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Stephanie Wiens
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Last Blog
May 21, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Well, I guess this is my last blog for this year. It’s been great getting to share my first year at Tabor with you all.
Classes are over. Finals are still around for a couple days, and then school is out until next September. This semester has been a good one. It’s been waaaaay busier than the first one, but still fun. I declared my major! Biology: pre-physical therapy, with a minor in music. I’ll have a busy three more years, but it’ll be worth it.
One exciting end of the year event was the presidential inauguration last weekend, along with other corresponding events, such as the Spring Oratorio. The band and choir played and sang for the inauguration ceremony, and I got to be a part of that. I chose to play in the orchestra for the Spring Oratorio, on flute. It was fun. I got to have a solo part, and everyone sang and played wonderfully. It was a good concert.
This summer I am planning on working all 3 months, as well as doing random other fun things. I have plans to climb Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental US, in August. That should be exciting.
I was elected, recently, to be this next years SAB (Student Activities Board) publicist, so I am excited to be involved in Tabor’s events more this upcoming year.
Well, I guess this is it, then. Over and out.
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Back From Spring Break!
April 16, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Spring break has passed, and we are back in the hang of things on our last 5 weeks of this semester. This year has been a great one – one that has made me love Tabor and the people here. I will always remember this year, my first year at Tabor, and look back on it with good memories.
Spring break was amazing! I went on choir tour, so on Saturday March 29th, all 54 of us choir members packed onto a completely full charter bus and took off down to the state of Oklahoma. We gave concerts every night, and sometimes sang in schools during the day, and had a blast. :] because we never had too much travel time (the furthest we drove was 3 hours down to Tulsa) we had a lot of hang out time, and time to relax, or explore wherever we were. One plus of having all the down time was: I got to know many people that I otherwise would have never talked to. It was a fun trip, and everyone enjoyed it.
To be honest, at first I was a little bummed about not spending spring break the way I planned, but it ended up being a wonderful experience. Next years choir tour destination: California! My home state. I am looking forward to it.
Its been warming up here a little bit. The past week was fairly rainy, but we’ve had some sunny warm days. Its good to finally have warm sun after a winter of snow and ice…..says the girl from California. lol.
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Spring Semester
March 19, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Hey! Sorry I haven’t blogged in a while. This semester’s schedule has been crazy. I’m always going, going, going, and never have time to sit still and relax. We’re about halfway through the semester, and professors are starting to give midterms. One exciting thing that happened to me this past week was that my family came to visit my sister and I here at Tabor. My little brother and sister hadn’t been out here to Kansas recently, and they had never seen Tabor. My parents, who went here years ago, took the opportunity to visit old friends and relatives who live in the area. It was a lot of fun. My younger sister stayed in my dorm room for 3 nights, and went around with me, coming to classes, and experiencing Tabor life. My brother connected well with a bunch of the guys here, and had tons of fun. Last night, before my family left, we took them on a Drubers donut run (Drubers is a late night donut shop that is popular with young people who want to stay out late.) It was a good visit.
Another thing I’m excited about is the warmer weather. Its starting to warm up here, and we’ve been having nice sunny weather. Spring is on its way! The first week of April is spring break – I’m in choir, so I am going on choir tour for the whole week. We are touring Oklahoma this year, and we’re all excited to have a good trip. Be sure to try to come to one of the concerts, if you’re in the area. We’ll have concerts in Tulsa, Cardel, Corn, Fairview, Enid, and Oklahoma City.
One last thing: a tradition was started recently at Tabor, that every year, each floor (in the dorms, townhouses, etc) has the opportunity to make a floor video, based off of a theme given to us. At the end of the deadline, we all watch them and vote on the best ones. This year, the theme was “to spoof a movie/tv show/etc.” I live on Upper Regier, and we spoofed the Mac v. PC commercials, and won third place with our video! It was fun to connect with our floor while filming it, and fun to watch. Here a link if you’d care to watch:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4KKT-MyMX0k
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Sharing New Experiences
February 20, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
We are two weeks into the second semester, and I’m starting to get into the swing of things. Classes are going well, and even though I’m super busy, I am enjoying them all. As I predicted, I love my sign language class, and I can’t wait to actually be able to use it. I love being back at Tabor. After being gone for a month and a half, its been fun to hang out with all my Tabor friends again.
Big news – I have a new roommate! At the beginning of interterm, I moved into Upper Regier (from lower Regier) into a room with my friend. Well, we were happy roommates for about a week and a half until circumstances changed and she moved across the hall. Now my roommate is Shiny Pandirla. She came this semester from India – I met her while I was there. So we already knew each other a little bit. (if you look at my last post – there’s a picture of us together in India – the third picture from the end) Shes been here for just over a weeks now, and things are looking great! It was fun showing her around and experiencing a lot of “firsts” – her first Walmart trip, her first burrito, her first trip to an American movie theatre. Its rather exciting.
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Back From India!
February 06, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Well, the new semester has started, and I think it will be a busy one. Im taking Chemistry 2, Zoology, Bible in the modern world, and a Sign Language class offered in Mcpherson, which I’m really excited about. I’m also taking many music classes, including band, choir, handbells, and doing many things with my piano playing. And, I’m helping out at WUMP, or Wichita Urban Ministry Plunge, which is a student-led program for kids in the heart of urban Wichita. All in all, my schedules looking quite packed, but all of it is with things I enjoy, so maybe it won’t be so bad, after all.
This past month, I spent the majority of it in India, on the interterm team. It was amazing! I got to meet so many people, and help out with different ministries there – it was a life-changing experience. I would highly recommend this trip for anyone interested in missions and would love experiencing other cultures. Our team was great, and the professor who led it, Dr. Del Grey, taught us so much. It was truly one of the best experiences of my life. You can read a little bit more of what we did in my past blog.
It was quite the change, however, coming from southern India, where it was 90 degree weather, back to Kansas’ snow and cold. I had to wear boots instead of flip flops, and a coat instead of a t-shirt. It will take some getting used to. :]
For more pictures of my trip to India, visit these links:
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Christmas at Home & Tabor's India Interterm Trip
January 09, 2008
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
At Tabor College, interterm is here! Interterm is a month long period in January that can be used to take a condensed class or go on a trip before second semester starts in February. This year, I decided to, not take a class, but travel to India, on a missions trip. It is a trip being led by Del Grey, a Bible prof. here at Tabor, and we are going for three weeks. There are 15 students going. During that time, we will help out in Shamshabad at the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College (MBCBC). Here we will live, attend classes, and complete internships every evening with the students. This is a very exciting opportunity. This should prove to be a growing week, where we can attempt to merge ourselves into the culture. This is also exciting because as Tabor’s Mennonite sister school, MBCBC will receive our encouraging support through our presence alone, as well as through the work we do. The second half of our time there will be spent working and serving with a growing church in Jedcherla. Our goals here center around being blessed by the church while serving in any means necessary. The serving in this church appears to be spending meal times at the members’ homes as they invite their non-believing friends and family to “meet the Americans.” This should provide the witness for the church members to talk with their friends and family about Jesus Christ. I am very excited to go on this trip, it should prove to be a growing opportunity for myself, as well as helping the people there. We leave on Thursday, January 10th, and come back January 29th.
As for the past couple weeks, I was finally able to go home, for the first time since August, for Christmas break! :] I got to see my family again.
I had a great time being home in California. Christmas was great, and for new years, my family took a trip to the Santa Monica Beach, in LA, for a couple days. It was fun – the beach in winter is still quite warm, but not as crowded. I really enjoyed the trip. It was nice to get someplace warm, after being in cold Kansas. :]
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Thanksgiving Break & A Piece of Christmas : )
November 28, 2007
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Over Thanksgiving break a week and a half ago, I decided to take a trip. My home in California was too far away for such a short break, so my sister and I decided to meet up with some old friends in North Dakota. We drove 4 hours up to Nebraska, picked a couple people up, and then 10 hours there, where it was much colder than Kansas. We had our first snow of the year, and had a great time visiting with the people we went to see. It was a long drive, but worth it. When you get a bunch of friends in a car, it will never be boring. Road trips are always fun. :]
Friday, December 9th, was the day of Tabor College’s Christmas banquet. I was asked by Ben Faul, and so that night we dressed up and went. It was a great dinner. It was held up in the chapel, and it was very formal. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was Christmas-y. SAB (Student Activities Board) held a door prize raffle, and although I did not win, many other people did. After dinner was over, a swing dancing lesson was held in the campus recreation center (CRC). It was a very fun night. I really enjoyed it.
Now theres only 8 days before I go home to California for Christmas break :] This will be the first time I’ve gone home since August. I’m really excited. I love home, and I love Christmas.
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My Dates at Sadie Hawkins!
November 07, 2007
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Hey! These last few weeks have been busy ones here at Tabor! Sadie Hawkins was two weeks ago, and it was a big success! How Tabor does it is that there are three different themed nights planned, and girls can ask three different guys, or ask the same guy to all three nights. I chose the first way.
The first night was an 80’s roller skating night at a skate rink over in Hutch. I asked Ben Faul, and so we dressed up 80’s and went. We had a blast! Everyone’s outfits were hilarious, and old school roller skating is always fun.
The second night was an Asian banquet in Tabor’s cafeteria. SAB (the student activities board) had decorated it every nicely. I went with Justin Moore. The food was delicious! I especially liked the egg rolls. They made everyone eat with chopsticks, and luckily I had mastered that challenge before I came here. Afterwards, a bunch of friends went out to the reservoir and had a bonfire. There was hot chocolate, hot cider, s’mores, guitar music, and lots of fun.
The third night was my favorite. it was a country hoedown! My twin, Julie, and I went with the Suderman twins – Michael and Tyler. We had a blast dressing up hick and dancing. There was swing dancing, line dancing, bobbing for apples, and homemade rootbeer and cream soda. I had never really swing danced in California before I came here, and I really enjoyed it. It was a great night.
Overall, Sadies was amazing! All the nights were fun and well planned. I can’t wait for next year’s!
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Tabor Homecoming Weekend!
October 24, 2007
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
What a great Homecoming weekend Tabor just had! There were so many amazing things happening, and everything went well. The Homecoming musical, HONK!, was a huge success. I was playing keyboard in the pit orchestra, and had an amazing time. All of our shows went well, and everyone involved put a lot of effort and time into it, and it turned out great. Everyone I’ve talked to loved it, and we all had a lot of fun putting it on. It was a great experience for me, as a freshman, getting involved with the musical.
We also had a choir concert for alumni and others on Saturday morning, along with a hand bell choir performance. Also, I had some relatives come in from out of town for homecoming and i got to visit with them. It was nice to see people from back home.
The football game was fun, even though we didn’t’ win. There were a lot of people at the game, and it made it more exciting.
Sadie Hawkins is coming up this next week, and I’ve asked guys to all three theme nights, so I’ll be sure to post pictures of that in my next update. :]
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Celebrating My Birthday!
October 10, 2007
Categories: Stephanie Wiens' Blog
Well, these last few weeks have been eventful. It was my 18th birthday on Friday, October 5th, and a bunch of people threw me and Julie (my twin, who coincidentally has the same birthday as me) a late night party out in the middle of nowhere.
We had a huge bonfire, and guitar music, and birthday cake, and s’mores, and a huge marshmallow fight. It was amazingly fun.
Then we went stargazing afterwards. It was probably one of my most memorable birthdays yet. I love getting all the mail people send you on your birthday. I also received a huge package form my parents filled with all sorts of useful birthday gifts. Always a good thing.
Also, that weekend, some friends of mine came in from out of town, and we had a great time hanging out together.
On the downside, this is my first week of being sick away form home. I don’t get sick very often, but I came down with this huge cold. My voice left me (the day of the first Tabor college choir concert, which went well. Except for the fact that I couldn’t sing) and I’ve been coughing and wheezing and sneezing all week. Hopefully it’s getting better, though. I hate being sick.
I agreed to be in the pit orchestra for the Tabor college upcoming musical, “HONK!” It’s coming up on homecoming weekend – the 18th through the 21st. It’s coming together nicely, and I enjoy playing synthesizer, but the nightly practices can really take time away from your day. I’ve been really busy trying to keep up with all my schoolwork as well as go to all the practices. But – everyone should buy tickets for the musical! It will be good!
