102 Ideas for a Memorable Summer

Let’s face it: Sometimes the “lazy days” of summer can seem a little too lazy. So why not spice up your summer by doing different things each day, or trying something you’ve never done before? Biola Magazine will make it easy on you. Here are 102 things (in honor of Biola’s 102nd anniversary) to consider doing this summer. Check them off as you go, and send in photos of yourself doing them! (biolamag@biola.edu). We will post the best photos on our Facebook page, and those who send in photos of themselves doing the most of these 102 activities will get Biola-related prizes!

Ideas 1-25

  1. Take a road trip to Biola, California, the town in Central California named after Biola University.
  2. Make a viral video that gets more views on YouTube than professor Matthew Weathers’ “April Fool’s” video.
  3. Spend a morning browsing the archives of scriptoriumdaily.com, an entertaining and insightful blog collective run by professors in Biola’s Torrey Honors Institute. Don’t miss Fred Sanders’ hilarious “Sleep Talkin’ Theologian” series.
  4. Travel to Salinas, Calif. and visit the John Steinbeck museum (as well as Cannery Row in Monterey!)
  5. Visit a nearby monastery for a weekend of silence and prayer.
  6. Throw a block party in your neighborhood.
  7. Road-trip to Desert Christ Park in Yucca Valley or Salvation Mountain near the Salton Sea for a taste of some desert Christian kitsch.
  8. Play a round of disc golf — otherwise known as Frisbee golfing or “frolfing” — at the La Mirada Regional Park across from Biola’s campus, recognized as one of the nation’s best courses. It’s a favorite pastime of Biola students, and it’s a Thursday morning P.E. class next fall.
  9. Memorize a long passage of the Bible. Suggestions: Romans 12, Matthew 5, or all of Ephesians.
  10. Watch the first few seasons of Friday Night Lights on DVD. Best show on television.
  11. Go to a city you’ve never been to, and just wander.
  12. Organize a local alumni chapter and have a summer fiesta with other Biolans!
  13. Follow Biola Magazine on Facebook!
  14. If you live in L.A., try to visit at least three gourmet food trucks during the course of the summer.
  15. Spend a hot afternoon helping pass out water bottles to the homeless. In L.A., Union Rescue Mission hands out over 1,500 bottles of cold water each day the temperatures rise above 85 degrees. They always need volunteers.
  16. Take a church road trip, worshipping at churches of different denominations and cultural backgrounds at each stop.
  17. Invent new ways to utilize peaches in cooking.
  18. Attend a service at a church pastored by a Biola or Talbot graduate. There are ample to choose from in California and throughout the country.
  19. Pick up a copy of Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide, the new book by Biola Magazine managing editor Brett McCracken.
  20. Watch Ken Burns’ National Parks documentary and then visit as many of the parks as you can. For SoCal residents: Nearby Joshua Tree National Park is a must-see!
  21. Pick a hotly contested apologetics topic (evolution, the existence of God, etc.) and read books by people on both sides to become more familiar with the arguments. If you’re really interested, think about earning a certificate in Christian apologetics from Biola!
  22. Have your church partner with a few other churches in your area to do a service day for the community.
  23. Netflix the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, directed by Scott Derrickson (’89, ’90).
  24. Visit Intelligentsia Coffee in Los Angeles or Chicago. Best coffee in America.
  25. Attend the Aug. 27-28 Apologetics Conference featuring Biola professors William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland at Bayside Church in Granite Bay, Calif.

Ideas 26-50

  1. If you find yourself in Rome craving some organic milk or ricotta cheese, look for the Biola mobile food van (no relation) and help support local farming in Italy.
  2. Visit the Hearst Castle on California’s beautiful Central Coast, if you’ve never been.
  3. Send your kids to the “Called Up” baseball camp at Biola, taught by Ben Orr (’01).
  4. Visit all the bakeries in your city and see if you can pinpoint the most delicious almond croissant.
  5. Download the latest EP from the Cold War Kids. Band members Nathan Willett (’03), Matt Maust (’01) and Jonnie Russell (’05) are Biola graduates.
  6. Sign up for Biola athletics text alerts.
  7. Pick an important political topic and become an expert on it.
  8. Read a newspaper all the way through, for five days straight.
  9. Write a letter to the editor.
  10. Have a garage sale, and donate all the things you don’t sell to Goodwill.
  11. Check out the music of these quality Christian artists: Over the Rhine, Sleeping at Last, Future of Forestry, Sandra McCracken, Rosie Thomas, Damien Jurado, Molly Jenson, Katie Herzig, Innocence Mission and Denison Witmer.
  12. Download Biola Mobile, Biola’s iPhone App
  13. Take a road trip through the American South, visiting as many Civil War battlefields as you can.
  14. Clean house.
  15. Hva er Biola? Learn enough Norwegian to find out what’s going on in this commercial for Biola brand blueberry milk.
  16. Plant a vegetable or herb garden.
  17. Cool off with a day at Splash! – La Mirada’s very own water park.
  18. Call up an old friend from college and catch up.
  19. Watch a movie outdoors or at a drive-in. Fullerton’s historic Fox Theater has “Movies on the Fox” every month for free. It’s a great way to support local community.
  20. Visit a local nursing home, chat with the residents, and bring freshly picked flowers.
  21. Visit the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. See a Gutenberg Bible!
  22. Explore Griffith Park and crawl through the lions’ cages at the old abandoned zoo.
  23. Eat at the Nickel Diner in downtown L.A., where you can try signature delicacies like maple-glazed bacon donuts, salt peanut cake or homemade ding dongs or pop tarts.
  24. Follow @biolau on Twitter!
  25. Find a screening of Dean Yamada’s award-winning film, “Jitensha.”

Ideas 51-75

  1. Find the best fro-yo (that is, frozen yogurt) in your city.
  2. Visit a presidential library. In L.A. there are two close by: Ronald Reagan’s (Simi Valley) and Richard Nixon’s (Yorba Linda).
  3. Check out Biola band The Fragrance, especially their acoustic cover of Phoenix’s “1901.”
  4. Learn to surf.
  5. Send someone flowers unexpectedly and for no reason. Attach your favorite verse to the card!
  6. Drive San Francisco’s Lombard Street.
  7. Visit L.A.’s renowned Getty Center, see the art and peruse the beautiful gardens, and get a bite to eat at the museum café, operated by Bon Appetit, the same catering company that makes all of Biola’s food.
  8. Organize a “service vacation” for your family, friends or church. Visit a faraway place and spend your days volunteering, rebuilding, cleaning for those in need.
  9. Go through your Facebook friends and find someone you don’t really know. Start up a conversation with them or (gasp!) meet them in person.
  10. Go whitewater rafting.
  11. Watch your choice of chapels, concerts and videos on Biola’s YouTube channel.
  12. Eat some good food and pass along your best college tips to brand new Biola students at one of the many “student send-off” parties around the country.
  13. Catch a baseball game with fellow Biolans at Angels Stadium on Aug. 28.
  14. Jump off the high dive at Biola’s pool during summer open swim hours.
  15. Make some homemade strawberry ice cream.
  16. Find one place that you can walk or ride a bike to instead of drive to, and commit to giving up the car for that destination for the whole summer.
  17. Ask someone to teach you a card game you’ve never played.
  18. Pay a visit to Biola — especially if you haven’t been here for a while. You might not believe how much the campus can change in the course of a few years. While you’re here, have a picnic and play some Bocce ball under the sycamores by Metzger Hall.
  19. Leave some groceries on the doorstep of a needy family from your church.
  20. Write a “My Story” essay for Biola Magazine. We might publish it an upcoming issue!
  21. Take a trip downtown to Biola’s original home at Sixth and Hope streets and visit the small exhibit dedicated to the Church of the Open Door.
  22. Have a picnic at Biola’s Olive Grove Park.
  23. Jump on the Metrolink at the Fullerton station and head to San Clemente for a day at the beach.
  24. Take your family or friends to La Mirada’s Concerts Under the Stars in July and August to listen to live music.
  25. Go to the Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific and visit the shark lagoon.

Ideas 76-102

  1. Visit your local farmers market or join a co-op and learn to cook with new fresh foods you've never used before (what is kale, anyway?)
  2. Bring your family to a local fireworks show for the Fourth of July.
  3. Get out your box of old college photos and memorabilia and finally scrapbook them into something you can show your kids someday.
  4. Write your parents, grandparents or mentor a thank you card just because you love them. Guaranteed it will make their day.
  5. Watch a sunset.
  6. Find a local little league game and go cheer for your team, even if you don't know any of the kids who are playing. They need the support!
  7. Offer to help support someone going on a short-term missions trip in any way you can. Pray for them, write them a letter, offer to post supportive updates on your Facebook page, or hold a fundraiser in their honor.
  8. Check out the new water/light/fireworks extravaganza at Disneyland’s California Adventure.
  9. Hold a good old-fashioned watermelon-spitting contest.
  10. Offer to help out at your church’s Vacation Bible School. Guaranteed they could use the help!
  11. Bake cookies or muffins for your neighbors for no reasons. Attach a card inviting them to your church if they don't have a “church home.”
  12. Pool party! Just remember the sunscreen!
  13. Babysit someone’s kids for free for a night to give them a break. (Partner up with some friends if you can’t do it by yourself!)
  14. Next time you're at a drive-thru or tollbooth, pay for the car behind you as well.
  15. Try a spiritual discipline you aren’t used to (silence, fasting, journaling, retreats, meditating on Scripture).
  16. Make a list of 10 people you want to spend more time praying for.
  17. Consider donating money to Talbot School of Theology’s building project. Construction began earlier this summer.
  18. See what’s playing at the Hollywood Bowl. Symphonies under the stars with firework finales are amazing at the Bowl.
  19. Create a piece of art.
  20. Turn on C-SPAN and see if Sen. John Thune (’83) is speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
  21. Trace your family genealogy as far back as you can.
  22. Visit all the L.A. murals of Kent Twitchell, the world-famous artist behind Biola’s mural, “The Word.”
  23. Fly a kite.
  24. Make a donation to a Christian charity like Compassion International, run by Biola grad Wess Stafford (’75).
  25. Pass along Biola materials to a high school sophomore or junior you know who is starting their college search.
  26. Browse some of the work of Biola alumni artists.
  27. Unplug from all technology (phone, Internet, TV, etc.) for a day.