Volleyball Intramurals

I’m responsible for posting about athletics here at the Redeemer Student Experience. When I was given this dubious honour, my first thought was, “hmm, I should probably join a team or something.” Sports that don’t involve a large number of high energy impacts between the participants have never been a strong suit of mine, especially when those sports involve fancy skills like “hand-eye coordination” and “agility.” Due to my overall lack of these qualities, varsity sports were probably not an option, but fortunately, Redeemer was there for me.

There’s an intramural volleyball league going on right now, with 20 teams and probably upwards of 150 participants. I’m on one of those teams, which we’ve affectionately named The Victoria Howards. This was mostly by accident. Our team captain, Victoria Howard, couldn’t think of a team name when she signed us up, and the powers that be just wrote her name in the team name field when she left that field blank. Our team came out in near unanimous support of the name, with the only exception being, ironically, Victoria Howard.

The intramural games have a very relaxed feel to them, there are people of both genders and all levels of ability that play, which is nice, because it generally means nobody gets too worked up and everybody’s able to have fun. It’s also free and open to everybody, and of course it comes with the standard Redeemer slogans of community building and Christian closeness and whatnot, which pop up in these articles a lot for a very good reason. I say they’re standard, which is true, but the community here isn’t something I take for granted.

If you play for the my team, there’s also the added benefit of lessons in Christian humility and losing gracefully, which we as a team learned during our first two games, having lost them 25-8 and 25-11. I don’t expect this to improve, because that aforementioned “hand-eye coordination” business isn’t something that we at the Victoria Howards have in large quantities. I’m going to stick with it though, because it’s exciting and fun, even if we aren’t that good. It’s all I can really do until Redeemer gets a men’s rugby team. There’s a women’s rugby team forming this spring, so I don’t feel unjustified in holding out hope. If my hopes are realized, I will join that team, participate in high energy impacts, and report back here immediately. Until then, go Victoria Howards!

Eat the Core

I once played a game at my youth group that involved eating an apple that was dangling from a string which was taped to the ceiling. The only trick was that we couldn’t use our hands to touch the apple. Then our youth pastor told us that if we ate the whole apple, including the core, our team would gain a 100 bonus points. At first I thought that eating the whole apple was disgusting. There was no way I was going to eat the core. However, when my turn came, I ate that apple, core and all.

You may be wondering why I told you this apple story. Well, I want to use the apple core to represent the core courses at Redeemer. When I was applying for university, I had this preconceived notion that I would only have to take courses in my area of study. But when I talked to the Redeemer reps, I realized that I would be taking many core courses in addition to my majors and minor.

What are core courses? Core courses are classes that are not in your area of study but are required for graduation. Some of the core courses include two history classes, two religion classes, two social sciences, two regular science classes, etc. The goal of these core courses is to give Redeemer students a well rounded education.

Now you may be thinking, ‘Why would I waste my time and money taking core courses when I know what I want to major in?’ I understand that core courses can be frustrating and annoying, but I find these courses to be worthwhile. I really enjoyed my HIS105 class and my ENG104 class. However, not all core courses are appealing. For me, the thought of taking sociology and psychology made me cringe. I’m not very good at analyzing the mind. But I’ll admit that although sociology class was not my favourite class, I did learn some very interesting things such as the fact that socialization differs from culture to culture, and how that affects the individual.

So, even though the idea of core courses may be annoying, remember that these courses allow you to dabble in each field of study without becoming a major or minor. Who knows, you may even end up switching your major because you enjoy a core course so much. If you’re still uncertain about whether or not this whole core course thing is a good idea, remember my apple story. At first the idea of eating the core sounds disgusting, but once you do it, you realize that the reward at the end is worth it.

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To Write a Song

This week in chapel we had the honour of hosting Dr. Stephen Garber, the director of Washington Institute to the auditorium. He spoke to us on the topic of Transcendence, Truth, and Translation. He played a clip of ‘Sigh No More’ by Mumford and Sons, which is a great song by the way. Truthfully, I can’t remember too much of what he said about these topics, probably should have wrote some notes. I know he also went on to play a clip of ‘You Found Me’ by The Fray. He talked about how he had lunch with Isaac Slade, the lead singer of the Fray. Dr. Garber told him this: To write a song that tells the truest of truths, but in a language that everyone can understand. This quote really struck me, in a world where truth is claimed as relevant, we are called to tell the ‘truest of truths’. Dr. Garber told another story; on an airplane ride, he was sitting beside a man, his name was Bill, I think. Bill was an attorney. Throughout this entire plane ride Bill talked to Dr. Garber, every now and then giving a reply. Bill talked about going to this resort he gets to go to because one of his clients is a gambler; he continues to talk about how the women are going to be great. He explains he practiced evolutionary-materialism. After a lot of talking, Dr. Garber asked him one question, “Are you happy?”. With this one question, Bill’s life was laid bare in front of him; he said simply “No, it never has been, I’ve always wanted to find a great woman who will love me.”

Back to the quote about song-writing; this struck me because, I’m a musician.(I think, maybe there is more to it). What this means is taking the truths that God has set out for us, and putting these complex, theological ideas, into song. Into words that everyone understands, probably one of the most difficult things to do, take God-breathed words and truth, and convey it to everyone. My dorm’s devotions this evening, coincidentally, was about music. My dorm mate Colten breached on the topic of Christian artists in music, how they make music to share the word of God. It could have not worked out more perfectly. So once more, the quote “Write a song that tells the truest of truths, but in a language that everyone can understand.”

Tae Kwon Do

Before I quit my job to come to Redeemer, I had lots of money. Well, not lots, but enough to afford a few luxuries, like expensive lessons in kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Now that I’m here, I can’t afford to do exciting stuff like that, and my Saturdays are better spent reading history books than going to martial arts tournaments anyway. I loved fighting, and I still do, but it’s a luxury I’ve chosen to forego for the sake of getting a respectable Christ-centered education.

The Redeemer Tae Kwon Do club was natural fit for me. I joined at the beginning of the fall semester, and by the time exams rolled around, I had earned my yellow belt, which I received in a belt ceremony during the exam period (pictured). Yellow doesn’t compare very well with some of the accolades I’ve earned in kickboxing or jiu-jitsu, but it’s a start, and I’ve certainly enjoyed learning and developed an appreciation for the art itself and the principles of Korean culture on which it’s founded.

The meetings are run by Master Hyung Im, an 8th degree black belt from Seoul , who also teaches at a Tae Kwon Do school in Caledonia . We start with a light cardio warm-up, followed by stretching, lessons on TKD technique, and finally some strength and conditioning exercises to end the class. There’s a wide variety of fitness levels and athletic ability among the participants, which could be a hindrance in other places, but because our club is free from the yelling and aggressiveness that often comes with martial arts, everybody’s able to work towards their own goals, whether that be greater fitness and flexibility, the ability to defend oneself, or simply the getting to the next belt level.


(Picture taken by Dustin Addink)

I’m planning to continue with the club until the end of the school year. I joined thinking it would be a lackluster substitute for BJJ and kickboxing, but it’s turned out to be a much richer experience than I had expected. My high kicks are looking a lot more graceful these days, too. The Redeemer Tae Kwon Do club meets in the Black Box on Mondays and Thursdays at 9:30 PM. Newcomers are always welcome.

Winter at Redeemer

Winter seems to be one of those months that everyone looks forward to, but once it actually arrives, everyone can’t wait for it to end. For me, one of the highlights of winter is snow. Unfortunately, where I come from, we don’t get a lot of snow. So, when I came to Hamilton, I was hoping for a winter wonderland. I soon learned that winter in Hamilton is very similar to winter in my hometown.

By December 12, we still had no snow while our neighbours in London were being bombarded by snowstorm after snowstorm. In fact, the worship leader at Church in the Box that night opened with the comment, “Welcome to Hamilton, the town without snow.” After we had a good laugh, we all sat back to listen to the speaker. I was moved by the thought that God is going to use me in my future career to further his kingdom. After the service, my dorm mate and I started to walk out of the building, when we realized it was snowing! God’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Snowballs began to fly from my hands once I realized that the snow was packing snow. It turned out that I wasn’t the only one with the idea of a snowball fight. A few minutes later, screams and laughter could be heard throughout the entire campus. I, however, didn’t join in the snow war because exams started the next day, and I needed to study. (But I will say that an exciting snowball fight is a great way to prepare for exam.) As I watched warrior after warrior get hit with snowballs, I began thinking that Redeemer is probably one of the only universities where students have campus-wide snowball fights. Now as I walk to my classes, I enjoy seeing the white snow all around, and I’m grateful that Hamilton gets more snow than my hometown.

YIKES!! It’s December!

All around the world people are preparing for Christmas and who knows what other kinds of holiday traditions. Decorations are going up and people are shopping for their friends and family. We’re so excited to see the looks on their faces when they open up the gifts, aren’t we? Yeah, for sure! But if you’re a student you’re also really stressed.

As soon as December comes around we’re scrambling to get essays done, study for exams, all the while not go insane. It’s a strange sensation really, to be excited for Christmas but to dread December. I wonder if Christmas will ever feel like it did when I was a child, and I didn’t have to worry about essays and exams.

As a child my greatest concern had nothing to do with school, but everything to do with what would have my name on it beneath the Christmas tree. I remember December being a time of snow ball fights and making angels in the snow. That and Christmas specials on TV at the neighbour’s house every night. But I guess that’s why they’re called memories right! Eventually this time of year will be different for us students. Will stress ever become a memory? Who knows?

Either way, I wish you all the best this December.

Under Milk Wood

This past Saturday marked the last performance of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood here at Redeemer. Let me just say- Holy skills, Batman! I’m sure those who were fortunate enough to have the chance to see the show will agree with me. Let me take a few minutes to give each actor the recognition they deserve for such a fantastic show.

Let’s start with the two narrators, Emily Heide and Jesse Burke. Constantly onstage, these two pretty much blew my mind- not only did they narrate throughout the play, they both took on other roles as well. Personally, I have no idea how they were able to memorize all those crazily poetic lines, but somehow they did. Somehow.

Greg Beenen played six or so characters, among them a cussing dairy farmer, a dead guy, and a fellow who just so happened to have two wives... I especially enjoyed how he played the meddling postman, who along with his wife steams open everyone’s letters and reads them before delivery.

Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard, played by Sally Beresford, was a formidable and hilarious character. Her staunch cleanliness and rule over her two deceased husbands had the crowd chuckling. Sally played a few more characters, one of them being the long-suffering Mrs. Cherry Owen. Her transitions from putting on the appearance of a happy wife, to showing the sadness she was really feeling was done excellently.

Emily Groot did a fantastic job as each of her roles, one notable role being that of Lily Smalls. The scene where she ridicules herself in the mirror was hilarious! She played some of the sweetest characters in the play, and had the audience smiling throughout.

Jordan Guetter had a few really great roles; Mr. Waldo, making too much time with the ladies, Lord Cut-Glass, with his clocks, and Jack Black, the severely upright Bible thumper, to name a few. His song at the end of the play was fantastic, and just so happened to be stuck in my head for quite some time afterwards.

Some strong singing skills were demonstrated by Nathan Hicks, in the role of Reverend Eli Jenkins. His transition from playing a Reverend to the drunkard, Cherry Owen, was quite something. One could say that his tankard drinking skills were nearly as good as his singing!

Paige Louter was amazing in her many roles, with memorable characters like the icy Mrs. Pugh, the long-suffering Mrs. Organ-Morgan, dead Rosie Probert, and the little girl, Gwennie. Her song also remains stuck in my head...

The role of Polly Garter was pulled off by Jessica Marshall, who did an incredible job. She was able to completely change the mood of the scenes she was in. Her wistful song and defeated look had everyone empathising with her.

Pieter Schalk was an excellent tour guide, tailor, and potential murderer, to name a few. His depiction of the long-suffering Mr. Pugh, who dreams of poisoning his wife, was a definite favourite with the audience.

Steven Siemens had the audience dying with laughter for most of the show, which made his portrayal of the blind Captain Cat all the more impressive. His blank, staring eyes, and even the way he would return to his chair were spot on.

Jonathan Silverthorn was superb in all his roles. I was especially impressed with how he played Nogood Boyo- you wouldn’t think a strapping young lad with a beard could play a convincing little boy, but he pulled it off wonderfully.

Lauryn Vetro did a wonderful job as, among other things, Mrs. Dai Bread Two, a seductive gypsy. It must have been an intimidating role-but she pulled it off well. Her fortune telling scene was especially good.

Jessica Watson was hilarious as the waddling Mrs. Dai Bread one, and had the audience cracking up every time she walked across the stage. Her portrayal as the lonely Bessie Bighead was fantastic, you really felt sorry for her.

The cast and crew did an amazing job. Ray Louter’s directing, Chris Cuthill’s set (along with the hard work put in by Tyler VanHolst and the painting crew), Sam Frisk’s lighting design, the music provided by Aaron Craig...everything pulled together for one impressive show.