People ask my all the time why I chose Tabor. Or they ask me if I am liking it at Tabor and when I say yes ask me why I feel that way. I've always given an answer, something like 'it's a great school' or 'I feel at home there' or whatever. But this week I feel like I've discovered the real reason I love it here at Tabor. It's simple really. It is different then any other school.
When I chose to attend Tabor a year and a half ago it was for purely academic reasons. They had my major and they taught from a different perspective. I didn't know enough about the school to know what else I was getting.
This week has been a hard one for Tabor College. Last weekend a student was involved in an altercation with a rival school. It was very bad. The student was on life support in a hospital, in critical condition. The student was new, he had just transferred here from California to play football. And then he was beaten. And the student body responded in a way that I don't think you would see at many other schools. They got together and they prayed. Many people, myself included, did not know him. The first I had heard of this student was when he was dying. But I prayed for him. I prayed for a miracle. Because at Tabor, it doesn't matter if I knew him or not. What matters is that he is part of our community and when one hurts, we all hurt.
Violence is not a new thing to me. I grew up in a big city, with
increasing gang violence, and where murders and deaths are expected. I
can't tell you how many times I've heard of a death on the news and then
shrugged it off and went on with my life. Because it didn't effect my
life. When I picture this same situation happening at SFU I feel the
response would have been the same. It would have impacted those who knew
him and everyone else would have walked away unchanged.
We didn't get a miracle. The student unfortunately died last night after a week of fighting. He leaves behind parents, a fiancee, and two young kids. There will be fallout from his death. Somewhere there is another kid who now has to live with the knowledge that he killed someone. There are two kids who will grow up not knowing their father. And who knows what will happen at Tabor. We prayed for a miracle and God answered with a "no".
But there is one thing that this week taught me: whatever happens now, the students at Tabor will unite together and will get through it together. We will surround those at Tabor who knew him and we will help them. Because we are a community. We are a place that loves people and helps people.
And that is why Tabor is different. I will not walk away from this unchanged. Violence here is not expected, nor should it be anywhere, and death effects everyone. This death reminds me that life is fragile, that we each have a finite number of days here, to appreciate what I have, to focus on the present. It makes me contemplate my own mortality and what I want to be remembered for. And it makes me thankful that God brought me here, to this community that is Tabor, to a place that lives out God in everything they do.
Tabor showed our true colors this week and will continue to do so in the weeks to come. This is a place where everyone is connected in some way. Where we are "one family, one voice, and one heart" as one student told the media.
This is a news clip made early last week, before Brandon died, and it is the answer to the question of why I like Tabor:
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Tabor-Students-Offer-Spiritual-Support-For-Injured-Football-Player-Each-Other-170444286.html
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Summer
So you might want to know what I did this summer (since I clearly didn't blog) and so now that summer is over (not in Kansas though...over 100 degrees today...good thing for A/C) I thought I would let you all know.
This summer I got the chance to do something I've never done before. I know what some of you are thinking: "didn't she work at a day camp? She does that all the time." Which is true, I did work at a day camp which is something that I have done lots of times. But it is the beginning of the camp that was something new. I worked at a special needs camp. That's right. For two weeks, a staff of 10 university students ran an over night adults special needs camp. Needless to say this was a shocking experience. I am not going to lie: I did not really want to do it. I love kids. I love getting the chance to work with kids for the summer and get paid doing it. But special need adults? This is something I had never done before, had no knowledge of, and to be honest was really worried about it. But it turns out God knows best. It was a great experience.
I realized how many stereotypes I had of adults with special needs and how wrong they were. We had between 40-50 campers both weeks. And all of them were just like us. Sure, some of them had some developmental delays, some of them lacked the social skills, some had no boundaries, and some had zero communication skills. But they are just like us. They have jobs, and they are incredibly proud of their jobs, they want to know people, they want to make friends, they have relationships, they learn, they are just like us except for one thing that in reality that had no choice about. It was amazing. I learned so much - how to communicate clearly, how to deal with certain behaviors (for example, one of my campers would bite her finger whenever she felt overwhelmed or over-stimulated. Which was basically all the time. So I had to learn how to deal with that). By the end of the two weeks I was beyond exhausted, but also felt very fulfilled. It was great to work with a new population, learn new skills, and experience something brand new.
Of course the rest of the summer was also amazing. We had between 10-20 campers a week and they ranged in age from 5-12. They kids were great. There were of course the campers who like to break the rules, the ones with annoying behaviors, and the ones who were slightly aggressive. But they were great. Over the years I have learned to deal with those things and look for the good instead of focusing on the bad. There were just so many really precious moments and it was great to get to know some more kids and learn about their lives. Kids lives seem so much different then when I was a kid. It often makes me sad to see the lack of childhood many of my campers have, but it was great to have them outside constantly and give them a chance to forget about school and their home lives (which are not always ideal). The camp was on the beach (Crescent Beach) which was great. I got to see the ocean every day. Which was especially great considering I live in the land locked state of Kansas the rest of the year.
Of course the summer ended with a three and a half day road trip with three people in my car, three travel suit cases, one big suit case, 4 packs of Shreddies (they don't exist in USA), a big box of coffee crisp (which also don't exist here), and an assortment of bags. All in my Toyota Yaris. It was a good trip - long by the end of it, but good. We did 8-9 hour days and stopped to do some tourist-y things along the way. It felt good to get out of the car and stretch our legs and see some of America we never get to see. The trip ended with a tour of Hillsboro and Tabor for my mom (who has been here once before) and my sister (who has never been here before).
And then summer was over. The very next day school started, the family went home, and homework began. And that is where I am now. While all you Canadians are just thinking about starting school tomorrow, I have already written half a dozen papers and completed my first exam. So summer is over, but not forgotten. And maybe soon I will post some pictures. But first I must eat dinner. And paint my house. And do homework...
This summer I got the chance to do something I've never done before. I know what some of you are thinking: "didn't she work at a day camp? She does that all the time." Which is true, I did work at a day camp which is something that I have done lots of times. But it is the beginning of the camp that was something new. I worked at a special needs camp. That's right. For two weeks, a staff of 10 university students ran an over night adults special needs camp. Needless to say this was a shocking experience. I am not going to lie: I did not really want to do it. I love kids. I love getting the chance to work with kids for the summer and get paid doing it. But special need adults? This is something I had never done before, had no knowledge of, and to be honest was really worried about it. But it turns out God knows best. It was a great experience.
I realized how many stereotypes I had of adults with special needs and how wrong they were. We had between 40-50 campers both weeks. And all of them were just like us. Sure, some of them had some developmental delays, some of them lacked the social skills, some had no boundaries, and some had zero communication skills. But they are just like us. They have jobs, and they are incredibly proud of their jobs, they want to know people, they want to make friends, they have relationships, they learn, they are just like us except for one thing that in reality that had no choice about. It was amazing. I learned so much - how to communicate clearly, how to deal with certain behaviors (for example, one of my campers would bite her finger whenever she felt overwhelmed or over-stimulated. Which was basically all the time. So I had to learn how to deal with that). By the end of the two weeks I was beyond exhausted, but also felt very fulfilled. It was great to work with a new population, learn new skills, and experience something brand new.
Of course the rest of the summer was also amazing. We had between 10-20 campers a week and they ranged in age from 5-12. They kids were great. There were of course the campers who like to break the rules, the ones with annoying behaviors, and the ones who were slightly aggressive. But they were great. Over the years I have learned to deal with those things and look for the good instead of focusing on the bad. There were just so many really precious moments and it was great to get to know some more kids and learn about their lives. Kids lives seem so much different then when I was a kid. It often makes me sad to see the lack of childhood many of my campers have, but it was great to have them outside constantly and give them a chance to forget about school and their home lives (which are not always ideal). The camp was on the beach (Crescent Beach) which was great. I got to see the ocean every day. Which was especially great considering I live in the land locked state of Kansas the rest of the year.
Of course the summer ended with a three and a half day road trip with three people in my car, three travel suit cases, one big suit case, 4 packs of Shreddies (they don't exist in USA), a big box of coffee crisp (which also don't exist here), and an assortment of bags. All in my Toyota Yaris. It was a good trip - long by the end of it, but good. We did 8-9 hour days and stopped to do some tourist-y things along the way. It felt good to get out of the car and stretch our legs and see some of America we never get to see. The trip ended with a tour of Hillsboro and Tabor for my mom (who has been here once before) and my sister (who has never been here before).
And then summer was over. The very next day school started, the family went home, and homework began. And that is where I am now. While all you Canadians are just thinking about starting school tomorrow, I have already written half a dozen papers and completed my first exam. So summer is over, but not forgotten. And maybe soon I will post some pictures. But first I must eat dinner. And paint my house. And do homework...
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