Blog

We are back with another playlist for you to enjoy as we head into September! With tracks from Frank Ocean, Dayglow, and Briston Maroney, this month’s playlist has it all. Whether you’re doing homework, walking around campus, or cruising around town this is your September soundtrack. So give it a listen and enjoy!

Mark your calendars for September 25 and release your inner teen angst with our first concert in the newly renovated Vines Center, Skillet feat. Ledger! Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Skillet is not only one of the biggest Christian rock bands, but also one of the most widely known rock bands across the whole genre. The general audience who may not enjoy Christian music is gifted the opportunity to listen to music about the Creator without the common singer-songwriter vibe. The band found its origins with its two original members, John Cooper and Ken Steorts. John has stayed true to the group since the beginning, being the only original member to still be in the band. Skillet has continuously been nominated for various awards including wins for five GMA Dove Awards and one Billboard Music Award. 

Opening for Skillet is the pop rock band Ledger, created and led by Skillet drummer Jennifer Carole Ledger. After drumming and singing backup vocals with Skillet for a decade, Ledger released her first solo project LEDGER EP in 2018. The band has been on the road ever since, opening for Skillet on multiple tours. Ledger’s music is clearly influenced by her roots with Skillet, continuing in the pop rock genre while utilizing her exciting vocal talent. As the band together continues to work hard and produce new music, I hope to see them continue to grow their audience. The more the band reaches, the more listeners are able to hear the good news of Jesus in a unique way. We are so excited to see you next month as we all get to enjoy some solid music and rock out together!

https://skillet.fandom.com/wiki/Skillet_(Band)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jen_Ledger

https://www.skillet.com/blog/christian-rock-band-skillet-shares-its-secrets

Written by Josiah Frisbee

Josiah Frisbee enjoys writing for the blog because he believes in the power of discussing relevant topics. He wants to be challenged in his writing and research style while still growing and striving for knowledge.

“Buy Local” billboards bombard downtown areas where small businesses dwell. Local performance venues are rolling out new promotions of local artists that they encourage you to listen as part of supporting your community and loving your neighbor. Your significant other needs to be invested in all while also supporting your friends in their interests. Life seems to be pulling you a million different ways and it seems nearly impossible to support all the people and causes that you want to while also keeping your sanity. For this reason, learning how to leverage your life to support the things you care about is an essential skill to learn. You must utilize having what you invest in support the other things you want to invest in.

            For example, let’s say you are dating someone. A study by a team at the University of Virginia found that “…people who spent quality time with their partner at least once a week were 3.5 times more likely to report being ‘very happy’ in their relationship compared to those who didn’t.” This speaks to the dire necessity of investing in relationships, but with all the other things and people you want to invest in, how can you devote your time to making your romantic relationship thrive? The solution is as simple as investing in them while supporting others. If a friend owns or works at a restaurant, take your significant other out on a date there. Got friends in a band? A lovely concert date. Not only would you then be supporting your friends but you are investing in your relationship, making memories, and contributing to the local economy.

            Musicians need streams and concert gigs to make a living. By listening as you drive around, sharing songs and albums on social media, and going to concerts you are helping them advance in their career. For YouTubers and other internet personnel, subscriptions are needed in order to build a larger audience. It costs you nothing to hit the subscribe button on YouTube or Spotify, which builds their numbers, presence, influence, and support.

            If you work in a mentorship or youth ministry organization but you have friendships you want to stoke or relationships you want to kindle, then your solution is to take your friends or significant other to events and businesses the kids you are pouring into are at. Stopping by an ice cream place one of “your kids” is at after going to a musical one of your other kids is a prime example of how you can leverage hanging out with your closest circle while supporting those in your investment circle.

            For the student who values hanging out with friends, perhaps the best way to leverage your life is to study with your friends. That way you not only invest in your academic life, but you build friendships as well. Friends who struggle or thrive academically alongside each other tend to stay together because nothing unites people quite like a common struggle.

            Lastly, you can support certain missions and organizations just by going about your normal life mindfully. Companies like Kroger have a rewards system in place that gives money back to a non-profit as you buy your groceries. Amazon started Amazon Smile in order to give a portion of purchases to non-profits. Thus far, they have raised over $100 million dollars for charities and non-profits, all because people mindfully went about life as usual.

            There are a million different ways to have the things you love to pour into support the other things you love, you just have to think through how you can leverage the one to support the other. Priorities can feed into the things of secondary importance if you play your cards right and live a leveraged life.

Sources

https://www.psychologies.co.uk/love/life-lab-experiment-love-7.html

https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/29/amazonsmile-has-raised-100-million-for-charity/

Written by: Landen Swain

Landen believes the human experience longs to be expressed; through our art, our labor, our songs, our storytelling. As a published playwright, author, and poet, he enjoys expressing his little chapter of the human experience through his writings and is thankful that the SA blog allows him to do that. He is published in numerous magazines, literary journals, and has several plays published by Off the Wall Plays, an online play publishing house.

In Jumanji: The Next Level, the crew is back in action, but the game is not the same as they remember. The original cast of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black are back, but they have some new friends this time around. Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, and Awkwafina are just a few of the new faces we see in the movie.

If you saw Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, you should have a pretty good understanding of what to expect from the original Jumanji crew. The chemistry between the four can clearly be seen on screen. Jack Black’s hilarious antics mixed with the friendship Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart have off the screen makes their characters feel even more real on the screen. The film takes what Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle started and makes it even greater during this film. There are new levels added to the game that are even more challenging. On top of this, the game is starting to fight back against the players, making the teenager’s alter egos mission even harder than before. The players must once again figure out a way to beat the game, and get out while trying to rescue another player.

Jumanji: The Next Level really does take the crew to the next level in this movie. The danger is greater, the thrills are even more hair-raising, and the humor is funnier than ever. If you want to see this hilarious, action-packed movie, come out to the Commons Lawn on September 5^th for either showing at 8:30 or 10:45pm. We will have free popcorn and concessions for sale. We hope to see you there!

Written by: Andrew Reynolds 

Andrew Reynolds is a Senior Project Management Major, and enjoys writing for the blog because of the opportunity it gives him to grow as a writer and to challenge himself to see current topics and discussions from a view point he may not have otherwise thought about.

As we approach one of our favorite events, Block Party, we had the opportunity to chat with three of the artists who will be performing. This podcast sheds light on GAWVI, Angie Rose, and NICE.’s upcoming performances as well as their lives as performing artists. We had a blast interviewing such talented acts for the podcast and know you’ll enjoy the listen!

This podcast features Steph Ward (Director of SA), Drew Snavely (Assistant Director). The episode was produced and edited by Clay Copper (Special Events Coordinator). Our jingle was created by Judd Harris.

Block Party is one of our most anticipated events each year, as we get to celebrate the start of a great school year together! This year, the event is slated to take place on August 29 in the LaHaye Parking Lot. We’ll have five artists joining us throughout the night, as well as rides, food vendors, giveaways, and more! If you’ve been following us on social media for some time, you’ll have seen quite a few announcements already regarding how we’re changing this event during COVID. As we enter Block Party week, we wanted to make sure everyone was following along to the changes and sanitary enhancements that will take place this year, in order to make the event a safe place for everyone.

First, we’ll be reducing our crowd sizes by offering three time slots for the event. Specifically, we’ll max each slot at 1,000 guests, so we’re in compliance with Virginia’s Phase 3 policies for entertainment sectors. These slots are:

Group One: 4:45 – 6:30 PM

Group Two: 7 – 8:45 PM

Group Three: 9:15 – 10:45 PM

To attend one of those slots, you must pickup a wristband this week on the Academic Lawn. We’re handing these out on Wednesday from 12 – 5 p.m. and if we have some left, we’ll be out there on Thursday from 2 – 5 p.m. Here are a few details regarding pickups:

• You must be a current Liberty student, faculty or staff to attend Block Party
• You may pick up a max of two wristbands (Separate LU ID/Flames Pass required per wristband)
• You may only attend one group session
• Time slots are on a first come first served basis

All guests will enter from Regents Pkwy and exit from the LaHaye Lobby or bus stop loop. This ensures lines won’t intersect and guests are spaced 6’ from another. There will be 30 minutes between group sessions to ensure the event can be turned over appropriately for the next session. Be sure to watch for line entrances/exits at each vendor so you’re doing your part in staying 6’ from other groups – we’ll have ground stickers navigating lines to make it super easy for you. Additionally, we’re asking all guests who attend our events to review our social media and website the day of the event for the latest info on what’s changing and how you can do your part in keeping the event safe. For now, there are three resources to help prepare you for Block Party:

• Keep an eye on our event page, where details will be added as necessary
• Review our Event Sanitary Guidelines to see how you can do your part in protecting all our guests
• Check out our recent blog post, “How We’re Changing Events During COVID”

Together, lets all do our part in making sure Block Party is safe and kicks off the school year the right way! We’re expecting nothing short of an upbeat, fun, and energetic event (hey, who isn’t excited about those shorter ride lines?). As always, for the latest event info, follow us on Instagram or the specific event page on our website. We’re really looking forward to seeing you on Saturday!

With the semester about to kick off, we sat down to chat about our Fall 2020 calendar. While continuing to make improvements to our mainstay events, we have also added some new events to our schedule like the SA Workshop series and the Homecoming Carnival. With nearly 40 events this semester, there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy! Give it a listen to find out specific details about our upcoming events, as well as what we are doing to ensure the safety of all our guests.

This podcast features Steph Ward (Director of SA), Drew Snavely (Assistant Director), and Avery Watts (Special Events Coordinator). The episode was produced and edited by Clay Copper (Special Events Coordinator). Our jingle was created by Judd Harris.

We’re just a few short days from events starting up and we couldn’t be more excited. FIVE MONTHS – that’s how long we’ve waited for this semester, and boy are we ready! If you keep up with our blog, you know we’ve hinted at some changes being instilled at events, like increasing sanitary procedures or limiting capacity. While this may be true, we’re still committed to bringing you the same great events with just a little twist. We want to host events and we want you to stay safe, so we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to do this right.

So what does this look like? First, this post is giving you the most current information as of today (August 17). Unfortunately, just as state guidelines change, so will our event procedures.  In an effort to communicate the most accurate information and make the safest decision possible for guests, all changes and guidelines for events will be posted on Instagram in addition to the specific event page the week of the event. Our weekly event rundown on Instagram will give you capacity limits each Monday, and we’ll always be posting tips on how to attend our events safely.

As of today, Student Activities is operating within Virginia’s Phase 3 ‘Safer At Home: Entertainment and Public Amusement’ guidelines. This means an increased sanitary event environment, such as staff wearing masks in all customer facing areas, discontinuing hand-to-hand contact where applicable, encouraging halls/households to physically distance from other groups, and limiting guests in high traffic spaces. We’ll have mobile hand sanitizing stations all around our events, so utilize those to keep yourself and others protected. Operating within these guidelines also means that our events will have limited capacities of 50% of the lowest venue occupancy or 1,000 guests, whichever is lesser. In order to accommodate this, all venues (whether indoors or outdoors) will have distinct entrance and exit points. Outdoor event spaces will be roped off with signage to help guide you to the entrances. By adhering to these policies, we’re all working together to ensure these events are safe for everyone who attends.

So, how can you help? In general, keeping up with our guidelines and reviewing our social media for any event changes prior to showing up to an event will be key. Once we reach capacity, we’ll post it in an Instagram story – we don’t want you to travel all the way to the venue if you don’t have to! To keep groups separated, we’re asking halls and households to arrive together so you can easily be seated together (i.e. Movie Night, Bingo, Outdoor Open Mic, etc.). This ensures you have enough space for your group, while leaving 6’ between you and the group next to you. Lastly, pay close attention to signage throughout the event, as it will guide you to entrances, exits, line queues, etc., and allow you to maintain a safe distance from other individuals.

There’s a few other practical things you can do to keep safe:

• Use wipes to clean any surface that you come in contact with
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for 30 seconds
• Stay home if you’re feeling sick or have flu-like symptoms
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and dispose of it in the trash
• Wear a mask or face covering
• Avoid close contact with other halls/households (groups) or individuals at events to promote social distancing

One of our greatest resources at Student Activities is the feedback we receive from students who attend our events. We always want to do things with excellence and intentionality, so when you fill out a survey, it helps us make necessary changes in improving our events. These surveys will be increasingly important at events this year to make sure we’re doing a good job with the changes we’ve implemented and making our guests feel comfortable, while maintaining university and state guidelines. To eliminate passing around tablets and paper surveys like we typically do, our staff will be walking around with QR codes so you can take the survey right from your phone at every event. If you get the opportunity to fill one out, please do so. They take less than 60 seconds and are a huge asset to us as we continue to learn and change during this season.

We’ve developed this theme within our team culture that we’re “all in this together”, and we mean it. If we’re doing our part and you’re doing yours, we think these events will run smoothly and safely. I speak for all of Student Activities when I say we’re so excited to have you back on campus, and are really looking forward to building community with each of you this semester.

As a reminder, for updated info on event policies follow us on Instagram and check out our website. To see a full list of what we’re doing and what you can do to make events safe, visit the event sanitary procedures page on our website.  Thanks for the support – we can’t wait to see you this week!

 

Written by: Steph Ward

Steph is the Director of Student Activities. She has a B.S. in Visual Communication Arts: Graphic Design and a M.S. in Management. Steph oversees the overall calendar and vision of the Student Activities Department from promotion to execution and analysis. She also leads the Student Activities staff, comprised of 20+ full time and student worker employees.

This year, our Block Party has an awesome lineup of premier vendors that are supporting our event! We wanted to give you a rundown of who they are and what they do, so here they are:

Premier Sponsors

YES (Your Event Source) – based out of Charlotte, NC, YES has been a part of our SA events for many years now. They provide the attractions you love, like the Ferris wheel, the mechanical bull, Meltdown and more! We love working with them and having them be a part of our events, especially Block Party.

90.9 FM The Light – the Contemporary Christian Music station based in Lynchburg that you probably listen to on your drive to and from work. They play the best of the Christian music charts right now and consistently support our events by advertising for us.

Domino’s – who doesn’t love some consistently good pizza?! Domino’s is another business we work with often, especially at the beginning of the year. Bring your Flames cash – they’re one of the only food trucks that will accept it at BP.

So there you have it! See you August 29 for some good coffee, pizza, and amazing attractions!

At some point in life, someone is bound to tell you to follow your passion. It seems like something that you should do because it just feels right, but what does it really mean to follow your passion? How do you even fully understand what “your passion” is? 

Passion is hard to define simply because people come from many different walks of life and will always differ in what they want to do or be. It can be defined as having an emotional attachment to something that you are willing to follow. One author even writes, “It’s a cause that I care about so much that I am willing to suffer for it,” just to emphasize the importance of the matter. Finding your passion is searching for what you care about the most, and giving the maximum time and energy to see that to fulfillment. 

Now that passion is defined, the real question is if following your passion is the right move.  An article from The Muse explains why following your passion on a personal level is not the right move for two different reasons. 

First, it’s unclear how to follow your passion. It’s great to want to do something you love, but do you understand the logistics that go into it? Will you make money? Do you have to major in a specific field or go to a specific college? Do you have to move to another state or even country? All these questions will pop up during the process of attempting to follow your passion.

I always wanted to be a general manager of a professional sports team. This “passion” of mine was something I wanted up until my freshman year of college, and quickly went away after analyzing the improbability of that happening. Most people would tell me that I gave up on my passion. Instead, it opened up way more opportunities for me in college and my career path as well.

The second reason is that people assume that following your passion is easy when it’s not. It takes a lot of time and dedication for someone to follow their passion, as well as days where you can doubt yourself. Thinking about following your passion is comforting and exciting, but if you reach it there’s always the potential that it can turn out differently than imagined. Life comes at you fast and can quickly turn your passion into something that you may not want to pursue anymore.

The point of this article is not to discourage you from following your passion. The point is to make you think about why you’re following that path. Is it because you truly want to dedicate your life to whatever your passion is, or is it something you think will bring you the most happiness? I want to encourage you to reflect on what you want to accomplish in life before deciding on your path to follow.

 A great quote to abide by is “The path of least resistance is what makes rivers run crooked.” If you go through life with no issues, are you really accomplishing anything? Resistance creates hardships temporarily, but when you reach your passion’s goal, it makes the journey so much sweeter. Reflect and analyze before pursuing your passion. It could save you from wasting time and point you towards the correct path.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/quotes/2580/#:~:text=The%20path%20of%20least%20resistance%20is%20what%20makes%20rivers%20run%20crooked.

https://www.themuse.com/advice/why-follow-your-passion-is-pretty-bad-advice

https://www.embracepossibility.com/blog/real-meaning-passion/

 

Written by: Mike Tammaro

Mike Tammaro is a Junior double majoring in Finance and Economics and writes for the blog in order to expand my skills as a student. As a business major, the curriculum does not allow for a lot of creative writing, so being able to publish written work is freeing from my normal educational routine.