Disciple Spotlight: Michelle

Here's another great disciple in my life; she even formally discipled me!

Michelle will join the Campus Crusade staff at the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO) this fall. Michelle was an integral part of my faith at Butler. 

As my discipler (mentor) and bible study leader, she has a gift for leadership and being a patient teacher. That's not surprising, though; she majored in education at Butler University, and has a ballet background (that's where all her patience comes from!).

She'll be leading the freshmen and sophomore women's bible studies on campus and developing a branch of CCC geared specifically towards Greek students. She joins Elizabeth McKinney, a former CCC staff person at Butler.

In her prayer letter to me, she explained the challenges students face at college:

"In the midst of academic achievement there is a competition for students' hearts - a battle of the flesh against the will of God...there is a great need for light to be shed in the middle of this darkness."

Michelle has been an awesome impact in my life. She is direct and honest, and keeps me accountable in my actions. I know she will do the same with students at University of Missouri.

You can contact Michelle at michelle.zatulovsky@uscm.org and also give online.

SOS: The Internet is "Down"!

On Wednesday morning I woke up to discover the Internet was down. The service provider wouldn't be able to come out to the house for at least 24 hours. My mom snickered and said, "Are you going to be okay?"

Regaining my composure, I said yes, of course I'd be fine. It was only 24 hours. Surely I wouldn't miss anything vital. But while waiting in the doctor's office that afternoon, I realized: I didn't need the Internet -- I could text my Twitter update. (Thank goodness the 'rents caved into an unlimited texting plan). So I did just that.

Throughout the day, though, I felt disconnected. I couldn't see my home page (NPR), nor could I read up on what my peers in the Twitterverse were doing. And when I wanted to find out who that actor was on that particular TV-show....I could not search the Internet Movie Database. While this all seems very trivial, I had to wonder: what would life be like without the Internet?

What are your thoughts? How could you handle 24 hours without the Internet? What would you do with your "free time"? Serious, trivial, ironic - I'd love to hear it all!

Image credit

Disciple Spotlight: Helena

This week features a series of disciplers in my life - those who are actively pursuing the Great Commission. They are dear friends, mentors and sisters in Christ.

Helena is a pharmacy student at Butler. It's one of the most renowned programs in the nation, and requires six years of hard work and dedication. But luckily, Helena incorporates a healthy dose of comedy into her daily life. I rarely see her without a smile :)

While our college peers interned, worked and enjoyed vacations, Helena took part in 3 different mission trips. One involved working with Christian medical professionals. 

The program is called Whole Person Care Preceptorship, and includes 4 weeks of training medical students on the spiritual care of patients. It is joint program through Campus Crusade for Christ and the Medical Strategic Network. 

Helena said: "It was really cool to see how our career is our ministry and that patients not only need spiritual care, but many of them want it and were more than happy to talk to us."  

She learned to take the 'spiritual history' of a patient and to "identify the laments of the soul." The students learned how to pray with patients by shadowing Christian doctors. 

"Talking to patients was scary and cool all at the same time, but it was great to practice what we were learning."

Sure hope I can have a pharmacist or doctor in the future who cares about me that much!

Helena writes her own blog, The Adventures of Torpe. She loves Jesus, Diet Dr. Pepper, and kittens.

Images of Summer

The Summer on the Knoll

Knoll (noun): A small rounded hill, a hillock.

This was a summer of many firsts and lasts. My first summer living in Indianapolis, my first experience at a TV station, my last summer as a college kid.

I had the chance to live where many Butler students call "The Knoll." While it may sound like a ritzy golf course, it's simply the off-campus housing neighborhood that surrounds Butler University. In fact, while the street is called Berkley Road, the street is actually paved with grass (see photos in my next blog post)!

Why was this summer so fun? Maybe because it was summer, or because I got to work with journalists everyday or because - as my mom would say - I was just "enjoying my twenties." I guess it was a combination of all of that. Here are some of my favorites memories from Summer '09, in review:

1. Friends. I got to see old friends, go on bike rides along the canal, take picnics with my RA gal pals, build up friendships with roommates, and bond over home-cooked meals, many cups of tea and a midnight showing of Harry Potter No. 6. 

2. Life on Berkley Road (aka The Knoll). After three years of dorm-style living, I had the chance to stretch out a bit. Living in a house exposed me to the joys of a kitchen and the not-so-joyous calls to the landlord, clogged toilets and many "friendly" critters.

3. The Intern Experience. I worked in the 25th largest television market this summer. I met and worked with seasoned journalists. The experience opened my eyes to the wonders of television journalism. In the process I got to meet a few celebrities, interview fellow Butler colleagues and help the Web team with Twitter and Facebook endeavors. My work aired on the evening and daybreak newscasts and I developed a portfolio reel of 10 news packages. It was exhausting and always busy - but definitely rewarding. 

4. Creating an internal GPS. Whether scouting out a story for WISH or visiting friends around the state, I've come to develop a stronger sense of direction - although I still can't always tell N/W/S/E on my own. My many adventures took me to a wedding in Attica, a few outdoor concerts in Fishers, and various news stories in Edinburg, Columbus and Carmel.

5. Field trips. Living in Indianapolis this summer was like a series of mini field trips. I had an extended period of time to enjoy the beautiful campus, eat Yats (a local Cajun favorite) and venture to new places like the White River State Park. The creative spirit in me indulged in many trips to Mass. Ave - the theatre and arts district of Indianapolis. Another guilty pleasure was the library. I not only learned about borrowing entire TV series (I highly recommend "Veronica Mars"), but I got to enjoy the snazzy new downtown location that feels like a hip new museum more than a city library. 

My summer was jam-packed. It was flavorful. Freeing. And, if you couldn't tell, it was fun.

Indy In August

Apparently August is when the really cool events happen in Indianapolis. While I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer here, I have to leave next week to prepare for my semester in Washington, D.C.

Therein lies my task for you, dear readers.

The following are some extremely cool events, and I need you to enjoy them for me, since I can't. Okay? Here we go:

• Indiana State Fair (August 7 - 23). I have always wanted to go to the state fair; I guess I have fond memories of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. This year they're serving up Kelly Clarkson, MercyMe, Keith Urban and Jason Mraz as just a few of the headliners. Plus there's the 4-H culture. Side note: growing up in the Chicago suburbs does not prepare you for any intelligent discussion of 4-H, so please don't judge.

• Indy Fringe Festival (August 21-30). My amazing roommate Christina is knee-deep in her work as an intern for the festival. If you see her at this ten-day theatre fest, give her a high-five for the program she designed. She's even spearheading a "radical marching band" that will perform. Insane creativity is sure to be afoot. It's happening on Indy's eclectic Mass Ave - a haven for the spectrum of artists.

• Society of Professional Journalists National Convention (August 27-30). This is my first year as a member of SPJ, and of course the 100th anniversary convention is being hosted right down the street, and headquarters are in Indy. Colleague Alyson Ahrns and myself just started up Butler's chapter this past fall. 

• Blog INDIANA (August 13-15). This is something I stumbled upon while sifting through Twitter. But the conference sure sounds cool. And when social media guru Brad J. Ward is speaking, you know its going to be good. Blogging + social media + socializing = amazing.
  

I am wincing as I write this - I cannot believe what I'm missing out on! But there you have it. 

Now your schedule is packed with awesome things to do, see and hear. Go! Register! Buy your tickets! I'll expect a full report when it's all over.

Too Much Girl Talk

Excuse me while I stand on my media literacy soapbox for a moment.

I can't tell you how many times I seen the same plot line delivered over and over again. You know exactly what I mean:

Boy meets girl.
Girl is high-strung and works as a [fill in glamorous career].
Boy must "tame" her to win her over.
Girl realizes error of her ways and falls madly in love with boy.
The end.

Here are a few variations on that plot: 27 Dresses, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 10 Things I Hate About You, When Harry Met Sally, The Wedding Planner, You've Got Mail, 50 First Dates, The Holiday, Made of Honor, The Devil Wears Prada ...you catch my drift.

I will openly admit I own several of these movies. But what do they offer? A brief escape of reality. Unrealistic expectations about men. Guidelines on how men and women should behave in a relationship.

If I took anything away from MDA245 - Media Literacy it is this: movie companies will continue to write the same "formula" of movies because it sells. Not because it is original.

The chick flick/romantic comedy is one such formula.

I fault myself for not being more adventurous in my movie screenings. But when you gather with a group of gal pals, it's so easy to choose the classic "chick flick" because it seems like something "everyone" would like.

Watching a chick flick is equivalent to making Easy Mac. You're too lazy to try anything that might be too challenging or might not taste the same.

A series of events emboldened me to write this particular post:

1. "Confessions of a Shopaholic." At a dinner party, the entertainment was "Shopaholic," a movie based a popular novel. I had vaguely recalled seeing previews and thinking: "We're in a recession. What a time to promote credit card debt." The movie appeared to portray women as ditzy and focused only on shopping endeavors. The movie did have a good message in the end, but went about it all the wrong ways.

2. "The Proposal." At the invitation of a friend, I agreed to see one of this summer's chick flicks. Was I expecting too much because I'm a fan of Sandra Bullock? Yes. Same plot line, different actors. Must a woman always be type-A, control freak and devoid of any romantic history in order to find her one true love?

3. This movie review. This put the nail in the coffin. NPR called "The Ugly Truth," very simply, "not a pretty picture." I couldn't agree more. I haven't seen the Katherine Heigl movie, and I certainly don't plan to.

So why must I stand by and accept the movies advertised to me? While movies - and entertainment in general - are essentially a form of escapism, this does not mean we have to be fed the same story over and over again. I know I won't.

Carolyn McCulley wrote in the webzine Boundless: "The tool or the medium is not the problem. The content or the message — and the way our hearts respond — is the problem."

Consider Proverbs 4:20-27

My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil. (Proverbs 4:20-27 ESV)

So how about going for something different the next time around? Try an independent film, foreign film or just a different genre altogether. Fireproof does a great job of demonstrating the real "work" (read: romance) that goes into a relationship.

I'm going to bet it will taste better than the Easy Mac.