As promised here are my top ten moments from my time at PVCC. Also, don't forget to start thinking about what your three favorite posts are. The fan favorite post is coming up soon.
10.
CSF field trip to Carter's Mountain: BBQ sandwiches? Check. Almost unbearably cold weather? Check. Fellowship? Check. Apple Cider? Don't remember. Deep spiritual conversation? Ummm... No comment. On a slightly unrelated note, anything I know about the TV show
Once Upon a Time, I owe to this trip.
9.
Spanish 101 and 102: Now I know what you all are thinking, "Christopher, you have publicly expressed your disdain for this class on more than one occasion and now it's suddenly in your top ten favorite moments? What gives?" Well, let me clarify. This class had an enormous amount of work, probably the hardest course load of any class I had to take. Plus I was taking 17 credits and the other classes I was taking had a lot of time consuming homework, so that didn't help. Once you get that out the way, it was actually a pretty enjoyable class. I developed a decent bond of camaraderie with my classmates, due to our mutual apprehension of failure. Whenever we had to do group work, such as our final, I had a pretty cool partner that made the process fun and less stressful than it could have been. Finally, I had a great professor, who really made some of the historical stuff come alive, whether it be the details of bull-fighting or the traditions of any number of Central and South American countries. Aside from the weekly quizzes that struck fear into the hearts of the fearless, it was a good time.
8.
Working as a Student Ambassador- As a college student, its hard to find a job where you a) have a great boss, b) have great coworkers and mentors, c) get to see a game show, and d) get paid. I got to do all this and more as a Student Ambassador. Another great perk: having meetings in the Pace Board Room with the super comfy chairs. Yeah, it was the life.
7.
Taking Public Speaking with Matt and Jon- One of the few classes where I decided not to sit towards the front, this was another class that had a strong bond. This bond was a result of the shared empathetic feelings we felt for those who were uncomfortable speaking in front of others (80% of the class). It also didn’t hurt that I was able to give speeches on superheroes and the military, an opportunity I had not had when I took public speaking in high school.
6.
Playing wheel chair basketball- This past spring semester, my PE professor Steve McNerney asked all of the members of my class to participate in a basketball game versus Charlottesville’s wheel chair basketball team. I love basketball and it would support a good cause so I jumped at the opportunity. Obviously, my PVCC team got our derrieres handed to us (what can I say, manipulating that wheel chair was tough), but it was still a great experience and I’d love to do it again.
5.
Working on lab presentation with Jean-Marie and Anna - What do you get when you put one grumpy night owl and two perky early birds in the same location before 9 am and ask them to do school work hours before the home school prom? 6 thinly veiled sarcastic comments, 5 impromptu Les Miserable sing-a-longs, 4 lols, 3 inquires as to why all three participants had to be in the same location to work on a Google plus document that’s internet accessible, 2 grumpy cat impersonations, and a partridge in a pear tree.
4.
Playing bball in the rain with Kyle and Anna- There’s something , dare I say liberating, about playing basketball with people who play for fun as opposed to win. In what will go down as one of my most dominating performances, one where I assisted or scored on every made basket, the highlight would have to be playing whilst holding an umbrella. Yes, I was almost carried away by the wind Wizard of Oz style (something Kyle probably won’t ever let me forget), but it was still one of the more fun (or funniest) things I did at PVCC.
3.
BIO 106 Honors- The best class I ever took at Piedmont, this really was where it was at; at least for fall 2012. Before the class, we all could have identified each other in different ways; the Student Ambassadors, the dual-enrollment students, and everyone else. Once the class ended, those distinctions were no longer important, we were simply Mr. Willis’ last honors class. Mr. Willis made each class fun, a rare experience in my two years at Piedmont. Our class became so close that they probably could make a movie about it. You have the drama of the final swan song of a beloved college professor mixed with the comedy that comes with having 11 students from all different backgrounds interacting with said professor (who’s a tad eccentric). Now that I’m writing this, I’m already seeing a pop culture classic, not to mention several Oscars and Academy Awards. People will be making jokes about rubber chickens and the truth for years to come.
2.
PVCC Christian Student Fellowship- I had the privilege of watching CSF grow from an average attendance of seven my first year to an average attendance of 16 by the time I left. We had great spiritual discussions, which occasionally led to some tense debates on touchy subjects, entertaining game times that allowed us to not only vent by hitting people with paper plates but also learn each other’s names, and awesome bake sales each semester that helped support a child in Africa. I found CSF especially impactful because my family was on sabbatical for a good portion of my time at PVCC and I wasn’t attending church as regularly as usual. In addition, several of us who attended CSF didn’t have class immediately after it ended and usually hung out afterwards which led to riveting discussions about time travel, reality, personal boundaries, and finally … a legendary trip to Khor Bros.
1.
Khor Brothers Trip- It was the five-cent cone day to upstage all other five-cent cone days. A posse of CSFers consisting of Anna, Kyle, Colleen, Hannah, Dana, and myself decide to drive to Khor Bros. after CSF ended to get some frozen custard and then be back before everyone’s (except yours truly) next class at 2:20. Now, some of you might be wondering what was so memorable about this trip. To be honest, it’s kinda one of those “you had to be there,” type things, but I’ll do my best to paint you a picture of what happened. On the way to Anna’s minivan, which would be the setting for the vast majority of this story, someone (I don’t remember who) decide that we were all members of a slightly dysfunctional family. We had two mothers, which in hindsight might have had something to do with our dysfunction, three kids (two biological and one adopted, hint, I was the adopted child) and one family friend. After the two sons (Kyle and I) were relegated to the back seat, everyone else piled into the car and we departed for Khor Bros. In a trip that involved being submitted to sensory overload courtesy of the singer Pink blaring over the radio, we finally made it to Khor Bros. only for me to discover that my siblings had also chosen to arrive at the exact same time. Needless-to-say, my companions, who knew nothing about me outside of our time at PVCC, demanded my siblings tell them some embarrassing story about me. Christina folded under the collective pressure (not surprising), which led to several ill-timed cop jokes in the middle of our next CSF meeting and beyond. Finally, at the end of our tale, we get to the part of the trip that, if it were in a movie, would be quoted by viewers till the rapture. Our posse had returned to the vehicle and our driver (who shall remain nameless) was about to take a left turn out of the parking lot in order to return to Piedmont. As said driver made the left turn, at a speed that was a tad bit excessive, I could feel the left side of the car lifting off the ground. In addition, I began to feel an enormous gravitational increase of force on my body, which led me to exclaim, “G-forces! G-forces!”. My comments led the driver to decrease their speed whilst also earning me the ridicule of the rest of my fellow passengers (whose lives I had just saved, btw). And this is the end of my story, aside from the whole ice cream in hair situation, but that is another story for another time.
Well, this sums up my top ten PVCC moments. If anything made you ROFL, LOL, SMH, or CTS (chuckle to self), post in the comments.
