Photography by Jaicee Almond When I was little, I dreamed of growing up to be a horse trainer. I had it all planned — exactly how I was going to purchase our neighbor’s property and redesign it into stables and pastures. I spent endless afternoons sketching it all out. But today, those plans sit in a box in the corner of my closet, all but forgotten. The passage of time dimming that dream. And isn’t that how it is for most of us? As life moves forward, we define new goals and vocations as we ourselves change. We smile back on our childhood aspirations and marvel at how differently life…
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Biking Essentials: What to Take
Written by Ethan Froelich 1) Water: Take a nalgene for most rides you go on. I usually take around 24oz of water when I ride the 30-mile round trip to the beach. 2) Portable Bike Pump: This is a simple $9-$15 purchase that is small enough to travel with you, but effective enough to pump up tires that have lost air. Bike tires can lose 10-20psi of air pressure overnight, so always be pumping up your tires before a long ride. Buy one on Amazon 3) Cliff Bars: These are life savers when you get to a halfway point in your ride. With almost 250 calories in each bar, you don’t have to…
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The Trail to a Two-Wheeled Community
Photography by Jonathan Hagen Written by Ethan Froelich Lloyd Peckham stared at the sweetgum tree in front of Thompson Hall and an idea began to form in his mind. The intercultural studies professor had just made it through three flats on his daily, 20-mile bike commute from Santa Ana, arriving onto Biola’s campus just in time. His class now over, Peckham had a Felt carbon-fiber 20-speed touring bike that was dead on the pavement, but somehow needed to get him to the nearest bike shop. The tree had his solution. Gathering leaves and small burrs, Peckham stuffed the space between the rim and his bike tire with the organic material.…
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99 Things to do at Biola
Written by Alyssa Alvarez Print the pdf version Graduate! Take a class from Dr. Thoennes or Dr. Jung Have a DTR on the Talbot East rooftop garden Watch the Disneyland fireworks from the roof of the parking structure Live on both upper and lower campus Change roommates at least twice Donate a meal to Brown Bag Volunteer for a campus ministry that is outside your comfort zone Feed the Biola ducks Donate to your senior class gift Pre-order your textbooks at the bookstore Try a new machine at the Fitness Center Nurture a dorm-approved pet (hint: it’s a fish) Participate in your floor retreat Volunteer for Mission’s Conference staff Attend…
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Cinematically Speaking: The Influence of Cinema on Modern Life
Photography by Jonathan Hagen Written by Caleb Wheeler For just over 100 years, the art of capturing thousands of pictures and projecting them onto silver screens has sparked an industry, inspired generations of visionaries and etched itself into the legacy of human storytelling. We are, after all, a visual species: God gave us eyes to see, ears to hear and imaginations that equip us to dream. What are movies at their foundations but elaborate dreams refined and shaped for the enjoyment of many? They indeed can become nightmares, or so fantastical that they bend the world we know into something grander and far more unpredictable. Films may depart from reality,…
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Spring Break Point Style
Shows to get hooked on: Psych. Where to watch: Netflix (Recommended by Patti: Editor-in-Chief) Doctor Who. Where to watch: Netflix (Emily: Photographer) Merlin Where to watch: Netflix (Kahlie: Writer) Arrested Development Where to watch: Hulu (Sarah Huffman: Writer) Songs to rock out to: Movies to check out: I Am Sam (Recommended by Kristi: Designer) Lords of Dogtown (Jaicee: Photographer) Wreck-it Ralph (Becca: Story Editor) Invictus (Tomoko: Photo Editor) Les Miserables (Ethan: Story Editor, Alissa: Photographer) Rushmore (Ian: Writer) P.S. I Love You (Brittany: Writer) The Lorax (Katie: Designer) Baraka (Daniel: Designer)
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Design Your Own Road Trip
The Point loves hitting the road and writing about it after. What could be better than a car full of staff members, windows down and music blaring? We don’t need an excuse, all we need is a destination! Ready to take your own trip? Check out our tips for success below. Read about our previous trips: The Point Heads to Big Sur A Day in LA Check out our road trip playlist: 6 Road-Trip Worthy Apps: Instagram. Great for getting quick photos of key moments, saved us a lot of stopping and unpacking of photo equipment. Yelp. This app saved us from $50 campsites, gave us tips concerning rangers,…
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“My Car Smells Like Onions”
Photography by Adam Lorona Written by Ethan Froelich I fidgeted in my Sutherland Auditorium, overflow seat, my mind absent. It had snuck out of the Torrey Conference sessions, and was wandering through beaches, mountains and majestic redwood trees. My mind finally re-entered my head, returning back into the last Torrey session of Wednesday, allowing me to quickly text my fellow travelers, “We’re almost done!” Day 1 8:30 a.m. (Thursday — Downtown LA. Traffic.) As always, the 5 is being stubborn. With cars stopped between us, and a sulking steel sky above us, we are stuck only a few miles away from our first highway to freedom, the 101 North. Our…
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Standing in the Gap
Written by Cassandra Acosta When we think of Biola, we often think of a place filled with people whose lives have been anything but difficult, where everyone has been a Christian from the time they were just a young child. Break away from the stigma! It is far from the truth. Beneath the surface, Biola is made up of more than just lifelong Christians — it is a diverse community of people who come from all kinds of religious backgrounds and who bring suitcase after suitcase of issues from home. Not every student at Biola is fortunate enough to have a family full of believers; some struggle daily to work…
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Cultivating Our Property
Written by Rebecca Nakashima Mark McReynolds had a problem. He was thirsty. So thirsty that he gratefully chugged a can of Coca-Cola, even though he does not normally care for soda. But this was not his only problem. McReynolds was also being interviewed for a faculty position in Bardwell Hall, Biola University’s science building. And this is when McReynolds’ empty soda can led him to the ironic discovery of the problem: There were no recycle bins in Bardwell, the very building that would eventually give birth to the environmental science program he was being interviewed to start. Biola Creates Stewardship Committee The fall 2012 semester marks nearly 2 1/2 years…
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At the Threshold
Written by Mary Strother There is a door for each of us, a chosen direction for our lives. Some people do not reach this doorway without hardship along the way; their road may seem unstable. The call to the life of a missionary is no different. For those whose lives and careers are impacted by missions work, it can be a shock to their system to change the course of their lives so radically from what they have always accepted as the social norm to a life now dedicated to living with less. Even at a biblically centered university like Biola, tackling the missions career can take a great deal…
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Charting the Course
Photography by Adam Lorona Written by Tonika Reed “I got loans because I didn’t know what else to do,” says sophomore art major Andrea De Luca. After applying for financial aid and many scholarships, De Luca still did not get enough awards to attend Biola debt-free. De Luca says that she doesn’t keep a budget and doesn’t know how much money to save for emergencies. But De Luca is not alone. According to a recent survey of 100 Biola undergraduates conducted by The Point Magazine, 70 percent of students surveyed say they don’t make a budget, and 33 percent do not save money for emergencies. In the wake of continued…
