We're going to Nationals!!

Our SIFE team qualified for nationals at our competition yesterday! :) We competed in Minneapolis and it was a great time! Nationals are in Chicago May 13-15, only two days before I fly out to Jamaica! I can't wait!

But first things first. I have to finish scheduling my classes for next fall! Christy and I have a prospective student staying with us tonight- here name is Tara and I'm really excited to meet her! I also have my first IM volleyball game tonight. Wish me luck!!

~Jess

"Elk Sleeps with Own Wife By Mistake"

Yesterday author Ted Pelton visited campus. The title of my post is the title of one of his most recent short fictions, and was one of the pieces Ted presented at his reading in Caestecker Gallery (the campus art gallery) last night. His pieces range from political satire to stories about Woodchucks, and everything in between. All of them are infused with Ted's humor and wit and are refreshingly different and original! Ted used to teach at Ripon College in the 1980's, so it was fun for him to be back on campus and fun for us to get to interact with such a respected author and publisher.

Other than that, I've just been enjoying the beautiful spring weather! It's been so nice outside! Yesterday Kent and I went on a little nature hike/photoshoot and it was gorgeous! Hooray for Spring :)

~Jess

I'm back and my trip was AMAZING!!

My trip to Panama was beyond words! The people were so friendly, the countryside was gorgeous, and it felt so good to know we were helping people! We worked building a house for the nuns of Father Wally's mission, stacking rocks to strengthen culverts for the rainy season, met with the people of the village, and even got a chance to go deep into the heart of the jungle! The place we went to has been seen by less than 50 in the entire world and is completely untouched by humans. The water in the stream up there is pure enough to drink right out of the riverbed [trust me, I did it :) ]. I have some gorgeous pictures of the terrain up there, but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet. I'd better get on that!

We also spent some time in Panama City on the last two days of our trip. We got a tour of the canal and some of the gorgeous antique architecture of the city. I can't say it enough- this trip was unbelievable!

~Jess

I leave for Panama in less than two days!!!!

Author Stephen Powers-

I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm so excited!!

I just finished up a ten page paper for my Interpersonal Communication final, and I'm beginning a five pager about Shakespearian Literature. Fun. It's all good though! This week wouldn't really even be that bad if I weren't leaving two days early. All least I'm over the hump now and I can almost feel the tropical sun beating down on me! Oo la la!!

The group I'm going to Panama with is from the college, but we're going to help in a mission that I priest from Ripon set up. His name is Father Wally, and he's been working down in Waucoco for years now. His website is http://www.frwally.com/ if you want to check it out! It just goes to show how close the college and community are in Ripon and also how giving the citizens are! I love Ripon!

Yesterday I had a special guest in my Creative Writing Workshop class. It was an author named Stephen Powers who writes poems about Dolly Parton. Pretty bizare, huh? But he was hilarious! He is originally from Wisconsin and just moved down to Georgia last year to teach Creative Writing at Gordon College. His poems are about his family trips to Dollywood he used to take with his family and they're really good! They remind me of my own family road trips. :) He also used to work as a stand-up comedian, so he'd interject some bits into his presentation to us and he was just hilarious! What an exciting week this has been!

~Jess