January 10: Shnizhana

One of our iSL interns (last three summers) passed away last Tuesday.  She had liver cancer, but rarely told people because she wanted to live her life.  She didn't want pitty.  During coffee hour today we had a table dedicated to honor her. She was so involved in iSL her death hit the staff and students really hard.  Both of her parents had passed, so iSL was her family.  Friday night there was also a Greek Orthodox service (what she wanted). It was a beautiful way to say goodbye.  

Life is fleeting.  An Irish proverb was spoken at her funeral.  Death shall find me living.  This was true for her, let it be true of us. 

December 17: Yuzhi Hu

Today we celebrated the life of a young woman who left this world far too early.  Yuzhi was a Chinese international student in a PhD program studying cellular biology.  I could talk about her short but joy filled life or how heartbroken I am for the loss of her parents only child, but I'd rather mention how impressed I was at the UGA community that came together to support her family and celebrate her life.  From support services, to the VPs office, to other administrators on campus, to our Chinese student association, to the cellular biology department, people's generosity and willingness to help in many fashions was overwhelming for me, the students, and her family. 

The service was beautiful, Yuzhi will be missed.

December 3: Internet Conspiracy

Sometimes the internet is out to get me.  Today was one of those days.  Anytime I would send an email from my UGA Mail from my phone it would not send.  This is particularly problematic on a day you have meetings all day. I was out of the office from 8:30am until 4:30pm.  Unfortunately, I also found out one of our international students also suddenly passed away today.  The day was already crazy and not having reliable internet/phone capabilities inhibits the type of service and support I can provide for students.  Any student death is tragic, when it's an international student it's much more complicated.

Keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.  She has one cousin in NY, and her fiance is a UGA student but in China right now.  Moreover, her parents are trying to decide if they are going to fly from China to make arrangements.  There are insurance issues and being halfway around the world and with limited English proficiency, things are difficult.  The university (iSL, student support, academics, students) has really stepped up to help, but we are also limited in certain ways.  

I'm glad Tuesday is over, but I'm also reminded how grateful I am for a healthy body and for another day of life.

November 20: Change

The weather outside is getting colder and the leaves are falling.  We've had an absolutely beautiful fall and I'll be sad to see it go.  However, change is part of life and with each new season brings anticipation and newness.  Additionally, as a random aside, I've also decided to stop following some people's blogs.  For me, I get all my blogs delivered to feedly which is a great way to read and follow a host of people quickly and I had been following the guy I was sort of seeing.  Well, since he's now seeing someone else, it was time for me to stop following his blog.  Why add insult to injury.  But just as the seasons change, life moves on and sometimes it brings with it a beauty that is yet unseen. 

October 22: Conduct Violation

Last weekend during a health and safety inspection, I got written up for having candles burning. Today, I had to meet with my hall director (HD). Yep, that's right. Frankly, I'm a little bothered that as a grown adult who can have a stove (some are even gas stoves) I cannot have a candle. Moreover, I don't remember reading this rule when I first started here (a and I was looking as I love candles). When I met with the HD, she said the rule was new this year. :/

Anyway, I tried to educate her on the ridiculousness of the rule, to no avail. So instead, I signed my judicial conduct review paper, got my copy, and went on with my day.

February & March

Although February is the shortest month of the calendar year, it felt like a small eternity.  Unfortunately, March felt like a ground hogs day movie to February.  They were rough months, and although I'm glad they're behind me, the reminiscence of the months will linger with me.

Twilight & Buechner

With the title of this post, one might think I'm going to talk about my favorite books/authors. However, twilight will first and foremost always be a time of day. Not a book about vampires.

Twilight, or dusk, is absolutely my favorite time of day followed closely by sunrise, although I'll save that for another post.

So, twilight. I love the time of day when the sun sets and yet the earth, or my portion of it, is still lit by the suns remanence. Yes, part of it is spiritual for me, I like the symbolism behind the sun leaving and its effect is left behind. And yet part of it is simply the feeling I get at this time of day. Twilight doesn't last long, it's unfortunate lighting for photography, and yet I relish every moment of it. I seek to be outside and experience the fullness of what twilight offers. It's a beautiful time.

The other night, as the sun set, I was walking around part of Baylor's campus. Baylor is a beautiful campus, green (mostly), red brick which echos prestige, and many large shady trees. As I was walking around, I rediscovered another reason for loving dusk. Fireflies or what they call, lightening bugs in Texas. Having my camera with me, I desperately attempted to capture their magnificence on film. Although I caught 4 or 5 in a minute, the video doesn't do justice to the moment.

I read something about 2 years ago that challenged me to think about life a little differently. The article or book spoke about how we, particularly as Americans, take lots of pictures (guilty) in order to remember the moments, but often get so caught up in the taking of pictures that we forget to live the moment.

I was reminded of this truth once again in another book, the Alphabet of Grace by Frederick Buechner. He says,

Forgot yourself in the dream of daily life, Tolstoy says, and forget myself, yes. To forget myself in the very process of being myself, I ask no better. Perhaps there is no gift more precious than the gift of spontaneity, the ability of certain men an animals to act straight and fresh and self-forgettingly out of the living center of who they are without the paralyzing intervention of self-awareness. But the dream of daily life, no....I don't want to dream this day out. I want to live this day out. I want to live this day out as though it were the first day of my life because that is of course what it is....Live a day of it and see. Take any day and be alive in it. Nobody claims that it will be entirely painless, but no matter. Live this day out.

So I sat. And I listened. And I watched as the fireflies danced around in the cool air of the evening.

I love these moments!