It's been one week since the hustle and bustle of welcome week has died down and people are actually starting to sleep at night, and don't have the song "welcome week" running in their minds. Only a week ago it was a mass psychosis, of cars and extremely caffeinated college students run about helping new college students adjust to life at Bethel.

No longer can we sit in our dorm room, listening to their singing and chanting, as we survey the room that was almost instantaneously by this group moments ago after they hauled it from the car almost barbarously as they chanted our room numbers over and over again. No longer do we have to fear walking into the chapel and hearing "welcome week" in varying tones for 5 minutes. No longer do we have to run to Super Target 3 times in one day to find item after item that we forgot or overlooked. No more needing to sit for hours, wishing that we had taken Swedish so we could assemble our futons from Ikea.

As the week of festivities came to an end and the amount of caffeine that our bodies needed to function tripled we had one last celebration before we started the school year. We had all
already set up our rooms and set our schedules so that they fit with our sleeping schedules, but there was still one thing that we had not done yet, surrendered our lives, and our school year to the Lord. Before coming to Bethel we were required to sign "The covenant" but the Student Activities crew decided to switch it up a little and make it a public declaration of our commitment to our life at Bethel and as the Lord's children. Placing our handprint on this signified that we were dedicated to live our lives as God would have us to, to be Holy and pleasing to His standards, not our own. This mural is now on display in the hallway of the school signifying our surrender to His love and not the worlds views of a good life.

Classes started the next morning bright and early (unfortunately), thankfully the Lord blessed me with having a Tuesday and Thursday schedule that end at 11am so I can do finish my sleep after there end. Being a double major and not coming in with any credits, adds a bit of weight to my load that thankfully will not be added until next semester. This semester I am taking a total of 16 credits and am serving on Bodien Residence Council and possibly on Bethel Student activities.

On Friday Night the Student activities crew planned a 80's skate party at a local rink, for all of us who did not leave for the labor day break. It was awesome, and surprisingly a lot of people showed up and the outfits that many people were able to come up with, and establish as their own look. Many of the people that showed up looked as though they had been pulled out of their jazzercise class, while others looked as though they just came from the set of pretty in pink. The diversity of the evening was extraordinary and hilarious at that. The campus seems practically dead, in account for over 2/3 of the student population having gone home for the holiday. The upside to the decrease of the student body the decibel level at night and sleep is an actuality and not a miracle. The hilarious part is that people wake up about the same time that visiting hours start or later, the biggest parties going on this weekend are that people are hanging out in the 2.5 lounge and watching movies until 4am and later. Homework hasn't even made it's way into most students agendas and most likely wont until late tomorrow night.

The fun of the non-eventful weekend is winding down and my homework is slowly making its way to the top of my desk as is the deadlines of assignments for freshman seminar. With the shuttle system not being in effect over the weekend, and the weather has been stormy and cold, the "Bethel bubble" is the only thing that I have seen. I really hope that I can get a car for next year, I really want be able to have my own way of getting from point A to B without having to rely on someone else to get me there. With the "Bethel bubble" really taking an effect on me the only thing that I hear calling my name is my pillow telling me to hibernate until next summer.