Can you believe this past weekend was the last Navs conference I will ever attend as a student? Me either. This makes conference #8, as I have been blessed to attend each fall and winter conference since I was a baby freshman here at USM. Now, I’ve arrived to some of them half dead and barely a person, but got there none the less. I don’t really have much to report on about this one, but felt obligated to make a post anyway ’cause its kinda tradition at this point.
After having a lovely breakfast of cinnamon rolls with Emma on Friday morning, it was time to get locked and loaded and head down to Southbridge, MA. I did get to fulfill a dream of mine since freshman year, and that was being the student MC for the conference. All it took were 2 quick emails, and I was booked along with Misa from NYU. I arrived to the pre-session meeting on Friday night very intimidated to be standing with all the Northeast staff, including powerhouses such as SIT Sarah Esselborn at NYU Tandon, worship goddess Serene Shake from BU, and the big man himself-Regional Director Ben Courtemanche. Talk about standing among giants. I was nervous, but it helped that Misa was with me and that we could joke around with each other. WordPress won’t let me put a video of us in here, but use your imagination based on the pictures below. A fun fact that I was excited to learn is that Misa and I are in the same EDGE class! So that means when I go out to Colorado in 72.5 days (who’s counting?) I will already know someone there! And Misa is quite a someone to know, with his easygoing, friendly personality and bubbling energy.
In terms of content, this was one of my favorite conferences. Every workshop I went to was spot on, and our speaker Alice did amazing. I haven’t really processed through everything, but took away some great nuggets. Alice’s story was so relatable, and she did a great job of connecting with an audience of college students, which is a lot harder than you would think the older you get.
One of my highlights from the weekend was getting hang out with Hannah Chase from MMA. One of two girls from the school there this weekend, she is such a down to earth person. She is also president of their Navs chapter, and is doing her best in leading a wild group of boys from MMA! Hannah, I do not envy your job, but admire your courage to stay strong for Jesus at MMA. Y’all have no idea how badly I want to be placed there for EDGE. Alas, some decisions (OK, let’s be honest, all decisions) are out of my control. We did a quiet time together, and we prayed for our students together later on Saturday night, that they could learn boundaries and how to act honorably with each other. It’s a big prayer, friends. Keep praying! I wonder what next year will be like as a staff member…
Other than that, it’s been slammed back here in Maine. Schoolwork, planning for spring break, women’s weekend looming in the distance, and I haven’t even thought about graduation (in 70 days, but like I said who’s counting). Wish me luck friends! I still haven’t recovered chore wise from being gone, and I have a lot to do before I breathe again. I’m still waiting on good ol’ Benny C to get back to me about my EDGE placement. I feel like I can’t wait any long, but of course, I will have to. I wonder what this conference will be like next year once I’m officially on staff.
On a different note-In response to what I was talking about in the last blog, in a moment of lucidity I decided in the most anti-Jenna fashion to sign myself up for counseling through the school. They offer it for free basically, so I figured it would be good for me. Other than not being used to talking about myself for that long, I thought it was great, and am actually excited to go back again next week. Praise God, Jenna finally got herself back in therapy!
Hope you’re all having a good time in the cat days of winter, I guess you could call it, opposite of the dog days of summer. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some spring so I can be one with the trees again! Praying all your endeavors are proving fruitful. I hope mine are.
~J
“I love how we’ve only known each other for an hour, but we’re already best friends.”-Misa
Water from the Rock 