SW 2013: Day 2

Lindsay ended up getting on campus around 3:15. She accidentally set off some sort of alarm by keeping the outside door open too long, so quite a few people woke up. She’s in the room with my Grandma and I, so I think that will be fun.

I got up way too early this morning: 5:30. I got ready for the day a lot quicker than I had planned and sat in the gazebo for over an hour with some other OYANers. Most everyone was too tired to really talk much. 

Around 7:10, we all prayed and I read a passage from Matthew 5. We talked about mourning and hard times and how you can learn a lot from that. It was a good discussion, but like I said, most people were much too tired to actually talk.

Backtracking to this morning. I have been designated Kristin and Abbie’s alarm clock. Kristin thought I somehow managed to walk through doors or use a sonic screwdriver to get into her room this morning, because she’d locked the door.

Breakfast wasn’t all that exciting. I had fruit and pancakes, but they were way too sugary. I’m hopefully I’ll find something not quite so sweet tomorrow.

The first sessions were great. Mr. S talked about ordinary heroes and how they can really be extraordinary. I really enjoyed his talk. Someone named Mark Wilson talked about Rivendell for writers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings, I’ll explain what Rivendell is. BUT. Only if you promise to read the books and see the movies. Yes, in that order. They’re amazing.

Anyways. I digress.

Rivendell is this peaceful place where the elves live. It’s always quite there. Beautiful streams and waterfalls run all throughout this city. Everywhere you go, there is light and the sound of nature. It looks so peaceful.

Mark Wilson was talking about the importance of a Rivendell like place for writers. Back in the late 17^th century, many poets would dedicate a poem to someone like a nobleman. In return for that, the nobleman would sometimes let the writer come to his house and write. It was really peaceful and a Rivendell like place.

After hearing that session, it’s kind of my goal to find a Rivendell now.

Lunch wasn’t interesting either. Just plain old lunch food. I had a really good salad.

Critique groups were next. I’m in the ‘Elephant Trunks’ group and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in a group before. I didn’t know anyone, but we all get along really well. They LOVED my first excerpt and I got much unexpected cheering and applause. That was a little intimidating, but I think it may be why I like my group so much. We went about 30 minutes over, but no one really minded. The best quote from today (and of course, it made more sense in context) was someone in the group saying, “Girls have horns!” All the girls laughed and the guys look at him like he was crazy. Ah, I love this group.

Free time started after we finished with our critique group. I wandered around for a bit before gathering with some people in the auditorium of the Bell Center. We’re going to be performing ‘Do You Hear The People Sing’ from Les Miserables on Thursday night, so we all got together to practice. It went really well and, if I do say so myself, we sound pretty good.

The last two sessions of the evening were by Jill Williamson and Jeff Gerke. Both sessions were wonderful. Mrs. Williamson was very humorous and talked about world building and all the things that go into that.

Mr. Gerke talked about how to make a believeable hero and give them “knots”, or sins. He said, “We’re playing God, except for one thing. We GIVE the character the sin and then punish them for having it!” I got some really good story ideas for my current novel from that session, so I’m looking forward to being able to write again.

After sessions ended, I just hung out with some people until I decided to be mature go to bed. I did manage to get some pictures today too, so those will follow this post.

Keep Shmiling!

~Katie

Pictures Below:

I ate breakfast with these lovely ladies this morning. From left to right: Kristin, Abbie and Savanna.

This girl is awesome. We're the stinkers. I'm Stinker 1 and she's Stinker 2. It's a rather long inside joke with another OYANer who couldn't make it this year. 

Our lovely ice cream and my coffee. We sent this picture to the Queen of Stinkers. We're her minions. 

I'm in this dorm. The last window on the left on the first floor is my room. 

Volleyball nets. 

The beautiful gazebo where we have Bible studies in the mornings. 

And last, but certainly not least, the Bell Center. This is where most of the epicness takes place.