Orientation Week.

FRIDAY

I woke up Friday, August 20th feeling excited and incredibly anxious. My family arrived on campus in the morning in hopes of beating the “move-in day rush.” I walked through the check-in line, getting my key, laundry card, and all kinds of papers. We brought my bags up to my room on the fourth floor and faced a daunting task: unpacking. I had an armoire with two drawers under it, three dresser drawers, and a desk in which to put eight bags of stuff. Normally I would use a more descriptive word than “stuff,” but I’m not sure that there is one that encompasses everything that I had with me. My dad and brother were quickly sent to the store for hangers and bins to store sweatshirts in.

Both of my roommates, whom I had met the night before, were off at Torrey events, but they had left me a bin of animal crackers and a “Welcome Olivia” sign across my bunk.

My sign had a nice smile at the end.

After much organization, my furniture somehow absorbed all of my clothing. I didn’t realize how many books I had brought until my bookshelf suddenly became full. As I unpacked, I set aside some clothing to be sent back home with my family. I was pleased that everything I had fit into my designated space. However, “fit” is too loose of an adjective. It had a bit of a “bursting at the seams” feeling. I didn’t mind, though.

There weren’t too many events planned for that day, so I went to get my ID card. One of my roommates had told me that she waited in line for over an hour. Luckily, I only waited 20 minutes or so. After that, my parents went and checked-in at the parent table and we walked around campus. I also picked up my “first book” that Biola gives us free of charge—a new Biola Bible.

My new Bible

That night I slept in the room that would be my home for the next nine months or so.


SATURDAY

Saturday morning there was a kickoff event for freshman. The SOS leaders put together a skit similar to the premise of “Inception.” It was absolutely hilarious. Chalked-full of references to current fads in entertainment, it was incredibly clever. I laughed harder than I had in a long time.

After that, we met with our SOS groups and headed to the caf to have lunch together. I didn’t stay, though, because my aunt and uncle had flown in from Reno, NV and were in the area. I met up with them and the rest of my family at Horton, my dorm. They had bought me a beach towel, which I had been in need of, and an iHome. I was pretty stoked about that.

That evening there was a family BBQ on McNally field, which my family attended. The place was packed, and we ended up sitting at a table with some older students. They introduced themselves, and we talked with them for quite some time.

Following the BBQ, was the communion service, another orientation tradition. Our President, Dr. Barry Corey addressed the crowd, telling a story of he and his son making a road trip from their home in Boston to Biola, after he got the job as President. The field was filled with people. I knew virtually no one. But I have never felt so welcomed and loved as I did there.

I thought back to a time at camp in July. One of the last nights at chapel, I looked up and saw one of my closest friends. At that moment I realized that I wouldn’t be seeing her again for a long time. I was moving 2000 miles away. I was in a room filled with people that knew and loved me and a thought of panic crossed my mind, “What am I doing?!” I was going to be leaving everything I knew and everyone I loved.

And now here I was, in this new place. Away from everything familiar, yet I knew I was surrounded by people that cared about me. I then knew that this was where I am supposed to be.

The communion service was a beautiful time of worship and goodbyes. It was harder to say goodbye to my family than I thought it would be. A lot harder. But I knew that they were happy for me and so very supportive.

In so many ways, I am incredibly blessed.


SUNDAY

The next morning, I saw my parents and my aunt and uncle for one last time. We went out to eat, and I said my final goodbyes.

When I returned to campus, I met up with my SOS group, as it was SOS hangout day. My group, along with three others, would be going on a photo scavenger hunt. We split up randomly based on people that had cars, and we went on our way. I ended up being in a group with the same people that I had ridden with, and it was a lot of fun. I was the one with the camera, which was one of my favorite parts. The afternoon was filled with all kinds of laughter and joy.

After dinner that night, was “community commissioning.” It was a welcome into the Biola community. Following that was singspiration, or most commonly just singspo. It was an amazing hour of worship to the Lord.


MONDAY

On Monday morning we had pack-out breakfast and devotions with our SOS leaders. I had been stressing out regarding some academic programs, and I got to talk with my SOS leader about it. He was really encouraging regarding the situation, and that helped a lot.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was filled with meetings. First, there was academic orientation. I found out that 48 of my 50 college credits had transferred, so that was a relief. After lunch we got to hear about IT services and ways to get involved.

That night, though, was a beach party. We loaded up a number of buses and headed to the beach. The beach was packed, but the sun was hot, so it was to be expected. I hung out with some people I had met in the previous few days, and I met even more people. It was a really relaxing time, which I enjoyed.

There’s a tradition of playing a game called “savage women.” Basically, all the guys hold onto each other in a giant circle, and the girls try to rip them apart. I didn’t play, but I saw some of the battle scars. Oh my.

The night concluded with a time of worship around a bonfire. It was really neat. We then packed back up on the buses. I got to talking to the people sitting behind me, and found out that one of them, Erik, was not only from Minnesota, but we shared the same birthday—the next day! I could hardly believe it. I told him we would have to get a picture together the next day.


TUESDAY

I had been meaning to skype with a friend of mine who lives four hours away from my hometown, because I hadn’t seen him all summer. The night before we decided that we would skype that next morning. His selected time was 9 a.m., which meant it would be 7 a.m. for me. It worked out, though, because I had a meeting at 8:30 a.m. So Tuesday morning I was up and ready to skype with Gentry by 7 a.m.

Now let me tell you a little something about Gentry—last year for my 18th birthday he and Taylor, another friend of ours, wrote me a song and performed it for me and some friends with whom we were camping. It was absolutely hilarious, too, because a lot of it made fun of me.

Well we chatted about life and he asked me about California. At one point in our conversation I asked Gentry where his guitar was. “Upstairs…” he replied hesitantly. I asked him to go get it, insisting he should play for me because it was my birthday. Reluctantly, he told me he would be right back, and he went and got his guitar. He played me a cover of “Bulletproof” by La Roux—which was awesome—and then one of his own songs. It was a wonderful way to start off my birthday.

Next to having someone write you a song, a performance is a pretty great gift.

The rest of the day mainly consisted of more meetings. I sat through presentations filled with information regarding chapel programs, community standards, campus safety, and health services.

I checked my mail, and discovered I had received a letter. I opened it up to see a check from one of the scholarships I had been granted. It was quite the birthday gift. I called my dad to tell him about it and ask him a question. You see, before my dad had left, we looked at my financial aid package. Between the aid I received from Biola and the outside scholarships I had received, it looked like I may be able to cancel my loans. That check I got in the mail confirmed it, as did my call with my father.

I headed to the financial aid office, and canceled my loans for the semester. Praise the Lord. That was the best birthday gift of all—one less thing for me to stress about.

After that, I went to the math department to meet with those in my major. There weren’t a whole lot of people, because the department is rather small. Afterward, one of the professors approached me and said he had a question for me. I sat down with him and talked about my schedule. I was taking a class he didn’t think I needed to take. I wasn’t really sure what to do, and that concerned me. My professor prayed for me, which was neat. That’s not something that you find just anywhere.

Still concerned, I left to meet with my SOS group for a tour of campus. We went through our schedules and my leader brought us to where all our classes would be. Afterward, as I walked back to Horton, I told my leader about my scheduling conflict. Again, he offered some encouragement and then prayed for me. It was so great to know there was someone looking out for me.

That night was the Academic Commencement Dinner. I got all dressed up, and walked to McNally with two people I had met a couple of days before. We ate a delicious dinner and listened to a couple of different speakers. At the end, we said a prayer corporately, but it didn’t go as plan. The group started to repeat the wrong parts, and the one leading it said this would be a prayer we would all remember.

At the end of the dinner, I found Erik, and we took a birthday picture together. I also gave him a birthday card which I had made for him.  

Erik and I - birthday twins!

WEDNESDAY

At 8 a.m. I had my first class. Following class I went to chapel, which was fall convocation, led by our President, commonly referred to DBC by students. It was a great beginning to look ahead to a new year.

That night each dorm had their All Hall party. Horton’s was a “movie premiere” party. We all got stars to use as name tags. I met all kinds of people from Horton, granted, there are well over 500 residents. I met a few more people from Minnesota, and discovered that I had distant connections with some of them, which I found kind of funny. That party was a great introduction to Horton.  

4th South - The FOLD!

THE NEXT FRIDAY

At the end of the week, there was an event at Splash, the water park across the street from campus. We had Chipotle burritos for dinner, and then got to head into the park. It isn’t a huge place, but there’s a number of things to do. I spent some time in the lazy river, but then headed toward the hot tub.

Now, the hot tub was already pretty full, but I found a spot to sit down. Then more people started to fill in. And more. And more. Until there was no room to move. But somehow that made things more exciting. I met and talked to all sorts of people in such a small space. From time to time, people would body surf across the crowd. All kinds of people were taking pictures of the huge group of us. The sign said that the max capacity was 23. Well, we had over 80 people in there. The owner of Splash even came by; he told us he didn’t mind all of us being in there, but he wanted us to stay out of the air.

The most I counted was 86 people.

When the park closed, I headed to In-N-Out with a few people from Horton. We ate burgers, fries, and shakes and had all kinds of laughs.

That was certainly a night to remember.


SATURDAY

Saturday was Serve Day. I met up with a girl from Horton and we headed there together. Different groups went to all different locations to work. We ended up going to a school to help clean and paint. My friend and I washed a lot of windows and talked about our lives. It was definitely a bonding time. The man in charge was from Scotland, and I had fun talking to him about the time that I had spent there. After our time there, we headed back to campus and had brunch.


OVERALL

It was a busy time. There was lots to do, so many people to meet, and so much fun to be had. I’ll tell you one thing, it was undoubtedly an unforgettable orientation week.

Leaving Home.

For those of you who don’t know what it’s like to grow up in a small town, please allow me to explain. The town I grew up in has a population of not quite 12,000 people, and it’s also the town my father grew up in. It really hasn’t changed that much over the years, and many of the same families have lived there all their lives, as well. So needless to say, my father is well known around town. I can’t go anywhere with him without someone knowing who he is. It’s a similar story for my mom, too. And just about every time that I go to Walmart, I see someone I know. That’s a small town for you. My friends and I often complain that there’s nothing to do, but at the end of the day, I really enjoy my town. I’ve attended the same church my whole life, also. So I know just about everyone there, and it has been an integral part of my growing up. I graduated with a class of 170 students, having grown up with them since sixth grade and half of them through elementary school, too. 

Once I had decided I was going to Biola, though, I was incredibly excited. There were people I knew I was going to miss a lot, but I was ready for an adventure. The friends I was most likely going to miss were people that don’t even live in my town. You see, every summer I attend a Bible camp in a tiny town in a remote part of northern Minnesota. I’ve had some amazing times there, and have developed awesome relationships with people there. Many of them are from a small town in the southern part of the state. But the thing is, I only see them a couple times a year as it is. So I realized that whether I was 200 or 2000 miles away wouldn’t really matter. We would still be able to maintain our friendships just fine.

Preparing to leave Minnesota was a strange experience. And if I’m being honest, it was harder than I thought it would be. In the last couple of weeks before I left, I realized that I had to start saying good-bye to people, or I wouldn’t get a chance later. I packed up my room knowing that I wouldn’t be back for a while. I wasn’t just going on vacation; I was moving. I came across letters that friends had written me, but I couldn’t even read them because I knew I would cry. So I packed them away for when I had arrived at school. One of my last nights in town was spent at a friend’s cabin with a number of people I had graduated with. It was a lot of fun, but I decided that I was ready to move on. I’d had a phenomenal summer—spending 23 days in the UK and another amazing week at camp—and I’d changed a lot. I was ready for the next chapter of my life. As I left his cabin, I looked up at the sky and audibly gasped. It was almost one in the morning, and the stars were utterly brilliant. I smiled at God’s beauty.

My last night in town was spent at an ice cream shop with a few friends. On the drive there, I almost started crying. And then I saw the brilliant red sunset. God reminded me that He’s got things under control. My friends and I had a great night laughing and talking about what was to come for us. The next day, I finished packing and said some final goodbyes. My family drove down to St. Paul and met up with my dear sister, Liz. We went out to eat at a fantastic café—which is one of my favorite places—and said goodbye to Liz. We took one last sibling photo.

We got back to the hotel, and watched the new episode of Psych, which is my favorite TV show. We went to bed right away, because we had to get up at 4 to leave for the airport. And let me tell you, 4 came fast. Once at the airport, we had to wait for Southwest to show up at their counter by 5:30. We had eight checked bags, and multiple carry-ons. We flew from Minneapolis to Denver and then to Ontario. Once in California, I took a shuttle to our hotel, because not all of our bags would fit in our rental car.

Once we had checked into our hotel, we did some shopping for the things I hadn’t brought. That evening, I contacted my roommates—who had moved in a few days before—and went to Biola to meet them. I arrived at my dorm with a pineapple and coffee cup in hand—gifts for my roomies. We brought in some of my bags so that everything else would fit in the rental car the next day. We returned to our hotel, and I went to bed knowing all that was in store for the next day: move-in day.

Hello and Welcome.

Hello friends. I’m not sure how you ended up here—maybe you’re not sure either—but I would like to welcome you. For my first post, I would like to introduce myself, explain my purpose behind this blog, and tell how I got to where I am.

So first, the introduction. I have such a diverse group of friends—those from home, those from school, and other awesome people I’ve met around the world—I have no idea how much you already know about me. My name is Olivia and I turn 19 in less than a week. I hail from a small town in northern Minnesota, the likes of which I will always call home. I’ve lived in that same town my entire life, and I really do love it. I am about to begin my freshman year of college at Biola University in La Mirada, California. But I will get to that in a minute. I love photography so very much, so you will see photos sprinkled in these posts. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and my life is a journey of continually seeking Him. I will end this introduction here, because you will learn more about me as I continue to post.

When I was making my college decision, I told myself that if I ended up in California, I would make a blog titled “I Must Be in California” (yes, the line from the Owl City song) and write about all my crazy adventures. By God’s grace and leading, I ended up here in California, and I plan to stick to my word. Although not all of my adventures are that crazy, I also intend to use this blog to write about the amazing things God is doing and the reasons that I love Biola.

“So Olivia,” you may say, “You’re from Minnesota, but somehow ended up at college in California? How does that work?” Given that I get this question a lot, please allow me to explain…

Since about my freshman year of high school, I was incredibly worried about where I was suppose to go to college. Mainly, I was so afraid of making the wrong choice. I prayed about the decision often, waiting for God’s leading. My sophomore year, I started receiving a lot of information from Biola. My dad told me that he had heard a lot of good things about it, so I started looking into it. Flash forward a year, I met Michael Gonzales, who would be my admissions counselor, at a Christian college fair in Minneapolis. My interest in Biola was further increased. After all kinds of prayer and research, I decided on six schools that I was going to apply to: Biola University, Pepperdine University, Azusa Pacific University, Huntington University, Northwestern College, and Wheaton College.

The summer before my senior year, I visited the first three on the list. Both Biola and APU seemed pretty great, although I was leaning toward Biola. Pepperdine wasn’t quite the right fit, but I decided I would still apply. December of my senior year, I attended “Biola Bound,” a weekend at the college designed for out of state students. It was a phenomenal time. I met some amazing people, and I loved everything about Biola. When it was time to leave, I was genuinely sad that I potentially may never return.

In February of my senior year, I found out that I had been selected at APU as one of forty Trustee Finalists—their full-ride scholarship which I had applied for. In March, they flew me out to APU for a weekend to interview and learn more about the school. I had so much fun, it was ridiculous. I laugh a lot, but rarely have I laughed as much as I did with the other Trustee Finalists. I actually had more fun than I did at Biola Bound, even, but I decided that APU just wasn’t quite perfect for me. A few weeks later, I found out that I wasn’t picked to be one of the seven scholarship recipients, and it was actually a relief.

Now, it was April, and there were still two schools I hadn’t toured: Huntington and Wheaton. For those of you who don’t know, my older sister attends Northwestern, so I’d already spent a lot of time there. Well, two weeks before May first—the day I had to make my decision by—I spent a weekend in Indiana and Illinois. I started out at Huntington University, which I’d heard great things about. It really was a pretty great school, but it was too small for me. Plus, the city of Huntington was really similar to my hometown, and I was ready for something totally different. The next day I toured Wheaton, which I actually wasn’t expecting to like as much. But I liked it. A lot. I was so surprised at this, too. All the negative things I’d heard about the school, well, I didn’t see any of them. So, naturally, this was not what I had been expecting.

The next two weeks turned into wrestling with God over what He wanted me to do. Both schools had different programs that I liked, so my major would affect my decision… Or my decision would affect my major; I wasn’t entirely sure. I made a list of pros and cons and sought advice from as many people as I could. I had a desperate wish that God worked in neon signs or giant billboards. I couldn’t decide how big of an adventure I was looking for: LA area or Chicago area. Tears were shed as I struggled with the realization that I couldn’t know everything. I had to come to terms with the fact that if need be, I may have to transfer. And that wasn’t that I had somehow failed, but just that things weren’t right for me.

The day I had to make my decision, I left for school still unsure. I thought about it on my drive to school, and when I arrived, I texted my dad. I told him it had to be Biola. If it wasn’t, I would likely regret it and always wonder, “What if…?”

So, hopefully that explains how I got here. Now for the second question… What’s your major? Also, another interesting story. I shall give you the abridged version. I applied to my six schools under a number of different majors: engineering, mathematics, and journalism. After a while, I realized that I felt like I should go into engineering because I had the skills for it, but that wasn’t what I wanted to do. Yet I was stuck between the other two. I applied for all kinds of scholarships and prayed fervently about it. Long story short, I ended up receiving four-year scholarships for both communications and math/science. “Okay Lord,” I said, “I’ll pursue both and see where that takes me.” So that is what I’m currently doing and seeing what the next step is that God has in store for me.

My journalism emphasis is visual journalism, because I would love to be a photojournalist one day. Eventually, when I have a family, I would like to open a small studio. My math emphasis is computer science, because my dream job would be to work for Apple or Google, but there’s a very good chance I may change that. But that’s another story.

So now that this post went from being an intro to my life story, I shall end it here. This is where I’m at.