Concerning College Visits and Christmastime

     Merry Christmas, everybody! It's been a while since I wrote and, you know, maybe it's time for an update. I am sitting in the washroom at Mom's battered green desk, waiting for my wax to melt. Candlemaking is a tradition here at home. The dryer hums, the water boils. My fingers tap. Cranberry scent fills the room. Hesston College is on my mind. I visited over Thanksgiving weekend, asking myself is this my future? Maybe some of you wonder as well. So I will use the rest of this post to talk about Kansas.
     Since the middle of summer, I'd been toying with the idea of visiting Hesston College campus sometime this winter. At first I thought Thanksgiving break would be a good time since Mom has a weekend off of work. I hoped both Mom and Dad could come along. September, my admissions counselor, Kate Mast, was traveling through Wayne County, so we met and talked about college. I filled out my application (and got a free tee shirt). Kate thought perhaps Thanksgiving wouldn't be the best time to come to campus, since there are more festivities than everyday college life. Plus there wouldn't be any classes and probably no room in the guest house. I started planning for January instead.
   Then came Jerrel and Amanda's wedding. We girls (plus Daryn) played the wedding music for them. At the reception, Amy and Alisa Murray snagged me to say that I should join Bel Canto, Hesston's choir. Amy went on to offer a ride up to Hesston, since Alisa and Randy were already headed there for Thanksgiving and had an empty seat. Personally, I feel like it was a nudge from God. Every time I feel doubtful about his directing me to Hesston, I get another little nudge in that direction. Older, wiser people have asked what's wrong with Malone, or something online? Why go so far away? Honestly, I think it's essential to my development, to put it seriously. I think every kid needs some great divide between kid years and adulthood; kind of a license to be his own person, or something. A couple years on my own could really do the trick (at least that's my theory). Anyway, so I went.
     Boy, that was a long drive. First, I arrived at the Murray's house. Then Randy and I traveled to Goshen, IN to pick up Alisa, who is finishing up college there. Randy and I had many and interesting talks. Mostly, I was curious about his views on Anabaptist heritage. We talked about pacifism, and some of the bad things I've heard about EMU, and gay rights, etc. That conversation started me thinking thoughts that I spent the rest of the weekend mulling over. I have never met someone who is passionate about pacifism before. Randy, a retired Mennonite paster turned STNA, is. After we picked up Alisa, we continued driving to La Porte to pick up Alisa's boyfriend, a commercial pilot instructor. Caleb (boyfriend) wanted to fly the rest of the way to Hesston, since it could shave nearly ten hours off our travel time. Randy actually considered it for about an hour, but then weather conditions changed his mind, and without further ado, we four buckled down and started driving again. That was at 4:30. Alisa started driving at 9 pm, and I rode shotgun. I learned that you can really get to know a person in a short time if you are all in the same vehicle for 20 hours! Alisa and I talked favorite authors, mission trips, college majors, pros and cons of Hesston, and the true purpose of education while driving on Rt 36 through ice and snow at midnight. This talk was just another great thought provoker that set me up for the weekend.
     We pulled into Annali (Alisa's sister) Murray's drive at 6 am Thanksgiving Day, and I was showered and in bed by 6:15. I don't remember much for the next few hours.  Close to eleven, I woke up, had breakfast, and Saralyn (another of Randy's daughter's)  walked me over to campus. Annali (also an admissions counselor) can walk to work in two minutes - the college is literally next door. So there I was. My host for the week , Erika Byler, took me to a buffet brunch in the dining hall. You know, orange juice, (amazing) coffee, and all sorts of breakfast goodies. The Hesston kitchen staff served us great breakfasts all weekend. After breakfast, Erika Byler showed me around campus. There are a jumble of buildings that I don't even remember the names of. Northlawn stood out to me because that is where I would take the majority of my classes, if I major in music education.  There is an arboreteum five minutes away from campus, and it's beautiful even in the winter. Tall brown grasses and winding pathways, a pond and a stand of trees with some stone landscaping. Also little prairie sections. The arboreteum staff were preparing for a luminary walk Fri and Sat evenings. Unfortunately I didn't make it to that.
     That afternoon Erika's pleasantly large family showed up and kept us company. I loved her four youngest siblings, all adopted from China. I think they loved me too. And I was especially glad for their company since I was so far from my own family for the first holiday I can remember. About four pm I walked to prospective student meeting at the campus church. The admissions vice president opened with a reading from "Jesus Calling" that I am sure was another God nudge. The passage was about focusing on Jesus and the present instead of worrying about all the twists and turns of the future. So appropriate for me, trying to figure out if God is really calling me all the way out to Kansas. The evening Erika's family and I spent at the annual Christmas concert (excellent music) and the talent show afterward. Alisa told me later that Randy Murray nearly split his sides from laughing so hard at the talent show. The student's definitely had a good time. Even later yet, Erika, her little sister and I went to Druber's Donut's with her friends. Apparently, that is one donut shop that doesn't open until 11 pm, and closes again at 10 am. Strange hours indeed! But they get all kinds of student business (for good reason, their donuts are delicious). And finally, bedtime.
     I managed to lock myself out of the dorm on Friday morning (they have specific hours when you can get in and out), but, happily, that was after I was ready for the day. I spent the rest of the morning auditioning for a scholarship and a part in Bel Canto. I am fairly confident about the scholarship part of the audition, but feel nervous about the Bel Canto part. Bradley Kaufman, the 'judge', will tell me my results in April... a long ways away. The rest of the day I spent touring campus and talking with different professors about majors. That evening the Byler's and I ate at Applebee's in nearby Newton, then drove back to campus in time for cabaret. Students put on little snippets of plays, songs, or other theatre pieces in Hesston's little theatre. I wish I could show you all some of the pieces - "Being Alive" sung by a guy with a great big voice about letting someone get too close for comfort; a section of "The Importance Of Being Ernest" (Oliver Wilde) played by two world class snoots; "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady. I got a front row seat (not that it would've mattered with the piddly size of the room), and clapped the whole way through.
     After caberet, we walked over to the gym for one of my very favorite things about Hesston: the hymn sing. It's by far the most original hymn sing I've been apart of. Here's what happened. All the hymn sing people gather in the raquetball courts (you know, with the high ceilings and close walls) and sing hymn after hymn. Such amazing sound! Eventually the lead hymner person turned the light off and we sang a few songs that way. I tried to record a few songs to show people back at home but couldn't capture the echoes right. Some things you just have to be there for! At the hymn sing I met a student from Central Christian who is now a Hesston College student. Small world indeed.
     Saturday morning I sneaked out of the dorm and walked to the arboreteum, where I spent an hour writing and getting caught up with home. When returned to the lobby, Micah Raber (Central Christian guy) was visiting with Erika Byler's brother. Since Erika wasn't around yet, I hung out with them until breakfast. After Erika's family left campus, an African American dad started up a conversation with us. We talked about a lot of things, diversity and racism, chiefly. I appreciated the chance to ask someone on the other side of the issue for perspective on Ferguson, Missouri, and other instances like it. Honestly, I've been convicted of racism since I talked with Mr. Mann. One aspect of racism, I now believe, is not taking the time to understand where the other race stands. (Yes, I have done that). See, back home at work I'd been talking about racism and Ferguson with Bob Moomaw and Ray Davies. That's what got me really thinking. Interestingly, Mr. Mann's son has no Mennonite heritage and still loves Hesston. Mr Mann said his son has come to realize that Mennonites are simple. They aren't materialistic, and he admires that. Anyway, I enjoyed the conversation. One basketball game later, it was time for me to head back to Annali's. I repacked, thanked Erika for her hospitality and left. Randy Murray and I got safely home to Kidron at 2 am on Monday.
    So there you have it. I keep being amazed at how everything keeps falling in place. Life is an adventure, never boring, always new.
   Thanks for reading.