Three to go

The first semester of my junior year at JMU has officially come to a close. Five semesters in the books, three more to go. It's been a good ride. Living in the JOLT house has really been all that I could have imagined it to be and then some. I love the guys. It's a nice transition to living in the real world. It also has solidified and made it easier for a group of friends to hang out, as opposed to living in a dorm off campus.
JMU Student Ambassadors, InterVarsity, intermural sports, etc. all desirve their own posts of their own. Overall it's been quite a ride.
Now I am relaxing at home, without a job over break currently, all while trying to balance productivity with laying back.

Here are some things that have stood out over the last few days--


1. JMU's 35-27 loss to Montana.


This two-point conversion by our backup QB Drew Dudzik, who replaced injured Rodney Landers at halftime, made ESPN SportsCenter number four play of the entire week! That is the good news. The bad news is that we turned the ball over 4 times, two in the redzone. Head Coach Mickey Mathews said that it was the first game he has ever remembered ever that a team did not punt and lost. Montana played well, but we gave this one away and it hurts. Our season of dreams comes to an end. I had my hotel all ready to go in Tennessee for the Championship, but it was not meant to be. Don't give me this, "We'll have next year." Here is now and now is gone. I will never forget the exhilarating moments of this season, I only wish it could have finished a little differently. I am proud to be at a school like JMU where football means something.

The two games that stick out compared to this one was the Packers loss in Super Bowl XXXII to the Broncos and the NFC Championship loss to the Giants last season. Probably more so to last season because both the Packers and the Dukes had dramatic wins all season riding them to one of the top seeds in the playoffs, only to squander it right before the title game. The Packers are now in the midst of a loosing season, let's home the same does not happen to JMU.

2. JMU commencement speaker Joseph M. Damico


As a JMU Student Ambassador, I had the chance to marshal the graduation this year, which basically is a cool name for an official usher. This guy Mr. Damico was not a bad speaker.
Points I liked

-80% of job success is interpersonal skills because people like to be around people they like. Some call it fit.

I like this because I have seen this in action with my two internship experiences and it encourages me because interpersonal communication is one of my strong points.

Points I did not like

-When in doubt, just fall back on yourself and do what you think is best.

This might seem like a good statement on the surface, but I firmly believe that when in doubt, those are the times to turn to Jesus Christ. He knows best, especially when we don't know where to turn. Carrie Underwood had a song called "Jesus Take the Wheel" That I think could apply to this.

3. Responsible fun on 21

One of my JMU friends Shannon turned 21 yesterday. I made a road trip from Springfield, VA to Richmond, VA to meet up with 20 of my other friends for the excersion. We ate dinner then went into downtown Richmond to have desert and drinks as well as enjoying all the downtown Christmas lights.
For someone who just turned 21 on Halloween here are some of the reasons I like 21 bdays

1. They bring friends together.
2. It's important to celebrate these type of moments in life. Life is too short and goes by too fast.
3. Contrarty to popular belief, you don't have to get intoxicated to have a great 21st birthday blast. Responsible fun on 21 is the way to go. This starts up a whole other conversation, but I thought I would just throw that out there.