Greek, groups, fun and fall

At the moment I'm not sure whether to celebrate that fall is here, or lament that summer has not yet left. The last few days here in Dubuque have been beautiful with the leaves turning the incredible shades of gold that they do. You can no longer see many of the sidewalks on campus as they are covered by this golden snow-like layer of foliage. Now I just want the temperature to change. A few weeks ago it was a little cooler here in town and I loved it. I even wore jeans a couple of days. That seems to have past as it has been in the 90's the last couple of days. I find myself sleeping in the hottest room in the house, and at the moment, its 9:30 at night, I am sweating just sitting in my room. Augh.
When I was working at Group Publishing, I had a group of four friends that had started at the same time, about a year before I did. As the story goes, this group traveled from training session to training session as a big large group, thus earning them the moniker "The Herd." I almost feel that a group of friends I hang out with here could have the same name applied to it. We are all first year students and for the most part, we all have the same schedule. We are all younger, in fact I'm the second oldest in the group, and for the most part we all live in the seminary townhouses. It's funny to see us all travel in a pack from class to chapel, and back to classes each day. I've heard comments from others in the seminary that's it's an unusual group that we have in that sense, and sometimes I worry that we may be seen as just a big clique, but I don't think we act that way. It's been nice getting together for things such as a Greek study group with everybody and having upwards of 8 to 10 people show up. I am impressed by the intelligence of everybody in the group, and they have the ability to keep me on my toes. I'm really looking forward to spending the next few years with everybody.
I've also enjoyed getting to know the city better as well. Dubuque is really a pretty city, even if you get a workout from all the hills. I've been walking with a friend and we have had a great time with many paths that overlook the Mississippi River. It really is a beautiful sight seeing the river in fall, or in the evening with the lights of the city reflecting in the water.
Last week I was able to participate in a chapel service, and had a good experience. My roommate was asked to deliver the message that day as an international student, and he asked me to be his liturgist. I found out a couple of days before the service that I really wasn't supposed to be participating until I finished a class I'm taking, but that they bend that rule quite often. I have never been in charge of actually writing out and planning what goes on in service, and it was a little stressful for me at first. In the end it wasn't a big deal, and I had some friends help me out. After chapel was over I had a friend of mine approach me and tell me that I was going to be a great preacher. I really hope that is true, but it's always nice to be affirmed by somebody else when you don't expect it.
I also intervened for a short term job here on campus last week, and got it. It's for the campus phoneathon, which basically means its back to making a ton of phone calls for me in order to raise money for the university. I've done the phone thing before, and I'm sure I will well. I'm just thrilled that it's only a few nights a week for a few hours each. I don't think I could do phone's full time anymore.
I have my first Greek test Thursday morning, and have been studying quite a bit for it, but I don't think I'm too nervous. I still have to memorize some noun endings, but I'm pretty confident I will do ok on the test, even if I lose my current 100 percent in the class. Next week is reading week, and I'm looking forward to not having any classes. It will be good to have an opportunity to get caught up with some reading, prepare for some midterms, and write a couple of papers. I'm also going to be able to do some fun things. Sunday I'm going to Wisconsin to see a friend of mine preach, and Tuesday I'm going to Illinois with a group to meet my roommate’s wife, have diner, and maybe hit a haunted house. Should be a fun week.