The Integration of Faith and Chicken

While limited to a mere two months, an internship at Chick-fil-A is certainly not without excitement. I had opportunities ranging from working in a Chick-fil-A restaurant for a day, to sleeping on the streets of Chicago with the president of a multi-billion dollar company, to driving an excavator. On top of these, and many, many other extraordinary events, I even worked. Not only did I have the chance to participate in a number of unexpected events, but I also had the chance to do actual work, contributing greatly to a Chick-fil-A information technology project. My experiences at Chick-fil-A can (but should not) be boiled down into these three categories: (1) there are extreme differences between working for professors and working for professionals, (2) if you are introverted, Chick-fil-A culture sucks energy like a banshee sucks the hope of Irish maidens (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=define%3A+banshee) , and (3) the Taylor bubble is absolutely not limited to Upland.
The stem of the differences between professors and professionals is this: expectations. While these differing expectations can be seen in all professions, there are a few specific to the staff/prof paradigm: the ten percent paradox, the temporal ternary, and the BYOB bifurcation.
First, we will address the ten percent paradox: in academics, the last ten percent of the work (the difference between an A and 100%) is extra and therefore optional; however, in the workplace, this ten percent is completely expected, and therefore a pain in the butt.. a necessary evil.. a very important thing to not forget. Actually, I absolutely understand the importance of the last ten percent; it’s what separates a secure production application from my half thought out hack of a program Throughout the summer, I found it exceptionally difficult to work once I crossed the ten-percent event-horizon. I always wanted to push through into new development, rather than spending extra time making sure that every detail was fully programmed. Still, I would argue that academia in NO WAY encourages you to go that “extra mile,” especially when merely attaining an “A” is good enough. Overcoming the ten percent paradox in academia was a very difficult paradigm shift for me.
Next, a part of the industry world that I did not understand was the temporal ternary. When work is assigned, especially if it is a small, menial thing, one is given at least three times longer than should be expected. For example, if my supervisor were to ask me to send him an email that would take me a half hour to plunk out, I would be given until the end of the day to complete it. This, again, was completely baffling to me, a student, since I am always expected to exact results immediately in course work.
Finally (and most excitingly), as an industry-level worker, you are allowed and expected to BYOB. As a student and student worker, I find that, all to often, I am forced to drink the Kool-Aid that I’ve been handed by my professor. What he says is what I do. If I were to offer my own refreshments in return, I would be asked to re-do work or tweak my thoughts based on a professor’s request. That second “B,” of course, refers to my brain. (Bring Your Own Brain).
I am certainly not trying to be hard on professors here; it’s not their fault. Countless years of schools creating, refining, and impressing assignments have boxed students and their brains into so many corners that point values can even be assigned to the mushy organs. I, myself am a relatively decent 3.61/4.0. The standard of excellence for college graduation and assignment of credit force the hands of professors to do so, but we should find creative ways to avoid boxing students in with menial assignments that teach only one thing at a time -- that which the professor wants the students to learn. This model of learning does not prepare students to “run with it,” like I had got to so many times while working for Chick-fil-A. Creative control as to how to bring an application into fruition is a very freeing and empowering opportunity. When I was told by my co-worker/supervisor Mark Presley to, “Do what you think is best,” because he did not know how to do it, I thought I was going to fall over in my seat; I had my own brain! I could contribute in the way that I thought was best. Empowerment like this encourages deeper learning, because it develops ownership and drive.
Once I adjusted to the differences of work styles between professors and professionals, I had a chance to step back and examine Chick-fil-A culture. There are a few unique things about the way that Chick-fil-A does business that give it such a unique culture: Chick-fil-A staff (1) schedules meetings before composing emails, (2) do their best to stay relevant, and (3) do not compose a Christian company.
“You are one of over three thousand applicants..” At least, that’s what they told us during our final few interviews and conversations with members of the HR department while we were preparing to leave the company. Chick-fil-A Inc is selective to say the least; Mark Miller, director of training and development, informed us that Chick-fil-A always prefers to hire based on high moral standings and obvious strength of moral characteristics. The rest -- individual skills -- are even less important. Skills can easily be taught while morals, work ethic, and character take a life-time to develop: “That’s what your parents are for,” he coyly commented. Upon further reflection on my interactions with the people here at Chick-fil-A, this has become an obvious fact. The people here are wonderful. Too wonderful. Being introverted, by nature, causes me to eventually succumb to the need for personal space and inner reflection; however, culture at Chick-fil-A requires an obsessive, obstinate, and obligatory outward expression of oneself; you must interact with people.
Meetings rule the world of Chick-fil-A. I have not taken the time to go back through my calendar to see how many meetings I attended during the day, but I can recall a number of days where I spent meager minutes at my desk; the entirety of many days was consumed with many meetings. I may have been harsh with my need for introversion -- I was fine. In fact, I greatly enjoyed the chance to interact with, learn from, and share amongst other members of the company. Andrew Stohrer, my “coach” (as Chick-fil-A calls him) for the summer reflected very highly on the matter: “It’s just Chick-fil-A’s way of doing business.” After taking a few minutes to reflect on the culture developed there, the annual income of the company, and the retention rates of its employees, it is clear to all that Chick-fil-A is a successful organization. Dan Cathy, COO and president, indirectly argues for the meetings by claiming that, “[Chick-fil-A] need[s] to stay relevant”. What does he mean by this?
Relevance is one of many keys to Chick-fil-A’s success. Relevance is the act of analyzing and understanding people, interacting with other companies, discussing alternatives, and making changes to the status quo of the business. Many, including Dan (by the end of the summer, he asked that we --the interns-- be on a first-name basis with him), argue that face-to-face meetings encourage discussion, differing opinions, and ultimately a more refined and relevant organization. I would argue that this is the main reason for such a great number of meetings.
Clearly, Chick-fil-A, Inc has a very strong focus on people. All of those people are of quite upstanding moral character. Thus, coming from a place that stresses the integration of faith and learning, we beg to ask the question: is Chick-fil-A a Christian company?

The answer is quite simply this: “No.”

Dan Cathy states clearly that, “It’s not a Christian company.” (http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/at-chick-fil-a-845950.html) He states this citing the fact that a company cannot be a Christian, but the people can. As a result, Truett, Dan, and the Executive Committee have done everything in their power to push the company in the direction of glorifying God. Their corporate purpose, why they are on this planet doing business, resonates the following: “"To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A) The result of this carefully planned strategy and intentional community is that there is an integration of Faith and Chicken. It’s certainly true that not everyone that works at Chick-fil-A is a Christian, but a large number of beliefs that Chick-fil-A as a company holds line up with the beliefs of Christians. Does Chick-fil-A hire only Christians? No. Are many people at Chick-fil-A conveniently Christians? Yes. The Christian and Chick-fil-A world views form a serendipitous syzygy.
Not only does Chick-fil-A align well with Christian world views, but it also seems to reflect Taylor University’s culture with a corporate twang. Intentional Community becomes intentional meetings. Floor tables become team tables. Intramural sports become walleyball games. Pick-a-dates become bi-weekly wedding or baby showers. These are just a few of the community-building things that I experienced while working for Chick-fil-A. Throughout all of this, Ashley and I had the opportunity to spend time with four Taylor graduates and their families outside of work. We all got together three times for movies, and once more for dinner.
One of the absolute highlights of the summer truly was our opportunity to interact with members of the Taylor family outside of work. After one movie night, Ashley, myself, and eight Taylor husbands and wives stayed up late sitting in the Vanderwalker’s living room chatting way past our median bedtimes. I remember commenting to Ashley as we drove away that night that, “I love these people.” The experience that I had was that I was truly part of the family. For example, the experience I had was more like I was spending time with family around the Christmas tree than hanging out with long-time friends.

Throughout the entire summer, I had the chance to experience a great deal of events, people, and activities. Having the chance to interact with and learn from professionals instead of professors has taught me much about working in the corporate environment. In addition, I was given the opportunity to experience and learn a little about how to create the Chick-fil-A culture. Finally, the highlight of the summer was learning how large and inviting the Taylor family truly is.

Streets of Chicago

If you've been following me on Twitter or getting the occasional bizarre Facebook update from me about sleeping on the streets of Chicago, I felt like I'd at least give you a little bit of an explanation. It's kinda a funny story, really.

Backstory:

-- I'm doing an internship with Chick-Fil-A's (CFA) information technology department at their international office

-- Dan Cathy, President and CEO of CFA, invited myself and a few other interns to join us to Chicago for a CFA restaurant grand opening

-- Grand Openings are a big deal at CFA

So. T-minus 4 days till takeoff for Chicago, myself and the other interns knew almost nothing about how the trip was supposed to work, and the person that we were supposed to be communicating with about it (the intern supervisor for the summer) was headed out to Florida for the entire week -- she was totally outside of communications. Here's what we knew:

-- Bring a sleeping bag.. if it's raining.

-- If it's not raining.. you won't be able to use it

-- If it's not raining.. you will be sleeping outside

-- if it is raining.. you will be sleeping inside with the sleeping bag that we may or may not be able to fit on the plane

-- If we can't fit it on the plane.. you will be sleeping on concrete

Basically, that's how the progression went. The rules were like this for everything: dress code, arrival times, directions.. You name if. If you are confused, that's what I was going for: that's how we felt, too. Basically, we kept recieving cryptic emails of that nature that really didn't help prepare us whatsoever for the trip.

Don't worry. That was fine. We at least knew where to be and at what time.

On the day that we were leaving, my friend Andrew and I carpooled down to the airport where CFA had their corporate hangar. Yeah. Corporate hangar. How cool is that? Inside of the hangar/office, were contained two corporate jets. After getting some clarification from the on site staff, we boarded the jet. There were nine of us going, and nine spots on the jet. 4 spots in front, 5 spots in back. It was pretty cool: often we'd be sitting there on the jet, glancing around, grinning, and mouthing to each other, "What the crap are we doing here," and "HOLY-cow!" It was during this stage of bewilderment that Dan came over, plopped down on the ground near our feet, and struck up a conversation about our workdays yesterday. That was a little bizarre.

We landed. Drove. Sat in traffic. Drove a few feet. (yes, feet). And Sat in traffic more until we got to the corner of Chicago and Wabash streets where the new CFA was located.

Alright. Now we're starting to get to the streets of Chicago. Sorry about all that detail.

The confusion continued. Because all of the employees were on a mission to make sure that everything was ready to go, they were doing all sorts of training, and really had no information to give us or tasks to assign to us. The night turned into us waiting around to be told what to do. Poor little interns.

Eventually, the first 100 people showed up that would each earn their free CFA sandwiches for a year. Once they did, their mission was to camp out, in front of the restaurant, on the streets of Chicago, all night long. Normally, people would be allowed to bring tents and chill out inside of them, but since we were in the middle of the city, and we couldn't get permits to section off the street, that was not allowed. For anyone. So people just brought chairs and sleeping mats and chilled on the side of the street. In much his own fashion, Dan grabbed his sleeping bag and air mattress, plopped down in the middle of the line, and joined them. (he was out within 10 minutes-- it was crazy impressive.) Myself and a few others decided that it would be an awesome option to join him. We did.

So. Here I am. Laying on a wet, cement sidewalk in the middle of Chicago, staring off into the sky/skyscrapers, and wondering, "What the crap am I doing here?" It was a very weird experience. But it kept getting weirder.

We were accosted by the following people:

..A drunk chick, that was so bewildered by the scene that she proceeded to tell us about how she got hammered because the kid that she was babysitting was very frustrating.

..A gay couple, that was so excited to see a CFA that the less drunk of the two stated that, "I know you guys are Christians, but I rounded that corner and said to ___name here___ Holy f***!, they're putting in a CFA??" (I could barely contain myself because it was so hilarious.)

..A homeless man that was very confused (and so very high) that one of the attending police officers almost had to escort the man away.

..A very, very large woman, that was up so late that she decided that she would take her pet Hedgehog out for a stroll. Yes. Hedgehog.

It was during all this that I managed to find some rest. But, I just wanted to let you know a little bit about my interesting experience on the streets of Chicago.

Living off campus and attending a college that has a strong focus on the coined term "intentional community" is difficult. Something that I've been realizing as I move back into a new semester is that while I am on campus and engaging in said community, I feel as though I belong, as though I am truly engaging. However, as soon as I leave and head back to my own abode, I suddenly feel extremely distant. Don't get me wrong, this is something that's definitely okay with me, but why does the contrast always feel so strong?

I'm an introverted person; yes, my personality is such that I like being around people: I'm not anti-social in the least. But there is a point for which I just need separation, time to recuperate and spend some time just vegetating. One would think that living off-campus would then be perfect for someone with my personality. I can spend time with my friends on campus, and then leave and be alone off campus. Huh.

I kinda wish that I had a dorm room, actually. I love it when people come over to my house to hang out in my room. Having people come over and just play video games or watch TV in my room whenever they want actually sounds like it would be really nice. I can't really explain why. I think what I need is a roommate.

I don't really know where I'm going with all of this. I thought that I would just give myself a chance to vent and hop back into the Blogosphere. You can expect me to make a few more posts in the near future. I have found this session very therapeutic. Thank you very much.

Paul

I had to write a paper for interpersonal communication. I had some interesting thoughts when I sat down to write it, and thought you guys might be interested in reading it. :-)

Paul Nurkkala

Recursive Conversation

In the paper Understanding Composing by Sondra Perl, a professor of Lehman College, she explains how composition occurs as a “recursive process.” (Perl, 1980, 336) This recursive process, she claims, is the basis for all composition. When writing, she says that one will write a little bit, take a step back, look at what they have written, and then keep going based on what they learned. She also points out that writing does not follow the “strict plan-write-revise sequence” that teachers and professors have claimed as holy. (Perl, 1980, 336) In this way, she spends the remainder of the paper describing how recursive process takes place and how it is continually used in composition.

While the ideas behind using recursion to write do not seem to immediately relate to interpersonal communication, if you look at them from the right perspective, it will become clear that interpersonal communication and the practice of recursion are intricately connected.

As we write, we re-read short sections of our papers, study what we have written, and use the information remembered to create a better paper. This process deviates from the traditional linear view of composition: planning, writing, and revising, towards this newer concept: recursive writing. In order to understand how recursive writing relates to interpersonal communication, it is best to have a good idea of what recursive writing actually is.

When I take time to review my writing, it reveals a story. A story not of sitting down, intentionally thinking out a plan, writing an entire essay, and then going back to revise, but instead, I seem to follow a quite different pattern: a pattern of recursion. This process of recursion is defined by Sondra Perl. “In [the linear view of writing's] stead, we have advocated the idea that writing is a recursive process, that throughout the process of writing, writers return to substrands of the overall process, or subroutines (short successions of steps that yield results on which the writer draws in taking the next set of steps); writers use these to keep the process moving forward.” (Perl, 1980, 364) When I write, I simply begin. I sit down and start to write. Through this process, I re-read what I have already written as a basis for what I am about to write by using it as blinders to keep me on the right track.

Obviously recursion is involved in writing, but how is it involved in the spoken word? There are two main ways that recursive writing relates to interpersonal communication: context and collaboration. Context refers to the necessity for conversation to be based on previous or present content involved in the current interaction, and collaboration is the use of each others’ verbal and non-verbal cues to push the conversation forward.

When conversing, one must continually be examining all possible context of the different ideas surrounding the interaction in order to keep the conversation moving. In talks that I have taken part in and trying to decide what to say next, I am continually “recursing” back to the context of what has been said, what has been done, and the actual physical location of the conversation. (ie home, store, class, etc..) I take what I learn from my quick reflection, and prepare my next “tid-bit” of conversation based on the reviewed context.

Much in the same way, two individuals will use context in the feedback they provide for one another. According to Joseph A. DeVito, author of The Interpersonal Communication Book, there are five stages to a conversation: “It’s convenient to divide up conversation into chunks or stages and view each stage as requiring a choice as to what you’ll say and how you’ll say it. Here we divide the sequence into five steps: opening, feedforward, business, feedback, and closing.” (DeVito, 2007, 194) The three steps that lead to feedback certainly require context to be appropriate, but none are as devastatingly involved as the feedback stage. This is because collaboration takes place mostly in the feedback stage of a conversation. “[In the Feedback Stage] you reflect back on the conversation to signal that, as far as you’re concerned, the business is completed.” (DeVito, 2007, 196) In the fourth stage of conversation, we have to be actively listening to what the other person is saying so that we can appropriately nudge, respond, and affirm the person with which we are in conversation. Using recursion back and forth to build on what has already been said greatly benefits the quality of the conversation. While the “business” of the conversation may not always be complete at this point in each conversation, feedback is still necessary to advance further information sharing.

In these two, small examples of recursion in conversational context and collaboration, it is clear that re-examination of what has been said is necessary when talking. Taking context into consideration allows us to communicate in more sensible and accurate ways. Collaborating with the other person during the feedback stage will improve and further conversation.

In review, I believe that, yes, recursive writing is a fantastic angle to view the way that writing works, but in addition, I also believe that recursion has an amazing benefit and use in the world of interpersonal communication through not just the written word, but also the spoken, immediately communicated word. Sondra Perl’s research on the topic of recursion is clearly shown to be true, and can also be intersected with spoken conversation.

Through both the examples and the implications of this idea behind interpersonal communication, it is clear, not only in concept, but in practice that these aspects of conversation are used in my life. Daily I find myself in conversation, and every second of every conversation I review, revise, and “recurse” that which I say. It is with the process of recursion that not only I, but all of us use to accurately and appropriately interpersonally communicate. Bringing light to the ideas behind recursive communication has allowed me to take a step back, look at what I have written, and apply it to the context and collaboration of my life as a communicator.

Bibliography

DeVito, Joseph A. (2007) The interpersonal commuication book. Pearson Education, Inc: Boston, MA

Perl, Songra. (1980). Understanding composition.College

Composition and Communication, 31(4), Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/356586

Skiing on Thin Ice

Yes. Skiing.

For those of you who aren't at Taylor University right now, the weather is quite atrocious. Rain is falling form the sky, hitting the ground, and immediately freezing, creating a super thin layer of ice on the ground. Needless to say, this creates a very hap-hazzard environment for those of us that are walking from building to building. Very intense.

I was hanging out in English hall's lobby, playing board games with a few of my friends, when Dan and Cortney, another couple of good friends, walk in from studying in the library. At this point, I didn't have any idea what the weather was like outside, but they were quick to inform me that my walk home was going to be crazy! When they left, I turned, without hesitation to the rest of the group, excitedly announced we must go outside and sled on the ice.

After a few minutes' preparation, we mozied our way to the door and walked outside. At first, it just looked like an average, rainy night. Then I actually tried to walk. My feet hit the pavement, and I nearly collapsed it was so slippery.

Again, for those of you who don't know, I have a very long, very steep, blacktop driveway. It was 100% ice. Oh. My. Gosh. We slipped, skied, and slid down the driveway for a solid 20 minutes waking neighbors in all directions. We didn't necessarily use the sled all that much, because it was much more intense to throw yourself at the driveway and "ski" down the entire thing on your shoes. The blacktop was as slippery as, well, ice. One would pick up speed going all the way down.

It was definitely an awesome bonding experience for me and some friends I haven't gotten to hang out with much! Thanks for entertaining my ridiculous ideas!

*raises eyebrow*

Avatar - Not a critique

Okay, so one of the fabs of the land right now is Avatar. Yes, I realize that I’m a little bit behind on this blog post, but I wanted to explain why I absolutely love this movie. Let me also tell you that it’s officially my favorite movie of all times; I usually don’t fall victim to trendy

movies. I simply love this film. And no, this will not be a review or pushy, overbearing and frustrating critique on the movie, just why I love it.

I’m pretty sure the biggest reason that I love this movie is because of how deeply it reaches into what I’ve grown up on: Sci Fi. Yes, that’s a pretty big genre, but let me divulge a little more information to you. Since I was pretty much born, my parents have shown me EVERY Star Wars movie, EVERY Star Trek movie (and season for that matter), and EVERY other show with some

semblance to either. Because of this up-bringing , I’m fascinated by the ideas behind aliens, planets, space travel, and war and whatnot – all of which is included in Avatar.

In addition to feeding on my desire for Futurist

ic passions, Avatar feeds on my love of Ted Dekker. This author is a Christian drama/mystery writer, for those of you who don’t know, and he wrote one collection called the Circle trilogy. (Recently made to be four) Through this series of stories, Dekker depicts a man, Thomas of Hunter, that slips between two different worlds, one real and one seemingly fake and surreal, and in the end, chooses to live in the unbelievable planet. This story captivated my imagination every time I read it. When Thomas of Hunter was in the fantasy world, he was studying the customs of the people he was with, learning to fight as they did, married one of their own, and became their chivalrous leader. I’d always adored this story, and wanted to see it on film. Avatar was my chance.

A story that I read when I was much younger focused on another aspect of the story behind Avatar (which, yes, does seem shockingly like “Pocahontas in Space”). The series of books was called the “Mars Diaries.” Intended for younger kids, the story was about a disabled boy who was able to use a machine to connect his consciousness to a robot, and control it like he was “super.” This robot was stronger than humans, more capable, and, most importantly freed him from his frail body. With his new, steel bones, the main character was able to help the Colony on Mars overcome some of the difficulties it was facing. This story captured my heart when I was young, so seeing something similar to that portrayed in a film was very captivating to me.

Through the combination of story tweaks and ideas that have been influencing me since I was young, I was deeply pulled by this movie, such to the degree, that, when I left, I felt like a little piece of me was missing – I wasn’t quite complete. This is something I’ve never experienced before, and it was quite dramatic.

Productive Procrastination

It’s Sunday night.

I’ve put off my homework all day long.

I’ve got to get it done.

I sit down, ponder beginning, and turn to my left and my right.

“Huh..” I ponder aloud, “my room is dirty..”

Without hesitation, I stand up and begin cleaning. This goes on for a while. Before I know it, it’s an hour and a half later, and I am still no closer to getting any of my homework done.

Why is this?

Productive Procrastination.

You see, lazy is a good feeling, but when it is accompanied by the feeling of not getting something important (such as homework) done, then negative emotions start sneaking in. Whenever I want to feel lazy, but have something important to be doing, I start cleaning my room. This way I can procrastinate, without the cost of the bad feelings of not doing that one, necessary thing. The feeling of being productive (cleaning my room) fully counters the feeling of procrastination (homework). This is productive procrastination.

I don’t really have more to add than that, but does anyone else suffer from the same problem?

The Flat that bit Back

Usually when Ryan and I drive back to Taylor from Minnesota, we have a fun, uneventful drive in which we listen to music, eat junk food, and drive comfortably from the inside of Ryan’s car..

Tonight was an exception.

About four hours into the trip, we took a stop in Tomah, Wisconsin, a small, wayside city in the middle of nowhere. After filling up the car, we grabbed a bite to eat at Subway. We pulled out of the restaurant and resumed the trip by getting on I94. Nearly the moment we pulled onto the freeway, the car started making a sound that was not unlike a muffled banshee screaming at the top of the lungs, thumping it’s head against the wall repeatedly. Quite frightened by this ridiculous racket, Ryan pulled the wobbling car off to the side of the interstate so we could inspect the source of this noise.

One thing that’s not quite as frightening as it looks is this: semi trucks on the free way. When watching from a distance, they lumber down the freeway in a calm, relaxed sort of manner. When standing four feet from the freeway, the massive trucks are quite intimidating. More on this later.

When a lull in the traffic came, Ryan and I stepped out onto the freeway and inspected the car . At first, we couldn’t find the source, but then it became obvious. Between the original “popping” of the tire and the time it took us to pull off the road, this poor, rubber doughnut was shredded.

Pondering our predicament, we realized there were a few “of courses” to be addressed. Of course, Wisconsin, being very close to Minnesota, was quite chilly (negative 4 degrees, to be exact(negative 8 with windchill)). Of course neither Ryan nor I had ANY experience changing a tire. Of course we were right of the freeway, playing chicken with semis. Of course we had no winter clothes. Of course.

Re-convening inside the car, we grabbed our phones and called our respective fathers for advice in changing tires. After chatting with Mr. Gates for a few minutes about the overall process, we decided to incrementally change the tire by calling.. fixing.. calling.. fixing.. until the tire was changed. Once again hauling our under-dressed butts out of the car, we realized the ferocity of the aforementioned trucks. Crouching four feet from the rood with nothing but a travel-size socket-wrench to defend yourself with, you start to feel pretty pathetic when staring down the grill of a 65 mile an hour 18 wheeler with flames painted up the hood. Nevertheless we loosened the bolts on the tire (climbed inside the car and called for the next step), jacked the car up (climbed inside the car and called for the next step), and attempted to remove the ruined tire.

Yes. I said attempted for a reason.

We couldn’t get that tire to save our lives. We shoved, banged, kicked, pounded, and punched to no avail. Just as we realized that it wasn’t coming off, a man that worked at a local shop named Steve pulled in behind us to see if we needed help. Informing him that we couldn’t get the tire off the car, he came up, pulled a couple times, sighed, turned to us, and said in a wonderfully Wisconsonian accent, “Well she’s not coming off..” Being a car guy, he informed us that we would end up needing a tow truck; he gave us a few numbers to try, including his, should we needed more help.

Reaching once more for our phones, we started calling every tow truck company within a reasonable distance. The first four companies we called were either closed or unable to come to our assistance. Until, finally, the last company we called was able to send someone to us.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, a large, flatbed tow truck pulled up, and situated itself in front of the car. As soon as the truck was in position, a short, white-haired man stepped out, and immediately went to work. No “Hello.” No “How’s it going?” No nothing. He just started picking up the car. The first thing he asked us was “Key’s in the car?” when he went to move the car a little bit closer to the truck. With little to do, he sent us into the cab of his tow truck to wait for him to finish. Awkwardly, we sat there, pondering aloud how “weird” this whole experience was.

The man raised the car up into the air, and balanced it properly on the back of the truck. He hopped into his tow-truck, popped it in gear, and we rumbled off down the highway. Ten minutes of a roaring engine and frightfully awkward conversation and reprimand later, we arrived at our destination: his shop.

We disembarked the vehicle, and the man asked us how we’d be paying. We asked if we could pay by credit card, but he responded, informing us that would not be possible. Cash was our only option. He then proceeded to tell us about our extremely large bill, and gave us his car keys and directions to the nearest ATM. Dazed into a stupor about how ridiculous this whole situation was, we clambered into this man’s freaky, smokey, DVD filled van and drove down the street to the nearest gas station. About this time, we realized how scary this situation really was. This man picked us up on the side of the road, never asked us who we were, plopped us in a van, told us to pick up a large amount of cash money, and kept all of our worldly possessions behind with him. On top of all that, he was extremely creep.

When we got back, he was finished, we dolled out a massive amount of money, hopped into our car, backed out of the garage, waited for the door to close, and desperately searched through our belongings and made sure that nothing was missing. Thankfully, nothing was.

Apart from the creepiness of the whole situation, it was a good experience.

Ryan and I learned how to:

- change a tire

- survive in the icy cold

- call a tow truck

- pick up massive amounts of cash in the middle of nowhere

- and search all our stuff in a few minutes flat

If you only take one thing from this: please don’t get a flat in Tomah, Wisconson.

Life Together

Spending time on campus at Taylor University, whether as a student or prospective, as faculty or staff, you cannot make it a week without hearing some kind of reference to the Life Together Covenant. For the most part, these allusions to the dreaded "LTC" are in good taste, but with a negative connotation, directed at the clause that states "The University expects its members to use discretion and discernment in their choices of entertainment and recreation (some examples include media, Internet usage, and games). Social dancing is not permitted on or away from campus." While prohibition of dance is a frustrating thing, I have found that I spend way to much time focusing on the minor restrictions of the LTC rather than enjoying what the Life Together Covenatnt is all about: building community.

The opening line of the Life Together Convenant is as follows: "Taylor University is a community of Christians intentionally joined together for academic progress, personal development and spiritual growth." The LTC is put in place to instill in students a desire to have life together in the fullest. And believe me when I say that I see students living this out on campus. One of my favorite examples is chapel. "Corporate worship, prayer, fellowship and instruction are essential for our community. Therefore, students, faculty and administrators are expected to attend chapel." Chapel at Taylor University is not required, but simply expected. There is no kind of check-in or attendance taken at chapel, yet the majority of campus attends on a regular basis. I firmly believe that this is because of the community at Taylor. Nearly every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday someone asks me, "Are you going to chapel?" "Did you enjoy the message this morning?" "What did you think about this or that about chapel?" (or something there within) If I had skipped chapel for some reason, I would immediately be encouraged to come next time or playfully chastised that I had skipped. It's the community that's brought students to chapel on a regular basis; community brings together this body of believers to worship God together.

Another example of how well-built the community at Taylor because of the LTC is through its restrictions on profanity. "Any kind of demeaning gesture, symbol, communication, threat or act of violence directed toward another person will not be tolerated." Although I don't live on the floor at Taylor, I've been told by a trusted friend, Ryan, that there is no profanity on Penthouse. No one swears. On one, rare occasion, someone swore while we were playing a game of soccer, and immediately two or three other guys were immediately on his case for having done so, and that was the end of it. I firmly believe that this is a result of the LCT.

In conclusion, while the LTC does prohibit a few, miniscule things, it does an amazing job of building up the peer to peer interaction of Taylor University such that we, as students, can enjoy such a fantastic, Biblically-based community. If you'd like to read further about the LTC, you can read the whole copy here. I encourage students to take another look at it in this new light, and see how different the Life Together Covenant looks.

Instead of focusing on the negative aspects about the Life Together Covenant, students should focus on what it has done for the community at Taylor.

A Christmas Letter

Since the beginning of the semester, I really haven't been feeling in a writing mood. I suppose I should try to convince myself that I should be writing every so often and adding new material, but I've found it so difficult to find things worth writing about. However, at the beginning of a new year, I can maybe try to start putting something different and new up here.

Much time has passed since my last update, and here's what you missed, or, were a part of for this Fall Semester of '09. I started my freshman year at Taylor University at Upland, Indiana. Up until now, Upland hasn't felt like a home to me; it was where I was put and I should make the best of it. When I started at Taylor, I was so wonderfully welcomed by the students and faculty that I'm now in love with the city. The community at Taylor is amazing. Though I don't live on campus, I've been loved by the Men of Penthouse, and literally made to be part of the floor. This invitation was the best thing for me while I was wandering between two homes.

At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to study; deciding my future isn't nearly as simple as I would of thought. Now I think I know what I want to do: Computer Science and Systems. For most of my life, I've found difficulty finding true passions and interests for which to pursue. I don't find myself becoming attached on any level deeper than passing interest, making it very difficult to choose from the vast array of options given to me. Since I can't make that decision on my own, I have been praying and meditating on it, and still haven't the slightest idea of what to do. With little time to make a decision, I decided to go with, for now, something that I have interest in: computer science. I pray that this is something I can come to find a passion in, and will come to love. I've chosen it for now because it is a marketable, profitable career that I will thrive in and enjoy, but I want it to become a passion and an outreach opportunity that will change my life forever. Taylor University, I hope, will instill in me that mentality with it's huge focus on Missions and Computing. As students, me and a team to be determined, will, in later years, develop software for missions organizations as a part of our curriculum. You can read more about Taylor's Missions and Computing out reach at their website.

In addition to pursuing academics, I've also been spending quite a bit of time working. Ever since working this summer, I really enjoy work. Work is an immediate gratification for being productive -- A feeling I adore. As a result of this feeling, I took two jobs at Taylor: IT Client Services and the Writing Center. In IT, I'm essentially working for Taylor's Geek Squad. I work with two or three other Techs during my shifts, where we, for the most part, answer phones and help Faculty and Students through their technical issues. If we are unable to solve the problem first contact, we record the infortmation into our computer system, and probabaly schedule them for a time to look at the problem 1 on 1. I will ocassionally be let out of the office to go and work with clients, but because I'm such a new tech, this usually doesn't happen. As I mentioned earlier, I also work in the writing center. Towards the end of last year, I was approached by my expository writing professor to work for her in the Writing Center. I told her that I would probably be to busy this semester, but would be open to trying to work it into my schedule. She told me that, as a writing consultant in the writing center, I would be helping teach students a little more about themselves as writers, and do my best to improve their grades. I'm so glad that it worked out. It's an absolute pleasure to work with students on their writing. I've met so many students and learned so many things, both about myself and other students. It's just been awesome

This is just a quick update on my life since my last update. If you have any questions, or want more explanation on anything, please feel free to send me a message, and I'd love to talk to you more about it. It's been awesome seeing all of you here in Minneosta again, I love you all so much! :-)

Till next time,

Paul

..

I'm really having trouble coming up with new content.. But let me share this moment of my day today.

Bright and early, on my way to work this morning, I was riding with my Aunt Paula, who also works at the Minnehaha Academy. (MA) In the middle of the road, there was a duck, litterally standing there, not moving at all. When we drove a little closer, we noticed that it's beak was tucked in behind the feathers on its back, and was sleeping. Right there. In the middle of the road.

Thought it was kinda weird.

I'm trying to come up with some spiritual warning against falling asleep in the middle of the road like this duck, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions about that.

Card Key Gymnastics

As an employee at Minnehaha Academy, part of my job is to sit at a desk and watch a monitor that shows security cam footage of the front door. When people come, I have been instructed to click two buttons, ask then what they are at the school for, and then let them in based on how they reply. Then, if they seem to check out, I click another button to unlock the door and let them in.

However, this is not the only means for people to enter the building. Full time employees at Minnehaha are given card keys that broadcast a very short distance signal to the receiver on the side of the building, requiring the carriers to bring the key within inches of the wall. Often times, these workers will be carrying a purse, bag, or other miscellaneous objects, making it difficult for them to get at their key card. As a result, they will not bother getting it out, and will try to activate it without removing it from, say, their front pants pocket. Then, they will lift their leg up a little and swing their leg towards the wall to touch it to the receiver. Sitting here, watching the monitor, I've seen people: hip check the wall, turn around and poke their butts against the key card detector. Also, people have jammed purses, wallets, and bags against the receiver, and even hold it in their teeth bending over to waist-height to open the door. Because of this, I, almost sadistically, wait to see how they would open the door with their card key.

I'll prolly keep a running commentary of all the ways that people have "carded in."

Comments and Updates

Two things:

I had a sad experience the other day. Seth P. told me that he read an update on the blog he thought was really funny. Shortly thereafter, I asked him if he had left a comment. He replied negative. It was super depressing, because I rely on comments and feedback in order for (1), knowing when people have read the entry, and (2), improving my writing for your enjoyment. So, you should leave a comment, even if it's just, "nice." or something like that. o.0

Also, I've been thinking about setting up a contact list in my email, and adding "subscriptions" so that you can know when I've made an update. If you want to "subscribe," lemme know, and I will add you to the list, and send you updates when I make a new post. This way, you don't have to check back every time, you can just jump straight to the post. :)

Thanks a bunch,
Paul

Stylin'

A guy walks into a store and starts searching for a new shirt to wear. Confronted with many decisions on what color, size, and shape the shirt he wants will be, he chooses a particular article. Taking his clothing to a dressing room, he tries it on. Admiring it for a second, he murmurs to himself, “This shirt just isn't my style.”

I've come to believe that an attitude and phrasing of a personal style is false: without a preconceived view of someone's “style” there cannot be an article of clothing out of style for an individual.

We are especially swayed by our own opinion of what our style is. For instance, a v neck t-shirt is slightly different from a crew cut. Since I've only ever worn crew neck, I tend to believe that v neck isn't my style. If I were to put it on, I know that would be out of the ordinary to wear such a thing. Also, if people I knew were around me saw it, they would also think it wasn't my style.

Here's the thing: without a preconceived notion of what my style is, bystanders who've never seen me before would not suspect anything, and decide that v neck was my style. Thus, if I wore a crew neck around them after a while of wearing nothing but v necks, they'd see me as though I was breaking my unwritten “code.”

I've attempted a few social experiments of my own, going to movie theaters or dinners dressed in ways that I normally wouldn't even consider wearing to a party with my closest friend, and every time, I've received the same reaction: none. I wasn't out of my style in their eyes.

Therefore, why are we so afraid of changing it up a little bit here and there? Why don't we make it a style to not have one?

Big, Orange, and Pointy

Katie and I decided the other night that we would grab a McFlurry from McDonalds, and then run over to Centennial Lakes park to immediately walk off the extra calories. While there, we noticed a swing that we had sat on once or twice. On it were two, large cones. With a coy smile, I pointed out that it would be pretty uncomfortable to sit on.

Katie replied with a chuckle, "What do they call it? A.. Col-.. Colonoscopy!"

I turned around with a smile, "No, not in this case, this would be a coneoscopy!"

She's Pregnant?

While monitoring the front door at Minnehaha academy as a part of my summer job with the school, I was waiting around for people to come to the door when amazing news struck the main office: Tommy's wife was pregnant.

Who Tommy was or what he was all about still evades me, but as soon as the receptionist broke the news, shrieks, squeals, and screams of joy and wonder flooded the rather large room. Even so, up to 45 minutes after the fact, the ladies in the office picked up the office phone and called more and more people, re-emphasizing the excitement time and time again, even justifying a few long-distance “business-calls” to express their exuberance with others.

Why is this? Certainly it is a joyous occasion, but how could it elicit such a reaction? Had it have been a room of guys, I would presume the reaction would have been something more like, “Mike.. That tiger.. Rawr.” This would come along with some fist bumping, or something of the sort.

At the same time, I envy women this ability to express their joy and excitement; often I find it extremely difficult to do the same. I would imagine that it would be taken in the wrong way if I were to run around with my guy-friends, yipping, yelling, and “YES!-ing.” How do we get away with it, guys? How would we express our joys that “She's Pregnant?”

Keep Lookin'

In order to celebrate my long-awaited graduation from high school, my friend and I, Jonathan Wormgoor, celebrated an open house a couple days ago. I was chatting with my dad, when I noticed a frisbee. Turning around to find someone to throw it to, I noticed a little boy expectantly waiting for me to throw it to him. How could I resist?

Keeping in mind my relative size and strength to him, I carefully calculated the precise power that it would take to gently throw it to him. As the frisbee lofted through the air towards him, everything was going seamlessly. At least, until it did until he looked away.

About a foot from him, he cringed, turned, and altogether missed the frisbee. Being a baseball player, I am very well versed in the “keep your eyes on the ball” adage, but nothing could be farther from the truth. After one more try, hoping he would get it on his own, I grinned, walked to him, and taught in a gentle, loving way what he was doing wrong.

“Make sure that you never look away,” I explained, holding the frisbee a few feet from myself, slowly moving it closer, simulating the flight of the disk, “If you keep looking, you can catch it better.”

That was all he needed. With a small, shy nod from the little boy, we were off again. I stepped back to my position a few feet away as he scampered away to his. With another precision toss, I wafted the frisbee back towards him. As it got closer and closer, I saw he understood what I had carefully taught him. He reached forward, maintained his vision, and snagged the frisbee out of the air with the confidence of a pro.

Huge smile. He flung the frisbee right back, even more excited than before.

After a few more minutes of calm tossing, the young boy's friend noticed what we were doing and decided to get in on the action. Golden hair bouncing in the summer sun, he trotted over, requesting permission to join in. With a quick, affirming glance towards the former participant, I tossed the disk towards the newcomer.

Like the first boy, as it arrived in his hands, he backed down and failed to catch the frisbee. Realizing his obvious blunder, the first boy ran to his side immediately, picked up the frisbee, and held it out, as I had, moments ago, telling him that, “No! No! You gotta keep lookin' at it whole time!”

How often have I not noticed that I have such a great power as to affect not just the person that I am interacting with, but also those of the ones that they mix with? Measuring words has such a great meaning when we keep in mind how many people we can affect.

We gotta keep lookin'.

Messed Up

Well, I've been blogging lately, (Says Paul as he glances through the past three days' worth of posts) and one thing that occurred to me to write about is my typing style. Many people have asked me about why the keyboard on my laptop is so crazy, messed up, or weird. I am posting this to alleviate any confusion on that part. I use a style of keyboard called Colemak.

What is the Colemak keyboard? The Colemak keyboard is a change in the layout of the keys based on the location of easy access of the individual letters. Basically, all of the most commonly used keys are moved to or close to the "home row" where your fingers rest while typing. When the keys are re-arranged in this way, it allows for two things: first, your fingers move nearly 2 times less than they do on a qwerty layout, not tiring your fingers out quite as much, and second, it allows you to type faster because of less movement.

The Colemak keyboard was developed because of the deficiency of the Qwerty keyboard. Qwerty was actually designed to slow typists down. Back when these ancient things called "typewriters" were popular instead of computers, the users were becoming so fast with typing that the hammers which applied the ink to the page would jam. To alleviate jamming, a man named Christopher Sholes gave birth to Qwerty, slowing typists down since 1874.

My math teacher (a wonderful individual, that likes to challenge and monologue to his students), was ranting in class one day about the inefficiencies of some things in math and culture in our society. For instance, the United States has refused to switch to the obviously more efficient Metric System. Another thing he mentioned that day was keyboard layouts and how we are slowed down by the Qwerty keyboard. I took his innocent lecture as a challenge, went home, downloaded it, and began to learn.

This is why my laptop keyboard is so "messed up,"
Colemak

Texting God

Interesting topic, right? Well, I think that it's a valid idea. 

In my (and “our” for those that are my peers) generation, a large part of our daily lives is staying in touch. Not just with ourselves (which in of itself is an important idea), but with others. How do many of us do that? One way that we communicate is through texting, tweeting, and other various Facebook-related tasks that return information to us quickly.

To add to this, if we need to have a deeper, one on one conversation with whomever we are trying to communicate, we then call them, email them, or send an otherwise more detailed message.

Through these two conversations, the short and the long, we build relationships. We relate to the other person and begin to understand them and what they think about whatever the heck it is you may be doing in a deeper and more clarified way. Through this, we construct and strengthen bonds with others.

We can talk to God in the same way. I would propose that we could have little mini-conversations with him throughout the day. For instance, you're driving down the road, notice that it is a particularly beautiful day, and you send him a quick message, “Thank you.” (you can even hit the “quick text” function on your phone). Through this, we can learn to never end a prayer. Your whole day could become one continuous conversation with Him.

Text God.

However, keep in mind that this doesn't eliminate the importance of having in depth conversations and devotionals with Him, we should just add unlimited texting to our plans.

Double Take

In response to Jonah's post on dreaming.. 

I've had a few interesting phenomenon occur while dreaming. People claim that they have dreams such as a never-ending drop, a recurring dream, or even (and as is most commonly portrayed in our culture) the nightmare of going to class without pants. Never having experienced any of these, I have a different "common dream." On occasionally, I have dreamed I've died.. 

The funny thing is, though, as a dreamer, I become very, very skeptical of that which I percieve in my virtual reality. My subconcious mind does a "double take," looks from an objective point of view at my dream, and says, "Yeah right!" With a little chuckle, "That would never happen." And so, calmly, I wake myself up, use the bathroom, and go right back to sleep, care free of any.. Random, outrageous death.