Div school orientation & utter insanity of all things Duke

Within the past 2 days I’ve experienced many wonderful Divinity school moments that make me just smile. As I sat on a bench tonight hanging out and chatting with people many questioning undergrads asked why on earth I would study Divinity instead of doing something more productive with my time… silly undergrads. I just smiled as they asked these questions. They don’t get it… and maybe it is that very few people do. This is about so much more! I love being able to show people the church isn’t just full of people who are so rejecting of other peoples opinions. Unrelated to this another thing I love about here… tons of FREE food, coffee AND candy. Not to mention having intense deep theological conversations about Disney movies.

Div School:

One thing about Duke, I am convinced Duke Div is the best in the world. I know… I havn’t been here long and honestly how would I even know? Because of awesome people like these…

Dr. Ellen Davis who stood before the entire incoming class of Div kids and told us why Hebrew is better than Greek and why learning a language to understand the original version is so much richer than a translation… she has a sparkling 16 pg CV highlighting the 6 books she’s written… why is she so cool though? Because she does all of this and is captivatingly funny. I get to see her every week and learn Old Testament with her… ftw. (for the win)

Dr. Sam Wells addressed the class yesterday concerning our summer reading. He is not only ridiculously funny and quick witted but also British. So… his humor is amazingly funny. As I looked around the Harry Potter-esque room with high ceilings and trickling sunlight through the stained glass windows on certain faces I realized that just like I had been, everyone else was leaning forward in their seats and attentively clinging to every word. This is precisely what is so captivating… certain moments when life feels surreal. I find myself looking around wondering “do I really get to study this?” and “how on earth and I so lucky?”

A bigger question in all of this awesomeness that I keep asking myself is “why am I privileged enough to have been born in America and be able to become part of this community as duke?” or maybe simply “why me?”

A third year Div student I met once told me that these next three years I will meet some of the best people I will ever encounter in my life. It’s been 2 days of orientation and I can echo that. These people are amazing and have already left wanting more.

I love Duke. Let me be clearer… I LOVE Duke… seriously I do. Like… a lot. But sweet baby Jesus I am more busy than I feel like I’ve ever been in my entire life. My to do lists are never completed so there is NO satisfaction of getting one of them completed. Something I have learned about Duke students is that everyone is over committed, highly competitive, and super driven. So everyone, I think for the most part, feels the same way.

The past few days have been wonderful but exhausting. As I went to central campus on a bus to pick up something from a housing office I was perfectly on time… and with a serious mission. This task of getting this package had been on my to do list for 2 days and was beginning to haunt me. I got to central campus, got my package, headed back to the bus stop where I missed the bus. No big right? Wrong. I had a meeting in 6 minutes with my resident assistants to do “make-up “ training.

In my ignorance of how large the multiple campuses were I decided to just walk back.

Mistake 1: On a hot, busy, exhausting day… I decided to walk back (approx. 3 miles) to west campus with a swollen still injured knee. Why? Honestly I have no good reasons anymore… but at the time it seemed like a good idea.

Walking back from central campus, with my cute black flats that are definitely ONLY cute and not very comfy, with a dark brown button up shirt and my heavy backpack I soon realized how much of a mistake that was.

I got to my door and inside my building, feeling like I just survived an exodus through the desert and totally thankful I at least have AC in my room… the hallway feels like a sauna. I basked in the cool AC for a moment then realized it was time to move on and be productive.

Next up I decided to get a drink from a vending machine in the laundry room… seemingly harmless right? Nope.

Mistake 2: When relaxed in AC & wearing shoes without traction (perhaps since they are comfy) pay attention to water on the floor when walking into a laundry room especially on a university campus. They are notorious for being “hot spots” for injuries… so what happened? Like in a movie where someone slips on a banana, I slipped in a puddle of water. Both feet went out from under me, I landed on my side and my somewhat of a recovered knee (I still couldn’t run or anything) twisted, hit the ground and cracked. Awesome, right? Hmmm. Nope.

Yeah… not so fun.  So… because Cravenites (I work in Craven Quad… and my residents are amazing) are so amazing and considerate this guy was walking by and asked if I was ok then just cleaned up the water. After much crio therapy (ice all over it) and more ibuprofen than I’ve taken in months it’s still swollen :/

I’ll see a doctor soon… I’m just so happy tomorrow is Friday. Because Saturday means I can sleep and not be so insanely busy.

Ultimately what I'm learning this week: I'm really happy I'm a firm believer in the Sabbath. Because I desperately need a day of rest. But still in the midst of all of this.... I feel so ridiculously happy and lucky to be here. Sunday will mark my 3 weeks in Durham and it is already home to me :)

Farewell May's Chapel... Hello Duke!

My last Sunday at May's Chapel UMC was a blur! Two services, so many goodbyes, and MORE homemade food was packed into the day before 2pm. My loving parents came up to Maiden to meet my church family at May's Chapel and come to my final lunch with all of them. These amazing people from May's Chapel UMC showered me with love and support. As we all went through the line to grab a hotdog, hamburger and throw on the traditional southern slaw on top of each I watched both my parents stand wondering what to do... months before I had been the one wondering what the heck to do with the slaw... it's a southern staple. Slaw on any type of bbq or hamgurger is trully southern and when you stand bewildered beside it all wondering it marks you as a "foreigner"... or simply NOT from there. As we made our way through the line my mom noticed 3 12 ft long tables set up in the back of the fellowship hall. These glorious tables were adorned with homemade icecream of every flavor, fruit (that was in season), and lovingly represented about 20 families in the church. These people know how to make some icecream.

In the center of the room was a pile of cards and gifts with my name on each of them. I was so overwhelmed what 10 weeks in a pastoral position could result in... especially when I was just the summer intern. That day I could have sat and cried like a baby just reading all the sweet encouraging words from these people who truly became family to me.

After I opened a few envelopes the pastor of the church asked everyone to come lay hands on me so that they could pray over me and future. Hundreds of church people, young and old, came rushing over to touch me or whomever they could get close enough to.

Earlier that morning during the childrens message the kids (3-9) held my hands and prayed for me... children did this.

I have been so honored by these experiences and will forever cherish them. Remembering the look in their eyes and the sincerity of their words still melts my heart of hearts.



Here is good ole' May's Chapel... home to some of the nicest folks you could ever have the pleasure of meetin'!

After lunch, many tears, and goodbyes my parents and I drove straight to Durham. Where I promptly moved all of my stuff into my new apartment and do all my move in shopping.

Noon of the next day began my job training... I'm a Graduate Resident Assistant working in HOUSING!!! I love housing and dealing with undergrad students... so I feel like I'm pretty much in heaven right now. That day was over two weeks ago. These past weeks have been a complete blur.

Here's a sneak peek of my room. Isn't it cute!?!?

Did you notice the bucket of roses on the corner of the table? Those came all the way from FL with a guy whom I'm smitten with... he's pretty amazing.  

This next week will be filled with preparation for classes! I'm so excited! Today I went into the bookstore and sat in awe (like a good nerd) at all the beautiful  books that surrounded me. I decided that I want to try to sit in on 4 other classes (seperate from MY classes). I'm just so happy that I'm here in Divinity School.

I'll let you all know how classes begin.

Through this last major move to Durham, Duke and Grad life I've concluded that I finally feel like I'm exactly where I belong again. It's that most rewarding feeling I think one can experience. It's not just the atmosphere of Duke but it's the community that is built within. I'm continually thankful that I can communicate in a language everyone understands, be around believers who worship like me, who know theology and of course people who understand my humor... (many awkward moments were had while I thought I was being funny but American humor DOES NOT work outside America).

Oh and today, I realized that Greek food here isn't Greek food. Unless it comes from someone of Greek desent- do NOT think it's real Greek food. Gyro meat should NOT look like bolognia... it was just all wrong. BUT the other day I had out-of-this-world chicken souvlakia... so there is hope for true Greek food in Durham. But this food, was definetly made by a Greek.

καληνύχτα παιδιά!!!
(Goodnight children; children is a widely used term in Greece referring to many people... of all ages. Don't take offense.)

Thanks for reading!