earn your wings| first week at college.

Finding a place to begin telling you about this past week is much harder than you think. So much has gone on and so many changes have happened. In a way I think I'm still processing everything. In some ways it feels like this isn't even reality and in others it feels like its been like this for months.

I was taking a pretty big leap of faith when I came to OC. My first time on campus was only a week ago. I had only seen pictures before that. I knew practically no one. I was moving to a more "southern" state. And I soon discovered that there are more texans here than I can process. But I took it all in. I soaked myself in the changes and newness.

My emotions were everywhere on move-in day. I was excited and nervous at the same time. As we were nearing Oklahoma City, a storm hit. As you can imagine, it made for a very interesting move-in day. Moving into a place you are going to live in for the next year is more work than you think. By the end of the day, I was exhausted. This was only the beginning.

The next six days were a blur of activity. Earn Your Wings is what OC calls freshman orientation. It's a week to get to know your freshman class, as well as how things work on the OC campus and other information about college life.

The week was long, but there were definitely some highlights. Kite day: a day where K-6th grade kids from a near by academy came and we paired up with one of them to fly kites for a few hours. It was a complete blast. Dry Gulch: a western town camp, complete with go-carts, bumper cars and a carousel. I learned a lot during EYW. The most important thing that I think all of us freshmen learned, was what OC is all about. OC is a community, a God serving community. This is something I'm extremely excited for. I've already seen this after just one week of being on campus. I'm so excited to see what happens in the next four years.

Earn Your Wings ended with a "maroon out" at the first soccer games of the season and a banquet on Sunday put on by the faculty for the freshmen. After this week, I was excited for classes to start. Yesterday we inaugurated OC's new president and it was the first day of classes. I am so excited for this coming year and making OC my home. This will truly be an adventure.

xo.
-m

Intermediate Week.

INTERMEDIATE WEEK | THEME: "HOLY SATURATION!"
This second week of camp I was a counselor of seven
lovely girls. They were hilarious, they were hyper, they
always wanted to know what was happening next.

One of the things I love about being a counselor is
getting to know the kids. The kids in this age group
(7th-9th grade) are just beginning to discover who
they are. It's wonderful. I love watching them because
I remember being their age and even though it seems
like forever ago, it really wasn't.

I also love this age group because they surprise you
in so many ways. The way the think about things,
the knowledge they have and their thoughts on God
just amaze me.

I love this week. The staff and the campers are wonderful.
Now, for the photo dump.

The ever popular hangout place: the double swings.

The best tea in the world... obviously. (ps, thats JJ)

This is Billiey. And she is awesome. And no that's not her real name. (:

yes, those two guys in the middle of the field are dancing. Why? I have no idea.

You can always hear her laughing across the camp grounds.

One night at campfire, we all had glow sticks and held them in the air. It was pretty awesome. 

One night we had a themed dinner. The theme was superheros and one of my campers- Emily- went as her mom because her mom is her superhero. 

I taught at least six people what the term "golden hour" meant. Then for the rest of the week they'd exclaim "It's golden hour!!!!"

This is Colby. I've known this chick forever. 

This is Caris. I've known her since forever. 

Yes, Colby is throwing carrot cake.

But Maddy didn't catch it. 

The boys had a supply of pop for their "party" the last night of camp.

Rolling in the grass. Laying in the field. 

This is Maddy. She is crazy. I've known her since forever. 

Starting them young.

And so camp 2012 ended for me. I had the best of times
with some of my favorite people. It was just a fantastic
two weeks.

Did you attend/will you be attending any camps this summer?
I'd love to hear about them!

xo. marissa

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View full photo set: flicker sets

senior week.

SENIOR WEEK | THEME: "WHAT REALLY MATTERS?"

It was finally here. The week that everyone
had been posting statuses about. The week
that we all counted down to. Text were sent
out/received that said "I'm so excited to see you".
Excitement was so high that you wanted to
scream, jump up and down, pee your pants,
laugh and smile all at the same time. It wasn't
just because of the people we were going to
see. It was also because we knew this week
was going to be filled with awesomeness and
God.

People started arriving at camp. The excitement
was building. We screamed and hugged.
We signed up for cabins. We unpacked
our bags and rehashed old memories and what
we had been up too. We could tell it was going
to be a good week.

Senior week was nothing but fantastic. We were
vulnerable with each other. We admitted things
to each other. God grabbed us and showed us
what we had been missing. We put out trust in
God together, as a camp. We worshiped Him.
We spent 16 hours in prayer. We anointed
each other. We laughed, we cried and rejoiced
together, as a camp. We learned what really
matters. We formed a community.

We had fantastic discussions and talked for hours.
We helped each other. We formed new friendships
and strengthened old ones.

Camp had its serious times, but it had its fun times too.

We put together a fantastic talent show. We (as in my
cabin) dyed out hair purple. We played capture the flag.
We cracked jokes and made silly faces. We made tons
of friendship bracelets. We wrote notes. We made
 mailbags. We all dressed up for banquet. We sang
"you and I" over a hundred times. We bonded.

Erica gettin' her hair bleached! 

Maddy, our hair dyer!

(picture taken by megan) This is what my hair looked like after it was dyed. Pretty rad yes?

teaching my camp friends how to shoot in manuel/how to use a camera in general. It was hilarious. "What's ISO again?"

It was one of the hardest days ever when senior week ended.
I was standing by my friend Caris and after we finished
closing circle she said: "Marissa, we will never be campers
again... I'm going to cry..." and then we hugged and both of
us just cried for a few minutes. It was like a piece of our
childhood had ended- which in a way it had because camp
will never be the same for us.

As sad as it is that I will never be a camper again, senior week
will always hold a special place in my heart. Camp will always
be a part of my life, is some way or another.

xo. marissa.

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Check out Megan's senior week post: borderless: senior week.
View full photo set: flickr set-senior week