Crash
My name is Curtis Hagen, but my best friends call me 'Crash'. I go to school at Northwest Nazarene University, and I'm currently a sophomore.
Right now I'm studying Psychology with minors in Communication and Theatre.
At NNU I'm involved with Class Council, as the Sophomore Class President, and Drama Club, as the Treasurer.
This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to travel around the Northwest (including Alaska!) as a service and worship team that NNU sends out to churches and church camps. I had an amazing time and would not trade that time for anything.
Anyway, I'm really very easy to talk to, so please send me a message, and feel free to ask me any questions you have!
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-Black Tie-
Dress Pants: Check
Dress Shirt: Check
Jacket: Check
Black Tie: Nope…
Black Bow-tie?: Check. Check. Double-check.
It was Friday night and I was heading out to the Black Tie Event with the greatest date any man could ask for. There’s no way this date could go poorly for me, especially since my date already had a boyfriend. Technically speaking she wasn’t my date since she was just my cousin.
Me and my cousin, who are really close, decided to go to the Black Tie together because we wanted to simply have a good time. Neither of us had to worry about what the other was thinking or if we looked good. It was full of low expectations and relaxation.
Overall, we had a good time. We went to the Linen Building and had great food (Seriously, it was great food). Then we went to The Flicks and saw an even better movie (If you haven’t seen The Artist then you really ought to go out and see it. I’m definitely buying it on DVD when it comes out).
All in all, you could say that I love hanging with my cousin and I love going to the Black Tie.
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Live Blogging: Sophomore Class Retreat
Let’s not misconstrue this. I’m not moping around during my sophomore retreat at the YMCA and out of boredom live blogging. Instead I am the sole protector of our possessions while everyone else is swimming.
I think I’ve run ahead of myself. I’m at Sophomore Retreat, an event I planned, and it’s going spectacularly well. We’ve all scaled the rock wall, gorged on pizza and veggies, and now we’re swimming. Well, almost all of us are swimming. Haha!
I’m sitting here in silence with my friend Jake, and we’re just chilling in a side room while everyone else swims. So, while I’m just sitting here I thought,
‘I ought to do some life-blogging.’
And here I am. Live blogging Sophomore Retreat just for y’all. Also, climbing the rock wall was absolutely the best part of Sophomore Retreat so far. I haven’t been able to rock climb because I’m awful at it, yet it was so glorious.
Well, I’ve gotta take some time to at least dip my feet in the hot tub. It’s my thang.
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Mr. NNU
Holla!
Last night was Mr. NNU and let’s get one thing straight. It was amazing.
Congratulations to the Freshman Class Council for putting on this stunning event! I loved every second of it!
Now for some highlights:
3. Spencer Hassman. This freshman did exceptionally well. He put up a great fight against the upperclassmen. Both of his sketches were real comedy, and I could not help but be amazed at his ball routine. If he gets nominated again next year I’m sure he would be the first sophomore guy to win in a long time..
2. T.J. Dooghan. T.J. is one of the funniest guys I know here on campus, but he’s also a talented dancer. In his first skit he showed us his comedic side with a pantomime on how to take a girl on a date. His second skit was a dance battle between himself and himself. I can’t simply write how incredible it was to watch T.J. dance battle with himself. Additionally, T.J.’s cute little brother pretended to be T.J. for the costume portion and T.J. was escorted by his two little sisters. T.J.’s performance was not only a spectacular, but also showed his soft side as well.
1. Robert. F. Skinner the III. Robby was the winner of this year’s Mr. NNU competition. It was very well deserved, and I’m glad that Robby won this year. It’s been a long time since a Junior has won Mr. NNU, or so I hear. Robby had put together a giant musical number mimicking the opening to ‘The Lion King’. Robby himself played Rafiki, the Culver RD’s played Mufasa and Saraabi, and Brandon Snyder was baby Simba. Robby’s last skit was a mockery of Dr. Alexander’s latest chapel, in which Dr. Alexander shaved off his ‘Decembeard’. The end result had Robby shaving off more than his beard. In the end Robby ended up shaving all of the hair off of his head (minus the eyebrows).
All in all, every participant of Mr.NNU brought something great to the show. Even Kyle, this year’s host, and his friend Eli came out to perform one of their classic skits, and one of my personal favourite skits.
Kudos to Shaun Hall, Spencer Hassman, Robby Swartzentruber, T.J. Dooghan, Scott Pence, Robby Skinner, Josh Mundy, and Nathaniel Leslie. You all did such great jobs, and you all deserve to be proud of what you’ve put into your performance!
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Snow Day (Part 2)
1. I love snow when it’s all fallen and classes are cancelled, so I’m allowed to just enjoy the pure awe-inspiring ice crystals of the sky. I love snow when you get to watch it fall while you’re a ll bundled up in front of a fire place.
Fortunately, it has started snowing. We’ve gotten a few good inches, and everything’s starting to get icy.
Unfortunately, classes are not officially cancelled—despite what I’ve written on Facebook.
This brings me to:
2. I hate snow when it falls, and yet I have to stay inside reading my textbooks, and finishing up homework. I hate snow when it gets too icy and you can’t walk anywhere faster than a snail. Most of all, I hate it when the snow is this beautiful, and yet classes are still not cancelled.
Alas, I’ll just have to finish my homework like a normal person, and hope that the snow doesn’t melt after all of my classes are over.
Snow,
Wait for me.
Love,
Curtis
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Snow Day???
Supposedly today is supposed to be a snow day. Were supposed to have 4-6 inches of snow. There’s only one problem.
THERE’S NO SNOW!!!
Weather.com said that the snow was to start falling at 5am, but it’s 6:50 now, and still the ground is not white. What has happened to our snow? It hasn’t snowed very much this year in Nampa, and I don’t see very much snow in general, so if there are “snow storm warnings” then I will cling to the hope of snow like King Kong and Fay Wray, but a little less tragic.
Let’s just hope that I’ll get to watch snow fall later today. If it snows I know that I’ll only be found bundled up in my room, or in front of a fireplace somewhere.
One can only hope now.
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School Has Started or “It’s Gonna Be A Good One Folks!”
As I sit here, ‘here’ being right outside of the Sodexo on the couches, I am waiting for 5 things. These five things will forever make my day, or possibly—my week.
1. Chapel: Chapel is a great time to centre my sights on God before classes start. I always get to sit next to my cousin, who I love dearly. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes during chapel my cousin and I like to chat.
2. Lifespan Development: This is my only psychology course for the semester, so that’s sad. I’m loving having a class with my adviser, James Cresswell, and it’s really a fun class.
3. Modern Africa: I. Love. Africa. When I saw this class on the course catalog I made sure that I stretched out room in my schedule, so I could take it. It’s being taught by Dr. Wheatley, this is my first class with him, and I’m so excited to learn more about Africa. I could go on and on about Africa, but honestly I’ve got a schedule to keep here.
4. Human Biology: 2 words: Doctor. Chase. Dr. Chase is an amazing professor here at NNU. Her passion for biology is what truly makes biology interesting. Seriously, you can’t help but get excited about biology whenever she’s teaching. Plus, I get to sit next to the hilarious Jordan Sevier making for one funny class.
5. Week Back: This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for. All of your anticipation while reading has brought you down to this. Week Back is tonight at 10pm at the Nampa Rec Centre, and it’s going to be one crazy night. I’m ready to eat pizza from Messenger, which is the best pizza anywhere ever, and get my party on! There’s so much to do at the Rec Centre that I just don’t know where to start! All I know is that it’s going to be a great time, and that I’ll be sure to blog you the details when I get back.
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Sitting in the Oakland Airport
Winter Break is over, and alas, school starts up again tomorrow. This is how my day has gone so far.
Good: Flying to Nampa today!
Bad: Have to change planes in Oakland. What do I do?
Good: Oakland is so pretty!
Bad: Leaving Warm Oakland for Cold Nampa
Good: I’ve got a ride to school!
Bad: They’ll pick me up at midnight.
Good: Found another ride to Nampa!
Bad: Classes start tomorrow.
Good: Class cancelled! I don’t have to wake up till 6pm!
Bad: I’ve got work to do early tomorrow.
Good: I’m an adult.
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Dead Week Update
Today marks the first day of “Dead Week”, which is also known as “Hell Week” to some. Basically, starting this week it is okay to want to be dead because being dead is better than dealing with all of the homework you have to do and finals you have to study for.
Side Note: Someone’s phone keeps going off in the Perk and I want to scream, but I’ll keep my cool instead.
Anyway, my Dead week has slowly made it’s way to me feeling alright. I’m steadily getting all of my homework done, and I’m halfway through my 18 page essay. I still have quite a bit to do, and studying for my finals may kill me, but in the long run I’m sure I’ll be okay.
I’m not finished with this semester, but this is definitely how I feel.
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Fresh December
No Shave November is officially over, and now I can feel free to shave off this disproportional illusion of manhood on my face. It’s time to move towards something much better for the man named Curtis Hagen. Without further ado, I introduce you to Fresh December (better catchier name pending).
Fresh December is the month when you focus on keeping yourself as clean and as fresh as possible. This means showering, shaving, brushing, combing, and sleeping. This is something that needs to happen for all college students, especially since freshman guys start to look really greasy, and smell bad, during finals. Finals are coming up in a week, and it’s now time to make sure that you’re well enough to take them.
Join me in Fresh December as we celebrate being clean, well-groomed, and well-rested. You deserve to be fresh. Fresh December.
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Classes with Cousin
My cousin and I go to the same university, and that’s an amazing blessing. She’s super funny and a great friend. Since we’ve been at NNU we’ve had 1 class together, and it wasn’t that exciting. I’m really excited because next semester we’re both supposed to be taking Intro to Theology and Juvenile Justice together. It’ll give us more opportunities to work together and hang out, and that’s great!
I cannot thank my cousin enough because without her I wouldn’t be at NNU. My original goal was to not go to university, but Chelsie, my cousin, was going to NNU, so I decided to go to NNU too. I got here and fell in love, and I immediately wanted to get involved. Chelsie did not want to get involved, but still attended school functions, and she’s been a great supporter to me. Anyway, it’s thanks to my cousin that I’m here at NNU. I wanted to give her some thanks and let her know how excited I am to have classes with her!
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A Week to Remember
I should probably say 3 weeks, or rather 18 days, but “A Week to Remember” is my hip new lingo for the weeks in after Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break.
Why?
I call it A Week to Remember because I wanted to make a pun off of “A Walk to Remember”. Just kidding. The weeks after Thanksgiving are always fairly memorable. Last year we had our first snow at this time, and subsequently our first, and only, snow day of the year.
I got out of class, hung out with friends, and then created a snow fort. After my friends and I created our snow fort we switched to creating snow cones. I’ll never forget that day. I’ll never forget those weeks. Thus, A Week to Remember.
This Week to Remember I plan on finishing all of my school work for the year today, so I must log off the internet. I hope you have a wonderful Week to Remember, and just remember that Winter Break is just around the corner.
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I just realized that I had yet to blog about TWIRP! How could I!?!
Is there anything you want to know about TWIRP?
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Q: What's the hardest thing you've had to learn in a college class? Can you explain what you know about it now?
A:
Oh man! I’ve had to learn a lot of hard things in college. I think that the hardest thing for me to grasp, aside from learning how to study, was learning anything and everything about Environmental Science. I’m an environmentally conscientious person, but that’s not what this class is about.
Environmental Science was a lot of fun, but a difficult class for a first semester freshman. Most of Enviro Sci was learning about the effects water has on land and and learning about dirt. It’s fun to look back on because I now know so much more about the environment, but man, that class was something else!
It was probably so difficult because it was a Monday night 3-hour lecture. I had no clue it could be so difficult to take notes for 3 hours.
Can I explain what I know about it now? Nah. I don’t want to ruin the class for you, but I will let you know that the textbook was fun to read aloud. I also learned that you cannot miss a 3-hour lecture once.
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Dorm Life: Sutherland
Last year I lived in Culver Hall, the freshmen boys dorm, and I had a great time bonding with the guys in my grade. This year I’ve moved on to Sutherland Hall, the sophomore guys dorm, and it’s been a most excellent time. I love living in Sutherland because it seems that sophomore year is really the year that your class bonds together tightly.
I moved onto a wing in which I hardly knew any of the guys on my wing. I was admittedly a bit intimidated, but now I feel completely comfortable with these guys. Last year, I rarely ever visited anyone else’s room, for fear that they wouldn’t be prepared for a guest. The best thing about sophomore year? None of the guys really care if you just pop on by for a chat.
(Spray-Paint Mural from my wing)
Even better is the lobby. The lobby of Sutherland is the place where each wing filters into for hanging out and just being with each other. Andy Curry, the new Sutherland RD, has really put good use to the space, and has scheduled many dorm events taking place in the lobby. I daren’t miss a single one!
(That’s Andy C. reppin’ the peace sign )
All in all, I’m so glad that Sutherland has turned out to be this great place for guys to just hang out and relax. It feels like we’re in a ski resort when the weather outside’s too harsh for skiing. I only have one frustration. Who decided where the outlets for each room were going to be? They’re in some weird places here, but that’s no big deal because I love living in Sutherland.
(Kyle Wright playing Ping Pong in the Sutherland Lobby)
[All Photos by Curtis Hagen]
