Final Wrap-Up Post

Hey everyone,

I've been home for a little over a week now so I figured it would be a good time to do the final post. Everything as far as travel went very smoothly, and I arrived back to Greensboro, NC about 10pm EST(nice to be back in 1 time-zone with everyone). Mom and Dad were there waiting for me and we headed home, getting back about midnight.

The first couple of days home were basically just catching up on rest, mail, sleep, and just getting everything in order. I got to hang out with alot of people back home which was great, and was able to just sit around with nothing to do(which by the way, gets old fast).

The first weekend back we headed to Newport News to visit Peanut, Richard, Ronda, Ray, PJ, and kids. It was great to see everyone there and I was even able to take home the victory in the classic Bowman/Toll family poker game. It's always relaxing in NN...a little slower paced than San Diego, but having the Olympics on was a nice retreat.

Since we've been back from NN, I've really been doing alot of nothing, which I feel is all I could want, with school being right around the corner. I'll be moving in on Tuesday and then classes start the following Monday. I'm really looking forward to doing the STA(Student Teaching Assistant) for the Residential Leadership Community and feel like it'll be a great way to connect with some freshmen. I'll also be leading a Bible Study through Cru, which is one of the main skills I hoped to improve on this summer, and I'd say it was successful. I got alot of practice leading studies and alot of leadership training in San Diego and now I feel much more prepared to lead the freshman study this fall. I'm a little wary about who I will co-lead with(Cru wants all freshman study leaders to co-lead), because I did not request anyone to lead with, so I guess I'll be put with a random person, but I'm sure it will end up alright in the end. I'll be living with John again, and our suitemates are all people from our hall last year, which should be alot of fun.

The thing I'm most excited for this year is just having the freshman class below us. I remember how exciting it was to get a call from an older student asking to hang out or go get lunch and it's exciting to have that power now only by being older. I'm looking forward to getting to know alot of the younger guys and hopefully draw in some more people into the Cru movement for the future years.

After having a week or so to reflect on the project, I'm still not sure what the long-lasting changes will be for me. I'm much more looking forward to being back in school to see how things go, but I am still very excited and anxious to be able to take all that I've learned in San Diego and take it to Blacksburg. I feel like I couldn't have spent my summer in a more valuable way, and am seriously considering the possibility of going back next summer for the student-staff portion of the project.

It has been alot of fun for me to do this blog, and I hope you have all enjoyed it as well. As I say many times, I'd love to hear from you all if you would like to talk more specifically about project or just stay in touch, feel free. I look forward to seeing everyone that I haven't seen and wish you all the best in the next days to come.