The Intuitive Reasonings of Jessica

Through the 2 3/5 years that I have been attending Purdue University, I have found, through much experience, that the popular myth "when in doubt choose C" is false. A is at least as common as C. I say this with confidence, as my data comes from professors spanning diverse fields including sciences, liberal arts, foreign language, history, mathematics, and education. Furthermore, my data spans multiple states and universities. I collected 12 years of data from Bob Jones University's textbooks for homeschoolers. (That was not a pleasant experience, but us data-collectors go through a lot to present the most accurate and reliable information to the public).

is a gift from God. Some people accept this gift, and some don't. The ones who reject the gift think that they're free, unconstrained, and having a better time, but more and more, I am seeing what a blessing the Sabbath really is.

God commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8). He also tells us that the Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

When I was about 8, I told my sister that Sunday was my favorite day of the week. Sunday meant waking up to the smell of waffles and the sound of the Beatles. It meant reading the Sunday funnies in my pajamas, and doing nothing all day. Sara told me that she liked Saturday better, because everything's closed on Sunday, and on Sunday, you have Monday looming right around the corner, which, of course, meant school.

Every once in a while, Sunday was different. Sometimes, my dad would find a church, and he would go. Sara almost always went with him, if he gave enough advance notice. If the church was good, it would happen the next week too, and I would go too.

When I was 15, I started working at the Riviera Club. I held many positions there, including front desk attendant, life guard, and waitress. During the school year, I worked in the dining room, collecting money from people who came to our buffet dinners.

One day, while I was out, my boss called my home phone, and my mom answered. He asked if I could work Sunday brunch. My mother said yes, and informed me when I got home. When she told me, the first thing that ran through my head was that very confusing verse in Exodus 20 about honoring the Sabbath day. However, I quickly justified my conflicting thoughts with that other verse in Exodus 20 about honoring your mother and father. Clearly my mother wanted me to work on Sunday, so doing so honored her.

When I was 17, I moved out and went to college. Thus began a new weekly routine which included church every Sunday. I also began telling my employers that I was unavailable on Sundays.

However, I still wondered about things. The verse that commands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy is probably one of the most crystal clear verse to some people, but to me it was very confusing. I wondered if it was ok to do homework on the Sabbath in a post on my blog.

Later on, I began to wonder if it was wrong to go shopping on Sunday. Exodus 20 goes on to command us not to allow our servants, children, or sojourners staying with us to work on the Sabbath either. If I was going shopping, was the cashier in a way my servant? Or, did the verse simply mean that we should do all we can to prevent others from breaking the Sabbath? Either way, shopping on Sunday didn't seem like a good option. I wondered about that on another blog post.

Since then (both of those posts were from my freshman year), I have quit shopping on Sunday, and I have quit doing homework on Sunday. But, the Sabbath is still a topic of discussion. Some of my friends don't watch secular movies or read secular books on Sunday, and others do. I generally don't, but there is a point where restricting Sunday activities makes you serve the Sabbath, instead of the Sabbath serving you.

Last semester (Fall 2008), I began my junior year at Purdue with a brand new major. Switching from Graphic Design to Art Education wasn't too big of a change because I already had all of the core art classes done. However, I will have one or two extra semesters at Purdue.

When I switched my major, I wasn't sure how God would work things out. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, not someone who sits behind a desk at a computer all day. My Block 1 experiences at Jefferson High School confirmed that. I really enjoyed building relationships with the students, and I know that God will be able to use me to witness to my future students.

However, my dad had offered to pay for 4 years of my tuition, and switching my major so late in my college career required at least one extra semester of classes. In the back of my mind, I always remembered that I had paid for my freshman year myself out of my savings account. However, I wasn't sure if my dad would count that as one of my four years because he had bailed me out when I had been unable to pay rent that spring.

Over winter break, my dad told me that he would indeed pay for my "super senior" year. I know that God is working things out for me, and it is such a comfort to know that he is in control!

A few months ago, my sister found out about an opportunity to have an internship at the State House. It was a great offer, and after several interviews, she was offered the position. However, if she accepted, Eleni and I would be left without a third roommate this semester.

After much deliberation, Sara accepted the job, and moved out of our apartment over winter break. Shortly afterwards, Charity called Sara from Australia, saying that she wanted to move in to our apartment for the spring semester. By the grace of God, we now have a third roommate! She is in the process of moving in right now.

Currently, I am struggling a little bit financially. I am taking Painting 1 as a studio art course this semester, and I will have to purchase hundreds of dollars of oil paints. After the first week of classes, I had spent an average of $100 per class on text books, and received an electric bill for over $100. On Friday, I had no choice but to return a few books. However, the education program at Purdue has an extra copy of two of the books (the ones I returned), so I think that I will be able to manage without them if I can get my homework done during business hours when I will be able to use the extra copies. I know that God is in control, and I am learning to trust more.

happen because they’re right. Last semester I had a class called “Multiculturalism in the classroom,” and we basically spent the whole semester learning about how stereotypes are wrong and we should ignore them. I fully agree that when you meet someone, you should try to get to know them as an individual and not assume that they’re here illegally because they’re Mexican, or that they like fried chicken because they’re black, or that they’re bad at math because they’re a girl. Everyone knows someone in each category who breaks the mold. Nonetheless, these stereotypes happen because they are more often right than wrong.

Last semester, I was in the DLC working on a class project. I ran into some issues, and looked to the help desk. Noticing only a female lab assistant, I decided to wait until someone else was available to solve my problem. Suddenly I thought of my TA for “Multiculturalism in the classroom.” He would be disappointed in me for assuming that this girl was incompetent simply because she was a girl. I got up and went to the desk and told her what issues I had run into. She called one of the boys in the back to help me, and he solved my problem quickly and skillfully. I remembered why I had stereotyped the girl in the first place. Every other time that I had asked a girl for help in the DLC, she had also asked a boy to solve my problems. My stereotype only existed because it was an accurate portrayal of all of my previous experiences with female lab assistants.

Another stereotype that exists is that girls are not good at chess. Every time I play chess with a girl, I (sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously) think to myself that it will be an easy win because my opponent is a girl. However, this is a stereotype that I do not like. I know it’s true almost all the time, but I try to break it. To make up for all the other girls out there, I want to be the best. If all the other girls out there are worse than boys, it’ll be alright as long as the best of everybody is a girl. That’s why winning matters a lot to me. I win over 90% of my games, but with every loss, I feel like I am letting all the girls down.

I’m not a feminist. In fact, I am very much in favor of women staying home to care for their children, being submissive to their husbands, and letting boys carry their heavy loads. However, I don’t want any men out there to think that women are less smart than them. And that’s why I thoroughly enjoy outsmarting boys, whether in the classroom, in everyday life, or in a game of chess. However, due to the predominance of stereotypes, I will probably be seen as the exception rather than the rule. If one of the girls in the DLC proved to be an expert in solving computer glitches, I know that I would view her as an exception. However, if a whole slew of competent girls began working down there, my opinion would change. So girls, let’s all sharpen our chess skills and change things together.