About Me
Hi, I'm Valerie Gartland. I was selected again in 2005 to be a participant in the DMP summer program. Last summer I went to Massachusetts to work with Lori Clarke at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This year I'm living at home and working with Susan Rodger at Duke University in Durham. You can find out more about the DMP on the main page. I was born on September 28th, 1984 in Raleigh, North Carolina. I've lived in Raleigh all my life (except when I'm at school!) I'm majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Art at Western Carolina University, in the mountains of NC. In the fall of 2005 I will be a Senior at WCU.
My Faith
If you read what I said last
year about my faith, it still holds true. Still, the most
important thing in my life is Jesus Christ. In fact, He grows
in greatness every year that I know Him! If you've ever read
the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, you might remember a scene
where Lucy says to Aslan "Aslan, you're bigger" and Aslan
replies, "That's because you're older, little one ... Every
year you grow, you will find me bigger." How true!
God increases exponentially in greatness as I grow in Him.
If
you ask me what God has done in my life in three years (or even just
this past year) in college, I could answer with "What hasn't He
done?" Really, God has called my name and opened my ears
to hear him, He has wounded me and strengthened me with His healing,
He has lead me and taught me, He has given me the the gifts of
laughter and tears, He has shown me how to have real, pure, childlike
fun, and He's held me when I've been hurt. I've learned to turn
to Him in many situations (I wish I could say every situation, but ya
know, I've still got a lot of growing to do)
I have
felt my heart awaken and soften like never before this past year.
God really does give us hearts of flesh in place of a heart of
stone. I feel like I can see into someone's soul to really know
what they're feeling sometimes. It's like God sometimes gives
me a glimpse beyond the person's appearance, behavior, and even
beliefs. He helps me to see that He loves the person underneath
all that, and He is calling me to love that person, too.
My Family
My family is still as big as
last year! This year is great, because I really felt like God
was leading me to stay at home this summer. When I first
applied to DMP this year, they originally accepted me at UMass
Amherst again. I emailed them back, telling them that it was
important for me to be home this summer. And God must've really
wanted me here, because they found Susan here at Duke for me! I
am so glad that I can be here. I try in little ways here and
there to be a support to my parents. They need all the help
they can get, with 7 children, 5 of which are teenagers! These
years are crucial (and hard) for them. I'm glad to have the
opportunity to talk and pray with my parents this summer. My
dad and I carpool into work sometimes, and we've been reading My
Utmost For His Highest whenever we ride together. His work
at IBM is right on the way to Duke. Now isn't God awesome?
I've never really thought of my family as big, because my
extended family is even bigger! My mom has three sisters and
one brother, and the least amount of kids any of them have is 5!
The most, in case you're curious, is 11. I kid you not.
That's why I love Thanksgiving, though, because we all get together
at my grandparents' farm and have a good, old-fashioned
get-together. In the family with 11 kids, there are quads my
age, so I always played with them growing up. These days we sit
around and laugh about how old we're getting and have fun observing
the younger cousins enjoying the same things we did at their age.
Things like catching toads, swimming in the pond, chasing chickens,
making "forts" in the woods, and so on. I still do a
lot of these things now! Sometimes I even get to ride the
horses there, which is a real treat (especially when they gallop!).
My Schools
Until 10th grade, I was home schooled. I think that was a wonderful way for me to learn academic independence and personal responsibility. It was up to me to get my work done every day. If I got lazy, my work would extend into the summer. If I got it done early, I could play the rest of the day instead of waiting for slower students. One day in fifth grade, I decided to get up at 5:30 am to start my schoolwork. I was done and free for the day at 9:00 in the morning! If I had trouble with something, I could take my time and ask mom and dad for help. Home schooling was a great experience, and I think I’m a better student for it.
For 10th grade, I embarked on an adventure. I applied to go to a high school called Raleigh Charter. That year was 1999, the first year that RCHS existed. There weren’t very many students – only sophomores and freshmen. We bonded closely as a group. Everyone knew everyone at Raleigh Charter. Even the principle, Dr. Humble, made it a point to know each student. The teachers were very knowledgeable and supportive. At the same time, they expected a lot from their students, which stretched me even further academically to meet the challenge. I still keep in contact Mr. Felder, who was my Algebra II, Computer Science, and pre-Calc teacher (yeah, I had him for 3 classes). I think he's one of those teachers that makes RCHS what it is.
When it came time to search for a college, I chose Western Carolina University because it was a small environment. Also, I’ve always loved the mountains. I loved the size of RCHS, so I thought I would be at home at Western. Of course, since I joined Campus Rock (my campus ministry at WCU), I know that this school is where God wants me to be. I’m so happy there, it’s like another home. And Campus Rock is like having 50 best friends. All of them are my brothers and sisters :-D.
My professors at Western have also been very encouraging. They are the reason I applied for this program. Dr. Luginbuhl was more excited than I was that I got accepted (remember, I’m a steady, calm person). He practically bounced off the walls! :-) Dr. Holliday was also very encouraging through the whole thing. Both of them wrote letters of recommendation for me. I know they are pulling for me to succeed!
My Hobbies
I absolutely adore dogs. I love training them. I love learning about different breeds. My favorite breed is a German Shepherd, because my favorite dog was a shepherd/lab mix. His name was Davy, and he was so smart and eager to learn! Whenever I just said his name he would look straight at me and cock his head with his ears pricked, ready for the next command. I trained him to heel without a leash, to stay for long amounts of time, to bark on command, to jump small hurdles, to roll over, to find his ball, to get in his pen, and to ignore food when I told him. I also taught him to hold up his front paws in the air when I pointed at him and said “stick ‘em up!” :-)
Art is a big hobby of mine, too. Actually, I have a minor in Art now. I love drawing living things, like animals and people. I also like drawing plants and landscapes. I don’t like drawing mechanical things as much, like cars and motorcycles. I’m trying to improve my skills in those areas, though. Some of the art I did during this program will be available on the Photos page.
Along with drawing, I really like to do unusual art. For instance, I recently picked up the hobby of sculpting small wax figurines. It all started when my friend gave me one of those little wax bottles full of juice that they sell in candy stores. After I finished drinking the juice, I started squishing up the wax bottle. It wasn’t very pliable, so I tried running hot water over it. That worked wonderfully, and soon I’d formed a little wax duck. I also made a little lizard, which I gave to another friend. She was so excited about it that she supplied me with about 40 of those wax candies! Since then, I’ve made an eagle, dolphin, rose, wolf, frog, lizard, dragon, beta fish, and a pig!
Another kind of unusual art I’ve done is butter-sculpture. One of the campus ministries at WCU has a pancake dinner during exam week. At these dinners they have bowls full of butter. I was messing around with the butter, then suddenly I was inspired to sculpt a cat. I used the butter knife, and by the time I left, the butter was in the form of a sleeping cat curled up in the bowl. The next time we had one of those suppers, I made an elephant.
I love to read a good book. Good books are always superior to movies because your experience is so much deeper. You have the chance to get inside characters’ heads so much more. Here are some books that I’ve enjoyed:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
I’ve enjoyed many more, but I’d rather not list them all out. I noticed that all of these books were set in some historical or imagined time. I don’t tend to like books written about modern society, but I can’t always judge a book by it’s subject. A good amount of my favorite books are also set in another country. Still, I can’t say I’m against books set in America, because I love Huck Finn, and most recently To Kill a Mockingbird. I can say that I like books with good characters (with distinct personalities) and clear morals. I love it when I feel like I personally know a character in a book, and think, “Yes, that’s just like him. He would say that kind of thing.”
I've also discovered recently that I like a book that makes me think, or has something really important to say. For instance, Brave New World was one of my least favorite books in English class. But now that I look back on it, it has a lot of valid points about our culture today.