NEXT STEPS: A NEW ADMISSIONS EVENT FOR FAMILIES AT CONCORDIA SEMINARY

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2011

ST. LOUIS—Next Steps is a new admissions event this year, geared toward prospective students and their families. This two-day event on July 8-9, 2011, will provide an opportunity to connect with the Concordia Seminary community. From visiting the campus to experiencing life with Seminary families, we hope you will find answers to your most nagging questions.

During the Relocation Orientation on Friday afternoon, you will learn a lot of useful information about housing, moving companies, how to find employment, healthcare and childcare information, schools, and much more. Kids will have supervised recreation time during the informational sessions. The Panel Discussion will feature current Seminary families, answering your questions with honest answers as they have been in your position! On Friday night, you are invited to attend an informal BBQ in the Woods (the nickname for married student on-campus housing). BBQ’s in the Woods are held every Friday night in the fall and spring, and that’s just one example of the many activities geared toward Seminary families.

Saturday will include fun events for your whole family. A farewell picnic in Forest Park will conclude the formal events.

There is no registration fee. Housing and meals during the event will be provided by Concordia Seminary. Participants are responsible for their own transportation. Registration deadline is June 24. For more information, please contact the admissions department at 314-505-7227 or email admissions@csl.edu.

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Week 2 of Greek

From here on out I will use a 10 round boxing match to describe my week in Greek.  This week definitely started out with Greek throwing a haymaker to my noggin. More of a wake up call to my brain.  Not that I wasn’t studying the material for very very long periods of time. As you can study all you want, but it has to make sense.  At this point things hadn’t made sense as of yet. So, the beginning of the week’s test and quiz really hurt.  It’s early in the quarter and it is better to get that out of the way now. Another part of the problem resolved around me paying too much attention to vocabulary and not enough attention to the rules of accenting.  Well, the knock on the head humbled me and I responded later in the week with better grades on a quiz and test.  Actually, finishing off the week on a good note.  What did this week teach me?  Well, it isn’t going to be easy. Actually, I went Gibbs asking for tutor. Something, I don’t think I have ever done in my life up until this point. Not that I haven’t had times when I should have asked and didn’t. However, I’m older and some would say wiser.

Thankful, Dr. Gibbs stayed after class to review an quiz and we went through it slowly.  Turns out I know the information and how to come to the answer, but my brain is working to fast.  What does that mean? We see a word in a sentence in English and we know exactly what it means because we have learned it (hopefully) during our education in school.  Well, that doesn’t work when you’re learning a new language. At least not for me it doesn’t. So, I need to take things slower with parsing for it to click.  If he hadn’t done that I may have been tolling around until someone caught what I was doing wrong.

This round has ended and we’ll have to go to the cards for a ruling on who won the round.  For right now I think it is pretty close to a draw. For those of you who have had Greek in the past this is what was covered this week.

Chapter 3: Present Indicative Active and Middle Verb Forms

Chapter 4: O or Second Declension Nouns

Chapter 5: A or First Declension Nouns, and Elementary Prepositions

Chapter 6: Basic Adjectives and the Article

Chapter 7: Future Indicative Active and Middle Verb Forms, and Deponent Verbs

Greek Quote of the Week: Precious Moments is the new anti-Christ…. Baby Jesus is NOT cute. 🙂

Overall life is a challenge and still growing accustom to my new schedule and making sure everything fits in. Settling in with a small study group between classes in the basement of the library to go over material.  Also attended my first Prof n Stein. Dr. Voelz talked about a number of things, but I’ll focus on this main point.  While we are in spiritual warfare, we shouldn’t stop to realize the blessings around us. I don’t know if he meant to or not (I suspect he did), but he really emphasized the campus them of “community”. Don’t be so into the books that you forget there is still a mission field on campus and off campus.

The week ended on a good note, with International Student Cook Out in “The Woods”.  The downside of the event was students were forced to pick between supporting the soccer team or attending the cook out. Also, it seems events in “The Woods” come across to be only family oriented. Nothing could be farther from the truth and its a shame guys miss out on grilling and wonderful conversation. So, if you haven’t attended one, attempt to and see for yourself.

The SWA (Seminary Wives Association) is about to start the field day event that was postponed on Labor Day weekend due to rain. So, I’m off to support the wives, have fun with the kids, and watch as people run around while being sprayed by a firehose.

Orientation Day 3

So begins the last day of Orientation and everyone is ready for this week to be over and get started for next week.  I wound up waking up at the normal time and even though we weren’t required to be anywhere until 9am, I was up and walking around campus by 8:30.  Stopped by Financial Aid to drop off some paperwork and then headed over to Sieck to look around. I walked in and met Chaplain Eric Erkkinen.  While I’m not really interested in Chaplaincy, it is important that I be informed as I never know where the Lord may want to put me.  He shared his experiences and benefits with being a chaplain .  He then invited me to a BBQ at his home on Sept 16th. Who am I to turn down home cooking and fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Next up I went to the benches in front of the chapel to fill out some paper work and had a brief conversation with Clay. Then it was time to officially register for the fall. Somewhat weird since we were all officially registered electronically.  I guess it was a way to make sure everything was setup properly. Rev. Gibbs came out to give us a pep talk and so it began. We first went through the line of Admissions where they checked off their list to make sure we had completed our prereqs.  We were greeted by (elder) Rev. Hoehner who represented the Seminary Alumni. He bestowed upon each of us the John E. Meyer Memorial Alumni Book Endowment Fund. It is a gift certificate for a copy of the The Book of Concord, The Book of Concord CD or the student’s choice of other books costing $30 or less. This was their official hand off to seminary as their jobs were complete at this point. Jokes abounded as even though we are in Big 12 country, the Big Ten rivalries reign supreme.

As with all new systems we suffered some technological bumps in the road and had to skip registration table and head straight to Rev. Utech for info on field-work church placement.  Many of us got our hopes up of finding out where we would be worshipping only to find out we still had another orientation on on September 10th.  Received information on Cross Cultural modules with Rev. Thormodson.  I know a friend who has done one of these in Alaska for two weeks. However, I’m thinking that between work and studying for 10 weeks, it wouldn’t be fair to the family to be gone for the better part of two weeks before going back into classes.  I’ll attend the orientation just to get info and maybe my thoughts will change.

Finally, it is time to register. Gibbs is hilarious. Extremely knowledgeable and has a disarming personality. Fall Greek is my task at hand officially.  From here I crossed over into the next room with the Information Fair. Many said go there because you will get free stuff. Luckily, that wasn’t the only reason we all went. I won’t bore you with all the tables, just the ones I strategically stopped by…

Thrivent Table, Right to Life table (R. Gibbs), Music @ Concordia Seminary (signed Linda up for Pro Musica Sacra) and said hi to Tim Eden, The Writing Center (had a great conversation here), Athletics (conversation w/ Bill Maxfieldabout basketball), a quick visit with Chaplain Erkkinen, Center for Hispanic Studies, Campus Services (finally got our box number), Concordia Historical Institute, and finally the Concordia Seminary Guild (picked up Christian Dogmatics Vol 1 by F. Pieper). 

Many thanks go out to everyone involved at the information fair. Tons of information shared with all of us.  A special thanks to the donotations over the course of the past couple of days by Concordia Seminary Guild, Lutheran Hour Ministries, Concordia Publishing House, Immanuel Lutheran (Mt. Olive, IL), Seminary Alumni, and anyone else I may have forgotten.

Next up was the Library orientation. Funny, enlightening, and educational best describes the tour. My feet hurt also gives a hint on how long this tour orientation took. Nevertheless, I plan to spend a large amount of my time in the library in the mornings between classes.

Brief lunch and then we had to get ready for pictures for campus ID and the directory. Jocelyn decided to have a slight meltdown after falling down so it made things interesting. Linda and I dressed up. Well, Linda dressed up. I had a jacket, tie, dress shirt, and jeans. Many wore shorts and flip flops since the pics taken are from the waist up. Once we were done there we headed over to the bookstore.

At the bookstore I used my new gifts from various groups to purchase a clerical collar, shirt, Book of Concord on CD.  Then I rushed over to the kitchen to help prepare food for Saturday’s dinner and events with Clay, John, Tristen, and one other seminarian whose name has slipped my mind. That is bound to happen when you try and learn some 87 names in three days.

After the kitchen work was completed I played basketball for the first time since getting hurt with Tim Saleska, some of the Preacher basketball team, and three other first years. Fun times. Look no injuries. Yay.

My day was closed out with weekly BBQ in the Woods with other seminary families.