who i am

[soul alive]

hey! here's a little information about me.

my given name is Sara... the rest i don't feel like sharing ^_^, although another member on the site knows. i am 18 years of age, my birthday is may 9th. i am a freshman at college, in a pre-architecture program (i apply for the actual program at the end of my freshman year; it's pretty hardcore - only about 80 out of nearly 275 students are accepted, so prayers would be appreciated).

hmm... hobbies. i like playing music - i play flute, piccolo, and piano; listening to an eclectic range of music; reading books; drawing (you can request drawings from me... but since i am so busy with architecture homework, it might not get done for a while); i do origami.

since i lived in a very rural community prior to college, i had little, almost no access to anime or manga. the only anime series i could watch was that on cartoon network - so out of those on that channel, i am a fan of Rurouni Kenshin, G Gundam, and Yu Yu Hakusho - the others i saw so little of i couldn't decide if i would like them or not , the only movies i have seen are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Kiki's Delivery Service (which my obsessive anime friend makes fun of me for), and i just recently bought my first mangas (Fruits Basket v.1 and v.2).

i have been a Christian since 1999. even though i was raised going to church, i never was told what Jesus died and rose again for... just that He did it, so i never heard the salvation message really prior to 1999.

i'm leaving a lot open for questions... ask away.

[Jaltus-bot]

Hey, cool. So you're going into architecture? How does the pre-architecture program work? I know a lot of people at my first college were architecture majors. You guys do a lot of work. What made you decide that you wanted to go into architecture?

Got any favorite books?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

hey! nice to hear aboutcha!

[shooraijin]

Nice to meet you officially! Yes, why architecture?

[soul alive]

hehe - you asked for it. there is a rather complicated story behind why i chose architecture... in my 8th grade art class, we did a unit on 'architecture' which was essentially copying someone else's architectural plans, or making up something on our own. i ended up copying someone else's plans, but did so well at it that i won top prize at the art show at the end of the year, in that category. i didn't really persue architecture more than just a vague interest though. i took Computer Assisted Drafting and Technical Drafting classes in 10th grade, then in 11th grade i did a science fair project in engineering based on safeguards against earthquake damage for buildings - and won my category at state, as well as two different engineering awards. it seemed God was pushing me toward architecture, because anything else i enjoyed doing and was fairly good at, i wouldn't really succeed at, but anything related to architecture i would do well at. so here i am in college for architecture.
yes, the program is VERY difficult. the architecture students are known as 'archi-torture' students around my campus. i have large homework assignments due by 8:00 (silly me, choose an early class ) every monday, wednesday, and friday. we just finished doing abstract studies of points (circles), lines, and [geometric] planes. my next assignment is to use what i learned from those studies and do a project on an assigned building. one of the hardest things, that is really taking getting used to is the fact that the grading scale is so different ... you get a 'C' if you do something that was expected of you, if you do better than expected you might get a 'B,' or worse than expected a 'D' or even an 'F.' ('A's are extremely rare). but i love the challenge.

books - yeah! i love to read (though i don't have time really now with all my architecture homework). probably my favorite author is C.S. Lewis. i also enjoy Brian Jacques, Stephen R. Lawhead, Frank Peretti, Francine Rivers, Lillian Jackson Braun (author of 'The Cat Who..." series), Terry Brooks, Gilbert Morris, Dee Henderson, and MANY others. I don't really have a favorite book, though - i like too many. my dad is always making fun of me because i read books over and over - i've read books from Brian Jacques' Redwall series and the Chronicles of Narnia over 10 times. how about anyone else... what are your favorite books?

(as an aside to my name sharing comment - i guess if you really want, you could probably look up my profile - duh, sara )

[Jaltus-bot]

How did you get into music?

[soul alive]

i guess i've always liked music, playing and listening to it. i started 'playing' on the piano when i was little, and eventually took lessons for about 10 years. i started playing the flute in 6th grade, and then piccolo in 10th. i'm playing piccolo in my university's marching band, and flute in the university/community band.

[WhiteKnight23]

Hey ... guess I can't use your name....

but ya, ... hum I know most of this about ya... but hey what the heck.
So what is your testamony... I don't believe I know that.

Well being I am a BIG book fan I do however have some books that i have really enjoyed reading. Most are Sci-Fi. Their Masters War, Battlefield Earth, and the Iron Lance and Black Rood (same series).
The bible has been the only real book that is able to stimulate my mind though.

Do you have a faviorte verse? (I hope you haven't already said it)

[Jaltus-bot]

What's a piccolo?

[panegryst]

it's like a miniature flute

architecture = cool
your choice of manga = cool
I like the fact that you're pushing yourself and doing lots of stuff. I admire that (and I'm trying to do that myself...)

[soul alive]

a piccolo is a type of flute, much smaller than a flute. it uses the same notes and fingerings, but produces sound an octave higher than a flute does. piccolos are used for marching band because their sound carries better than that of flutes (there is a running band joke that the only way to tune two piccolos is to kill both of them ). piccolos tend to be shrill, because they are so high.
here's a pic of one:


not really... this is an instrumental piccolo:


my testimony - i used to think that unless you had one of those stories about overcoming a drug addiction or something like that, you didn't have a testimony - no one bothered to tell me that a testimony was something every Christian had (i've gotten that misconception cleared up now though ^_^). i was raised in what i refer to as a church home. my mom took my little sister and i to sunday school frequently, and the whole family went to services during communion, Easter, and Christmas. in sunday school, i learned the typical Bible stories, but just the stories. i was never taught why Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again, just that He did. i never heard the salvation message until eighth grade when an speaker came to the church where i went to youth group. i prayed the prayer then with him, but didn't know previous to then, that what i said in that prayer (admitting i was a sinner, asking for forgiveness through Jesus, and saying with my mouth and believing in my heart that He was the one true savior) was how i would be saved, not how well i behaved. i had always assumed that if i was good, i would get into heaven, and no one told me differently until that speaker. after attending the program with that speaker, i began reading the Bible, and exploring what faith and my relationship with God was really about, and i came to understand what salvation actually was, and that just "being good" would not be why i go to heaven. i have been and am continuing to grow in faith, and am patiently waiting until the day that i 'fly away.'

my favorite verse is: Hebrews 12:14 - Persue peace daily, and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

thanks panegryst. pushing yourself is good, but can also burn you out REALLY quick, good luck with that.

[soul alive]

wow - that semi-attempt at humor sure fell flat...
well, since no one has been asking questions or saying anything, i guess i shall amuse myself by sharing some more information about myself.

i have blue/grey eyes. my hair is red/brown and over three feet long (for some reason, it has been decided that my hair is public domain... random people are always playing with it or having conversations with or without me about it - wierds me out ^^). i wear glasses because i am too squeemish to put in contacts. in general, i look like my avatar and sig pics (afterall, they are sort of self portraits). i am also an uber klutz, and am always tripping over my own feet or injuring myself somehow (the other day i fell over backwards during marching band, didn't get hurt thankfully).

i guess that's it for now. bring on the questions.