Weather Mood Swings

Planning on attending (or visiting) Pensacola Christian College?  You can expect lots of sunshine and happiness (after all, we’re not far from the beach)!

Oh, and there’s also the rain… that travels horizontally.

As students, we can’t complain about the weather.  Last spring, it seemed like the average day was in the 70s with a few warmer days mixed in here and there and a cooler weekend rolling around every few weeks.

Last fall, it felt like the summers I am used to in Pennsylvania!  But there are occasions (sometimes even on consecutive days) when it rains.

We’re no Seattle, but when it comes down in Pensacola, it really comes down.  It has an especially unique way of coming down—somehow the rain falls sideways down here; I haven’t yet figured out how that is possible.

So, plan for plenty of days that are beach-worthy (more on that below), but also be on the watch for weather mood swings.  Umbrellas are a must, and I know when my sister attended here, she asked our mom to send down her boots after the first shower.

(I don’t think that applies to any guys, but, girls, you will probably want to have some boots—and anything else you need for rainy weather).

As far as the temperature goes, it hasn’t been “cold” since I arrived in the fall of 2012.  Well, it hasn’t been cold by my standards.

I live up north, so I laugh when the Floridians start wearing hoodies and jackets whenever the temperature drops below 70 degrees.  We have our cold days (“mildly chilly” in my opinion), but they are far outnumbered by beautiful days.

If you live down south and are used to warmer weather, our winter may seem a little “cold” to you, so jackets and definitely hoodies (even I wear sweatshirts down here) are suggested.  Nothing big or bulky* is necessary (this isn’t Alaska), but enough to keep you warm.

*My good buddy Misi, a fellow freshman, is from Hawaii.  He has a huge black coat he wears when we get down into the upper 60s (when it doesn’t even feel 60s cold!), something that seems to be necessary to his survival.  So if you live on an island in the Pacific, bulky winter wear may be appropriate on rare occasions.

According to weather.com, the coldest days in Pensacola are in the mid-40s in the winter and 70s in the summer, with temperatures ranging from the upper-60s into the 80s during the nine months of the school year.

The average day, in my opinion, is beautiful.  I love the cool, breezy nights in the spring.  I also love the beach, and there are plenty of opportunities to go with my roommates during the semester, thanks to the warm weather.

Be prepared for a wide variety of weather, but above all, don’t forget your swimwear!

With College Days right around the corner, we here at Pensacola Christian College are getting very excited to be meeting and seeing many of you here on campus. College Days is a great way for you to get a taste of college life and learn more about PCC. With that in mind, here are a few tips to getting the most out of your College Days visit:

1. Pray! Prayer is a great part of preparation, so pray that God would open your heart to what He may have for you here at PCC.

2. Ask questions! During College Days, there will be many students and staff members around campus specifically waiting to assist you. Don’t hesitate to ask them about your field of interest or whatever else may come to mind. Another great resource to use, if staying on campus, is the roommates you are given. Ask them about anything you wish, and learn about college life from a student’s perspective.

3. Seize opportunities. There will be many special opportunities available to you during College Days– seize them! From campus tours, to student-led tours of the classroom setting, there is much to see academically. On a different note, uniquely available to College Days guests is the the opportunity of meeting Eagles basketball team members, a special Fun Night featuring PCC students, and much more! Make sure to seize the opportunities of everything at your disposal to get the most out of your visit and find out if PCC is God’s will for your life.

We’re looking forward to seeing and meeting many of you here on campus from March 21-22 and then again April 4-5.

If you are a high school student, your time to graduate is closer now than it ever has been before. With your final years of high school comes the enormous decision of which college you should attend or, for some of you, whether college is even for you. Both of those decisions can be difficult to make, especially if you have never experienced college life. To help you out with those decisions, Pensacola Christian College has designated November 21-23 as a special time on campus known as College Days for high school students to come and spend three days in the shoes of a college student.

You have the opportunity to spend these days on campus living in a residence hall room, eating in the dining hall, attending classes, and having fun at special Thanksgiving activities or in the Sports Center. The best part of it all is that the total cost is only $10. During College Days, your life will be similar to that of a college student (minus the homework and studying) and you will gain a fairly accurate taste of college life. Although College Days is geared for high school students, families with young children are certainly welcome to visit during this time as well. When I first visited campus in 2002, I was too young to stay in the residence hall; however, I was able to still be involved in college activities with my family.

As a high school student, I had the privilege of attending College Days over five times (yeah…I loved it that much). Each experience was invaluable because it gave me a better understanding of college life, and the Lord used those times to show me His will concerning my future college career. I found it fun looking through the class schedule and choosing from a huge variety of classes to visit at my leisure. Art classes, physical education classes, and sciences classes were some of my favorites to visit. I always loved having a relaxing evening in the Sports Center after my busy day of being a “college student.”

I really hope you will prayerfully consider visiting Pensacola Christian College this November 21-23 to see if this is where God would have you come to further your education. For more information about this special opportunity for you, visit our College Days page at pccinfo.com. We would be honored if you would be our guest. This opportunity to spend three days in the shoes of a college student is one that you don’t want to pass up!

I know it’s a little early, but I’m already super excited about Thanksgiving. It’s one of the most exciting times on campus. There’s food, family, friends, and soccer! Most people associate Thanksgiving with football, but here we have soccer. The Turkey Bowl is the biggest sports event on campus. It’s the two best collegian soccer teams competing for the championship. This is a huge event! There are booths set up with food, people sit on blankets around the field, and the Turkey Bowl staff plan a stunt show that usually involves something like monster trucks or someone jumping out of a plane. That’s only a little sample of the whole experience of the Turkey Bowl.

Even though all the things that go on with Thanksgiving are amazing, the best part of this week on campus is the unity that you can feel all throughout the student body. During the semester, everyone gets so caught up in projects and homework. But at Thanksgiving, the excitement on campus is just building. Students are excited about family and friends coming down. The soccer teams are motivated to win. And everyone is excited about the food! But the most important unifying factor is that we are all celebrating giving thanks to God for all He has done. At this time of year, we put so much emphasis on being grateful. I don’t know why we don’t focus on it more all year because we have so much to be grateful for. God is so good all the time. It is so cool to walk into Thanksgiving dinner and see students praying over their food. I’ve seen students go around the table and tell something they’re thankful for, and maybe you even do something like that at home. It is so encouraging to know that other people are there serving and honoring God with you. The student body is unified in honoring God and thanking Him for all He has done. We really get the right perspective here being able to focus on praising God for all He has given us.

If you have never been on campus during Thanksgiving week, you should definitely try it out! We have College Days at that time, so any tenth through twelfth graders can stay in the dorms. You’ll get a good taste of just a little bit of what college life is like and a good taste of what Thanksgiving is all about.

This one is especially for the high schoolers out there.

I loved high school. For some reason it seems to be associated with energy drinks and fast food. I loved the energy. I loved the friends. I also loved graduating. Four years later, here I am graduating from college and preparing for another four years of school. Wow, that makes me sound old. Trust me, young whippersnappers, it goes fast.

If any of you are anything like I was in high school (and the way most of my friends were), you probably feel like graduation and college are centuries away. This weekend is probably as far into the future as you can see (I’ve felt like that before). Some of you are probably already looking for the right college. Some of you may even be deciding whether to attend college at all or what area of study you should major in.

These are huge decisions that will affect the rest of your life. I’m about to present a great opportunity, so try to look past what you’re planning on doing this weekend, and think about this opportunity. Don’t worry: bowling, rock climbing, and ice skating are involved.

On March 29-30 and April 12-13, Pensacola Christian College is holding what’s called College Days. This is your opportunity to find out more about the classes, opportunities, majors, and activities that PCC has to offer. You can get to know the students, visit classes, and use the Sports Center (where you’ll find more than just bowling, rock climbing, and ice skating).

You may be thinking that this costs a fortune. I think you’ll be surprised. My buddy, Justin, gives more info about College Days in his post Ten Dollar Tuition. Just click on the title and learn more. You can also check out Christopher’s post All This for 10 Dollars? as he relates his College Days experience.

Trust me, you don’t want to miss out.