Calvin College LCI at SMR

Greetings friends, family, and other loved ones!

I cannot wait to share my experiences with the program here with you. First, I'll share a bit about myself. My name is Cari Vos and I will be a Junior in the fall. At Calvin, I am studying Psychology and English-Linguistics. I have the honor of serving as an RA in the residence halls this coming school year (RVD will take down SE no matter what Emily says). Even more joyous in my life this summer is the chance to serve as a small group leader.

In the three weeks I have been here, I have been blessed immensely by the experiences and relationships that have already occurred. I find a great amount of joy and pride in Calvin because it has chosen to support and sustain a program such as this. I could not even begin to explain all the things that I have learned--and have yet to learn--about myself and my role as a leader.

In the first week, Chris Klein talked to us about the importance of intimacy in a relationship. This isn't just sexual intimacy, but also the deep both and relationship that is shared between two people through communication, confession, and living life together in fellowship. This is never a concept I paid much mind or attention to. It challenged me to focus more on learning to become vulnerable with people and allow them into my life through confession and conversation; in this I can produce and create more fruitful and meaningful relationships with those around me.

In the next week, Emily shared with us how she--in broad strokes--viewed leadership. Through this she shared her life story. In this, we were given the opportunity to embrace the importance of sharing life stories with each other. The idea of giving someone 20 minutes of undivided and intentional attention to speak freely about their life is an elusive concept these days. By allotting these precious minutes, it invites the rest of the group into the life of the speaker in a way that we are often incapable of doing in everyday life and conversation.

Finally, last week, Rick Baez came and shared with us his workshop on Leadership and Communication. The biggest thing I have to say about this is: boy, did I take notes. This workshop could not be more applicable to my life. Between being a small group leader, a future RA, an employee, a friend, and a human being, everything Rick said had some applicable place in my life. I relished in the opportunity to speak one on one with Rick; it was a chance to speak with him about I think things are going here at SMR (which is great!) and how I think his workshop personally affected me. The chance to speak with him about his life and how he came to be where he is was also a great blessing.

I wish I could say so much more to you all. I truly do. However, I can already tell this is going to be a long blog post (woops...). But I've learned that when you are passionate about something, you shouldn't hold it in. You should let it shine forth from you like sunbeams so the whole world can know what makes you joyful. For me, it is this opportunity, this chance, these experiences, and these relationships. And I cannot wait to keep sharing it with you all.

Thank you all for your support and love, we are most thankful and gracious for you all. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures and seeing photographic evidence of our excellent encounters.

Cari Vos :)

"Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot." -David Herbert Lawrence