Snow Football

Julia, Me, and Leah
Our freshmen group of girls. As the snow dropped continuously from the sky on Saturday, the cross country teams made the most of the opportunity and played the annual game of Snow Football. This is a team tradition where the juniors and seniors take on the freshman and sophomores, whether there's snow on the ground or not. The men's team plays all-out tackle football, with alumni returning to campus to play with the upperclassmen. The women, take a slightly different approach. We play ultimate frisbee, except with a football. So there's no QB and passes must be completed in order to advance toward the end zone. It's very competitive and a TON of fun.

According to tradition, the game is played until the upper classmen are winning and they decide that the game's over. So of course, our freshman and sophomore team decided we were going to make the game last all afternoon.

We trotted out onto Library Lawn ready to battle. It was pretty intense as each side did a team cheer, trash-talked, and got ready for the kick off. After the kickoff, though, it turned into a lot of fun and laughter. I'm pretty sure that we scored more touchdowns off of bad kickoffs by the upperclassmen than we did during the rest of the game! Some kickoffs only went a few feet, some went super high, and one involved us getting mooned! Ah, the wonderful array of skills that cross country runners employ! It was such a blast as we played around in the snow, slipping and sliding around. More than a couple of times I flew right by the girl I was trying to defend because the snow was fresh and slick. The score was pretty even through half time, but the upperclassmen did have one advantage- more girls. They were able to mark up on us when we had the ball. Each upperclassman had one specific girl that they were supposed to stay with. We, on the other hand, didn't really mark up, but we played a sort of "zone" defense, if you can call it that. It involved a lot of flocking to the side of the lawn where the ball was.

After half time the game just got crazy. Some tackling and running broke out, while smiles and laughter were incessant. It was great. Despite formal cross country practices being over, we all still have a great time together. This snow football game provided a great opportunity to have fun with our teammates and just let loose before finals start. It was the highlight of my weekend, and I'd be up for it every Saturday.

Christmas at Luther

Brrr. I think it's safe to say that winter is officially here. As I headed out the door this morning for class, I was glad that I didn't have to walk far with the brisk cool air filling my lungs and numbing my hands. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was out running in just shorts and t-shirt and now I'm getting all bundled up with warm underarmour, gloves, and a hat.

Along with the change in weather, a change in the decorations around Luther is evident. Over the past week and a half it seems as though little elves have come through Luther and put up Christmas trees, garland, and Christmas lights all over campus. Everything looks great and the only thing missing is a little dusting of snow, but that'll surely be here soon. Christmas songs are occasionally played outside through the speakers and Christmas goodies can be bought for friends with the proceeds going to the less fortunate. It just seems like everyone is getting ready for the holidays.

The Christmas spirit is also gaining lots of momentum in my dorm. When I arrived back from Thanksgiving break there were lights strung in my hall and many doors had already been decorated. A window-decorating contest is going on with the top three rooms winning Wal-Mart gift cards (always handy in Decorah). Today some girls on my floor are putting up little stockings for everyone and Christmas carols are being played on the bathroom radio. Our floor Christmas party is even in the works. The countdown 'til Christmas is on.

This weekend Luther's choirs and bands are performing their annual "Christmas At Luther" concert which I am very excited to attend. The music program here is exceptional and this concert has a great reputation around the area. I have yet to go to a musical performance here on campus despite having intentions to earlier in the year, so this will be my first concert and I know that it will be awesome.

Yet, with students' minds filled with thoughts of Christmas, the teachers are still assigning homework in preparation for the end of the semester. The homework never ceases during the semester, but in just 2 weeks we will be done with finals and officially free for Christmas vacation. Just 2 more weeks...

Lab Rat

As a member of the cross country team I have gotten the opportunity to know quite a few upper classmen. In many classes seniors are required to complete an experiment or senior project. So the past few weeks I've been recieving e-mails from the seniors on the team asking for participants in their experiments or studies. Thus, I have acted as the lab rat for 3 studies.

The first one I had the most fun with. I was put on a treadmill with my nose clamped and my mouth hooked up to a tube so that my carbon dioxide output could be measured (much like Lance Armstrong in this picture). The speed on the treadmill was kept consistent while the incline was raised every minute. Every minute or so my finger was pricked (while I was running) and blood was collected so that the level of lactic acid in my blood could be measured. When I was finished I had some pretty cool blood splatters on my shorts, but hey, poking and prodding is all part of being a lab rat!

It was hard work, especially toward the end when the incline was highest, but it was really cool. I got a huge kick out of feeling like the athletes on the Gatorade commercials that are working hard on the bicycles or running on the treadmills with multi-colored sweat pouring out of them. I would love to work at an institute like that or be the athlete that is tested. That would be sweet.

The other 2 experiments that I participated in were psychology experiments. The first one was testing how different types of music affect how well students are able to concentrate. While I was supposed to be reading two articles from the ACT exam, Black Eyed Peas music was played in the room. After we had 5 minutes to read the articles, we took a little break and then had to take a quiz over what we had read.

I am a person that likes to study in complete silence so I could barely concentrate on what I was supposed to be reading! It was amazing how much the lyrics distracted me. Some students are always listening to their I-pods while studying, but for me that would be very hard. I comprehended very little while I was reading thanks to the distracting music. Another section in the experiment listened to Mozart music and the final section didn't have any music at all. I am curious to see how great a difference the type of music made in the quiz scores.

The third and final experiment I helped with had to do with recognition of faces where the eyes and mouths were turned upside-down. We were shown 100 slides with two faces on each slide. Some of the faces were oriented right-side up, upside-down, or horizontally. We then had to say whether face A, B, both, or neither had inverted features. Once I got the hang of it the test was not too difficult. Here's an example of 2 faces with regular eyes and mouths and 2 with inverted features.
I enjoyed participating in the experiments and helping out my teammates. Now I have an idea of what will be expected of me when I am a senior. I also enjoyed the challenge of seeing how well I could perform in the different testing conditions. For the next week, though, my lab rat skills will be put on hold as I go home for Thanksgiving break. I'll get rejuvinated and be ready to push through the final 3 weeks of the semester, just as I would as a lab rat, giving my best effort through the completion of the experiment.

Team

"Wow, look at them go!" I thought to myself as I watched the flash of color pass in front of me at the Regional Cross Country Meet at St. Olaf College last Saturday. "They look really good," I heard a fan around me exclaim.

Our top 7 men and top 7 women were representing Luther College in one of the biggest meets of the season. The top 2 teams from each region automatically qualify for the National Meet while some at large bids and individuals are accepted as well. This year the National Meet will also be held at St. Olaf.

Last Saturday morning most of the cross country team who wasn't racing departed from Luther at 7:45 to go cheer on our teammates. It was awesome to see everyone sporting Luther gear and getting pumped up for the races even though we weren't actually racing. When we piled out of the cars at St. Olaf, we were ready to run around the course and cheer like crazy. The anticipation was mounting as the time drew nearer to the gun going off.

As the races got underway, it appeared to be like all of our other races: a calm start before we move on up through the packs. Our runners were right together supporting each other each step of the way while the multitude of fans and alumni were loud and proud, urging on the Norse. It was great to be a part of this collective team effort.

The women had a spectacular finish: Janet Dobyns came away as the individual champion and the women's team took the 1st place trophy. The men, too, had an awesome day, coming away with the 2nd place team trophy. On to Nationals!

During the Regional Meet I was able to get a new perspective as a fan instead of a racer. It was awesome to be able to run around with countless other Luther supporters and cheer enthusiastically. It didn't matter that I wasn't racing, I still felt like a part of the team. This whole season has been amazing in that way: no matter how fast you run or what your role is on the team, you are as much a part of the team as anyone else. Everyone genuinely supports everyone else, making this team very special.

As we enter the final weekend of the season, it's great to look back on all that we've accomplished in just a few months. It's been a great blessing to be a part of Luther Cross Country and for me, it has probably been the best part about Luther College thus far. One more race, one more collective effort, and one more day of fun coming up on Saturday. Go Norse!

Phonathon Phenomenon

Sweet Phonathon T-shirt
"Hi, my name is Sharon and I'm a freshman at Luther College. How are you tonight?" That was the line I recited over and over again Sunday night as about 15 other students and myself volunteered our evenings for the Luther Annual Phon-a-thon! The goal of the phon-a-thon is to get donations from Luther alumni to keep Luther College up and running for the next year. My bible study group signed up to participate as a team, so I decided I might as well give it a try. Seriously, how bad can talking on the phone be?


As I sat in the training session beforehand, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. First it occurred to me that this phon-a-thon must be pretty intense if a half hour training session is required! All of the instructions they were giving us were a little overwhelming: what buttons to push on the phone, (NOT 911 which has happened in the past because in order to call you have to push 9-1-and then the number), what shmoozing lines work best, and what information to get from the alumni. I began to wonder how much fun I was really going to have asking people for money during the next 3 hours.


I thought about all of the times at home where I had been the unfortunate family member to pick up the phone when a telemarketer called. Don't you love it when they call in the middle of dinner? Those phone calls usually didn't last long, although sometimes I was courteous enough to say "No Thanks" before hanging up. I wondered how many times I would get that same delightful response as I recited my scripted lines to the alumni.


As I entered my cubicle and saw the stack of papers telling me the alumni I got to call, I started getting nervous. What exactly was I going to say and how many people would actually donate? Much like the beginning of a cross country race, I just had to jump in and get rolling. No use in thinking it over too much and psyching myself out. Luckily for me, I got an answering machine on my first try (and on 20% of my calls the whole night), so at least the nervousness of dialing subsided. Whew! The first lady I actually reached, though, was very nice and right off the bat said she would give $200! SUCCESS!

To make the evening more fun, small prizes were given away throughout the calling process for contests such as "whoever gets the next $100 dollar pledge" or "whoever gets the next pledge from WI". We also were given Phon-a-thon bingo cards with spaces such as "Donation from someone with my same name" or "Pledge from someone living in a state along an ocean". There was even a board for us to write any funny quotes that people said. My favorite was a conversation that happened in the calling room:

Boy 1-I got an answering machine speaking in Spanish.
Boy 2-Then you should leave a message in Spanish.
Boy 1-"Quiero su dinero" sound good?


At the end of the night we made over $13,000 which was over our goal. The night actually turned out to be pretty fun, cheering on people who got big donations, getting free snacks and a t-shirt, and winning prizes. It helped me realize how many people across the nation are somehow tied to Luther College. These alumni have a lot of pride in Luther and clearly had a good experience while they were here. This gives me confidence that my four years here will prepare me for the future while leaving me with lasting relationships and memories. I agree with the alumni: I am glad to be a part of Luther College, and for me, this is just the beginning.