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Snow Weekend: Peaceful and Action-Packed

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 4 min.

The students headed to the hills of North Carolina for a serene Sabbath as well as an exciting new experience!

Halfway through a semester, what is the best kind of weekend? Maybe some relaxing days in a peaceful place with lots of walking trails and views, along with cozy nights in a cabin. Or maybe you think the best weekend is an action-packed adventure, exploring new territory and making timeless memories. Why not both? The Living Education students did both on their recent Snow Trip weekend!

Inspiring Landscapes, a Cozy Cabin, and Tantalizing Trails

Midday Friday, the caravan of Living Education students and faculty left for Newland, North Carolina, and within a few short hours, they arrived at their caravanserai: a cozy house that I call a cabin because that seems more fitting to me. The cabin has two stories, each with a kitchen and living area. The basement contains six bunk beds in a large room, while the upstairs has three rooms with two bunk beds in each. All in all, the cabin has beds for 24 people. Quite Impressive! But that is not the best part. 

The cabin commands an excellent view, overlooking rolling hills right next door. These hills are covered in small, evergreen trees, and with paths that make terraces all along the hillside. It is a fascinating landscape. 

The students made excellent use of the paths that crisscrossed the hillside. They walked all over it, taking in the wonderful sites and enjoying the fresh, cool air. It was an amazing escape from the routine days that can begin to blend together.

A Serene Sabbath

As the sun set and the Sabbath settled in, the students piled into the dining room and enjoyed a dinner fit for kings, with a blazing fire and cheery conversation keeping everyone warm, even as the outside grew chilly as the evening wore on. The students then gathered by the fireplace. Mr. McNair gave them a unique challenge: find a Bible story and read it aloud. They needed to bring it alive, capturing the passion and personality of the story. The students took up the challenge. There was some shouting, and I am pretty sure there was some singing at one point. There were funny stories and serious passages. Sometimes the students rolled on the floor in laughter, and other times they felt their hair raise at the power and meaning of a passage.

The morning was calm and relaxed. The breakfast was continental style, allowing everyone to get up at their own time and eat. The students got the chance to lead  songs during the services and the sermon and sermonette were given in person by faculty there. Saturday evening featured a fun game involving guessing the meaning of an obscure dictionary word, which is where the word caravanserai that I used at the beginning came from. Also, apparently a lot of people think the word triskaidekaphobia is a fear of Triscuits . . . or maybe that was just us. The evening also consisted of some unique board games and very aggressive foosball playing, of which I was a part. It was a great time for the students to relax together and even try some new games they may have never played before.

The Adventure Part

As promised, there was also adventure. On Sunday morning, the caravan—by which I mean the Dodge Grand Caravan—rode off once more, heading to the neighboring Beech mountain. Traversing the winding mountain roads with tremendous views of the wooded valleys below, the group arrived at Beech Mountain, a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In this picturesque mountain village is a ski slope and resort, but the Living Ed Students were not there to ski. They were there to go snow tubing. 

Most of the students had never been snow tubing before, but that didn’t slow anyone down. The snow tubing frequently consisted of competitions, trying unique body positions in the tube, and inventing new (and a little bit cringey) dances on the magic carpet that carried the students back to the top. After a day and a half of relaxing, all the students were ready to compete with each other and fully experience their day’s adventure.

Why Not Both?

The best weekends are relaxing ones. Or are they the exciting ones? Well, I think they are the ones with a healthy combination of relaxation and adventure. The Living Education students had what I consider the best kind of weekend. Now that everyone is recharged and armed with fantastic new memories, it is time to get back to learning, working, and making the most of every day.

Not too long ago, the Living Education students had another exciting adventure that took them back in times to the 1920s! Well, maybe not literally. Read about the 1920s themed dance the Living Education students hosted: It’s the Roaring ’20s Again!

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

Working in the Maintenance Department

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 4 min.

Here’s a look at the students in the Maintenance Department for the Living Education work/study program. 

Maintenance can cover a wide range of duties, and it can be different from company to company. So what is it like working as a student in the Maintenance Department here at the Living Church of God Headquarters? Today’s post answers that question by exploring the duties of two Maintenance Department employees: David Smith and Andrew McNair. This post also features personal comments from the students about their position and their experience working so far. 

Andrew McNair works as a Maintenance Assistant, maintaining the building and grounds and assisting on renovation projects. 

Andrew McNair is one of two students working in the Maintenance Department. Prior to accepting this position, he had experience with carpentry and renovation, but he has learned many new skills in this position and developed greater proficiency with skills he already had. He described how he learned more about the nuisances of painting and carpentry projects in this position. 

Andrew’s Main Roles in the Maintenance Department:
  • Loading equipment truck for Church services (every week)
  • Inspecting emergency exit signs (at least once a month)
  • Inspecting fire extinguishers (at least once a month)
  • Checking the office grounds for trash
  • Assisting with renovation projects 

Most fun part of the job? “A couple days ago, we started organizing the tools and stuff, because there are a lot of random things back there [the maintenance corner of the warehouse storage area]. It was great to see it all sorted out finally. There’s a lot of chaos back there.”

Most challenging part of the job? “Not really knowing how long we’ll being doing a project or what the next step will be. Who knows? It could be a week-long project or twenty minutes. It can be all over the place.”

Most recent renovation project? “We were putting up some doors upstairs over some printing paper on a shelf. We started working on it, and we were halfway done when we discovered it was impossible to put door hinges up there based on how the walls were built. It’s drywall and nothing behind it. We weren’t able to finish it, but it was a neat project to start.”

David Smith is also a Maintenance Assistance working to maintain the building and grounds and assisting on renovation projects.

David Smith is the other student who works in this department. Prior to working with the Maintenance Department, he did not have a great deal of experience with carpentry or electrical work, but now he has developed skills in both of these areas and is confident in his ability to “build a wall with two-by-fours and sheet rock.” 

David’s Main Roles in the Maintenance Department:
  • Being grunt labor for projects
  • Replacing light bulbs
  • Inspecting emergency exit signs (at least once a month)
  • Inspecting fire extinguishers (at least once a month)
  • Checking the office grounds for trash

Most fun part of the job? “Sometimes, you get to hit things out with hammers. That’s really low-brow but it’s the most fun part. One time there was a piece of furniture that we needed to fit in the dumpster, so we got to hit it with a sledge-hammer to make it smaller.”

Most challenging part of the job? “Probably the lack of consistency, because some days it’s non-stop work and then others you jump from one task to another. What you’re doing one day may or may not be completely separate from what you’re doing the next day.”

Most recent renovation project? “Today we went to the girls’ dorm and fixed random things. We fixed the alarm by doing the high-skill labor of replacing some batteries. We fixed a leak in the roof that was causing water damage. We tried to fix the downstairs bathroom, but that’s a problem that needs actual plumbers.”

Working and Learning: Part of the Living Ed. Experience. 

All of the work/study positions not only provide students with an income, but also give valuable experience that will benefit the students throughout their lives. Both David and Andrew are learning new skills and honing those they already possess. Working in the Maintenance Department involves a variety of projects and tasks—so much so that unpredictability was the most challenging aspect of the position for Andrew and David—but all of those projects are good experiences in a hands-on type of job. I’m sure these workers will never shirk away from a home renovation project now!

We did a similar post discussing working in the Living Education Department that you may find interesting.

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

It’s the Roaring ’20s Again!

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 4 min.

The Living Education students hosted a 1920s-themed dance for over 40 young adults in the local congregation. 

This event was several months in the making. It began when Kezia proposed a themed dance, and what could be a more apropos theme than the ’20s? She rallied the students together to transform the guys dorm into a venue straight out of the 1920s. But what did it all look like? Let’s take a little tour. 

Arrival

It is a brisk Saturday evening. You pull into a church parking lot across the street from the LivingEd. dorm. You make your way across Thompson Road and up the concrete driveway. You knock on the front door, and it swings open for you. You receive a hearty welcome from the hosts. You walk into the dorms and back in time, to the 1920s.

Welcome to the Speakeasy

The house is flooded with soft, warm light. There is a red telephone booth ahead and slightly to the right of the door, by the stairs leading to the second story. Your eyes gravitate up. There is a string of twinkle lights wrapped around the light fixture. More hang between the light above your head and the light in the living room. Another string of lights hang between the light and the telephone booth. It dangles across the top of the booth and then wraps around the handrail going upstairs. 

You look to the right. There is an open entrance. Hanging from the trim of this entrance are more twinkle lights, outlining the walkway. Through the opening is the billiard room. There is a pool table squarely in the middle, on which two guys and two girls are playing team 8-ball on the table. The guys are dressed in formal and nice looking dress clothes, apropos of the ’20s. The girls are wearing flapper dresses, formal gloves, and headdresses. 

You turn to the left now. There is an entrance to a study room. Two tables are set up, and people are crowded over one. You glimpse between two people and see that they are playing some sort of card game. The room erupts in laughter and movement for some reason you can’t put together. Before you can figure it out, one of the hosts says, “The food is this way.”

There’s a Dance Floor Too

You follow them out of the hallway by the front door and into the living room. There are no couches, and it has been cleared to create a dance floor. You notice a red cloth suspended by the light. This red cloth extends from the bookshelf on the other side of the room to the light and then to the bookshelf near you. It gives the dance floor a defined shape and feeling. On the dance floor, a fair amount of people are dancing to ’20s music. You feel the limits of space in the room as you slide by the bookshelf and under the red cloth to get to the other side. 

The host directs you to the patio, where you find a buffet table lavishly adorned with cloth and stocked with hors d’oeuvres. To the left of the table is patio furniture and part of a regular couch stashed to make space for the dance. The house  is warm from the dancing, and the patio provides a cool (no pun intended) place to relax and get a snack.

Snack Table on the Patio

After you get a plate, you hear the dancing paused for a moment. The hostess announces a few games of trivia. The first person to say the answer gets a small prize: moon pies (in existence since 1917)! There’s questions about the most famous events of the ’20s, and prizes given out for a few rounds. Then, the dancing continues and everyone returns to their previous activities. You stick around, dancing and catching up with friends you haven’t seen for a while, even seeing people from across the country. At 9 pm, the event is not formally over, but the Living Ed students begin the process of cleaning up. You make your way out the front door, across the street, and back to the church parking lot, content with the memories you know hold. 

This was not the only event at the LivingEd. dorms in January; they also did a Bingo Brunch for local widows! 

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

It’s all fun and games until someone yells “Bingo!”

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 2 min.

To bring a little fun and games to the Charlotte congregation, the Living Education students hosted the inaugural Bingo Brunch at the women’s dorms. 

On a cloudy Sunday morning, to kick off our return to classes and the second semester, the students set up refreshments and decorations in the women’s dorm for a round of bingo games for local widows. The food for the brunch portion included mini-muffins, cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, and the main entree: chicken and waffles! 

The decorations transformed the whole dorm for the event. There were hand-drawn signs and some larger-than-life dice on the buffet table that featured fancy platters with all the food perfectly placed. Inside the living room, three large tables were set up with folding chairs to fit the guests comfortably. All the tables were adorned with vibrant tablecloths and flower centerpieces that brought energy and excitement to the room. 

The Games Begin

Mr. McNair kicked off the first round… and explained the house rules. Each table became a team and competed with the other tables. If anyone at that table got Bingo, it was a point for their team. After five rounds, prizes, ranging from pens to applesauce would be handed out to the winning team. The tables chose curious team names: the Winning Team, the Packers, and the Yodeling Yaks. One team seemed to dominate the playing field: the Packers (If only the “real” Packers also had that kind of luck that day). At the end of three rounds, the guests were sent home with a commemorative Living Education mug to remind them of their time spent with the 2023 students. 

Afterward, the students got together and cleaned up what was left behind—all while feasting on leftovers, Ellie’s favorite part. We then sped off to their next activity—a game night with friends and nachos, or watching the Packers game that night.

This was the first event the students helped host since the Living Education Alumni Dinner in 2022.

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

Working in the LivingEd Department

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 3 min.

Here’s an inside look at work/study positions in the Living Education Department

Have you ever wondered what the students in Charlotte do in the work/study program? Well, this post is the first in a new series of Student Life posts that will answer that question by describing the student roles available in each department of the Living Church of God Headquarters. Today’s post covers the student positions in the Living Education department. The two students featured are Kaleb Johnson (c’est moi!) and Nathan Kroon. 

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Nathan Kroon is the Media Associate who edits videos, makes posts for Living Education  on social media, and organizes the weekly newsletter

Nathan is one of the three students in the new Student Leader program. In addition to being the Media Associate for the LivingEd department, Nathan is also the lead landscaper for the dorms and the Resident Assistant for the guys’ dorm. For the LivingEd department, he is the primary video editor, official photographer for events, and much more. 

Nathan’s Roles in the Living Education Department:

What does Nathan have to say about:

The most fun part of the job? “I think video editing has been most fun, especially when I am able to be more creative with it. But that requires having a lot of material to work with like photos and B-Roll.”

The most challenging part of the job? “A bunch of different things get thrown at you. Mr. McNair is sometimes. . . unpredictable with what he’ll throw at you next. Keeps it exciting, but also can be challenging.”

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Kaleb Johnson is the Staff Assistant who writes web content, works with Google Analytics, and assists with ongoing projects

Kaleb is a first year student who works only for the Living Education department. I perform—wait, I mean Kaleb performs many support tasks for projects that are ongoing in the Living Education purview, such as creating videos and slideshows for events and making scripture and quote indexes for new study courses (check out all the courses here).

Kaleb’s Roles in the Living Education Department: 
  • Writing/posting forum summaries and student life posts (like this one!)
  • Creating weekly Bible quiz (click here)
  • Using Google Analytics
  • Providing support in video editing 
  • Assisting with ongoing projects 

What does Kaleb have to say about:

His favorite part of the job? “It is a lot of creative work. You get the chance to write, to make storyboards for videos, and brainstorm ideas. It is quite different from engineering, almost more challenging as you have to be creative and think outside of the box.” 

The most challenging part of the job? “Interviewing myself. I am both a terrible interviewer and interviewee. Seriously though, it is difficult to manage all the different projects we have, only working four hours a day. Mr. McNair really does know how to keep you on your toes.”

Working: Part of the LivingEd Experience

Both first and second year students get the opportunity to work at the Living Church of God headquarters in many different departments; this post has only covered one. The Living Education department provides an invaluable experience for the students by challenging them to learn new skills and master ones they may already possess, and it gives students the chance to help out in the Church’s commission to feed the flock. 

Working is only one part of the Living Education program. If you’d like some more details, read this article: A Day in the Living Education-Charlotte Program

The First Ever Alumni Dinner 

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 3 min.

Tucked away in the woods of Cane Creek Park, the Living Education program hosted the first-ever Alumni Dinner at the Lakeside Lodge, exquisitely adorned with a winter theme.

Choosing a peaceful location at a picturesque park by a lavish lake for the dinner, the ambience was perfect as faculty, students, and some guests gathered to commemorate five years of the program. 

The Alumni Dinner in a snapshot

On the day of the event, the current students flickered with excitement, and some stress. The time was here for this new event, and there was no precedent or previous experience. The students left from work early and loaded up the vehicles and left for the Lakeside Lodge. Alumni, too, were taking off and preparing to attend this innovative event.  

Some Backstory 

Plans were in the making for over a month before. A video of commemoration was being made. The decorations were being carefully curated and created. The refreshments and snacks were pondered, picked, and then prepared. Special Living Education-themed prizes were even ordered and organized into a raffle for the guests – all during finals, a busy time for students and faculty alike. But it was all worthwhile, as students and faculty paused to look back on the last five years of the program. 

The Alumni Dinner

The day of the Alumni Dinner, the students arrived at the lodge with an hour to prepare. Tables were rearranged, decorations adorned, and refreshments situated. The raffle prizes were bagged and ordered, with stickers being cut and mugs being set out even as the first alumni arrived. An hour turned out to be the perfect amount of time. 

Alumni and faculty came in and the event flew off. The various years mingled, discussing their different experiences in the same program. The faculty saw old protegees and again, and the alumni caught up with old compatriots. For some it was an opportunity to come into town. For others it was a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of Charlotte and engage with friends. The evening included reflective speeches by Mr. McNair and Mr. Weston, encapsulating the years of the program and the effect it was having. As Mr. Weston said, “the program is cumulative. Every year brings new students.” Every year expands that effect. 

The final piece to come together was the take down. The students—helped by some alumni—took down the decorations, stowed the food, and packed up the cars again. The tables were put back, and the floors cleaned. The take down took less than half-an-hour, and the event was a success, start to finish. 

Are Ceremonies Worth It?

Ceremonies, such as this dinner, can seem difficult, maybe impossible to arrange, but they are vital for establishing traditions. If we escape the inertia of daily life, resist that feeling of “not having enough time,” they can be done, and they leave a satisfied sense. The past did really happen, and it meant something; it still means something. For us current students, this Alumni Dinner gave us the chance to see all the years that came before us, that have crafted and refined this program. We got to see its “cumulative effect.”  

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

Walking on the Trail of Faith

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Author: Kaleb Johnson | Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2022-23

Estimated reading time: 4 min.

In Valdese, North Carolina, lies a treasure trove of history hiding in plain sight: the Waldensian Trail of Faith.

This outdoor museum brings the Piedmont valleys of north Italy across the sea to Valdese and makes Waldensian history come to life with life-size recreation of critical monuments and buildings. The Living Education students walked on this Trail of Faith to learn more about the Thyatira era of the Church of God, hearing about the zeal and persecutions of the Waldensians and also seeing their slip into Protestantism that ended their era of God’s church. 

Arriving at the Trail

As the Living Ed students and faculty pulled in, they glimpsed the outdoor exhibits on the trail, and noticed there were Christmas decorations and crosses strewn about the outdoor museum in preparation for the holiday season. Mr. McNair was quick to comment on this. “You may be thinking,” he said, “What’s the deal with this? I thought the Waldensians were our Christian forerunners.” Well, as we were to find out, a lot happened on the Trail of Faith that the Waldensians walked, and not all of it was good. 

The group walking to the Barberi College Exhibit
Mr. Tlumak talking after the Student Leader’s Presentation

Beginning the Trail of Faith

The tour began with a replica barberi college. The Waldensian students of the thirteenth century studied in unimposing, cozy cottages that would not stand out, and this was intentional. Kezia, one of the Living Education student leaders, explained that these colleges served as secret sanctuaries for education where faithful students would memorize the whole new testament and the psalms (thankfully, we don’t have to do that). These colleges avoided attracting the attention of Catholic inquisitors at all costs. Often, they could not even risk having fires in the winter to stay warm. Kezia related the end result of a student’s studying at this college. Once that student left, equipped to preach the word of God, he had about a three-year life expectancy. Yet the Waldensians still studied through miserable conditions and trained to spread the true word of God. That’s true zeal. 

The students continued to the Church in the Cave exhibit. The cave in Valdese is a man-made duplicate of a grotto in the Piedmont valleys that features in a harrowing story. Nathan—another student leader—recounted how faithful Waldensians once hid in this cave for church services. It was small and cramped, and they had to crawl inside it; the only light inside came through a small crack at the top of the cave. The Waldensians could not even sing hymns for fear of being heard by Catholic inquisitors. Despite all this, they were discovered one day. The Catholic inquisitors did not want to crawl in, so they started a fire and cunningly directed the smoke into the small gap in the cave’s roof. Slowly the cave filled with smoke until it was unbearable for those inside. One by one, the Waldensians crawled out—and, one by one, they were killed. What else did these Waldensians endure on their Trail of Faith? We continued on to find out. 

A student leader gives his presentation on the Church in the Cave
A student peers through the tiny entrance of the grotto

Leaving the Trail of Faith

The students came to a memorial commemorating the Waldensians’ entrance into the Reformation. They conformed their doctrines to match the greater Protestant movement, but they would pay the price. The students continued on the Trail of Faith, but the Waldensians had fallen off. The next exhibits recounted the persecutions they faced, and, in a replica church, Ellie shared with us the intense wars and struggles the Waldensians faced in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. The Waldensians were captured and removed from their villages in the Piedmont valleys, with little help from any Protestant countries. Though the Waldensians did fight their way back in their “Glorious Return,” they were no longer the same Waldensians who had put God and His Gospel above fighting and “homelands.”

The group piles into the church exhibit
The Waldensian War Memorial near the end of the trail

The later exhibits on the Trail of Faith show us the early Waldensian colony in Valdese, and relate the stories of those who left the then-overcrowded Piedmont valleys to come to America. One of the last exhibits is a war memorial that commemorates all the Waldensians who have served in the United States’ armed services. Mr. McNair noted the irony. The Waldensians were once Christians completely unconcerned with war and politics and focused on spreading God’s word, but they came to embrace war with pride.

Takeaways

The students left the tour filled with good memories, powerful stories, and a little deeper knowledge of God’s Church through the ages. The story of the Waldensian Trail of Faith is fascinating. It is full of zeal but also tragedy, especially after the majority of those in that Church era fell from the faith and faced horrible persecution. Despite the heaviness of the topics, we all enjoyed the tour immensely and shared many laughs and smiles throughout the day.

Students, guests, and Faculty at the Waldensian Trail of Faith

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

A Need for Speed II [NASCAR Hall of Fame]

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Estimated reading time: 3 min.

In December of 2020, Living Education students visited the NASCAR Hall of Fame and published a compelling student life post: A Need for Speed. Two years later, the sequel is finally here.

A Need for Speed II races through the 2022 student’s experience at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Buckle up. 

This year the students, and faculty, strapped into their seats—in some highly aerodynamic minivans and SUVs—and motored to downtown Charlotte, to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The group was directed by Mr. Ruddlesden, joined by his wife. Other faculty and guests were also there including Miss Ross, Mr. Braddock—who brought his family to add to the fun—and Mr. and Mrs. Tlumak. 

Walking on Legendary Lane

The academic associates formed a pack as they funneled into the NASCAR museum and checked in. They moved up Glory Road, which features 18 cars, hand picked by Dale Earnhardt Jr, and saw iconic cars like Herb Thomas’ Hudson Hornet and Dale Earnhardt’s Chevy Lumina, the car he won his last championship with in 1994 (read about this car here). 

Living Education Students walking up the Glory Road

In retrospect, the drift up “Glory Road” is one of the most impressive for any sport: these 18 cars tell the tale of 15 drivers who won 46 of the first 72 premier series championships. It is a dense display of the most dominant drivers, and rivals any sport with its concentration of greatness. 

Pit Stop Competition 

After crossing the finish line there, we analyzed the complex designs of racing stock cars exhibited and dived into aerodynamics and chassis design. But things really got fun at the Pit Crew challenge. The students and faculty went head to head in competition for the fastest time. The old people, I mean the faculty, found their groove and flew through the pit stop. Mr. Braddock flexed his familiarity with an impact wrench, and the students just couldn’t keep up. 

Living Ed students do the Pit Stop Challenge
The Braddock family prepares for battle

Simulating a NASCAR Race

We moved onto the simulator section (NASCAR HoF Simulators) after being embarrassed, and slipped into the advanced racing simulators—a screen, steering wheel, pedals, and paddle shifters set up in a full-sized stock car—and raced each other repeatedly. Chaos ensued. On the first run, several drivers, including me, passed the pace car on the first lap. In almost every race, some disastrous crash in the last few laps completely changed the race leaders, much to the chagrin of those who were in first or second place. 

Inside the advanced simulators at the NASCAR Hall of Fame

Go Faster

We learned that we weren’t Chase Elliots or Danica Patricks. Our NASCAR results put us closer to taxi drivers than professional racers. Even compared to 2020, our numbers don’t measure up. The 2020 top speeds were around 194 mph, and ours were only 184 mph. But this fueled in us an even stronger, deeper need for speed. The students and faculty relentlessly played those simulators, perfecting their passing and side drafting, seeking to go ever faster.

Eventually, some migrated to the displays and trophy cases further along in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but most kept at it on the simulators. I can only say this: a stock car experiences a lot of drag at 184 mph. That must have affected us because we had to drag a few of the students out of those simulators. 

Living Ed students giving two thumbs up
Living Ed students….reading I guess

Go Big or Go Home [we went home]

The drive back to the dorms was  suspiciously shorter than the drive there. The NASCAR Hall of Fame was only a short pit for the students, and they slingshotted straight into their assignments. It turns out, the students from 2020 had similar feelings as us it seems. 

“Deadlines are approaching and soon,” one of the 2020 students writes in A Need for Speed, “unless the students shift into high gear, they will find themselves with a need for speed.” That’s truth right there.

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

How Do Students Fare at the Faire?

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Estimated Reading Time: 3 min.

Vibrant colors, costumes, and teeming crowds—the Living Ed students visited the Carolina Renaissance Festival and had a medieval time!

In Huntersville, NC, is one of the largest Renaissance Faires in America. This 25-acre Faire draws a yearly crowd of around 200,000 people, and the students set out to explore the festival. With 140 different vendors, stage shows, and even jousting three times a day, the Faire offers more than enough to keep one exploring for a full day, if not multiple days.

A Student’s Experience

Ever wonder what it would have been like to live in Europe 600 years ago? Well, a Renaissance Faire may not be the most realistic example (I’m pretty sure Darth Vader wasn’t in the real renaissance), but it is its own unique experience! This year’s Living Ed students adventured into new memories—for many of them it was their first time—and enjoyed the shows, the activities, and the unique shops, boasting an assortment of perfect gifts and trinkets.

Fowl Shows

The Festival held a fowl show, and it was anything but poultry (OK, I’ll stop now). The falconry exhibited was marvelous and involved both a hawk and an owl. But that wasn’t it. There was juggling in shows, magic tricks, knife throwing, acrobatics, and kids doing something with plates and broom handles (I wasn’t present for that show). Not to mention the jousting. Nothing like watching knights in full armor horse around a little.

Camels, Throwing Knives, and Paintball

Ever wanted to ride a camel, go throw knives at a wooden target, and then go shoot a paintball gun? If yes, you have oddly specific plans in life and you’re probably going somewhere big with that. But if you thought no, then you’re like me and see no connection between any of those things. However, Living Ed students did all of those things (hopefully not at the same time). Now that’s having some new experiences!

An Apish, Bald-Pated Dissambler

In case you’re wondering, that is an insult I received, and it’s absolutely marvelous. Would you like to be insulted and/or insult others in Shakespearean English? Of course you do; it’s an absurd question. You need a Shakespeare Insult Generator book. And one fellow found this book at the fair and gifted it to one of the Living Ed students. This is a perfect example of the trinkets and novelties the Living Ed students found exploring the diverse shops, peddling products ranging from homemade, everlasting candles to swords crafted with a not-accurate-to-medieval-or-renaissance-time-period smelter and forge system (still mildly upset about that). But still, these are shops you won’t find anywhere else.

What Did We Get Out of All This?

The students got more than just a handy insult generator out of this visit: they got a whole new memory. They also saw outlandish shows, rode camels and threw knives, and got a few nice gifts along the way. It was a p(l)easant day!

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.

How to Host a Dinner

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Estimated Ready Time: 3 min.

While certainly stemming from contemporary nihilism, “Why bother?” can be a justified question to ask. So, why do we bother hosting events like dinners, barbecues, or activities?

Because, somehow, they are worth it every time! This week, one of the LivingEd students—not me, that’s for sure—organized a “welcome back from the feast” dinner for everyone, and though it faced challenges, it was spectacular in the end. 

Life Is Challenging 

To the uninitiated, hosting a dinner may seem easy. You cook some food, people show up, and, voilà, there’s a dinner party! Somehow, though, it gets complicated. “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” according to Murphy’s General Law.

The plan for this particular party was to grill lamb chops—not just because lamb chops are amazing, but also because it should have been easy. The hosting student had brought some back from the Feast, so they were already purchased, waiting—even begging—to be cooked. Easy money! Well, not quite. The number of invitees was beginning to outnumber the lamb chops. So, in the midst of classes, essays, and assignments, the host had to go get more, and lamb chops aren’t exactly available at the Dollar General up the street. 

Propane’s a Pain

Gas grills are fantastic. But highly compressed molecules in the gaseous phase have a tendency to seek a lower energy state by migration to a lower pressure system. Such a physical phenomena sounds fun on paper, but is annoying when it happens to your propane; thus, we found our grill’s gas tank empty after the Feast. Murphy strikes again. Yet our host was not to be deterred and refilled the tank.

Asparagus Evades Us

Asparagus—some people hate them. Some people love them. Some people insist they must be “prepared right” or some cryptic nonsense like that. Regardless, it is apparently hard to find them in stores. Fortunately, the girls’ RA managed to obtain some before the night of the dinner. Thus, we had asparagus. 

So, why bother? When Murphy throws challenges at you, it is tempting just to let it all go and not bother. Yet if you can survive getting the lamb chops, refilling the propane, and finding the asparagus, you may just find yourself having a pretty good time, and a great dinner. 

Work Hard, Eat Hard

Somehow, when the day of the dinner showed up, it felt like the hard part had been done, at least to me—and I didn’t do anything but stress vicariously. The actual host had a lot left to do, but now that he had overcome these other obstacles, like the whole asparagus ordeal, he was not to be stopped by a little cooking and food preparation. It all came together marvelously, and with help from a few of the girls cooking and procuring drinks, everyone had a fantastic dinner. There is an odd lesson to be learned from this: Hosting a dinner is actually quite challenging! Yet the best things in life are often the hardest to get. How do you host a good dinner? You do the hard things, like getting the lamb chops, propane, drinks, and, of course, that essential asparagus.

Kaleb Johnson is a student in the Living Education-Charlotte Program. He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in the spring of 2022. In addition, Kaleb enjoys writing, video-making, trying new activities (anything and everything), playing chess, and debating (it’s not arguing!) with people. He currently works in the Living Education department producing written content & videos and helping with a variety of other projects.