Taken from the September 28th publication of The Clause:
According to APU’s Student Leadership Covenant, Christian leadership involves a calling to model selflessness for the good of the larger Christian community. While I see how, for the most part, the covenant aims to benefit students, its word choice, ambiguity and micro-managing nature are just too much to handle. The covenant does not allow student leaders the choice to model what they consider leadership.
To be perfectly honest, the one thing on the covenant that catches my eye above everything else is “honor God with my conduct in all relationships, including choosing to abstain from the use of alcohol…” I understand the rules APU places on the student body to refrain from using any alcoholic substance ON campus (even if they tick me off a bit), but this rule applies to 21-year-old students while they are OFF campus as well. How does a “no alcohol” policy ensure students conduct themselves in a God-honoring manner?
What I feel is being overlooked here is the word “leader.” If a person chooses to take a leadership position it should be their responsibility (not requirement) to act in a way they think fits a leader. When I was a freshman and found out my RA couldn’t drink even though she had turned 21, all I thought was how lame it was the school had placed that on her. But when I found out that a 22-year-old friend of mine was choosing not to drink because she was leading a Bible study and felt she could better model Christ that way, I was very impressed, even if I did think she was a little crazy. It was her choice. It wasn’t about rules or being afraid to get in trouble. It was her choice to live how she felt called.
As Editor-in-Chief of the Clause, I act in a way that I believe is appropriate to lead the other people on staff whom I love so much. Does it mean I am perfect? Not at all. But I have the ability to learn how to be an effective leader based on my relationship with Christ, not on the regulations of an outside party. It even says in the covenant to “live publicly and privately in a manner that is consistent with my commitment to Christ and the relationship I have with Him.” My PERSONAL relationship with Christ.
It is a learning experience, and if every action student leaders take is going to be thwarted by yet another rule, how are they ever going to learn to stand on their own and truly reflect their relationship with God? They should be given that chance. While I realize that, technically, it is the choice of the student to step into a leadership position when such rules bind them, I also know that putting covenant requirements on students doesn’t call them to lead. It calls them to follow.
9.28.2007
9.24.2007
The College Experience
I get frustrated when I think about graduation. All of this stuff I have learned… all the math classes, all the science, all the BS that took up two years of my life before I figured out my major… none of it matters. And will what I do end up even reflecting my major?
I am starting to wonder if going to college is really even beneficial to most people. Yes, I understand that business majors or science majors, people who want to go to law school or teach math, those people really benefit from attending a university. But have I really learned anything? What have I gotten out of college? When I started out freshman year, I had no clue what I wanted out of my life. I had no interest in a relationship with God. I had no interest in school. I was just at APU to get away from my family. I just needed to be on my own to figure some things out.
I crashed and burned several times. I tripped and pretty much splattered all over the floor more times than I can count. I drank and didn’t do my homework. I never went to class. Looking back, I realize how actually crazy I was, how out of control I was.
Maybe that is it. Maybe college isn’t about the classes. Maybe it is about falling on our face without anyone to pick us up. Maybe it is about learning to deal with your own problems, forcing yourself to get up on time, knowing you can’t get wasted all the time if you want to accomplish something. Maybe college isn’t about really learning anything. It’s just about the experience. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried about graduating. Even though I might not have learned much from my classes, I have learned a lot from the experience, and that is worth more to me than any A ever could.
I am starting to wonder if going to college is really even beneficial to most people. Yes, I understand that business majors or science majors, people who want to go to law school or teach math, those people really benefit from attending a university. But have I really learned anything? What have I gotten out of college? When I started out freshman year, I had no clue what I wanted out of my life. I had no interest in a relationship with God. I had no interest in school. I was just at APU to get away from my family. I just needed to be on my own to figure some things out.
I crashed and burned several times. I tripped and pretty much splattered all over the floor more times than I can count. I drank and didn’t do my homework. I never went to class. Looking back, I realize how actually crazy I was, how out of control I was.
Maybe that is it. Maybe college isn’t about the classes. Maybe it is about falling on our face without anyone to pick us up. Maybe it is about learning to deal with your own problems, forcing yourself to get up on time, knowing you can’t get wasted all the time if you want to accomplish something. Maybe college isn’t about really learning anything. It’s just about the experience. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried about graduating. Even though I might not have learned much from my classes, I have learned a lot from the experience, and that is worth more to me than any A ever could.
Safety in the Bubble
Erring on the side of caution has never been my personal forte. I run around the block at night, alone. I walk to my apartment in University Park from the Citrus Annex Parking lot, slowly, while holding my computer and purse and talking on the phone. The other day, I carried my cashed paycheck in my back pocket, and ended up dropping a 50 on the ground in front of some "shady characters" sitting outside of Little Caesars. To be honest, when it comes to my own personal and physical safety, I just don't care enough.
There are hundreds of students on our campus, however, who DO care about their safety. Events over the past year have caused the feeling of safety in our "APU Bubble" to pop. There was the armed robbery at Little Caesars and the mugging in the alleyway between the Shire and the College Center during the spring last year. There was the assault in front of Alosta place this summer. And of course, there was the drunk man who drove onto our campus and attempted to get two freshman girls to get into his car. At the end of last year, there was the alleged "gunman" on campus. And this year, there have been several break-ins in Crestview.
A lot of people already know the Azusa area isn't safe, but living on a college campus is supposed to provide some sense of protection. What else is Campus Safety for besides writing a million annoying parking tickets?
It is definitely apparent that most students know robberies and muggings occur close by, but don’t give it a second thought. Staying safe is, honestly, up to students. Having Campus Safety around is no different than having police around.
“You can’t predict everything,” Lieutenant Randy Richardson said. “I would like to think we deter a lot of what happens just by our presence and by our being proactive, but there are a lot of holes that are left open for people to take opportunity. It is a mixed effort between us and people taking responsibility for their own well being.”
And safety is relative as well. What might feel ‘safe’ to a person living in a bullet riddled neighborhood is probably different than what feels ‘safe’ to me, a girl who grew up in Abercrombie mall-ed, grassy park covered suburbia.
Considering that most crimes such as these occur off campus, it can be concluded that our campus IS, for the most part, safe and that it is the surrounding areas that are not.
So, how can someone stay safe if they care enough about their safety to try?
HAVE COMMON SENSE! I am not implicating that people who are held at gun point are responsible for their situations, but certain bits of common sense might have at least prevented a mugging. Here are a couple of rules to follow, provided by your fellow classmates:
Girls: Find someone to walk with you. Yes, we know you are buff and hardcore and can totally take care of yourself, but lets just pretend you can’t. At the very least, you can ask a hot boy to be your ‘escort,’ and score a little one-on-one time.
Another option is the Rape and Aggression Defense (RAD) classes offered by APU. RAD teaches women how to defend themselves in real situations, and even teaches that in some situations, doing nothing can be the better decision.
So the ultimate question here is are we ever really safe? I highly doubt it. I think any shattered comfort levels are a result of people recognizing that they aren’t indestructible. In the Adolescent Culture & Evangelism class I took last semester, Professor Steve Gerali mentioned the fact that adolescents have it in the back of their minds that they are, in a way, bulletproof. Nothing bad can happen to them. It is why so many of youth are shocked when they get pregnant when they used protection, even though they had been warned that only abstinence is 100% effective.
Technically, college students are still in the end of adolescence, so certain feelings of indestructibility are wearing off, but are still somewhat present.
People need to pop their comfort bubble and recognize that bad stuff happens, and yes, it does sometimes happen to you, instead of waiting for that bubble to be painfully popped by something else.
There are hundreds of students on our campus, however, who DO care about their safety. Events over the past year have caused the feeling of safety in our "APU Bubble" to pop. There was the armed robbery at Little Caesars and the mugging in the alleyway between the Shire and the College Center during the spring last year. There was the assault in front of Alosta place this summer. And of course, there was the drunk man who drove onto our campus and attempted to get two freshman girls to get into his car. At the end of last year, there was the alleged "gunman" on campus. And this year, there have been several break-ins in Crestview.
A lot of people already know the Azusa area isn't safe, but living on a college campus is supposed to provide some sense of protection. What else is Campus Safety for besides writing a million annoying parking tickets?
It is definitely apparent that most students know robberies and muggings occur close by, but don’t give it a second thought. Staying safe is, honestly, up to students. Having Campus Safety around is no different than having police around.
“You can’t predict everything,” Lieutenant Randy Richardson said. “I would like to think we deter a lot of what happens just by our presence and by our being proactive, but there are a lot of holes that are left open for people to take opportunity. It is a mixed effort between us and people taking responsibility for their own well being.”
And safety is relative as well. What might feel ‘safe’ to a person living in a bullet riddled neighborhood is probably different than what feels ‘safe’ to me, a girl who grew up in Abercrombie mall-ed, grassy park covered suburbia.
Considering that most crimes such as these occur off campus, it can be concluded that our campus IS, for the most part, safe and that it is the surrounding areas that are not.
So, how can someone stay safe if they care enough about their safety to try?
HAVE COMMON SENSE! I am not implicating that people who are held at gun point are responsible for their situations, but certain bits of common sense might have at least prevented a mugging. Here are a couple of rules to follow, provided by your fellow classmates:
Girls: Find someone to walk with you. Yes, we know you are buff and hardcore and can totally take care of yourself, but lets just pretend you can’t. At the very least, you can ask a hot boy to be your ‘escort,’ and score a little one-on-one time.
Another option is the Rape and Aggression Defense (RAD) classes offered by APU. RAD teaches women how to defend themselves in real situations, and even teaches that in some situations, doing nothing can be the better decision.
So the ultimate question here is are we ever really safe? I highly doubt it. I think any shattered comfort levels are a result of people recognizing that they aren’t indestructible. In the Adolescent Culture & Evangelism class I took last semester, Professor Steve Gerali mentioned the fact that adolescents have it in the back of their minds that they are, in a way, bulletproof. Nothing bad can happen to them. It is why so many of youth are shocked when they get pregnant when they used protection, even though they had been warned that only abstinence is 100% effective.
Technically, college students are still in the end of adolescence, so certain feelings of indestructibility are wearing off, but are still somewhat present.
People need to pop their comfort bubble and recognize that bad stuff happens, and yes, it does sometimes happen to you, instead of waiting for that bubble to be painfully popped by something else.
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