Looking in the rear-view mirror

As I put the final load of stuff in my car and turned in the apartment key, I was excited, ready to embark on a new adventure. As I drove out of Pullman, with the brick buildings of campus visible in my rear-view mirror, I felt tears welling up and a “oh my gosh, I’m leaving and I don’t know when I’ll be back” in my head. I knew it wouldn’t be goodbye forever; I will come back some day but the fact that its not marked on a calendar really hit me. I won’t be heading back in two months to start another year. I’ve finished my undergrad experience. I’m now considered a “working gal,” and thank God, that’s true. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful full-time job at home with an amazing and supportive staff, family and friends. As the rolling green hills of a summer Pullman left my view, a few silent tears rolled down my face. Goodbye Pullman, WSU, gale-force winds, bitter cold and comfortable heat. I hope the ads that portray “Cougs are everywhere” holds true; I will never stop being a Coug!

The adjustment has gone smoothly after being home five days. Haven’t hung out with any old friends yet but I have begun the arduous task of unpacking college things; deciding what I need, what I can store for when I move out and what I can get rid of. I came to the conclusion I have too much stuff I don’t need and that someone else could use so my donation pile turned into a box, a bag and few miscellaneous items. I always feel better after a good purge of stuff.

While this physical purge took place, I realized I also needed to begin what I’m calling a spiritual purge.  I have been collecting a lot of junk and things I don’t need and its time to get rid of them. Impressions of people I will be working with, friends of friends, impressions of the working world, of living at home again etc. and while the impressions are mostly good, I don’t want to have impressions before I’ve met people, worked with them and experienced the changes. I also have had some feelings of social anxiety that have sprung up from my past and I want to have faith and confidence in God that I don’t need to be anxious or to worry. I have also had some anger with God, for a couple different reasons and I realized its unwarranted and I need to get back into a daily relationship with Him, to purge myself of unwanted attitudes, fears, judgments, anger and worry and instead have faith and trust in the Lord that he will execute his plan when necessary.

Among other things, a large cause of this anxiety is re-entering the young adults community at church. I have frequented the group only a couple of summers in the last four years, from May-July when I return from college. Last summer I was in Australia so I missed further development of friendships within the group. I only know a small number of people in the group; I could probably count them on one hand. They have formed deep, grounded friendships within the group, some relationships even and I am on the outs. Its nothing anyone did or anything that could have really ended up any differently but I need to re-develop friendships and create new ones. Oddly, I’ve almost been better at making friends with people older than I have people my own age. I’ve always had a few good friends but I’ve never been a social butterfly.

With this new start in the young adults group, and in my job, I’m going to make a large, conscious effort to step outside that proverbial box to connect with people, old friends and hopefully new friends.

Sun, bike, trail...perfect Saturday

Yesterday I crossed off another item on my Pullman Bucket List, just in time as I have one week left in Pullman.

After conducting an interview for a freelance feature piece for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News at 8 a.m., I decided I needed to take advantage of the 65 degrees and sunny weather that finally decided to appear so I convinced myself I was going to ride the Chipman Trail from Pullman, WA to Moscow, ID and back.

Now, I don’t have a bike so I rented one from the campus Green Bike system. They aren’t the lightest or best bikes but it would serve the purpose well enough. I also checked out a helmet and bike lock and asked my mom and a friend what the bike laws are, I didn’t want to get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk.

And so I set out. It was smooth sailing most of the way, minus a few hard-core bikers telling me something was rubbing against my spokes, to which I could only reply, “Thanks, it’s a rental.” They laughed and continued on.

Once I reached the end of the trail in Moscow, I decided to continue on to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Moscow, across from the newspaper office. I took a break there and had some well deserved, I think, nectarine cobbler ice cream from a local creamery vendor. Once I had relaxed and stretched a bit, I decided it was time to head back.

About three miles into the return trip, I realized my pace was slowing so I decided to make it a leisurely ride and observe the beautiful green rolling hills and scatters of dark and light purple, orange, yellow and pink wildflowers lining the trail. With the birds chirping and singing, I couldn’t help but smile and thank God for all He created.

I made it to the edge of campus, where the hills begin and all of a sudden I couldn’t ride any longer so I took a ten-minute rest in the shade of a tree before continuing on the final two miles.

The couch in my apartment never looked so comfortable and I didn’t move for a couple hours.

Fast-forwarding to today, I realized even my well applied sunscreen was no match for the Pullman sun so my shoulders, arms and hands are quite red. At least I’ll have a bit of a tan to show off when I return to the Westside. Walking has proven a bit difficult but not as bad as I expected, in all honesty. I thought 20 miles and 50 ft. would’ve caused more soreness…well let’s say I think my bum absorbed most of the soreness.

Another adventure in Pullman comes to a close but it may have sparked an interest in bike riding, we shall see.

Paradox of Our Time

This is something I stumbled across last week that caused me to stop and analyze what I value in life and what society has grown to value.


The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, yet more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; big men and small character; steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce; fancier houses but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember to say "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
 Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Dr. Bob Moorehead is former pastor of Seattle's Overlake Christian Church. He retired in 1998 after 29 years in that post. The essay appeared in 'Words Aptly Spoken,' Dr. Moorehead's 1995 collection of prayers, homilies, and monologues used in his sermons and radio broadcasts.

The above article is clearly inspired by the poem by The Dalai Lama...

The Paradox of Our Age

We have bigger houses but smaller families;

More conveniences, but less time;

We have more degrees, but less sense;

More knowledge, but less judgment;

More experts, but more problems;

More medicines, but less healthiness;

We've been all the way to the moon and back,

but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We build more computers to hold more information to

produce more copies than ever but have less communication.

We have become long on quantity,

but short on quality.

These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;

Tall man but short character;

Steep profits but shallow relationships.

It's a time when there is much in the window,

but nothing in the room.

Journalistic Integrity

As a journalism student with a little professional experience, I find myself reading stories both out of personal and professional interest. It can be hard to keep personal bias from creeping into a story but a professional journalist is supposed to make the effort. A recent Seattle Times article caught my eye because it was about a dispute between a neighborhood church and some nearby homeowners. The article titled “­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Loud music at sheriff’s church rocks neighbors” appeared in the Seattle Times on June 1, 2011. Journalistic integrity requires me to disclose that the article is in fact about my hometown church.

Personal opinion and bias aside, this story appears to have a few journalistic flaws. I do not claim, or think of myself, as an expert or even an experienced journalist. My experience is limited to academic studies, a four-month internship and precious little freelance writing but I see some holes that are worth filling.

To give you a little background, Gold Creek Community Church has been in the media before, both regarding the sound issue presented here as well as for other, I believe more positive, issues and events. The church has been at its current location for a few years and they do like their music loud. This sound issue has also been reported on before by the Seattle Times.

In journalist’s point of view, the headline is supposed to sum up the story.  From the headline, a reader should assume the article is about the loud music but focused on the sheriff’s involvement.

In fact, any mention of Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick isn’t found until a third of the way down. Those in journalism understand the inverted pyramid, where the most important aspects appear first and progress downward in terms of importance. A little background is needed to understand the issue but the focus of this article changes from what the headline suggests.

Who brought the sheriff into the story? Where are the direct quotes about why someone is bringing up the sheriff’s involvement, or lack thereof.

Is it about the ongoing conflict between the neighbors and the church? Is it about investigating any potential bias in the sheriff’s department? Is it about potential hypocritical acts of the church? All these make their way into the story. I argue they each should remain their own story.

And the qualifier ‘many’ in reference to neighbors with signs protesting the church’s loud music isn’t good enough. We need specific numbers because everyone’s interpretation of ‘many’ is different. Are there 5, 25, 100? It’s been hammered into me from day one of reporting and story writing classes.

Also, the reporter should have contacted more protestors. It feels like maybe this Guy Carcione is the only complaint. Are there more protestors, are they friends of his, are they legitimately upset about the noise?  If they’re unwilling to talk to the media, that needs to be reported so the readers can have as full access to as much information as possible.

There are multiple issues tangled within the sound issue. Is it freedom of speech, of religion? Is it an issue with the law or officials? The reporter simply needs to explore all of these (which would make one long and unreasonable story) or address them separately and fully, getting both sides.

Beginning of the End

Two and a half weeks and I will be done with my undergrad degrees...yep, plural. A surprise email from my humanities advisor said that with this final summer class, I have qualified for a second degree instead of a second major. While it might not make a large difference, it will at least look good on a resume.

As I begin to say goodbye to the student phase of my life, I relish in the chance to begin a new phase, something I’ve never done before. While I will never quit learning, I am quickly approaching the end of my traditional academic learning, at least for a couple years. Kindergarten through a bachelor’s degree, 17 years of schooling and now I am officially a full-time employee. Well, really not until July 5^th but close enough. By then I will have finished my undergraduate degree in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism, a second degree Humanities and a Spanish minor.

Through my internship at the local paper in Pullman, I realized my planned career path of a newspaper journalist wasn’t in fact my passion. It was definitely an adventure, a learning experience but the fast-paced, daily assignments didn’t allow me to really explore the subjects very well. So now my interest is feature writing, more magazine-like articles where I can delve into detail and have a bit more creative freedom in writing.

Before I embark on that journey, I’m trying my hand at another aspect of the communications world: media relations, new media and video editing. I don’t have much academic training in these areas as I do have in print journalism but I’ve had exposure and am eager and excited to try my hand. Of course, if I decide to move on from this new job at some stage, these skills are definitely transferable.

This new opportunity excites me and I have no doubt I will learn and grow lots and be challenged. Not only will I grow professionally but also personally and spiritually as it is a job within kids ministry at church. My leadership skills will be developed and I hope to help positively impact the lives of elementary school students.

For now, I must finish up this annoying two and a half weeks of class but I have some interesting preparatory reading for my new job that should keep me learning and on my toes for now.