Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Behind the Scenes

Tuesday, I was given the opportunity to do something that many students never get to experience in college unless they are athletes. I got to go with PASE behind the scenes of the athletic facilities.

Purdue Alumni Student Experience, better known as PASE, is one of the largest groups here on campus. It is sponsored by the Purdue Alumni Association. PASE's connections with the alumni are what allow them to get tours such as this one.

We started out our tour with the premium seating in the press box at Ross Ade. The elevator took us up to the Shively Club on the third floor. Members of the Shively Club can watch the game from inside the building or from their premium seating outdoors. This floor has two concession stands on game days, an upscale one along with a normal one. The Annual Payments for these seats are $2,208/seat for a three year license and $1,932/seat for a five year license.

Next our tour took us to the box seats on the fourth and fifth floors. Not only did we go into a regular box, but we also got to visit the President's suite. Each box comes with 18 tickets (36 for the President's suite). They have two rows of theater-type seats with some additional seating behind that. The widows open, so you can enjoy the atmosphere of the game from the comfort of your suite. For these seats, you preorder your food and drinks, and they will be stocked in your fridge and waiting for you when you get there. This luxury does come at a price though. Annual Payments here for a five year license is $49,913 and $44,660 for seven years. These prices can vary though with the location of the suite.

The last of the premium seating is in the Buchanan Club located on the fifth floor. Three rows of seats face the game with a lounge area behind them. The windows in this area do not open, but you also have the option of watching the game on one of the 26 televisions in the club. Why you would go to a game and watch it on TV, I don't know, but that is an option. Membership in the Buchanan Club includes complimentary food and drink with access to a cash bar. These seats have an Annual Payment of $4,786/seat for three years and $4,223/seat for five years.

Above the premium seating on the sixth floor is the Shively Media Center. This is where the press will come in to do their reports on the game. We did not get to go in any of the suites for the press. We did go into the main press room though. This room has four rows of tables with a computer hookup at each seat. This way the reporters can plug in their computers and get to work. The thing that stood out to me the most on this floor was the amount of wires. It made sense when I saw them, but it was just something that I had never thought of before.

There was one more stop on our tour at Ross Ade, the camera platform. The taping of all the games and practices happens from here. While there wasn't much to see besides the camera platforms out there, the views over campus were amazing. We could see for miles since we were above all the buildings. I was sad to see our tour of Ross Ade come to an end, but I knew that there were more athletic facilities to come.

After leaving Ross Ade, we headed over to Mackey. We would meet a new tour guide here to take us through Mollenkopf and the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility (IAF). When we got there, we had a surprise in store for us. Due to renovations, we were originally told that we would not be able to tour Mackey, but since they were behind schedule, the tour was back on. We were so excited to hear this; at least I knew I was.

There was not as much to see in Mackey, but that did not make it any less exciting. In fact, it might have been my favorite place on our tour. Our tour guide took us downstairs to the hallway where the locker rooms were. He talked like we couldn't go in, but then he had one of the workers to check to see how clean it was in there. He then said it was fine for us to go in and take a look around. I was so excited!

Inside the locker room, they have a room with couches, drinks, and a TV for the players to hang out. I'm sure that this is where they have their meetings during halftime at the games. They also have game systems, so they can play video games when they have nothing better to do. Off of this room is where the lockers are. Each player has their own area with their name above the locker. While we were in there, Lewis Jackson came in. He is a lot bigger in real life than he seems during the games.

After the locker room, we headed down the tunnel and onto the court. E'twaun Moore and Keaton Grant were have a closed practice, and we got to watch them for a little while. I'm pretty sure that one of the guys and I could have stayed there and watched them practice for the rest of the day. We were mesmerized. However, we had to leave to finish out our tour.

We then headed to Mollenkopf. This is where the big workout area is. It is also the home to many of our football trophies including those from our bowl games and the Old Oaken Bucket. The best part here is that we were given the opportunity to run down the indoor practice field for the football team. Only four people out of our group took them up on this opportunity. Of course I did. This was a once in a lifetime experience, and I wasn't going to miss it.

Our tour for the day ended with the IAF. Here we saw the football locker room, but we didn't get to go in this one. We did get to look in the window, and it looked pretty nice in there. We also got to watch a little bit of volleyball practice, and I have to say that those girls are pretty good.

This was a great opportunity that PASE gave us, and I'm glad that I decided to go. I'm sure that some of the other members are regretting their decision to stay home. It was a lot of fun, and I hope that we will be able to do it again in the future. Just another reason for me to say that I love being a Boilermaker!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Blessed Be Your Name


Along with my recent trip to Chicago, going to the Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concert on Sunday made last weekend a great one for me. The words these men brought in their testimonies and songs that night were amazing. One song that really stood out to me was Blessed Be Your Name.

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name.

I have always loved this song, but when Steven Curtis Chapman opened the concert with it that night, it had new meaning to me. A friend and I were spending time together recently when this song came on the radio. She went on to tell me that she had a miscarriage about a year ago. As she and her husband were driving home from the hospital, this song came on the radio. The words really stood out to them. They knew that they still needed to praise God even though they had just lost their baby. Now she is pregnant again and due in August. On the way home from her last ultrasound, this song came on the radio again. Now with the gift of their coming son, they are still able to say, "Lord, blessed be Your name."

This song is also an emotional one for Steven Curtis Chapman. His five year old daughter was killed in a tragic accident in the family's driveway last May. This song has brought strength to their family in knowing that they should always bless His name. Because of their faith, they know that they will see little Marie Sue again one day.

I know that things have not always been easy in my own life. It is good to have songs like these to remind myself to praise God in the good times as well as the bad. Things will work out in the end. We just have to trust Him throughout the whole process. With His help, we can make it through.

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Windy City



Sometimes with all the stress of school, it is just good to get away for a little bit. I love traveling and experiencing other places, so when the opportunity came for me to spend the weekend in Chicago with a group from church, I jumped at the chance. As the weekend got closer, I was unsure if I would still be able to go due to a big project that I had to finish. Luckily I got it done, and I'm so glad I did. This weekend was one of the best I have had here at Purdue, and I will always be able to look back and smile at the time that we had.

Our team was made up of eight students and leaders from our college group. While in Chicago, we got to minister to Chicagoland Community Church. It is a small church located in the Lakeview area on the north side of the city. I have only been to Chicago a few times, and I wasn't really sure what to expect when we got there. We were given a rough idea of things we would be doing, but that was it.

We arrived a little later than expected on Friday night due to construction on the way up. When we got there, the pastor was waiting for us and ready to explain his plans for the weekend. We would be meeting Tyler, one of the church's interns, and a couple other guys later that night just to get to know them a little bit. Then our real work would happen on Saturday.

We got up on Saturday morning, ate breakfast, and got ready to meet with Pastor Jon and Tyler. Originally they just had the plan for all of us to paint a bathroom, but we knew we could do more. Plus I don't think we would all fit in that bathroom. He decided to also give us the job of building a CD display. Then we decided that the church also needed some cleaning done. With a couple single guys living there, you can only imagine how the kitchen looked.

We spent a good amount of the day on these projects. It took longer than we thought it would. That was okay because our next job was outside, and it was cold and raining. We were to go out on the streets in pairs doing surveys in the Lakeview community and passing out maps of the "L." This was not as successful as we hoped. Because of the weather, it was hard to get people to stop and talk to us. My group only got to talk to one guy, but that one guy was better than none. The other groups were a little more successful but not much more.

That evening, the church was having Safe Haven which is a weekly outreach to the homeless in the community. They didn't need our help during the event, so we got to go downtown for some famous Chicago Pizza. We decided to go to Giordano's. I had been to a couple pizza places in Chicago before, but I would have to say that this one was pretty good and reasonably priced. It might seem like a lot for a pizza, but when you consider how big it is, it's not bad at all.

On the way back to the church, our van decided to die in the middle of the road. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. It started back up again, but then began to die shortly afterward. We pulled off on a side street to see if we could figure out what was wrong. None of us knew much about cars, so we didn't know how much good this would do. I was thinking that we would have to call AAA, and who knows how long that would take?

We popped the hood, and a couple guys got out to see what the problem was. It ended up that the air hose had disconnected, and they just needed to get it back on. This problem was fixed with only a dime, literally. We all got a good laugh out of that one!

Back at the church, Safe Haven was over, and there was more cleaning for us to do. We had to get the place ready for Sunday services. While we were cleaning up, one of the guys found some Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers DVDs. We asked Tyler about them, and he said that he was waiting for the right time to watch them. Well the time had come. That's right, we spent the rest of the evening watching them.

We were all sad when Sunday morning came, and we had to head back to campus. We had such a great time over the weekend and wished that it could have lasted longer. We got to be a blessing to the church, and they were also a blessing to us. I love being able to help out other churches, and I can't wait until we get to go on another trip like this one!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The PEERS Project

A club that I was really involved with in high school is The PEERS Project or more commonly known as PEERS. PEERS is an acronym for Peers Educating and Encouraging Relationship Skills. In this group we have Peers Educating Peers (PEP) sessions where we will go in and talk to 6th through 10th graders. What do we talk about? Abstinence. The group motto is "Abstain from sex to Attain your goals." However we also talk about other forms of abstinence. Abstinence from sex, drugs, alcohol, and other things which can have a negative influence on your life.

For the PEP sessions, we have a packet of information to go over. A lot of the packet would seem boring to the students, so we would just pick out a few main things and then use our own ideas to fill the rest of the time. Many times we will share with the class about situations that we have been in and mistakes that we have made hoping that this will open their eyes, so they can avoid these things. Sharing with them also breaks down a barrier, so they feel comfortable talking to us. If they are going through a similar situation to one of the stories shared, they can go to that person and get some advice.

One of our presentations opened the eyes of a 6th grade girl. After the presentation, she came up and asked what someone should do if they were being sexually abused. We told her that they should talk to someone about getting them removed from the situation. Later we found out that this was about her. She had been removed from her parents' home and put with her grandparents because she was receiving this abuse from her father. Now she was getting it from her grandfather too. Our presentation allowed her to talk to someone to get removed from this home too. She has recently been adopted by her loving foster parents and having a much better life.

Not only has PEERS had a positive effect on the students but also the community as a whole. Before the program started, our county was one of the highest in the state for teen pregnancies. Implementation of this group has dropped our numbers significantly. The state saw this change and wanted to know how we did it. They are now watching our program to see how other counties can also benefit from this program.

PEER mentors have to watch their actions in and out of the classroom. If you give a presentation to a class, and then some of the students see you later going against what you just said, you will lose all credibility with them. They will probably let their friends know about it too. We want to make sure that we keep that trust with the students because they are looking up to us whether we're doing good or bad.

The only way to stay out of trouble with the temptations of drugs, sex, and alcohol is to avoid it all together. Sex is something that should be saved for a marriage. Stay pure until then. I'd like to leave you with a quote that a couple of my friends came up with, and we later had it put on a t-shirt to wear for our presentations. "Purity rocks my socks off... but keeps my clothes on!"

You May Now Take the Floor in State Finals Competition


Indoor Percussion is a competitive group which takes place in the winter. It is similar to marching band except it is just the percussion section. I got to participate in this group one year in high school and really enjoyed it. We ended up getting 4th place at state that year. My brother is now involved in the group, and he also likes it. I was excited when I saw that both the state prelims and state finals were during my spring break. This way, I was able to see him perform in his competition.

The morning of state prelims, I got up to get ready and felt really awful, so I decided not to go. I was pretty disappointed because I really wanted to go to this, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle going. I ended up going to the doctor so that I could go see him if they made it to state finals, which they did!

My dad was going to go with us to state finals, but he had to work that day. It ended up just being my mom, grandma, sister, and I who went to cheer on my brother. I had heard about their show, but I had not seen it yet. Now it was time for their last performance of the season. I couldn't wait to see what the show was going to be like.

The name of their show is Modern Times. For props, they had a giant switch and electrical outlet which had a plug going into it. To start off the show, they flipped the switch on. This gave them the energy to perform. Throughout the show, they had a girl who would jokingly turn the switch on and off to give them/take away their energy.

Halfway through the show, they yelled at this girl because everyone ran out of "energy." She then pointed to the switch to show them that she had not done anything. The pit section then had to play in order to recharge the drumline which had completely stopped played and fallen to the ground.

They all got recharged back to their high energy levels in order to finish off the show with high excitement. To end the show, they pulled the plug and dropped it to the ground to cut off all the energy supply. The crowd then cheered to show their appreciation of the performance and the performers.

Now we had to wait to go through the rest of the performances before awards. Luckily we were toward the end, so there weren't very many groups left to go. After the groups were done and the scores were calculated, it was time for all the groups to come back for an on-court retreat for awards.

The groups all lined up, and you could tell they were nervous. The places were announced in reverse order, so the longer they went without hearing their name, the better. Everyone wanted to be called last. One by one, they announced school names. We waited and waited to be called. In the end, they got 5th out of the 17 groups in their class. I thought that they had done really well and was proud of what they had accomplished. Of course, they thought they could have done better, but you will always have that.

I really enjoyed getting to go to state finals to see the different shows and support my brother. I wish I could have gone to prelims too, but at least I got to see his show once. Indoor Percussion will always be exciting to me since I actually got the opportunity to participate in it. I hope that my brother stays in it the next two years, so I will have a good excuse to go and watch these fun competitions.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Estoy Enferma


The week before spring break is always a busy time for students. Professors want to get exams and projects in before all the students leave. I know that this week I had an exam, an essay, an interview, and a major project. While this seems like a lot of work, it wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't sick all week.

I'm pretty sure that I got this sickness Sunday from all that rain we got. Sunday morning I was perfectly fine, but as the afternoon and evening came, I just got worse. I couldn't tell my mom that I was sick because that was one of her big worries when I left. She kept asking who would be there to take care of me. I knew that if she found out, I would be seeing her before long.

I am really thankful for the friends I have here to look after me. I was talking to a friend on Monday and told her that I wasn't feeling well. She knew that since I am a freshman in the dorms, I probably didn't have access to any medication, so she offered to get me some. I said no and thanked her for the offer, but she just insisted more that she would get me something. I just told her not to worry about it since she had three exams on Wednesday to study for. I would be home on Friday, and I could get something then.

I should have known that she couldn't take no for an answer. She text me later that evening asking me to come outside. Immediately I knew what she had done, but I still questioned her about it. She went on to say how she had gone to Wal-mart and gotten me some cough drops. While I was a little upset with her for wasting her study time to take care of me, I was also grateful for her kindness.

Another friend of mine kept telling me to drink plenty of water and orange juice and go to bed early. I'm used to getting about six hours of sleep a night, so the nine hours I got last night was wonderful. I just had so much to worry about this past week that I couldn't really go to bed too early. Hopefully I can catch up on this sleep this coming week.

I am really thankful for these people that care so much about me. I love them to death and know that my life would be totally different without them. I will miss seeing them over spring break but can't wait to give them that giant hug as soon as I feel better and don't have to worry about passing my germs on to them.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I'm a VIP


Everyone wants to feel important. When you go to a concert, it is great to have backstage passes. You feel like your status increases when you get invited to a VIP party. Well, here at Purdue, I am a VIP. You can be one to. How can you do this? VIP is the all sports pass here at Purdue. With this pass, you get ticket vouchers to all the football, volleyball, and basketball games. You can get in to some sporting events by just showing your card. Other sports are just free to the public.

Starting next year, there will no longer be reserved seating for the football games. The whole student sections will now be general admission. This gives all students access to the lower part of the stadium. This would happen as soon as I was eligible to get these seats. The people in charge of the seating were tired of students with reserved seats not showing up until right before the game began. The lower section would be empty, while the people with general admission tickets got there early to get good seats. They wanted to give the students who got to the game early the opportunity to get close seats, so they can cheer on their Boilers. This would get the energy going in the stadium before the game even starts.

The idea of getting rid of the reserved seating came from watching the Paint Crew. They saw how committed this group was to getting their seats. People, including my friends and me, would camp out before the games to get the best view possible. I wonder if camping will be an option for the football games too. There really is no good spot up at Ross Ade to do this. We would have to worry about the larger amount of students and also the student/tailgater interactions. It just doesn't seem as safe of an atmosphere to me.

While the camping was fun for basketball, I know I was really looking forward to getting reserved seats next year. I wanted to be able to show up late and still have my seat there. I would also be able to leave freely at halftime. With basketball camping, we got to go inside to enjoy the game. While the first football games won't be cold, the weather will change by the end of the season. I don't want to have to wait outside for a few hours to get seats, and then stand in the cold another three hours during the game. It's just asking for people to get sick, but I know I will still do it. My friends and I are dedicated to our Boilers, and we want to be there to support them in their victories and losses.

Tickets aren't all you get for being a VIP. There are also some other great benefits. You can earn points by having your card scanned at each event you go to. These points then add up to get you prizes. I have already gotten the free shirt for 8 points and am almost to the 24 point level. Here I get a $25 gift card to Arby's. Now doesn't that make you think? You also get prizes at 48, 60, and 85 points, but I don't think that I'll get that high. I can always try for it next year.

You can start purchasing your VIP passes for the 2009-2010 school year starting March 23 at purduesports.com. Only 5,000 passes are available, so get one while you can. The cost is $225 which I think is a great deal for all you are getting. You are only in college for so long, so why not get the most out of your experience? I think that being able to support our great Big 10 teams here at Purdue is a wonderful opportunity. The memories that you make at these events will last you a lifetime.