First, I'll set the scene. Go Week is an event in which 12 different campus ministries team up to help students move in and host different events on campus. This year, there were about 250 student volunteers and quite a few stressed out but happy staff. From Wednesday-Friday, these students and staff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, doing everything from carrying heavy boxes into dorms to playing spikeball on Landis Green to handing out free sno cones to speed-friending and bowling to making and serving literally thousands of late-night pancakes.
Pastor Jay and University Lutheran had the task of feeding these students and staff breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days, and that's where my Go Week story begins. I was up bright and early Wednesday morning to lead the volunteers from University Lutheran to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry center, where the food was being cooked and served. After breakfast and devotions, Katie and I headed out with the two wonderful University Lutheran students, Caroline and Evan, and the students from the Reformed University Fellowship. We walked over to DeGraff hall, where we helped students move in. I really enjoyed working with the students from both ULC and RUF. We had a great partnership!
I left DeGraff a little early to run back to ULC and lead over some more volunteers. After lunch, most of our morning group went over to Jennie Murphree hall, while some split off to help with Games on the Green and student mailboxes. We helped more students move in and had a free sno cone, which I promptly accidentally spilled on a new student's pillow. Oops! (No worries, she wasn't upset, but it was certainly embarrassing.) At 4, we had our break. I led some more volunteers over to BCM and then took a shower, because after being in the hot sun all day, I was incredibly sweaty. I also had my first Florida sunburn. (On Friday, I officially finished off my first bottle of sunscreen since being in Florida. It was quite the milestone.)
After dinner and some worship/reflection time, I headed out with Evan to Seminole Sensation Week. There were a bunch of different activities. Evan and I did some blacklight sidewalk chalking and I got my face painted like a pineapple. (Yes, there are pictures below. I chose a pineapple because that's the Go Week logo.) We managed to meet a few new people before heading back to BCM. We hung out for awhile, since there were already plenty of people making pancakes, and then we helped carry things over to the Student Life Center. There was a huge crowd waiting to consume massive amounts of pancakes. We believe we made about 3,500 pancakes, and they were completely gone in half an hour. Or so we thought, until someone discovered a stray cooler full of pancakes under one of the tables. They didn't take long to disappear either, but we had fun joking about how they appeared just when we needed them, like the feeding of the 5,000. I helped dry a lot of dishes, and then I went home and collapsed into bed. Can you believe that was only one day?
I was up again Thursday morning to guide volunteers, and then I promptly went back to bed, since the ULC/RUF group ("Team W") had the morning off. I was up again by 11, when I led yet more volunteers over to BCM. (I did this a lot.) After lunch and devotions, Team W went out to (I believe?) Cawthon hall. We moved some students in, and also really enjoyed getting to know the two campus police officers stationed at the dorm. They told us about their experiences on campus, particularly relating to some buildings they're convinced are haunted. After our afternoon shower break, we assembled again for dinner. We had some worship and reflection time and then went to the Union for Seminole Sensation Week.
I was on my own Thursday evening, because Evan had opted to stay at BCM and help with pancakes. At first I was a little uncertain; I'm not the most outgoing person, so I wasn't sure how to go about meeting people. But I remembered that Wednesday night, Evan and I were able to make connections while standing in line. So I decided a henna tattoo sounded fun and got into that line, and Jesus used that! I met a really cool girl named Mel and we ended up hanging out the rest of the night. We got henna tattoos (mine was just a pretty design, while hers was her boyfriend's name in Russian), a bomb pop (or two...), airbrush tattoos (mine was a flamingo!), and paint-a-pot cups to paint later. We eventually ended up over at late-night pancakes. After exchanging numbers, Mel went home and I went back to BCM, where I washed a large amount of dishes. Then I went home and once again collapsed into bed. Day two, complete.
Friday morning, I was up and at the BCM early as normal. After breakfast and devotion time, Team W went out to Smith hall, where we helped a total of two students move in. (And they really only count as one, because they were cousins living in the same room.) But the slow morning was okay, because 1) we were all exhausted, and 2) it gave us time to bond. I left a little early because my good friend Ruth from ULC had invited me to the Seminole Kick-Off Luncheon. I got to see all the football players and cheerleaders and band and meet some of Ruth's Rotary Club friends! It was a great time. I will say it got me more psyched up for Seminole football!
After I returned, I had a break, since Team W had the afternoon off. Then, after guiding the last of the volunteers over to BCM, we had our last dinner together and headed out to set up for the FSU Luau! The FSU Luau is the pinnacle of Go Week. It's the main event, the biggest free party on campus all year, and it is a blast. There's a band, food trucks, inflatables, lazer tag, a rock wall... It all culminated in a huge glow-in-the-dark Zumba party with a cameo from the Garnet and Gold Guys. Each campus ministry participating in Go Week had a table set up. At ours, we were handing out magnets with the football schedule and our information on them. We handed out many, many magnets, and we were able to connect a good number of people with ULC. The RUF table, across the sidewalk from us, had giant Jenga blocks, and I enjoyed watching people play. I also sat at the waiver table for awhile and helped people sign up to do inflatables and the rock wall.
When the FSU Luau ended, it felt like everyone wearing a blue or green Luau shirt stopped and took a deep breath. It was over. Everything we'd worked for all week was done, and it had gone incredibly smoothly. I am so grateful to the Go Week leaders who made this all possible. This has been in the works since last November, and so much time and energy and effort went into planning each and every event that took place. It was truly amazing how well everything went, from the move-ins to the meals (thanks, PJ!) to the different activities to the Luau itself. We cleaned up the area around the Union, had a final large group prayer, and then we all trickled away, going our separate ways. I was so impressed by this amount of cooperation between the campus ministries. Although I have never attended a public university, I would not have expected to find this level of collaboration and unity. It is amazing, and it is only possible by the grace of God.
On Saturday, I slept in. I was tired for some reason. I did my best to spend most of the day relaxing and recovering. I contacted the students who gave us their information at the Luau. For dinner, I attended the Taste of Tallahassee event with my new student friends Mel, Elisabeth, Dominic, and Pepsi. I discovered there is a restaurant entirely centered on fondue. I don't know how I've survived this long without the Melting Pot in my life. Mel and I also went through the ice cream line three times. What can I say? It was really good ice cream.
Sunday, of course, I went to Bible study and worship. There were a lot of students there, which made me quite excited. After worship, Sarah, Chris and I organized all of the items for the flood relief buckets and figured out what we still needed to get. Some people gave me monetary donations to buy the rest of the items. I then joined in with the student leadership meeting, where we discussed the new freshman group that it starting up, TrueLife. We went out to lunch, and then I spent more time organizing the flood relief buckets and hanging out with Liz.
On Monday, I had lunch with Lyla, a cool student I met. I volunteered at the Children's Home Society. I also spent some time reading "Building a Discipleship Culture," which is an excellent book about intentional discipleship. Yesterday, Tuesday, Pastor Jay, Katie and I met in the morning for prayer and devotion, a morning ritual I missed last week. We had a group meeting to discuss what's coming up. I spent time contacting student visitors from this Sunday, and I was also present on campus. Non-work-related, I went to the Regal Governor's Square theater and saw "The Giver." I highly enjoyed the movie, I would recommend it.
Finally, we're to the present day. This morning, we again met for prayer and devotion and a group meeting. I read further in "Building a Disciple Culture." We had an all-staff meeting this afternoon, with Matt the church administrator joined in. I enjoyed learning about the annual focus for this upcoming year. Matt and I went out to Dollar Tree/General to purchase the rest of the items for the flood relief buckets. I also went to Walgreens and picked up my prayer cards, which will be going out with my newsletter soon. After my shopping trips, I packed each bucket full of cleaning supplies and closed them, which I discovered requires a lot of brute strength. (Thanks for helping me with that, Liz... I might never have figured it out!) I'm excited to hand off the buckets to John Elliot from the Florida-Georgia district tomorrow.
Then, we had our first Vespers of the school year! There were about 15 people present, mostly students, with a few adults from the congregation mixed in. We enjoyed tasty BBQ prepared by PJ and Liz and had some really delightful conversation. More than anything else, Vespers has gotten me extremely excited for this school year. I can tell already that these students are awesome and I cannot wait to get to know them more.
Now, I am here, writing this incredibly lengthy blog. If you've gotten to this point, thank you very much for not giving up. There was just so much to tell, and I didn't want to leave out a single detail. Here are some pictures as a reward! First, Evan next to his beautiful sidewalk chalk Yoshi; second, me as a pineapple; third, Ruth and I at the Seminole Kick-Off Luncheon; fourth, me with the completed flood relief buckets! Thanks for reading, everybody!
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