Friday, February 13, 2009

The Great Egg Drop

While many college students are out having "a good time" on Thursday night, my friends and I from church have our own version of fun. Last night our HOOT (Hanging Out On Thursdays) activity was guys versus girls game night. We started off with some trivia games followed by four men on a couch. To finish off the night, we had The Great Egg Drop. Each team was given a package of bendy straws, a roll of tape, and five Exponents to build protection to keep our two eggs from breaking when dropped from a certain height.

Everyone got to work right away. We started putting the straws together in squares to make a cube for one of our eggs. We made two cubes and put newspaper on one side of each cube. The egg was then put between the newspaper on the cubes and taped in there. As long as it hit on one of the ends, this egg should be safe.

Our other idea was to wrap the egg in newspaper. If it was loose enough to make a cushion, it should absorb some of the impact of the fall. We also taped a bunch of straws to the newspaper hoping this would help. It may have looked like a mess, but looks didn't matter. We just wanted to protect our little egg.

The guys had their own ideas. They made a bigger cube than we did and filled it with newspaper with the egg in the middle. Then they wrapped the cube in newspaper to keep the egg from falling out. Their other design also had the egg in the center but this time with no cube. Then straws were taped pointing in two directions around the outside. The ends were then bent down to make "feet" to support the structure when it hit the ground.

Now it was time to test them. We all went outside to see them dropped out of the second story window. To our surprised none of the eggs were eliminated. We needed something bigger. Where could we go? We ended going down the street to the University Parking Garage. Surely this would do the trick.

We handed over our eggs, and they were taken to the top. Which eggs would survive? We got there just as an exam was getting done, so people were looking around trying to figure out what we were doing. Some of them even stopped just to watch. Once the sidewalk was clear, it was time for the drop. One by one they fell. Sadly, both of our eggs broke, and neither of the guys' did. If only they would have landed the way we expected, they would have been okay. Oh well. We had fun anyway.

I encourage you to go out and have some real fun with your friends. Think up some new ideas. Be creative. Have a good time that you will remember the next day. I know these activities are usually the highlight of my week. I can't wait to see what we will do next!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Body Image

People are becoming more and more obsessed these days with how they look and how people look at them. Why are people not happy with the way they are? They always want to be different. Society is putting so much pressure on people, especially females, to be skinny. This pressure is now coming at younger and younger ages. We see images on TV and in magazine which are unrealistic to most people. Many of those images are not even real. They have been digitally altered. However, young girls do not know this. They just want to become like those images and will try their hardest to accomplish this goal. Some of these girls even take this to unhealthy measures which only turns out badly in the long run.

The other night, my hall sponsored an event where we got free pizza for dinner. While we were eating, we had a chance to talk to the people around us. One of these conversations really bothered me. It came from a guy across the table. He was talking about how he viewed women and was saying that they should never weigh over 150 pounds. He then went on to say that his daughters better never weigh more than 140! He was going to force them to work out all the time, so he wouldn't have fat girls. The guys around him tried to tell him that he was being rude. They asked him if it was okay for them to weigh more if they were really muscular since they would be at the gym a lot. He countered this saying that he had seen some pretty "ripped" girls before which only weighed 125, so they would have no excuse to be much more than that.

This is just one example of something that causes people to have a negative body image of themselves. Everyone has a different body build. While 140 may be overweight for some, it could be unhealthy for others. A healthy body is so much more than a number on the scales, but when others are always pointing out your flaws, it is hard to stay positive. You want to listen to what they are saying even though it can be hurtful. It also harms your self esteem. You question why you are the way you are and even start to put yourself down. Instead, you should try complimenting yourself and those you come into contact with each day. Not only will you be building your self esteem, but it will also benefit those around you. Maybe they would even catch on and join in on the kindness. I mean, who wouldn't want to help spread positive messages. In increasing your self esteem, you will also improve your body image.

Do you think that a California girl is supposed to have curls and wear a jean size 3?
All the curves in all the right places, spray tanned faces just like on TV?
And we read in the gospel of Vogue that we're all suppose to dress and move and be
Visions of perfection
Such a misconception
'Cause the real connection is deeper than the eye can see.

As I was writing this, these words from Mandisa's True Beauty came on my iPod, and the lyrics caught my attention. They made me stop and listen since they went so well with what I was doing. In this song, she talks about how the world has all these expectations for the way we should look and act. This is not what is important though. We need to worry about our true beauty. In time, our looks will fade, but who we are will stick with us. The guy from the above story needs to be more worried about the way he raises his daughters rather than if they meet his pound expectations or not. A beautiful personality will allow your outward appearance to shine. Would you rather be remembered for your body or your character?