LAUNCH Olympics at Redeemer

It's hard to believe that two months ago I stepped onto Redeemer soil as a first-year university student. All I could think about was: How would I meet people? Who would be my friends? What would my profs be like? Will I get along with my dorm mates? As I opened the door to my dorm for the first time, I was greeted by a cheery smile and a warm, “Hello” from my RA, and all my worries disappeared.

That first week of university was all about adjusting; adjusting to my new-found freedom, friends, and home. To make our adjustment a little easier, Student Life planned LAUNCH which was a competition for the Cooper Cup (and of course bragging rights). Three dorms, including mine, made up the brown team. Throughout the week various activities were planned such as a Find- your-LAUNCH-leader scavenger hunt, a canned food drive, decade and swing dances, and orientation meetings. For each event, your team got a certain amount of points for every teammate who attended.

At the end of the week, we had the Olympics. It was one of the most exciting days of my university life. Everyone on my team dressed up in brown and covered themselves with warpaint. Other teams carried ginormous mascots like a stuffed gorilla. Then all the teams marched to where the Olympics would be held, all the while screaming and cheering for their team. The Olympic events consisted of the classic ankle balloon pop game; flour toss – where your team sits in a line and passes flour over your heads from the front to the back; the frozen t-shirt game; and a new and improved version of capture the flag. What followed next was what I'd been looking forward too all summer – the mud pit.

Let me explain the mud pit - pure awesomeness. Our team felt a special connection with the mud pit because we were brown and so is mud. When it came to be our turn to play tug-of-war in the pit, we decided to have compassion on the other team and let them drag us through the mud. Afterwards, there was a huge mud fight. As I looked around all I could see were walking piles of mud. Before we were allowed back into the dorm, we had to hose off. Despite our best efforts to eliminate all traces of mud, our clothes and shoes were worthless. I wonder if the garbage men noticed the sudden increase in garbage that week...

In conclusion, I'd like to say this to all present and future first-years: no matter how nervous you are about university remember that you're not the only one. Take a deep breath. Be yourself. And don't forget a pair of old sneakers for the mud pit!

Invisible Children

On September 29, during Redeemer’s weekly chapel session, students and staff listened to a presentation by members of Invisible Children, a humanitarian group focused on ending the long running civil war in Uganda. Students learned that the war between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army had been going on for 23 years, leaving millions of people across four countries displaced and afraid. Further compounding the problem is the LRA’s practice of abducting children and training them as soldiers. It is estimated that since 1986, the group has forced an estimated 10,000 children to take up arms, often killing parents and schoolteachers during the abduction process.

Invisible Children was formed in 2003 in response to this long running war, aimed at raising awareness in the west of the war and its effects and at lobbying first world governments to take action against the LRA. In addition, they employ a Ugandan ground staff in that country that works to rebuild infrastructure damaged by war and improve Uganda’s education system with books, teachers, mentors, improved school facilities, and scholarships for Uganda’s future leaders.

Along with traveling to promote their cause and
asking for donations at various events, Invisible Children raises money through book drives conducted in partnership with Better World Books, a non-profit company that collects and sells books to raise money for various literacy based organizations including Invisible Children.

First year Redeemer student Nicole Shaver has organized a book drive here on campus. Better World Books has provided large green boxes, placed outside of the library, next to the book store, and by William’s, for students and faculty to drop books into. The boxes, shipping, and other book drive expenses are covered by Better World Books, so contributors can rest assured that all of the proceeds from the sale of their donated books will go directly to Invisible Children.

The drive has been initially successful thus far. Donations have been coming in slowly and are expected to pick up as the semester winds down. Students are being encouraged to bring in unwanted books for donation. Textbooks are best, but any book in decent condition will make a direct and measurable difference in the lives of children in Uganda.

Arts in October

October already! The much anticipated and loved time of midterms and papers being heaped upon us is finally here. Never fear though, there are still plenty of fun and exciting things going on in the wonderful world of art here at Redeemer. Art gallery openings, music performances, plays, poetry readings and more are happening throughout the year.

Speaking of those poetry readings, if you haven’t come out to one yet- plan on it! This year we have already had two excellent poets in, Lorri Neilsen Glenn and Jeramy Dodds, as well as an appearance from Sam Martin, who read from his new book, This Ramshackle Tabernacle. There’s just something about hearing a writer read their own works, as well as having the opportunity to ask them questions afterwards. It’s a great experience. The next poet in is Ken Babstock, who will be reading on November 25^th. Mark it down in your calendar, be there or be square!

Another upcoming event to look forward to- The first art gallery opening of the year is right around the bend. “Clothed Like These: Images of Divine Affection” will be open from October 30 to November 26, so you will have plenty of time to check it out. For more art, check out the hallways around the art room. Student work is often on display, and is always worth spending some time on.

November 23 to 27 will be when the first play of the year is running. Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood, a play in which “an all-seeing narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of an imaginary small Welsh village,” (to quote our handy-dandy Redeemer website) promises to be an out of the ordinary experience. You won’t want to miss it. The actors are all playing multiple roles, which should prove to be pretty darn interesting.

As far as the music scene goes, the faculty artist concert is happening on the 5^th of November, and there are numerous student performances going on throughout the year- keep an eye on the Time Out to find out when and where they’re going down. In addition to the more curricular events, there’s also a ton of bands at Redeemer that are worth checking out. The Good Hunters, City of Snow, Dwelt in Silence...just to name a few. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming concerts to support our talented musicians!

Ah, the arts are alive and well here at jolly olde Redeemer! If you want to pencil in a few of these dates, learn a little more about them, or see what else is going on, check out the Arts & Culture Schedule for some more info. Anywhoo, that’s all for now. Until next time, over and out.

Poetry Reading - Jeremy Dodds

I grabbed myself a cup of tea and joined a crowd of mostly English professors and students, as well as guests from the community. This is one thing that I love about Redeemer University; you have the opportunity to hear all sorts of poets come read.

Jeremy Dodds is probably the youngest poet I have heard at Redeemer, at 35 with one collection of poems (Crabwise to the Hounds[2008]), he has already won the 2006 Bronwen Wallace Memorial Award, the 2007 CBC Literary Award in Poetry, and the Trillium Book award for Poetry. I think that’s awesome! However this isn’t all there is to Jeremy Dodds, after all, he grew up in Orono Ontario, he studied in Iceland, knows their language, and he’s and archaeologist.

Dodds’ first poem of the night, Canada, reminded me of all those stereotypes that people make about Canada, with the beaver and everything. My favourite line in this poem that was inspired by Ginsberg’s America, was “Canada, I feel like another weather.” That actually made me chuckle. Sometimes it seems like Canada itself can’t decide what weather to be some days.

There were a couple of other great lines that came out during his reading that brought a chuckle from the crowd. One being “I’m worried about people who was their cars at night” Who does that anyway? Now the line that really made me laugh was from his poem Epileptic Acupuncture, “The Lake’s so clear you can see yourself to the door.” Seriously, people who know me, know the kind of jokes and lines I’d come up with. That one comes pretty close but obviously Dodds thought of it first.

After some time of reading, Dodds answered some questions from the crowd. I think there is an unspoken rule that the first thing you have to ask a poet is what inspired them. For Dodds his inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. “I steal mostly” he told us with a chuckle “Then I rewrite it to make it my own.” I guess that makes sense.

Someone from the crowd then asked Dadds about his writing process, I was a little thrown off at the passion he showed for editing his work. I never know there was so much that had to go into it. I don’t think I would have ever thought of recording myself reading a poem and then listening to it to see if there were flaws in the rhythm and the flow. It inspired me. I think I may actually try it.

If you are interested in reading more about Jeremy Dodds, there will be a more indepth interview between myself and Jeremy Dodds in Redeemer’s next edition of the Crown.

Weekends

Weekends – what every university student lives for. Weekends can be two things: first, they are a time to study for midterms; second, they are a chance to relax and enjoy life. This weekend was a time for adventure.

A few weeks ago, Redeemer hosted a Club Showcase where you could go and check out all the different ways to get involved at Redeemer and in Hamilton. I signed up to volunteer with City Kidz, a Christian organization that works with children from downtown Hamilton. Hamilton is one of the poorest cities in Canada. City Kidz's goal is to change Hamilton from “The City of Poor” to “The City of Hope” by reaching the children of this area.

Now for the adventure part. In order to get to City Kidz I had to take the city bus. I have never been on a city bus before except when my grade 10 class went to Toronto on a trip, but then I had my teacher to tell me where to go. This time I was going alone. So, I mustered up all my courage, took a deep breath and asked one of my guy friends if he'd come with me. He agreed.

On Saturday morning, with my Google Map directions in hand, my friend and I left the campus. Google Maps had told me to walk 30 minutes to reach the first stop in order to catch our bus at 10:55am. We arrived at 10:30am. So we sat down on the curb and patiently waited for bus 34 to come pick us up.

Unbeknownst to us, some sewage trucks were working in the background, and the stench of sewage was creeping our way. It came in three waves – the third being the most deadly. After we were finally able to breathe fresh oxygen, I realized our bus didn't come until 11:15am. We waited for 45 minutes in the putrid smell of sewage. My friend was not impressed. Finally, we saw our bus, but then two Redeemer students got off that bus who said that they were waiting for bus 34 – just like us. Turns out we didn't actually have to walk to the bus stop – we could've gotten a ride with the bus that comes right from the campus. By now my friend was quite annoyed with me.

Fortunately, once we got on bus 34 everything went smoothly. At the end of the day, as we were walking back to Redeemer, we were flagged down by a Redeemer recruitment member. Thankfully, my friend is on the recruitment team so we were able to hitch a ride, sparing us the walk back to campus. There are two morals to this story; 1) Make sure you read your Google Map directions carefully and research all bus routes, 2) Don't let bus adventures scare you from becoming involved in the Hamilton community.