January 16: Flying back to Texas. Our flight arrives at 4pm. Factor in a one-hour drive home, some time to pack the car, and a three-hour trip to Abilene, and it’ll be a rather long day.

January 17: The spring semester starts bright and early at 8am with my basic drawing class.

May 25: After a week or so back home from school, this day marks my departure from the States.

May 26: Full day layover in London. No big deal.

May 27: Early arrival at the Entebbe airport in Uganda, after which I’ll be headed to the Kasana Children’s Centre.

August 2: Back in Texas once again.

And that’s that.

In other news, you’ll see that the numbers in the sidebar to your right have changed a bit. Firstly, we reached $505 on December 31st, just in time to ring in the New Year! Secondly, with plane tickets on hold and prices a bit more predictable, my total estimated costs have dropped from $3,000 to $2,500. Pretty exciting, if you ask me.

I hope you all have been having a fabulous 2012 thus far! Personally, I love the feeling of a fresh calendar and a fresh schedule full of fresh opportunities. Let’s make 2012 a year of life lived to the fullest.

Thinking about everything 2012 holds fills me with ridiculous amounts of excitement. The spring semester at school is shaping up to be full of fantastic classes and good times, and even before that, there’s a trip to New York city with two of my sisters and some friends to look forward to. Last time I was in NYC, my 11-year-old self was a little over-stimulated and a bit scared. This time, I can’t wait to see a show on Broadway and take a stroll through Central Park in the winter.

After the semester ends, things will move rather quickly. I’m working with an agent to book plane tickets for the end of May, and then I’ll be off for the summer. It’s amazing how everything is progressing. Finances aren’t looking quite as bleak, and fundraising is making a significant dent in my estimated costs. That’s thanks to all of you, of course. I’ve been on the receiving end of some amazing generosity.

As the Christmas season reaches its climax, I hope all of you are enjoying the blessings of home, family, and friends. Continue to pray for me and my upcoming trip to Uganda, and please feel free to help push total donations up to $500. Maybe we can reach that mark by the end of the year?

Merry Christmas, everyone!

]]> http://bethmaisano.com/2011/12/looking-ahead/feed/ 4 http://bethmaisano.com/2011/12/10-things-i-learned-at-college/ http://bethmaisano.com/2011/12/10-things-i-learned-at-college/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:00:08 +0000 Beth http://bethmaisano.com/?p=1288 Well, I’ve officially survived my first semester at college. And what do I have to show for it? Allow me to make a list.

10. When professors show you the rubrik by which they will grade your work, they will indeed grade your work by this rubrik.

Sounds easy, right? It took two lousy grades to drive this point home for me.

9. If the cafeteria closes at 11:00 and it’s 10:52, you still have time to get dinner.

Note: power-walking skills may be required.

8. When you read “required textbook” on your syllabus, “required” doesn’t always mean what you think it means.

This was an expensive lesson to learn.

7. Finals week can be very relaxing.

Just five tests instead of 15 hours sitting in class? Yes please.

6. Going to bed early makes all the difference at 7am the next morning.

I discovered this during the last week of school. Definitely should have figured it out sooner.

5. On campus, it is socially acceptable to go around in public dressed in sweats, uggs, and a hoodie.

Never thought I’d stoop so low.

4. If you have confidential things to say, don’t say them in a dorm room.

I estimate the walls between rooms are approximately a quarter of an inch thick.

3. When your professor says you won’t be able to make an A if you write it the night before, he may very well be wrong.

What? Did I do this? Of course not…

2. Being a full-time student with a job and a social life is similar to running a never-ending marathon, but worse.

Not that I’ve ever run a marathon.

1. You are paying thousands of dollars to go to school here. For goodness’ sake, buy some coffee and enjoy yourself.

I recommend a raspberry white chocolate latte.

Basically, tonight is perfect.

I’ve been more than a little stressed lately, so I’m loving this. After tomorrow, there’s only one more week of school before finals. I can count my assignments due on one hand. That’s encouraging. My two weeks are in at work, which should leave me free during finals week to focus on studying. The is the home stretch.

Still, there’s so much happening, and it leaves me exhausted in every sense of the word. (Coming down with a cold really doesn’t help things.) Honestly, my biggest fears at this point are a little more long-term than impending final exams. I worry about next summer. I worry about raising the money for plane tickets before the end of the year, and paying for tuition next semester. I worry about balancing work and school and volunteer hours and time with friends. Okay, I worry a little about finals, too.

All that said, I’m not entirely certain what I’m trying to say here. It could be something really deep, but…probably not. (Possibly an indication that I should have thought a little harder about this blog post.)

I think I’ll keep listening to acoustic guitar now.

1. Painting experiments to warm up the brain. I played with bright colors and stencils, with a great degree of failure but much enjoyment nonetheless.

2. A live performance of the play “Private Eyes” on campus. All those plot twists are bound to wake up your thinking faculties.

3. The ever-loyal Macbook Pro. ‘Nuff said.

4. French vanilla hot chocolate.

Basically, tonight’s homework doesn’t even stand a chance.

My 1:00 class ended on Friday, and I headed across campus for orchestra practice. As I was walking through the parking lot, I saw one of my professors loading luggage into a big white bus—apparently he was going on a weekend trip. I didn’t think anything of it, and kept walking.

Just a few hours later, that same white bus would run off the highway, rolling over and ejecting most of its passengers. One student on board would never be coming back to campus. Others would be rushed to the hospital and placed in intensive care.

That night, I turned on the radio on my way back from work. The lyrics to a song by Skillet hit me a little closer to home:

Today, I’m gonna try a little harder
Gonna make every minute last longer
Gonna learn to forgive and forget
Because we don’t have long; gonna make the most of it.

Today, I’m gonna love my enemies
Reach out to somebody who needs me
Make a change, make the world a better place
Because tomorrow could be one day too late.

The ACU community is a strong one, and the tragedy has brought everyone a little closer and God a little nearer. Pray for the students, faculty, family members, and friends affected by the accident. Up-to-date information on the accident and those in the hospital can be found here.

My trip next summer will cost me and estimated $3,000-$4,000. This is probably an unrealistic goal for someone working their way through college, but with a little help, I’m confident this can become a reality.

And that’s where the one dollar challenge comes in.

I know I’m not the only one with a tight budget and lots of expenses, so it’s really not fair or realistic to ask for much. But I would challenge each of you to donate one dollar to my summer in Uganda. That’s one pack of gum, or a third of a Starbucks frappuccino, or maybe just the loose change in your couch. Whatever it is, it’s doable. (In fact, even I could afford it…and that’s saying something.)

Giving is quick, easy, and relatively painless. Just use the donate buttons on the challenge page–you can donate without a PayPal account, too!

So what do you say?

Will you take the challenge?

(click here to donate)

Ready? Go.

1. Don’t Have Parties In Restaurants…

…unless you are one of the few extraordinary souls who can remain pleasant and happy even if the food takes longer than usual and your poor server can’t quite keep up with refills. Parties are meant to happen in your living room. Or maybe try a park.

2. Repeat After Me: “My Waitress Is Not Responsible For How Fast My Food Is Prepared, Nor How It Tastes.”

This should be a given, but you might be surprised how many people never quite get the logic of it.

3. Checks Ought Not Be Torn Asunder

In other words, it’s ridiculously uncool to bring in a huge group of people, split the check in crazy ways, and swap seats throughout the meal. You know that game where you have three cups with a ping pong ball hidden under one, and you move them all around to confuse people? It’s like that. Only worse.

4. Don’t Take the Signed Check

You know the drill: pay with your card, sign one receipt with the tip and total, and take your copy. It’s bad if you take the other copy. You have essentially walked away with my tip. Bad.

5. Do the Math

Basic Social Etiquette informs us that 10-15% is an acceptable tip. Those are important numbers (especially the 15). Remember them, abide by them, use them. Then, move on to Advanced Social Etiquette: 20-25%.

6. Don’t Eat Out If You Can’t Afford to Tip

It’s always a bad sign to overhear a table commenting on the high menu prices. This inevitably means that the customers will spend their money on food and skip out on the tip. Save yourself the pain: mentally include a decent tip before you pick where you’re eating dinner. This is what polite people do.

7. As a General Rule: $1.00 Doesn’t Count as a Tip

That’s more like “Money I Could Make By Crawling Around On The Floor Picking Up Lost Change.”

But I don’t want to do that. So tip me for real.

Waitresses aren’t that hard to please. All we want is your money. No big deal, right?

Call it an “extended short term mission trip,” or something like that. Although the dates aren’t nailed down yet, my hope is to spend the majority of the summer there–at least two months, maybe up to three. And I’ve been dying to tell you all about it every since the thought first came into my mind.

…wait, what? Where exactly are you going?

Destination: Uganda. Specifically, I’ve applied and been accepted to work under an organization called New Hope Uganda. I’ll be living and working at the Kasana Children’s Home.

Why Africa?

I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past year or so looking into various missions opportunities. I wanted something that was more than just a week-long experience; I wanted to immerse myself in something big. And in the middle of beginning an application for a different opportunity, this one landed in my lap. The ministry at Kasana is a place where I can use my God-given hobbies and talents to enable and advance New Hope’s mission to serve the orphans of Uganda. A better question is…why not Africa?

What will you be doing?

Sit tight. More details to come!

In the meantime, I can  always use prayer. Pray that all the necessary details would fall into place, especially in the chaos of this semester at school. Pray for New Hope Uganda. Pray that the funds I need for the trip will be readily available.

Speaking of funds, you can expect some visual changes around here to coincide with the African focus of my next several months. Fundraising is a must, so please bear with me while I pull everything together.

Lately, everything seems to be running out.

I’m out of time to do homework. I’m out of black paint. I’m out of money. I’m out of creative things to write for my English papers. I’m out of ideas for our group project. I’m out of jalapeno chips, the sustenance of life. I’m out of energy. My car’s out of gas. This brings us back to “I’m out of money.”

Let’s just say that at this point in my college student life, I am scraping the bottom of my creativity, my time management skills, and my wallet.

Maybe it’s not a coincidence that this week, ACU is hosting its annual Summit conference with the simple theme “enough.” Writers, speakers and thinkers are on campus from just about everywhere, all bringing their particular insight to the conference. I’ve listened to talks on culture, faith, storytelling, psychology, and blogging–pretty cool, really.

I think it’s all come at a good time–encouraging me to keep my focus off my empty wallet/gas tank/creative brain and instead draw in to God. The riches of Your love will always be enough. We sang those words in chapel last week, and they keep running through my mind.

Is it true?

I don’t need enough time, enough money, enough creativity, enough energy.

All I need is enough Jesus.

(Which is good, because He’s easier to come by than a full tank of gas.)