helpful hints for your exams

Fun things to do in a final exam that you have not studied for.

1. Bring a black marker. Return the exam with all questions and answers completely blacked out.
2. Bring cheerleaders.
3. Do the entire exam as if it was multiple choice and true/false. If it is a multiple choice exam, spell out interesting things (DCCAB. BABE. etc..).
4. Turn in the exam approximately 30 minutes into it. As you walk out, start commenting on how easy it was.
5. Every five minutes, stand up, collect all your things, move to another seat, continue with the exam.
6. Walk into the exam with an entourage. Claim you are going to be taping your next video during the exam. Try to get the instructor to let them stay, be persuasive. Tell the instructor to expect a percentage of the profits if they are allowed to stay. As soon as the instructor hands you the exam, eat it.
7. Bring things to throw at the instructor when s/he's not looking. Blame it on the person nearest to you.
8. Bring a pillow. Fall asleep (or pretend to) until the last 15 minutes. Wake up, say "oh geez, better get cracking" and do some gibberish work. Turn it in a few minutes early.
9. Do the entire exam in another language. If you don't know one, make one up! For math/science exams, try using Roman numerals.
10. Come into the exam wearing slippers, a bathrobe, a towel on your head, and nothing else.
11. Fifteen minutes into the exam, stand up, rip up all the papers into very small pieces, throw them into the air and yell out "Merry Christmas." If you're really daring, ask for another copy of the exam. Say you lost the first one. Repeat this process every fifteen minutes.
12. Do the exam with crayons, paint, or fluorescent markers.
13. Run into the exam room looking about frantically. Breathe a sigh of relief. Go to the instructor, say "They've found me, I have to leave the country" and run off.
14. Bring pets.
15. On the answer sheet (book, whatever) find a new, interesting way to refuse to answer every question. For example: I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it conflicts with my religious beliefs. Be creative.
16. Get a copy of the exam, run out screaming "Andre, Andre, I've got the secret documents!!"
17. Bring a Game Boy. Play with the volume at max level.
18. Walk in, get the exam, sit down. About five minutes into it, loudly say to the instructor, "I don't understand ANY of this. I've been to every lecture all semester long! What's the deal? And who the hell are you? Where's the regular guy?"
19. Make paper airplanes out of the exam. Aim them at the instructor's left nostril. If it is a math/science exam, answer in essay form. If it is long answer/essay form, answer with numbers and symbols. Be creative. Use the integral symbol.
20. Talk the entire way through the exam. Read questions aloud, debate your answers with yourself out loud. If asked to stop, yell out, "I'm SOOO sure you can hear me thinking." Then start talking about what a jerk the instructor is.

complete joy

Over the past days I have been reminded several times of the joy that we can experience through Christ. For example today during our Easter service while we were singing as a congregation, I could feel Jesus just smiling down on us showering His people with hope and peace and saying "this is why i died for them." I think Easter Sunday is my most treasured Sunday, the feeling of happiness and hope overflow to everyone and you can't help but be touched by God's presence. And even though I wasn't with my family, this morning I felt the bond of the church family, united as one, with the purpose of serving and worshiping one God. If only everyone in this world could experience the complete joy that is given through believing in a living Saviour. That is my greatest wish for mankind.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-3

at the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross where grace and suffering meet. You have shown me your love through the judgement You received. And You have won my heart; so now I can trade these ashes in for beauty and wear forgiveness like a crown. I will come to kiss the feet of mercy, and I lay every burden down at the foot of the cross.
At the foot of the cross where I am made complete. You have given me life through the death You bore for me
And you have won my heart.

Oh, I love You from the depths of my heart,
And nothing here will tear us apart.
Everything's beautiful, when You invade my life.
And I'm living just to say that 'I love You'.

why I want to be Laura Ingalls Wilder

- I could accomplish my dream of being a teacher with only one year of schooling
- I wouldn't have my computer to distract me from life
- I could make my millions by just telling my life story
- I would not have to write a paper on poetry
- I would get to marry my childhood love of Willy Wilder
- I wouldn't have to wear shoes in the summer
- I wouldn't have to be employed duing the summer and just be at home working with my mom
- I could play with my button on a string game without people thinking I am going crazy
- There would be woods in my back yard
- The stars would not be out-shone by street lights
- I could live in a house that was dug in a hill for free and not have to pay for housing
- I could wear gingham
- I would go to bed with the sun

Although at the current moment my number one reason why I want to be Laura Ingalls Wilder is because...
I wouldn't have to figure out my course schedule for next year!

inspiration

So today in English 104 we were analysing wonderful poetry - woot woot! Now don't get me wrong, I do appreciate poetry, but analysing it in class can get brutal!
Well today we stumbled across the following poem...

Landscape: I - Nichol


alongthehorizongrewanunbrokenlineoftrees

yes... this is a poem and I was so inspired by it that I decided to write the sequel

Landscape: II - Katrina VandenBerg


thestreamwasveryshallow

gosh! I am a poet and I didn't even know it.

*this post is to be read in a sarcastic manner. thank-you.

happy birthday robyn!

On April 4th, 1987 Robyn Tamera Euverman was born and for this I am so thankful. Even though this post is a couple hours late, I would just like to have this little space dedicate to my dear Robyner:

Robyn is the artist of my life. She not only pours herself into her art, but also fills the lives of those around her with her unique personality. Her sarcastic humour is always there to lighten the mood and she taught me the real meaning of Dutch shopping with her classic line, “My Dutch blood is raging!” She can never be faulted for living a lie, as she stays true to herself in every situation. These are only a few of the many aspects, which make her a wonderful friend and person. Robyn my wish to you is that you continue to “Paint with all the colours of the wind.”

- until we are old and gray and spy on our neighbours with binoculars -

what every friday should consist of

1. buying duble zout dropjes and eating 20 of them on an empty stomach
2. knowing that your mom and sister are landing in BC without you
3. counting change and then attempting to roll dimes... the vain of my existance
4. witnessing Craig reach a high score of 45,000 on Bejeweled - "incredible"
5. having my extremely crystal clear glass being smeared and streaked... grr
6. being blown away by my future buddy Peter's majic tricks
7. partcipating in a panal discussion for the Redeemer Scholarship night
8. eating grapefruit
9. getting an email from my hopeless romantic Dad asking me if it would be a good idea to get our house fumigated by the Pest control dept. for his anniversity present to Mom.
10. making hemp bracelets
11. talking on MSN with Liz while we are still in the same room
12. being serenaded by Peter and Josh on the phone
13. a thunderstorm

the walk

Tonight, as I headed back to the dorm after the Senate meeting and school work, I encountered three different groups of students doing a prayer walk around campus. Witnessing this touched my heart and filled me with peace. I know God heard your prayers. Thank-you.

will you come and follow me?

we sang this song in Church In the Box last night, the words really struck me.

Will you come and follow me,
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grownin you and you in me?

Will you leave your self behind
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
should your life attract or scare,
will you let me answer prayer
in you and you in me?

Will you love the ‘you' you hide
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found
to reshape the world around
through my sight and touch and sound
in you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true
when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
and never be the same.
In your company I'll go
where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow
in you and you in me.

treasured moments of my 19th birthday

- surprise trip to Niagra Falls
- Steph and Mat coming down to visit
- hearing my family sing happy birthday over the phone
- getting a hug, kisses, and wise words through mail from my family and Opa and Oma
- realising how much my family means to me and how much i will miss sharing my birthday with them
- the phone call from Robyner
- Jessicer hiring the three "tenors" to serenade me
- french toast breakfast
- not doing my paper, but not feeling guilty
- eating deer meat
- 10 bin bowling, even though i think it is the one thing that i am the worst at in life
- being surrounded by people whom i love
- becoming a legal drinker
- markers that i can draw on windows with
- all the wonderful cards that people made me - beautiful
- singing with Rex in the car

thank-you to all who made my 19th birthday one to remember. it was so special and i am so grateful that i am surrounded by such great people that i can share my life's journey with.

night

A couple of summers ago a girl on my baseball team confronted me with this question, "You are religious right? Why do you need to have a God? I don't and my life is fine." Unfortunately, at that time in my life I did not have an answer to her question, but this has stuck with me and has forced me to reavaluate why I believe what I believe and realise why this world needs a Saviour.
Tonight I read a book called "Night" by Elie Wiesel. This is a powerful account of a Jewish boy who lived through the German concentration camps. Once again, through this book I was reminded of how devesatingly sick and evil human nature is. When we pushed to the limits we are capable of much evil and destruction. I don't know what could possess a man to torture another human being, burn little children, laugh at the pitifulness of a dying man, kill for a scrap of bread, or even turn against one's own father. When we fell as a race, we did not trip into sin, we plummeted. God's heart must break when He watches us, we have fallen so far away from what He intended us to be. This is why we need a God - this is why we need a Saviour, because truthfully we are not fine without Him. I will never understand God's unconditional love for His people and His commitment to us. It baffels my mind. This is one of the reasons why I believe what I believe. If God is able to love despite how much we hurt and abuse Him, I believe in that love. Also I couldn't imagine a life without His redemptive hope.

merci beaucoup mes amis, je vous adore

Tonight my weak heart was put to the test. All week Angie, Liz, and I have been planning on having a girls night tonight... going out to Websters Falls, coming back, watching chick flicks, doing eachother's hair, nails, facials ect... Little did I know that I was being tricked, but I definately don't care.
So after class Ang, Liz and I got in her car, and started to drive to Websters Falls... except that I kinda got a little suspicious when we kept driving and driving and I saw signs to Niagra Falls. So as you probably already guessed, they surprised me with at trip to Niagra for my birthday, and I was totally in the blue... especially considering its not my birhtday till March 25th. And that is not the end, it just so happens the guys (Steve, Willem, and Matty) were following us the whole way there and appeared randomly out of nowhere. It was increadible guys, no one has ever surprised me with such a nice gift. I am so blessed to have friends like you.

march madness is officially here.

Every year around this time, there comes an epedemic that sweeps every basketball fan... March Madness. I am a March Madness junkie, if I were at home and had the March break, you would find me parked infront of the tv watching the games, with the occassional trip to the internet to see how my pools are doing. So right now I am missing satelite tv... or infact any tv at all. This year I entered three different pools, all with the same bracket. Yesterday, it wasn't looking too good, but as of this morning I am pretty pleased with where I am sitting. This year I am bringing Duke, Gonzaga, Connecticut, and Villanova to the final four, with Duke and UConn in the finals. All I can say is that UConn is going to destroy Duke. I have one rule, and it is this: Never will I predict that Duke will win, due to my deep seeded hatred for them.
Ultimately, my favourite team is North Carolina. If they are able to pull it off this year, I won't even care about my brackets.

pride and prejudice

As most of you probably know, well maybe not, Pride and Prejudice (the 1995, 6h version) is one of my all time favourite movies. So, tonight when I was offered to watch the lastest version of this movie I did not hestitate. Although, I was to be bitterly disappointed; the new version of Pride and Prejudice doesn't even come close to holding a candle to the real one. It might have been the fact that Darcy, whom I love for his dashing intense looks and character, was played by an actor who was a pansy - nothing like Colin Firth. Actually, in general, the cast was weak. Maybe I am being unfair, because of my huge bias towards the first version... but no. I even stopped watching it to study for my Enviro midterm - enough said.

we live in a broken beautiful world

As Coldplay says, we live in a beautiful world; I think that this is why it hurts so much to realise the corruption that overshadows the beauty. The other night I watched the movie Constant Gardener - definately recommend it. It is a thought provoking movie to say the least. Without giving the plot away, the movie is full of grief and horror. It portrays a very cynical view of international politics and commerce. I would love to be able to say that this portrayal is an over exageration, but I am afraid that it isn't. After watching the movie I was overwhelmed with the capacity of humans. I was digusted with our greed and and ashamed of how we take advantage of the weak. It is accounts such as this that leave me with a broken heart for mankind. I don't understand how we can be able to face others all the while knowing that we will allow and cause them to die. The part in the movie that struck me the most was when a little girl was escaping from a raid along with two UN workers towards a rescue plane. Once they were on the one man told them that the little girl could not come along with them. The girl seemed to understand that she was not wanted and jumped off the plane and just ran beside it. The reason why this struck me so hard was that it emphasised the reason why most of us do not react against the injustices of this world. I know for myself it is increadibly overwhelming to dwell on the social injustices of this world and I feel that it is impossible to fix it so I am tempted just to give up. We use the excuse that there are millions of people who all need our help and we can't involve ourselves in all their lives. What we forget is that we there are individuals that we can help, even though we can't save them all, we can save a few. And by doing so bring back hope to this broken world, proving that we are still "human."

why?

Over the last day this one word question has been all I can think of.
- Why?
It is increadibly frustrating to not know the answer...

I wasn't there the day you filled up the oceans.

I didn't get to see you hang the stars in the sky.

So I don't mean to second guess you,

Or criticise what I don't understand.

- Clay Walker

katrina for secretary

March 8th and 9th - Redeemer Senate Elections - cast your vote!

too much work... it brings out the best in everyone

often overlooked

Tonight I was rereading the well known verse of Jeremiah 29:11, though what struck me the most were the following verses: (12-14)
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD"
I know when I am unsure about my future I always turn to verse 11 to find comfort in the fact that God does have a plan laid out for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Though I am often still left with... ok that is great that God knows, but I want to know too. The answer lies in the verses afterwards that so often get overlooked. God will give us answers our questions.
- The way you know you've been given life, hope, and a future is when you begin giving those away to everyone else.

slow and steady doesn't win the race

The well known fable that we were told as kids, of the turtle passing and winning the race against the hare because he was slow and steady has been proven to be false. The computer in which I am typing on belongs to my parents. I remember when we first got it, I think I was in grade 6, meaning that it is 7 years old. This is ancient in computer years. It does not handle the "new" technology of internet very well, let alone dial-up. S-L-O-W. So needless to say it has been a pretty painful experience trying to research two papers this week. Normally I would be using my laptop, but when I got home and tried to turn it on the monitor wasn't working, so my good ol' Euro is in the shop getting a tuning. It's sad. So here's to high-speed internet and my own computer, oh how I miss you. Redeemer's internet is even sounding pretty good at this moment... GASP, I can't believe I just said that.