Opening Day

Great opening day game for the Dodgers. And as Vin Scully said at the end of the game, how fitting that on the first game of their 50th anniversary that the Dodgers should win 5-0 against their fiercest rivals (though the Giants this year will be pretty pathetic). All is right with the world again: baseball has started up.

Fun at Work and New Ways to Communicate

This week has been a bit hectic. I'm beginning to start a lot of projects due at the end of the semester while finishing up a couple that are due soon. Work was also pretty crazy this week. I work at Princeton's University Store in downtown Princeton, which is much like a small clothing store (think of a Gap or Banana Republic that you'd find in a mall, but about twice as big). Typically for closing hours (shifts that I usually work), three people are assigned to work: a manager and two sales associates. Occasionally only a manager and an associate are assigned if not much business is expected. There are four managers: three work on the actual floor, one works in the basement in the mail order and receiving department. While the mail order manager is probably the best guy to work with, he's also never on the floor; not bad unless a huge influx of people enter the store. I think we can all see where this is going as we jump to last Friday. The store supervisor scheduled the mail order manager and me as the only two in the store on Friday night for the final two hours of store operation. That would have been fine had it not been a week where every alumni and their mother (or children as the case overwhelmingly was) been visiting. So I was basically the only worker on the floor while a steady stream of traffic came into the store. Needless to say, it was a tiring night. It wasn't that bad, and I actually enjoyed not having a manager hanging over making sure I was working the whole time (which usually isn't an issue). But it made for an exciting night being the only one on the floor.

I also wanted to let everyone know about a new way to communicate. I'm not sure how many people have heard of Skype, but it's basically an internet phone. It's free, you can "call" people who also use it, and it also allows for video chatting for free. All you need is a computer with an internet connection and a microphone. If you want to video chat, you need a webcam too. If you use it already, or if you make an account, you can look me up: jeff.desurra. I think it could be a really nice way to keep in contact. You can also use it to call landlines and cell phones, but that costs money. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know.

Difficult Decisions

At the beginning of the semester I wrote about my struggle over vocation. Being over half way through the semester, I've had a lot to think about. My classes have continued to hone my thinking, professors have pushed me to new levels, and planning out this summer's and next year's church placements have helped put my education into a broader perspective. I feel more comfortable being at Princeton, more confident that this is where I'm supposed to be, reassured that this is where God wants me to be. But the vocation question still remains. If anything, discerning my call has become even more complicated than it was at the beginning of the semester now that I have more options to consider other than pastoral ministry and academic teaching.

Over the past couple weeks I have realized that I should be in a position where I can wrestle through these decisions more concretely. Working in the Church for the next year is one step in that direction, but it's only a step. I need to open up opportunities for conversation, which is more difficult to do when I am not engaged in processes that are designed to open the doorways for conversation.

For this reason, I've made two decisions, both of which have been difficult to come to but will, I think, enable me to make a better, well-informed decision about my vocation. This summer after I finish my finals, I am going to (re)start the ordination of process. Even though I am still unsure that I am being called to pastoral ministry, I need to take advantage of the process that the Presbyterian church has set up. I hope that being in the process will open up more opportunities to have conversations about vocation.

The other decision I've made is not yet set in stone, but will probably be a little more grueling and one I may regret a bit more. After talking with one of my professors, I am going to pursue a thesis project next year. I will be shooting for a project that would be roughly 40000 words, something I would have to devote the entire year to. I don't have many details on what I would be writing on and I'm not sure if I can work with the professor I'd like to yet. It would be an independent study that I would do as a part of my normal class schedule and hopefully something I could submit for publication or at least continue toward after I finish the class requirements. Since this is something I'd have to get acquainted to and comfortable with if I were to pursue a Ph.D. and it would help to improve my writing and thinking skills, this is something I want to pursue. As I said, I'm not yet sure if I can go forward with this project yet because the professor I want to work with will be a staff (not faculty) member next year. I'm currently talking to the dean of academic affairs to see if it's possible and what steps I need to take to move forward.

I feel comfortable with these decisions. How I'm going to balance everything is still a question I have yet to answer, but since I will be working considerably less hours working at the church next year and taking 2 less classes next year, I think I will be able to manage everything with diligent time management (<-- key factor). Prayer is always appreciated. I'll keep everyone updated and what's happening next.

Update

This week went by so quickly that I'm almost surprised that it's already over. I missed most of my classes this week trying to regain consciousness and get over jet lag, so hopefully next week will be better.

I have one big announcement this week: I have confirmed my church placement for the academic year. I'm going to be working at Allentown Presbyterian Church in Allentown, NJ with my major responsibilities being in the adult and children ministry departments. It should be a good experience. The associate pastor is a PTS grad, so she understands what's expected from the field ed office here and also knows what it's like to be a student doing an internship. So I'm glad to have that set and to feel comfortable about it.

Back in Princeton

I'm back in Princeton, though it seems I must always have some sort of travel difficulty in order for my trips home to be complete. My flight was delayed by about an hour in Burbank, and because of the winds, we had to take a runway that caused us to carry less fuel. We had to stop in Las Vegas for a refueling stop before we could make our way to the East Coast. And as we passed over Kansas we ran into some rough turbulence, which woke me up. I didn't get much sleep, and my back and legs are reminding me that that sleep wasn't very restful anyway.

Thankfully once I got into NY it was smooth sailing from there. I made it to each of the stations just in time to catch a train that was just leaving. So I hit the subway immediately after getting off the plane, made the connection in Penn Station quickly enough to catch the express train back to Princeton, and caught the Dinky back to campus just in time to make it to my first class in the morning. I ended up in Princeton about two hours later than I was hoping, but perhaps that was a blessing in surprise. Time will tell.

Other than that, this day has let me hit the ground running. I had to give a speech this afternoon, which considering I had essentially been up for about 27 hours straight I did surprisingly well on. I had left the speech at home in CA, so I had to get a fresh copy from my professor, which meant all my markings and cues I had to reinsert. But I pulled it off, only stumbling over a few words.

For now I'm going to head to bed. I may have some important news coming later this week, but all of that in due time. For now, it's time to recuperate.

Flight Numbers

Here are my flight numbers for my trips to and from Princeton:

JetBlue
JFK to Burbank: 357 (03/07: 4:40 - 8:00 pm)
Burbank to JFK: 358 (03/16-17: 9:00 pm - 5:03 am)