sports games on TV and of course the pumpkin spice latte that Starbucks brings back each year!  However, when asked the question of what is your favorite season at MVNU—it’s really a toss up because both fall and winter have their ups and downs on campus.  So I decided I would do a list of what makes each season awesome at MVNU and then I will leave it up for you guys to decide!

Fall  vs. Winter

Fall

Classes begin and you get to see everyone again

Soccer Games

Welcome Week

OAKtoberfest

Leaves changing color

Winter

First snow fall

Basketball Games

Christmas Break

J-Term

Snowboarding

The lists go on- but I don’t need to tell you everything that happens on campus during these seasons—you just need to experience it yourself!  Until next time- enjoy Fall in Mount Vernon!

Welp—I’m back from a summer of experiences and changes.  I’m officially back on campus and in training for Admissions and let me tell you I’m so excited for this year.
Let me fill you in on my summer and the experiences that God gave me…. My main challenge this summer from God came from a song I heard right at the end of the year and a line from the song was “It’s Your Life… What You Gonna Do?”—which is why I changed my blog title because that is where my focus is going to be this year.  God gave me this wonderful life that I am leading and what am I gonna do with it?  Well this summer has been one of listening, obeying, teaching and learning.  God sent me on a roller coaster journey this summer of challenges and tests and at points it was hard and confusing, but in the end it was the best three months I have had living life in a long time.   God taught me to completely trust him and to live my life for him and he will give me opportunities and blessings that I couldn’t even think of.  What a cool thought!!  In my last post I talked about what I would be doing over the summer and well it was filled with wonderful opportunities that God gave me so that he could teach me a lot.  Someone once told me that you change the most between freshman and sophomore year- and at first I didn’t really believe them. Now that I sit on the other side of summer and am about to start my sophomore year I totally agree with the changes you go through.  This was a summer of change for me, not only in my relationship with God or the new hair cut I got, but I changed my major and am now fully excited for what is ahead.  It is crazy to think that so much can happen in three months, but when God moves well he really moves!  God blessed me with a lot of experiences and now that I’m starting my year I am totally excited to see what God is going to do with my life and with MVNU. It’s going to be an awesome year I know it- and I am excited to see where God takes me.  So the question now is… It’s Your Life… What You Gonna Do?

Stay tuned for my next post on MVNU Life!!

It’s Your Life

Francesca Battistelli

This is the moment
It’s on the line
Which way you gonna fall?
In the middle between
Wrong and right
But you know after all

(Chorus)
It’s your life
What you gonna do?
The world is watching you
Every day the choices you make
Say what you are and who
Your heart beats for
It’s an open door
It’s your life

Are you who you always said you would be?
With a sinking feeling in your chest
Always waiting for someone else to fix you
Tell me when did you forget

(Chorus)

To live the way that you believe
This is your opportunity
To let your life be one that lights the way

(Chorus)

So it’s my first summer after a year of college and little did I know that I was going to be getting out of bed at 6:15 AM to face the  real world for the summer– with a “big girl job” as my friend Olivia called it! About 3 weeks ago I went in to the Ohio Department of Transportation for a internship interview and seriously not 5 minutes after the interview I got the internship!  What an opportunity for me because it is in the field that I am majoring in.  I was placed in the Communications Department of ODOT and get to work with wonderful people!

Here is what I have experienced so far and it is only Day Two….  I have my own desk, phone line, computer, company e-mail address and security badge (with a sweet picture of my face I might add! haha).  I have already started a huge project dealing with State Route 315 and all that that includes.  I have already been to 3 different Public Relations meetings, 1 specifically with Ohio State University, written a news release for my boss and gone to the work site for our project.  I am so excited because I am experiencing a lot of the different parts of the business world and getting paid to learn everything.  All of this is because of MVNU and their higher education standards! I am only going into my sophmore year of college in the fall, but I am already prepared for a lot of what I am faced with because MVNU does a great job of preparing you for the real world early! I am so excited for this opportunity and everything I am going to learn this summer!  Keep reading my posts throughout the summer to learn more about the opportunities that I get and the experiences I learn from!

Hey Guys– I’m back!!!

Wow– can you believe that it is almost May? And with May do you know what comes?? No not flowers– but the end of a school year! I’m so excited for summer break this year– it’s deff time for school to be over! You know this when you find yourself staring out the window in class the entire time wishing you were outside in the warm weather! haha– well somewhat warm weather here in Ohio!

So some may want to know what happens with the last part of the semester…. COMPLETE CRAZINESS!! haha! Alot of tests, projects, papers and homework assignments are due in the last few weeks… however school is not the only thing that happens at the end of the year… We have the BLOCK PARTY coming up this weekend along with Breakaway! Both should be a great time for sure! Then there are baseball games and softball games! More and more people playing ultimate frisbee and soccer outside, along with bike rides and walks around campus and on the bike path! So the craziness of the end of the semester is not all hardwork– some of it is fun!

I think that the coolest part of spring is getting to walk to class when it is beautiful out! I love the weather in the spring because it is just the right temperature to not be too cold or too hot outside! And it is warm enough to wear a dress!! haha! That and the baseball games are always fun too because they are outside, the Cougars are good this year and well I just like baseball!

Alright– here is the new I-pod List for the Spring!

1) Crazier- Taylor Swift

2) Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas

3) 1, 2, 3, 4- Plain White T’s

4) Gives You Heck- The All American Rejects ( I know it’s not the right name– but no bad words allowed! haha)

5) That’s Not My Name- The Ting Tings

6) Come on Get Higher- Matt Nathanson

7) Svo Hljott- Sigur Ros

Alright– and the final part of the post… Comment back with your favorite song on the radio right now and tell me your favorite baseball team (if you like baseball or even if you dont- lol)!

Happy spring!

Hey Guys! I’m back! haha! I know it has been awhile– but we had Spring Break and midterms and all the craziness of Spring Semester….

So because I have been gone I haven’t been able to talk about all the craziness that is happening on campus with my freshman year and how it has been so much fun!  I know that I keep talking about how you really just need to get involved your freshman year and do everything you can– but I’m serious! This spring I have just been doing so much random stuff and meeting so many random people and just loving life!  So this post is going to show you little parts of my life this spring break through pictures because that is one of the things I love to do– take pictures! So this post is not going to be a lot of writing– it’s going to be mostly pictures with little explanations… feel free to comment on pictures, laugh at them, or whatever you want! But deff take them as advice and have as much fun as possible when you get here on campus– because you won’t regret it!

ROOMIES!!! These are two of my apartment mates for next year! Jamie and Katie– I love them oh so much!  Advice Tip #1: Make as many friends as possible and hang out and do random things as much as possible!

These are some of my crazy nest friends! Again– make friends because it will make your college experience the best ever!!

Learn to love coffee and drink it all of the time! It will get you through long nights and those study sessions you don’t want to be in! It will also help you wake up in the morning– well sorta! And it will give you something to do on those week nights when campus isn’t as lively as the weekends!

This is my roommate Kristen for next year! I love her oh so much!

So there are some pictures of my life and the craziness of it! Just have fun and enjoy college because once you get out into the real world you have to become a grown up and that’s never any fun!

Have you ever just had a really good day– like one where everything you do is just awesome… you feel good, you look good, and things just seem to be going great?  That was yesterday for me– it was just a great Spring Day on the campus of MVNU!  First of all– it was like 65 degrees outside– and it was sunny with a light breeze every once in a while! I got to wear a dress which was sweet because I havent gotten to since early last fall so that was a nice change from the jeans and sweatshirts that have consumed me for the last 3 months.  However getting to wear a dress was not the coolest part– the coolest part was how much God’s creation came to life with the warmth!  The birds were chirping in the trees, the flowers are starting to bloom little by little, and the grass is finally green again! I loved it all! It was so beautiful and it just reminded me to step back and thank God for the beautiful creation that he made for us and to just enjoy it! Well, that is exactly what I did- I walked a little slower to class, talked to more people outside and just smelled the fresh air.  I’m not gonna lie– it was wonderful!

I think there are a lot of cool things about Spring other then putting away the Ugg Boots for flip flops and cute flats.  It is a season of change and renewing- especially around Easter time.  I love Spring time because it just reminds me of the beauty of the earth that was hidden away during the winter and that now gets the chance to come out again.  It reminds me that God is all around us– even when he can’t be seen or heard- and that like he made the earth beautiful he made us beautiful too. My pastor was talking on Sunday about how God has a special marketing plan for the world we live in and that plan is US! I think that is so cool because God trusts me enough and has enough faith in me to make me his plan to change the world! I’m so excited for this spring because God showed me through my pastor’s sermon that like spring gets a fresh start to make the world beautiful– so do I! And so– I’m not sure what the exact plan is, but I do know that it includes me changing the world into something beautiful- and I’m excited!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

So this post was a little different from my last few– I just really wanted to share my experiences with the Lord this week and how he has impacted my life! However, as always I wanted to do something crazy or fun in my post so I went to my I-Tunes and pulled up the last 5 songs I have listened to… Here they are!  Feel free to comment on them or on my story– and feel free to tell me your story as well!
With much Love,

Kim

I-Tunes Playlist!

1) I’m Letting Go- Francesca Battistelli

2) My Life Would Suck Without You- Kelly Clarkson

3) How Do You Sleep?- Jesse McCartney

4) You Found Me- The Fray

5) Fearless- Taylor Swift

Alright—so I kinda copied off of my friend Nate who is also blogging (check his out too!) he blogged about stuff a Senior does or should do… and well after being asked by an incoming freshman next year what to expect from freshman year I thought I too would make a list of things to do or expect from freshman year.

Here we go!!!

Be prepared to fall out of your bed or off of your desk chair at least once in the first month of school… it happens so just be prepared… I myself fell out of my lofted bed and all my roommate did was laugh at me.

Don’t expect to get snow days or wind days because here at MVNU it just doesn’t happen—except for this year—we had both and it was wonderful!

Enjoy the many activities that SGA offers for you and all of the sports events here on campus—including intramurals. It is the perfect way to make new friends and get involved with many things on campus… and as Nate mentioned in his blog- the goal of every student here at MVNU should be to get an intramural championship t-shirt by senior year… so good luck to you on that one!

The wonderful world of open dorms…. Hahahaha! Well—maybe not so wonderful, but it is a time where you can have friends over of the opposite gender to hang out, watch movies, study or just talk!

Make sure you turn your phone off in chapel so it doesn’t ring because I promise you EVERYONE will hear it! And if you are going to text—be careful people are watching! Haha! I got caught by my boss in chapel texting- true story! You want to know how he let me know he saw me texting?? He texted me in chapel- ironic huh? J

Buy your books off of Amazon.com or half.com or even a student who has already taken the class because it will be way way way cheaper than if you buy them from the bookstore. Make sure you check with upperclassmen to see if you need the book to because some classes the book is not required so deff use your resources when it comes to books!

Get your chapel credits in early and take advantage of the Wednesday night chapels as well… First reason—Wednesday night chapels are actually really cool and interesting! Second reason—the week before finals comes and you realize you don’t have enough credits—yeah that stinks… however if you are smart (like I was last semester) I went to all my chapels early so when it came to the end of the semester and I got to go sleep and/or study! That was nice!

Use the library—as geeky as that sounds I have gotten so much work done in there! It is crazy- haha! I mean who would have thought the library was a good place to study!

Room checks—they happen everywhere on campus! They are the one time a week your RA comes to make sure that your room is somewhat clean and that you don’t have anything inappropriate in there! It is also a nice time to catch up with you RA and see how classes and stuff are going! We are a very loving campus!

Finally—just have FUN! Seriously, get out of your dorm room and don’t be scared to try new things. It will pay off I promise—hey I dropped a birthday cake at the first party I went to on campus with all upperclassmen who I DID NOT KNOW AT ALL… now—they are all my friends and we can joke and laugh about it! So deff just have fun freshman year!

xoxo

First off– if you are a girl you put on your rainboots or as some may call them your wellies! You roll up your jeans and go out side to enjoy the wonderful weather outside!

Springtime is upon us here in Mount Vernon and I know this because it is the second day in a row that I have not had to wear a coat while on my way to class– what an awesome feeling!   That and it was even warm enough for you to wear flip-flops if you wanted to!  I think this is one of the best times of year because it is when everyone starts to become happy on campus again– everyone starts saying hi to everyone again (because you can actually tell who someone is now because they don’t have to be all bundled up under multiple layers), the sun is actually shining when you wake up so it doesnt feel like you should still be asleep, classes are more exciting and the overall atmosphere on campus is more uplifting!  This is also when baseball and softball games start and more activities on campus happen!  The craziness of springtime is upon us and I’m excited about it! Listen to all of the things coming up here in the next couple weeks… First off our boys and girls basketball teams are still in the tournaments- in fact the boys play here on Saturday night (come to the game and support them!), two of my closest friends on campus are hosting a benefit concert (check the link out for the Extended Melody Project), baseball game and softball game coming soon, and of course indoor soccer intramurals start!  As for less exciting but still fun activities, day time walks or bike rides on the bike path, studying outside instead of in the library (haha), getting to open your window to clear out the winterness, and more activities like flag-football, pick-up soccer games and ultimate frisbee tend to happen as well! All of this is what springtime brings to Mount Vernon- stay tune for the next update on my exciting life in the spring!

So, last night at 1:24 am I was typing a note on Facebook… the one where you have to put 25 things about yourself and then a bunch of people comment on it and tell you how they feel about certain ones… well I did that like everyone else…. and on my list at Number 3 I put “I like to think I am a really clean person, but to tell the truth I am an organized messy person.” And seriously like 6 people commented on that one and said they agreed…. well– I guess I would agree… which is why this post is going up.

Well, working in Admissions and being a caller for them sometimes means you will get questions like… “How big are the dorm rooms?” “Can you decorate them?” “What do you have in your dorm room?” So I’m guessing that some of you might wonder what a dorm room looks like… or what a college student puts in a dorm room… well– I can tell you a little about my dorm room and try to answer those questions! haha!

Well, let’s see….. my dorm room is half messy (my side) and half somewhat clean (my roommates side)– this is the case for a lot of dorm rooms… they are messy or somewhat messy but hardly ever really really clean! Who wants to clean their room when there are way cooler things to do? Honestly! Well… I guess if your mom is coming you might want to clean it or at least put your laundry away!

So you are wondering what you might find in a dorm room…. typical stuff really… t.v., computer, dresser, closet, chairs… but then there are the things that make your room unique… for my room it is the fact that it is very bright… like our curtains are a special fabric from IKEA and we have colored rugs… we also have a Jonas Brothers poster up and then there are pictures everywhere! We are girls so that is going to make it a little different then a guys room, but generally it is the same type of stuff… just different posters and different pictures! The funny thing about it is that you think of it as your home– even though it is one room– it is your home! Funny but just wait until you get to school and someone asks you where you are going and you respond home, not to the house you grew up in but home to your room in the dorm! It’s a funny feeling, but very true!

So to answer questions like the ones listed above… my best answer to you is that you have to make it your own… put up sweet posters and pictures or put a sweet piece of carpet down on the tile floor. Whatever you want to make it your own… you could even change it after awhile if you get bored! That’s what my room mate does!   So to conclude this very random post that I am doing at 2:13 am…. The secret behind what is in the drom room is really no secret at all… it is whatever you want to be in your dorm room!

So some of you might be wondering who I am and why I am doing this? Sometimes I ask the same questions!

This first post is going to be a getting to know Kim post and after that- well you will get to know more about me but you will also get filled in on some experiences I have had too!

Let’s see… where to begin…. My name is Kim Mengerink. I am 19 years old and I am a freshman at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.  I grew up in Delaware, Ohio which is about 45 minutes away from both Mount Vernon and Columbus, so basically I have been in Central Ohio my entire life.  I am the middle of five children in my family and the order is girl, boy, girl, boy, girl… seriously I promise! My dad’s name is David and he is a civil engineer who works for the State of Ohio- he basically designs the highways and major roads in Ohio.  My mom’s name is Karen and she is a special education teacher, but after having 5 kids and being a stay at home mom for most of our childhood she went back to work as a substitute teacher (which sometimes I think might be harder!) Then there are the kids… I have an older sister named Christina who is 27. She is married and both her and her husband teach at Big Walnut High School.  My older brother is Brian, he is 24 and he is a computer consultant for a huge company in Columbus.  My younger brother is Jeff who is 16 and he is a sophomore in high school and is one crazy cool kid.  The last but certainly not the least is Emily who is 13 and in 8th grade– that sweet stage before high school that no one really enjoys!  So there is a little bit about my family- however this is my blog so you probaby are going to want to know a little more about me!

Here are the basics… the rest you will learn throughout my blogging experience!

You already know that I go to MVNU! I am a double major in Marketing and Sports Management here at the Naz! My ultimate dream job would be to work for a huge sports team or for a huge fashion design firm like Limited Brands- however I would really be okay with any job after college to start off! I absolutely love coffee- some say it is an addiction, I say that it is just a neccessity in my life!  One of my favorite past times is to just sit in Starbucks for hours talking with friends and drinking good coffee… I have actually been kicked out of Starbucks before because they were closing and I was still there- like to the point of the workers are done cleaning everything and have their car keys to go home and I am still there with friends chatting away! So call it what you want– an addiction, a problem, or just a fun way to live life!  Coffee is a big part of my life because it allows me to connect with people, which I love to do! I just love to talk to people, so some of these posts might be longer just because I keep talking (typing) away– so I’m sorry ahead of time!  As far as other major things you need to know about me… I am a Christian and Jesus is my Savior.  I love him because he loves me and he blesses me daily with wonderful friends, family, and so many other things that you would be here forever reading about all of them! Basically he rocks and that is all that needs to be said! haha!  My friends and family define who I am and I am so thankful for them! You will get to meet each and every one of them through my blog at some point so stay tuned for that in the following weeks! As far as the rest of me– well you will have to read my posts to experience the craziness of my life on this campus!

Don’t forget to check out Addison’s blog! It should be a good one too!