Senior Survival Recap

On September 5, South Lancaster Academy’s seniors left on the bus to go up to Jackman, Maine for Senior Survival. Senior Survival is an annual trip at SLA where all the seniors go camping for a week and spend time out in nature, studying the Bible, and participating in team-building activities. The senior class gets a choice of either a canoe trip or a stationary camping trip, and this year we chose to do a canoe trip.

Album Review: The Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

On September 30, 2013, the popular Christian music artist Steven Curtis Chapman released a new album entitled The Glorious Unfolding. The album has been really popular among both longtime fans and new listeners alike. The album starts out with the song Glorious Unfolding, a peaceful song about putting everything in God’s hands and trusting His will, which is a common theme throughout the rest of the album.

Courtesy of Google Images

Another standout song is the album’s first single, Love Take Me Over. It’s a fun, upbeat song with a catchy tune and chorus. This song is arguably one of the best songs on the album. Next on the track list is the percussion-driven Take Another Step, which is an encouraging song about walking by faith and not by sight. The second half of the album slows down and features more heartfelt songs. Only One and Only You is one of the first songs on the album to feature more piano and violin as opposed to drums and guitar. The album continues with slower, more emotional songs such as Michael And Maria  and Sound of  Your Voice.  Chapman sings from the heart and its obvious that he wrote these as genuine songs inspired by experiences in his life and relationship with Christ.

SEE You in a Little While is by far one of the best songs on The Glorious Unfolding.  It’s one of the more serious songs on the album, and it puts the concept of life and death in perspective. The song discusses how as Christians, we believe that we will all see each other again someday in Heaven, which is usually a comforting thought for someone going through the loss of a loved one. Chapman writes this song from personal experience and belief, because his daughter passed away 5 years ago. It’s amazing to see how Chapman channels all of the despair he has gone through into something positive, and writes songs that have the potential of helping others get through similar situations. The album ends with Feet of Jesus, a hopeful and well-written song about letting go of struggles and burdens and running to Jesus. Some of the best lyrics it contains are, “At the feet of Jesus I will lay my burdens down. In the stillness I can hear my Savior calling out ‘Come to me and lay your burdens down.‘”

Overall, this is a great album. It is one of the best new releases in Contemporary Christian music as of late. Chapman does a great job of mixing fun, upbeat tunes with deep songs that deal with the more serious topics in life. The Glorious Unfolding is a wonderful worship album full of powerful music that can enrich your spiritual life.

Spiritually Renewed by Senior Survival

Senior Survival 2013
Courtesy of Alyssia Cutler

On September 6, 2013, seventeen South Lancaster Academy Seniors, and five chaperones embarked on a seven hour bus ride up to Jackman, Maine. They left as a class, and after eight days, they returned as a family.

Senior Survival has become an annual event at SLA, for each senior class. The reactions to the trip have varied throughout the years, ranging from, ” It was the worst week of my life”, to ” It changed my life.”

At the start of the week, the class of 2014 showed signs of being a part of the first category. By the second full day, the superficial veil was torn, revealing the true identities of the class for the first time.

The trip consisted of two extensive bus rides to and from Maine, 15 hours of canoeing, one half-mile portage, three campsites, four nights of rain, two storms, a whole slew of fires, team building activities, 19 meals to be cooked, and dirt latrines. Despite these discomforts, good times were had as well.

The Seniors shared an infinite amount of laughs and inside jokes, no drama, studied the last six chapters of the Great Controversy, as a group missed two dear classmates, cuddled to stay warm, and arrived back home as 22 very stinky people – and most importantly a transformed group who left as individual people to a unit that will last a lifetime. 22 lives changed, and renewed their journey with God.

A lot of memories were made, and many funny moments occurred. Most importantly everyone felt and experienced the spiritual aspect and the Holy Spirit dwelling in our presence. To get a glimpse of what the seniors went through, the SLA Pioneer, sat down with individuals to hear their personal experience about Senior Survival.

Senior, Allura Milliron enthusiastically said, ” I LOVED Senior Survival! It was such a great experience to have with your class. It brings you all together more than you could imagine. You learn a lot about yourself, as well as your friends. The spiritual aspect of it is also amazing. You read the Great Controversy and learn so much more and get excited about it as well. When your out there, all distractions are GONE, and its a good feeling to not have to think or worry about anything going on in the outside world. Overall it’s such a great time and hope other classes get out of it as much as we did.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t excited about Senior Survival. In fact, I thought the whole thing was stupid and a waste of time, until today. I love it. This is amazing. I can’t wait to experience the rest of the week.” Frankie Vasquez, said on the second full day of the trip.

Natalia Perez expressed her feelings by saying, ” Senior Survival was one of the best weeks of my life. I leaned to listen to Jesus, that I’m never alone, and that our class is amazingly ridiculous, and I love every single one of them. I was both spiritually and emotionally revived and I personally want to extend that to as many people as I can possibly reach and let them know that they matter and they are loved. The real Senior Survival starts after the actual trip and I’m excited to see all the potential our class has in store to make a change and leave a mark.”

Being a Senior myself and going on this trip, I can vouch for the indescribable things that took place. Living with death chasing us, we only have a set amount of time to be a part of life. To enjoy it. To experience good and bad times. Which means we only have a set amount of time to do something, and make a difference. The class of 2014 recognized this sad but true fact, so we have made plans to impact SLA and the world around us. We have made plans to not follow the path that has been made for years, but rather carve our own, and leave it for upcoming classes, and anyone looking for a place to go. We have a lot of plans to set an example, and tag SLA along on your walk with God.

As a class we also learned that you don’t have to wait until your senior year to start Senior Survival or preparation for it. Start now. Senior Survival is about recognizing where you stand with God, accepting the fact there will be hard times, and figuring out with the help of God, how to survive our battle against the devil. Don’t wait until your senior year. Don’t dwell in surviving, but start your victory.

Former seniors of SLA, or other students that have experienced a survival of their own comment below shairng about your experience! Was the trip a blessing or a curse?

 

Crusaders Volleyball’s Devastating Losses

Courtesy of Nakeyah Williams

This year, SLA Girls are participating in the MIAA Volleyball league. The Crusaders Girls Volleyball team had two intense games on Tuesday, September 18 against Bethany Christian, and the following Wednesday verses St. Mary’s intense but both games unfortunately ended in disappointment. The girls were devastated because of their losses but are looking for vengeance. Their next game is against Greater Boston Academy on Thursday, Setember 20 at SLA.

On Tuesday the SLA Crusader girls were looking forward to their game and were feeling confident after their win the week before against Abby Kelly despite not having their senior players. The girls were going to face Bethany Christian High School. The game however did not go as planned. The sets came down to the final tie breaker 2-2. The Crusader girls fought with all that they had but it just didn’t come through for this game. The SLA Crusaders lost 3-2.

On Wednesday the girls were tired, but amped for the game and ready to face off against St. Mary’s High School. This game didn’t come to them as they had hoped though. Coach Archilla decided to start with Kathy Andreu (Sophomore), Jaki Windover (Freshman), Elena Shand (Junior), Allura Milliron (Junior), and Deanna Howard (Senior). The first set was lost to St. Mary’s, but the SLA girls fought back by winning the second set. Then they repeated by St. Mary’s  winning set 3 and Crusaders winning set 4. It all came down to the tie breaker for the second game in a row. Unfortunately the Crusaders weren’t on their “A” game. They suffered another devastating loss and were drained emotionally and physically.

Their current standings is 1-2. The SLA Crusader Girls volleyball have another shot tonight against Greater Boston Academy. The girls are tired of ending at the bottom of the heap and are ready to come out on top. Their spirits are high and they’re ready to give it their all and take home the gold.