Dear World

dear fifteen page ecumenism paper,
I am strongly considering typing you in size 20 font. I don’t understand the topic I’m writing about and am too close to graduating to care.
sincerely,
clueless student

dear sleep,
I miss you. Between the increasing amount of work to get done and the insomnia, we haven’t spent much time together. Hopefully soon.
sincerely,
sleepless in Chicago

dear frozen yogurt,
I love you and just keep eating you. Dairy free treats are addicting.
sincerely,
dairy-free eater

dear Peet’s Tea & Coffee,
I miss you. I’ve been brewing and drinking an increasing amount of Starbucks medium roast coffee. It doesn’t even taste good without copious amounts of coffee creamer and sugar.
sincerely,
ashamed to admit it

dear Starbucks,
I DIDN'T MEAN IT, I PROMISE.
sincerely,
{um ya, I did}

dear many unread blog posts,
I will eventually read you. After May 12th.
sincerely,
over-scheduled & over-tired student

dear the inspector calls,
I'm really glad I'm not ever going to see you again.
sincerely,
not a fan of this book

dear Chicago,
I don't like that you're still so cold. If you warm up, I’ll have a better attitude. I promise.
sincerely,
freezing California girl

dear Greek,
I don’t know why I didn’t just take French. It's obvious we were never meant to be friends. Just two more weeks. Can we survive together that long?
sincerely,
it's not me, it's you

dear college,
After a few years of saying I couldn't wait to leave, I realized this week that I might actually, well, miss you.
sincerely,
tell anyone and I'll deny it

dear readers,
I will be writing more soon. I promise. I have lots of things to process through and there will always be new adventures to write about!
sincerely,
andrea

Malaria.

I have malaria. In my handful of trips to malaria infested areas around the world, I was able to avoid the pesky mosquitoes with lots of bug spray and evaded contracting malaria through anti-malaria pills. My final trip to West Africa, however, wasn’t as successful. My most recent trip was the summer of 2008. I only got two mosquito bites, but one of those flying annoyances was carrying malaria.


Today is World Malaria Day. Roll Back Malaria is an organization who’s goal is to free the world from the burden of malaria. Their theme is “Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria”.

This is a topic that I have a personal connection to. I have malaria, but was treated. I don't deal with the symptoms on a day-to-day basis like many people around the world do. I occasionally have flareups and my doctor quickly prescribes medicine and within a few days I'm healthy again. Many people around the world have malaria and do not have the opportunity to be treated and it becomes a fatal disease.


Check out this article from the Roll Back Malaria Partnership:

The theme for World Malaria Day 2012 - "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria" - marks a decisive juncture in the history of malaria control. Whether the malaria map will keep shrinking, as it has in the past decade, or be reclaimed by the malaria parasites, depends, to a great extent, on the resources that will be invested in control efforts over the next years.

Investments in malaria control have created unprecedented momentum and yielded remarkable returns in the past years. In Africa, malaria deaths have been cut by one third within the last decade; outside of Africa, 35 out of the 53 countries, affected by malaria, have reduced cases by 50% in the same time period. In countries where access to malaria control interventions has improved most significantly, overall child mortality rates have fallen by approximately 20%.

However, these gains are fragile and will be reversed unless malaria continues to be a priority for global, regional and national decision-makers and donors. Despite the current economic climate, development aid needs to continue flowing to national malaria control programs to ensure widespread population access to life-saving and cost-effective interventions. Long-term success will also depend on investments in on-going research and development to combat emerging threats such as parasite resistance.

Sustaining malaria control efforts is an investment in development. Continued investment in malaria control now will propel malaria-endemic countries toward near-zero deaths by 2015 and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially those relating to improving child survival and maternal health, eradicating extreme poverty and expanding access to education.

For the Love of Mornings

Sunrise over Lake Michigan with Smith 5 & Culby 16.

The break of dawn arrives in the large city of Chicago, just as it does every morning. The ever bustling city is already awake and moving forward. You can hear a few birds chirping, intermixed with car alarms, welcoming the sun back from its slumber.

I’m a morning person, a happy early riser. Mornings are an important time of day. It’s a time that others take for granted and would like to skip altogether if possible in favor of slumber. I love sipping my coffee while watching LaSalle Blvd wake up and become a congested road of impatient taxies, bulky buses, and other normal cars just going about their day.

I love the quiet and calmness that overtakes Moody’s campus before professors, faculty, and students pour into Sweeting and the other buildings.

Watching the sunrise over Lake Michigan has become one of my favorite things in Chicago. Sitting in the sand surrounded by Lake Shore Drive, the city, and the Lake is a unique experience.

Mornings. Love them.

@MCRScrabble

Every Monday night from 10pm to 12am at www.moodycampusradio.com, Liz and I work to make order out of the chaos in the bag. Tune in for a ridiculous mix of music, people, dragons, light sabers, news, random facts, and oh so much more. Also Cheez-its.

Follow us on twitter for an organized mess of information, quotes, photos, and other exciting things happening in the studio!

Agreed: Journalism is the Best Job Ever

 (from www.stuffjournalistslike.com)

Last week journalists got some pretty disparaging news – journalists had one of the worst jobs in country. In fact, according to CareerCast.com, only four jobs are worse that being a journalist - oil rig worker, enlisted military soldier, dairy farmer, and lumberjack.

Long hours, bad pay, stressful deadlines – these were all reasons that put journalism near the bottom of the list but these I’m willing to make a bet that 98.9 percent of journalists knew these things before penning that first news story. If you became a journalist for fame and fortune, then you’re going to be miserable.

Jeff Bercovici of Forbes.com posted a story titled “Forget That Survey. Here’s Why Journalism is The Best Job Ever.” In the story, he lists several reasons why you can’t beat being a journalist, including meeting interesting people and celebrities, getting paid to read, and always learning on the job. He also argues a lack of jobs is somewhat proof that people still want to be journalists.

If journalism was such a dreadful job, newsrooms would be empty and newspapers and websites would just be blank pages. Everyone with a byline made the conscious decision to be a journalist. It’s not like someone looking at the want ads is deciding between being a reporter and an oil rigger. Sure, the job is stressful and rough and the industry is going through a tough transition but ask your local journalist if he or she would rather be doing something else. I’m betting the answer is no.

Weekend with Kanani!

PS. I promise my next post will be actually writing and not photos.

Junior/Senior Banquet

Table 31!

Matt, Lauren, Faith, Josh, Kenneth

Jake, Annie, Andrea, Maddy.

Joel and Andrea

Annie and Jake

Post Banquet Party at the Quick's Apartment

Old Smith 5 Girls

Jake, Faith, Josh, Maddy, Kenneth

Annie, Krista, Andrea

Spring Break Happenings

Sunshine.

Daffodils from my dad!

Sitting in suitcases.

Vi had a lovely conversation with Siri. Then she sent a few text messages.

 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.
Hebrews 6:19

 I organized my bookshelf.

Silly picture with the girls!

Trina and Larissa

 Andrea, Trina, and Larissa

Glow sticks!

hope.

I have a tattoo. It’s the Greek word for “hope”.

 

I love the word hope. Having it tattooed to my foot is a simple yet permanent reminder of the hope I have in God and His promises.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 15:13