Noa's Semester Reflections

In no particular order based on the photos and the photos not included:

Some of my favorite moments from this semester have been:

• Making cool art and enjoying the work I have been putting together in and out of class; whether it be outside work or assignments
• Conversing with my professors and just doing life with my classmates in and out of the classroom
• Got to see a lot of both good and bad movies
• Open Mic Night and using the club I run for bringing the community together for a fun and creative time to celebrate art, poetry, and music.
• Taking a lot of self-timer photos and really feeling confident in who I am with my identity being made in the image of God himself!
• Reuniting with a few members from my missions team when we spread the gospel and worked with youth in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• Spring break was super restful and productive and was time I valued and cherished
• Got to eat a lot of amazing food
• Being in COMMUNITY! I love my friends and I am glad I have been able to foster community in different groups and contexts. I am thankful for my ambassador team, my church family, my future RA team, my art family, and my family back home. I am a big people person so being able to be with the people I care about takes the cake for me.
• I’ve been learning a lot in my classes: Learning different art techniques to add under my belt for my own practice, learning to balance work and school a little bit better now not being as involved in the Student Missionary Union as I was last semester, etc.
• I got to do a lot of fun outings with friends
• Got to spend time in both the sun and the rain! I got to hammock with some cool friends I love from my ambassador team: Nestor and Garrick.
• Shot on film for my Photo 1 class: Introduction to Darkroom and spend time evaluating film reels and using the chemicals to make some creative photos/prints.
• Established my living space in my dorm and had a setup where I really enjoyed seeking out rest and also a space to socialize and be creative.
• I loved this semester and had a lot of amazing moments that God blessed me with and even though I couldn’t fit every photo that I would have wanted to, these are the moments that make me smile when I look back on them.

Some moments that were a bit more difficult to deal with:

• Getting more rest than last semester but not consistent rest
• Losing track of time and falling behind on different assignments and commitments
• COVID-19 taking its toll on the global population and its effect on Biola and plans for the spring semester which in turn caused all students to return home except those who have to live on campus.
• Having to restructure life and a consistent schedule because the rug was pulled from under everyone but I am hanging in there strong.
• The thought of not seeing my friends graduate due to graduation being postponed
• Having to do online class instead of in-person

BUT, even though the latter half of this semester, God has continued to be faithful and I think through this whole process I am learning to cling on to faith when we don’t know what the future holds. I have been able to be obedient to the Lord in everything that I am doing, knowing that no glory will be good enough for mere man but all glory will go to my Father in heaven! God is using this all for a grand plan that is out of our comprehension but I have been able to use this time to really slow down, to pause, and to find what true rest looks like on God’s terms, not mine. Overall, this semester has rocked no doubt but having the semester “end” a little short has been sad and something that we are all dealing with. I know I am not alone in the fact that I miss Biola and miss all of the things that I have been taking for granted. This time has also given me a lot of perspective. I am so blessed to live the life I get to live, so many people don’t get to leave their homes on a regular basis.

If we stop, look around and evaluate what we must do to prevent the ongoing spread of this virus, I would say being quarantined at home or wherever you are is the best-case scenario. I know God intends to use this season to recalibrate my heart and priorities because when I think something is going wrong, there is that perspective again. Anything you put your whole self in will give you perspective. So I am allowing myself to be fully present, sensitive to the Spirit, and fully engaged to accomplish my work because of this burst of motivation. As I transition out of being on the Ambassador team this spring semester, my second year in this position, I am looking forward to the plans God has for me the rest of the spring, the summer, and how life will look in the fall.

In this season of life, I am going to keep pressing on, no matter how high the tide may appear or how rough the terrain will be.

How does this semester compare to the last one?

You guys should totally check out my blog from last semester just to see how different it has been. Both semesters have been lifegiving in a lot of ways but I know I am learning more about myself and evaluating my relationships in this current time of being in isolation. Read here to do a little interactive compare and contrast https://www.biola.edu/blogs/becoming-biola/2019/noa-s-semester-reflection. Sophomore year has been good to me nonetheless and I just can’t believe how fast college is passing me by already.

What I am looking forward to in the upcoming months:

• I am really looking toward the time I will be spending with family during this time of quarantine and when this all blows over, I look forward to reuniting with my people again.
• I am redoing my room at home (complete revamp) and can’t wait to see what it will look like once I am finished. It has been a family/group effort and I have thoroughly enjoyed that so far.
• I look forward to getting my summer together to determine whether or not I will be taking my general education requirements online (yet again) and to access what credits I will need going forward.
• This upcoming year I will officially be a resident advisor for Blackstone Hall! Blackstone has been home for the past two years so now, I get to call it home but I am a big brother looking out for my fellow brothers and sisters along with the Blackstone community itself. I am here to create and cultivate!
• I look forward to finally getting my driver’s license
• I want to grow in my horticultural skills! MORE PLANTS. In this time of quarantine I have been putting the plant Dad hat on and caring for some of my newer friends.
• I want to make a lot more art this summer to grow my portfolio, especially outside of the classroom and projects/assignments that are given to me.
• I look forward to continuing to work on myself and practicing self-care and rest more routinely while also being attentive to the tasks that I need to take care of.

Closing thoughts

I just want to thank you guys for walking with me this far into the year. Thank you for reading my blogs, checking out our Instagram for coverage and thank you for being so supportive. I also want to thank my team for being the foundation of what makes Admissions such a powerful presence on campus. I know that when I came in as a student that I wanted to work as a Student Ambassador. Now that I have successfully done what I intended, I am ready to move on to new opportunities. My heart will always be with Admissions and I am excited to be writing a few more blogs coming up. To close I just want to say, thank you.

See you guys online!

Much love,

Noa