Posted by Elise
My finals in a nutshell . . . a moderately large nutshell:
Lesson No. 1 (from my Book of Mormon final):
My Book of Mormon teacher is absolutely outstanding, and on top of that, he's an easy grader. I calculated that I needed a 73 to keep my A. So I didn't study, and I got an 82--no worries, right? Well, then I went back and rechecked my math and found out that I had done something wrong. I needed higher than a 73. In fact, with my 82 on the final, I ended up with an A- in my easiest class. Ouch. Moral of the story: Before you choose not to study, double check your math.
Lesson No. 2 (from my Human Development final):
Throughout the semester, we were assigned to read about 100 pages a week. Well, I usually lacked the time and I always lacked the patience. Needless to say, my reading fell behind. So for the final, I started studying early and I went the whole nine yards: flash cards, study guide, quizzing myself over and over. And it actually paid off: I got a 92 and ended up with an A- in the class. Moral of the story: No matter how much you slack off all semester, the last two weeks can make or break you.
Lesson No. 3 (from my Chemistry final):
This final was long, cumulative, and did I mention long? Chem was probably my hardest class this semester. Well, I take that back. Chem was certainly the class I was most worried about and the one with the most difficult concepts. So I went to review sessions and more review sessions and, yep, you guessed it, more review sessions. Anywho, the test took four hours. FOUR HOURS! Did I mention it took four hours? But I think it went relatively well. I should get my score in the next week or so. Moral of the story: If I think of one, I'll let you know.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Finally done with my final final! Wahoo!
Posted by Laura
After many hours of studying and learning, my finals are officially done with, at least for this semester.
Finals week freaks me out. It is so nerve wracking trying to remember all of the material that you have been taught in class. All of your work and studying comes down to one final test. How do you know how much time studying is enough? How do you know where to begin for a comprehensive test? How do you survive with all of those test all concentrated in one week?
To be honest, I was pretty nervous and didn't sleep very well Sunday night. Yet, as the week went on, I was feeling more confident. It's easier to focus on studying for tests when you don't have class attendance or assignments to worry about. It makes you feel a little better walking in the library and seeing that most of the seats are occupied by wide-eyed students going through the exact same worries you are.
After my first couple of finals, I got to a point in studying when I felt that I was prepared and had done everything in my power to prepare. When all is said and done I think I was imagining the worst for finals week. However, I was surprised at how well I was able to retain all of the information that I studied. I felt so good about my preparation and grades for finals, and it feels so nice to have them done and to be able to enjoy the holiday break.
I have had such a great first semester at BYU. It's like I have been imagining and working and preparing for BYU my whole life and am finally able to live my dream. It has been full of so many new opportunities and experiences that have allowed me to grow spiritually, mentally, and socially and I have loved every second of it. I have also learned that the time goes by so fast. It's mind boggling to think that I have officially finished my first semester of college and that I have so much to look foward to. BYU is such an incredible university with a great tradition and I feel so blessed to be a student here.
After many hours of studying and learning, my finals are officially done with, at least for this semester.
Finals week freaks me out. It is so nerve wracking trying to remember all of the material that you have been taught in class. All of your work and studying comes down to one final test. How do you know how much time studying is enough? How do you know where to begin for a comprehensive test? How do you survive with all of those test all concentrated in one week?
To be honest, I was pretty nervous and didn't sleep very well Sunday night. Yet, as the week went on, I was feeling more confident. It's easier to focus on studying for tests when you don't have class attendance or assignments to worry about. It makes you feel a little better walking in the library and seeing that most of the seats are occupied by wide-eyed students going through the exact same worries you are.
After my first couple of finals, I got to a point in studying when I felt that I was prepared and had done everything in my power to prepare. When all is said and done I think I was imagining the worst for finals week. However, I was surprised at how well I was able to retain all of the information that I studied. I felt so good about my preparation and grades for finals, and it feels so nice to have them done and to be able to enjoy the holiday break.
I have had such a great first semester at BYU. It's like I have been imagining and working and preparing for BYU my whole life and am finally able to live my dream. It has been full of so many new opportunities and experiences that have allowed me to grow spiritually, mentally, and socially and I have loved every second of it. I have also learned that the time goes by so fast. It's mind boggling to think that I have officially finished my first semester of college and that I have so much to look foward to. BYU is such an incredible university with a great tradition and I feel so blessed to be a student here.
Christmas at BYU
Posted by Braden
Reason number #324 why I like BYU:
Teachers say "Merry Christmas," because we're a private school, and we can do that. Back home, the correct holiday greeting was "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter Break." We students took to saying "Merry Christma-hannu-kwanzak-adan-olstice," covering Christnas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Ramadan, and Winter Solstice, but for some reason the administration still didn't like that.
Here nativities are preferred to bionic reindeer, and traditional Christmas songs have a slight edge on "jingle bells." It's nice to live in an atmosphere where what's ultimately right trumps what's socially "correct."
As an aside, my physics professor also gave this helpful advice about surviving the winter season:
"Now that it's winter, you kids need to keep a few things in mind. The coefficient of friction between your feet and the surface you are walking on outside has rapidly declined, and your legs will no longer necessarily be orthogonal to the ground when you think they will be (due to hidden ice under the snow). Make sure that you increase the angle of elevation of your legs by taking smaller steps, and favor translation to rotation when you begin to lose your footing."
Reason number #324 why I like BYU:
Teachers say "Merry Christmas," because we're a private school, and we can do that. Back home, the correct holiday greeting was "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter Break." We students took to saying "Merry Christma-hannu-kwanzak-adan-olstice," covering Christnas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Ramadan, and Winter Solstice, but for some reason the administration still didn't like that.
Here nativities are preferred to bionic reindeer, and traditional Christmas songs have a slight edge on "jingle bells." It's nice to live in an atmosphere where what's ultimately right trumps what's socially "correct."
As an aside, my physics professor also gave this helpful advice about surviving the winter season:
"Now that it's winter, you kids need to keep a few things in mind. The coefficient of friction between your feet and the surface you are walking on outside has rapidly declined, and your legs will no longer necessarily be orthogonal to the ground when you think they will be (due to hidden ice under the snow). Make sure that you increase the angle of elevation of your legs by taking smaller steps, and favor translation to rotation when you begin to lose your footing."
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Random thoughts... a lot of them
Posted by Sini
I can't believe I made it through this semester. I only have one lousy music dictation test left. On Friday at 3.30 pm me and fall semester 2008 will be officially over!
The past four months have been, well, an experience. This has been the best, the funniest, and the most wonderful time of my life, but also the hardest, the busiest, and the most challenging. I have laughed, cried, studied, partied, loved, hated, and everything possible in between. But most importantly I have learned a ton.
Here are a few things I’ve learned during my first semester (just a fair warning, most of these don’t have anything to do with academic stuff and they are in random order):
Nothing in this country is free.
In Finland I was able to enjoy the social health care and the schooling funded by government. Tuition doesn't exist, books are a lot cheaper, medicines and hospital care are basically free, etc. It was a shock when I found out how much my books cost, or that School of Music didn't provide a pianist free of charge. I almost got a heart attack when I went to buy insulin for my diabetes care. It was 100 times more (literally) than what I pay in Finland. Brutal.
Hi and how are you go together.
In school they taught me that you greet people by saying hi, hello, or something equivalent. Soon after I got here I learned that the beautiful, little, and always-so-sincere question “How are you?” is an inseparable part of the greeting. This is something you don't say in Finnish. So at first I was really confused why the same people kept asking me how I am, every time they saw me, many times a day. And often they didn’t even hear or care to hear my answer, which anyway would've been just good. However, I learned to love this habit. It's so nice and friendly, even though the people wouldn't really care how you are doing. And finally, I have also started using this polite, American, “Hi, how are you?” phrase instead of the simple but cold greeting they taught me in school.
Everybody and everything at BYU isn't perfect.
I have to admit it was naive and stupid to think this would be some sort of a perfect place. I guess I never really thought so; it was more of a dream, maybe. And I'm not saying I don't like it here. I really love it. But the happy valley has its own problems, and you can't just blindly trust everyone. It's been amazing to be around so many Church members. That's what I love the most. For the first time in my life I can really be myself and be with people who share my beliefs and values. I don't need to explain who and what I am in every single occasion. But when pretty much everybody is a member of the Church it also has some side effects.
In Finland you're either very active or don't go to church at all. We don't have the people in the middle--the people who kind of believe and sometimes go to sacrament meetings and kind of keep the commandments, at least the easy ones. In Finland you’re either in or out.
So, I thought in Utah almost everybody would be strong and one of those people that are really in. It was eye-opening, and a little disappointing to realize how many just hang out in the middle. I thought living here would be very easy, Church wise. And in some ways it is. What makes it hard, though, are all those people in the middle. I learned that, sad as it is, being a Church member doesn't always guarantee anything. You can't just blindly trust everyone to be good.
Sleep and college don’t belong together.
I don't understand how I'm able to function with about five hours of sleep every night, but somehow I am. I guess my body has just got used to the constant lack of sleep, and nowadays six hours is luxurious. It's kind of sad and scary. But when you have so much to do, especially so many fun things, you can very well sacrifice a few hours of sleep . . . I don’t want to miss out on all of the fun, crazy, or sometimes even serious stuff that’s going around. And I also have studying to do, believe it or not. And anyways, who needs sleep….?
There's a difference between what you ought to do and what you really have to do.
Probably the most important thing for your academic success, as well as life in general, is to figure out what you really need to do in order to do well in your classes. The fact is that there's not enough time to do everything your professors would have you do. I tried it in the beginning of this semester, and it did not work out. You just need to find out what's absolutely crucial and essential, and then leave everything else out. Much less work and you can still get As (speaking from personal experience), plus that there's a lot more time to party . . .
You can make guys do almost anything if you feed them well.
I have applied this truth very well this semester. Just one example: I made my FHE boys dance a Finnish folk song in our ward's variety show by threatening to dump the delicious cake I made. It worked out so well. They didn't even complain.
The things you don’t plan beforehand turn out to be the best.
My life is very random, most of the time. Call me crazy, weirdo, or wacko if you want. You are pretty close to the truth. What I'm trying to say is that I just like to do stuff from the spur of the moment, just go with the flow. We, my roommates, friends, and I, have had dance parties in and outside, at night and in the middle of the day, late night IHOP runs, baking parties, belly painting, temple trips, last minute Creamery shopping, food fights, wrestling matches, sleepovers, etc. I love the randomness of my life. It's so unpredictable; you never know what's going to happen the next moment.
Love it.
Everything is a lot nicer when you love it. I love school, I love living in America, I love my roommates, I love my friends, I love the gospel, I love my family, I live my violin (I named it Johnny boy, so it's a lot more loveable now), I love having fun, I love studying in the library, I love cooking, I love eating, I love staying up late, I love the next day when I'm so tired I fall asleep in the class, I love cleaning checks (bath tub is my favorite), I love all those awkward dates, I love hanging out with my friends, I love when they hug me, I love when they get mad at me, I love when we cry and laugh together . . . I just love my college experience so far. It's been crazy, exhausting, and stressing but at the same time it's been just simply awesome. College is perfect just the way it is. Even the unpleasant things turn out to be enjoyable when you just decide to love them. I wouldn't change a single moment during this semester. I simply LOVE IT.
I can't believe I made it through this semester. I only have one lousy music dictation test left. On Friday at 3.30 pm me and fall semester 2008 will be officially over!
The past four months have been, well, an experience. This has been the best, the funniest, and the most wonderful time of my life, but also the hardest, the busiest, and the most challenging. I have laughed, cried, studied, partied, loved, hated, and everything possible in between. But most importantly I have learned a ton.
Here are a few things I’ve learned during my first semester (just a fair warning, most of these don’t have anything to do with academic stuff and they are in random order):
Nothing in this country is free.
In Finland I was able to enjoy the social health care and the schooling funded by government. Tuition doesn't exist, books are a lot cheaper, medicines and hospital care are basically free, etc. It was a shock when I found out how much my books cost, or that School of Music didn't provide a pianist free of charge. I almost got a heart attack when I went to buy insulin for my diabetes care. It was 100 times more (literally) than what I pay in Finland. Brutal.
Hi and how are you go together.
In school they taught me that you greet people by saying hi, hello, or something equivalent. Soon after I got here I learned that the beautiful, little, and always-so-sincere question “How are you?” is an inseparable part of the greeting. This is something you don't say in Finnish. So at first I was really confused why the same people kept asking me how I am, every time they saw me, many times a day. And often they didn’t even hear or care to hear my answer, which anyway would've been just good. However, I learned to love this habit. It's so nice and friendly, even though the people wouldn't really care how you are doing. And finally, I have also started using this polite, American, “Hi, how are you?” phrase instead of the simple but cold greeting they taught me in school.
Everybody and everything at BYU isn't perfect.
I have to admit it was naive and stupid to think this would be some sort of a perfect place. I guess I never really thought so; it was more of a dream, maybe. And I'm not saying I don't like it here. I really love it. But the happy valley has its own problems, and you can't just blindly trust everyone. It's been amazing to be around so many Church members. That's what I love the most. For the first time in my life I can really be myself and be with people who share my beliefs and values. I don't need to explain who and what I am in every single occasion. But when pretty much everybody is a member of the Church it also has some side effects.
In Finland you're either very active or don't go to church at all. We don't have the people in the middle--the people who kind of believe and sometimes go to sacrament meetings and kind of keep the commandments, at least the easy ones. In Finland you’re either in or out.
So, I thought in Utah almost everybody would be strong and one of those people that are really in. It was eye-opening, and a little disappointing to realize how many just hang out in the middle. I thought living here would be very easy, Church wise. And in some ways it is. What makes it hard, though, are all those people in the middle. I learned that, sad as it is, being a Church member doesn't always guarantee anything. You can't just blindly trust everyone to be good.
Sleep and college don’t belong together.
I don't understand how I'm able to function with about five hours of sleep every night, but somehow I am. I guess my body has just got used to the constant lack of sleep, and nowadays six hours is luxurious. It's kind of sad and scary. But when you have so much to do, especially so many fun things, you can very well sacrifice a few hours of sleep . . . I don’t want to miss out on all of the fun, crazy, or sometimes even serious stuff that’s going around. And I also have studying to do, believe it or not. And anyways, who needs sleep….?
There's a difference between what you ought to do and what you really have to do.
Probably the most important thing for your academic success, as well as life in general, is to figure out what you really need to do in order to do well in your classes. The fact is that there's not enough time to do everything your professors would have you do. I tried it in the beginning of this semester, and it did not work out. You just need to find out what's absolutely crucial and essential, and then leave everything else out. Much less work and you can still get As (speaking from personal experience), plus that there's a lot more time to party . . .
You can make guys do almost anything if you feed them well.
I have applied this truth very well this semester. Just one example: I made my FHE boys dance a Finnish folk song in our ward's variety show by threatening to dump the delicious cake I made. It worked out so well. They didn't even complain.
The things you don’t plan beforehand turn out to be the best.
My life is very random, most of the time. Call me crazy, weirdo, or wacko if you want. You are pretty close to the truth. What I'm trying to say is that I just like to do stuff from the spur of the moment, just go with the flow. We, my roommates, friends, and I, have had dance parties in and outside, at night and in the middle of the day, late night IHOP runs, baking parties, belly painting, temple trips, last minute Creamery shopping, food fights, wrestling matches, sleepovers, etc. I love the randomness of my life. It's so unpredictable; you never know what's going to happen the next moment.
Love it.
Everything is a lot nicer when you love it. I love school, I love living in America, I love my roommates, I love my friends, I love the gospel, I love my family, I live my violin (I named it Johnny boy, so it's a lot more loveable now), I love having fun, I love studying in the library, I love cooking, I love eating, I love staying up late, I love the next day when I'm so tired I fall asleep in the class, I love cleaning checks (bath tub is my favorite), I love all those awkward dates, I love hanging out with my friends, I love when they hug me, I love when they get mad at me, I love when we cry and laugh together . . . I just love my college experience so far. It's been crazy, exhausting, and stressing but at the same time it's been just simply awesome. College is perfect just the way it is. Even the unpleasant things turn out to be enjoyable when you just decide to love them. I wouldn't change a single moment during this semester. I simply LOVE IT.
Time Shift
Posted by Braden
I had a 7 a.m. statics final today . . . it was painful. The "statics final" part was fun--only about an hour, no big surprises, and not too difficult; the "7 a.m." part was sheer pain. It meant I had to wake up at 6:15. I've only done that one other time this semester (for a church meeting) and it hurt then too.
Back home, 6:15 would have been sleeping in. And it's not like I'm just getting lazy either--on a college campus, you just shift your life back a few hours. At 7 a.m., there's nobody outside, and at 11 p.m., everybody is still awake. This time shift is particularly unfortunate when you add to it the fact that my family is in a time zone two hours after me. So I wake up two hours later than them, 8:00 instead of 6:00, and then they're also two hours beyond that because of the time zones. That means if I want to call them before they go to bed at night, I need to do it before 10 their time, which is 8 my time, which is a good 5 hours before the time I typically go to bed!
The first night I'm home, I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep at the same time they all do . . .
I had a 7 a.m. statics final today . . . it was painful. The "statics final" part was fun--only about an hour, no big surprises, and not too difficult; the "7 a.m." part was sheer pain. It meant I had to wake up at 6:15. I've only done that one other time this semester (for a church meeting) and it hurt then too.
Back home, 6:15 would have been sleeping in. And it's not like I'm just getting lazy either--on a college campus, you just shift your life back a few hours. At 7 a.m., there's nobody outside, and at 11 p.m., everybody is still awake. This time shift is particularly unfortunate when you add to it the fact that my family is in a time zone two hours after me. So I wake up two hours later than them, 8:00 instead of 6:00, and then they're also two hours beyond that because of the time zones. That means if I want to call them before they go to bed at night, I need to do it before 10 their time, which is 8 my time, which is a good 5 hours before the time I typically go to bed!
The first night I'm home, I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep at the same time they all do . . .
Monday, December 14, 2009
What Else Can Be Said But, WOW!
Posted by Laura
Wow. What a semester! The past three and a half months of my life and time have been full of so many new experiences. From walking on campus for the very first time, lost in your surroundings, compared to taking shortcuts that get you exactly where you want to go. From introducing yourself to new faces hundreds of times, compared to saying goodbye to friends that you have learned and grown from. From opening a fresh stiff book knowing that the journey of hundreds of hours of studying begins with that first word, compared to reading the last page of a heavily used and highlighted book. There is so much that happens in a such a short amount of time.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience happened to me the last week of class. There was a American Heritage drawing that took place, where all of the names of the students who completed a course survey near the beginning of the semester were entered to win prizes. I had assumed I lost because it was so long ago, but I got an e-mail notifying me that my name had been drawn and that I won an iPod! Whoot whoot! It was so exciting, my roommates opened the Martinelli's bottle they had been saving for the last day of class and a party began. It was quite the event to see and so exciting. I felt pretty lucky that day.
As I have talked to people about finals week, I have heard lots of different opinions and contrasting advice. One of my roommates thinks it best to just buckle down and get finals out of the way, so starting at 10 tonight, she will be celebrating Christmas break. Some have all of theirs scheduled and have to be done cramming, ready or not. I had half of my finals in class last week, and the other half are unscheduled. I have it planned out that I will have one each day and be finished on Thursday. I have actually felt pretty proud, taking a step back and looking at all that I have learned in each class.
I know that my prayers were truly answered this morning as I completed my first religion final and got 100 percent on the memorization section. I hope that if I put the time and effort into studying harder than ever, then all will all work out. It has been a great semester, and I am excited to finish finals, enjoy Christmas break, and start a fresh semester with some experience behind my name.
Wow. What a semester! The past three and a half months of my life and time have been full of so many new experiences. From walking on campus for the very first time, lost in your surroundings, compared to taking shortcuts that get you exactly where you want to go. From introducing yourself to new faces hundreds of times, compared to saying goodbye to friends that you have learned and grown from. From opening a fresh stiff book knowing that the journey of hundreds of hours of studying begins with that first word, compared to reading the last page of a heavily used and highlighted book. There is so much that happens in a such a short amount of time.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience happened to me the last week of class. There was a American Heritage drawing that took place, where all of the names of the students who completed a course survey near the beginning of the semester were entered to win prizes. I had assumed I lost because it was so long ago, but I got an e-mail notifying me that my name had been drawn and that I won an iPod! Whoot whoot! It was so exciting, my roommates opened the Martinelli's bottle they had been saving for the last day of class and a party began. It was quite the event to see and so exciting. I felt pretty lucky that day.
As I have talked to people about finals week, I have heard lots of different opinions and contrasting advice. One of my roommates thinks it best to just buckle down and get finals out of the way, so starting at 10 tonight, she will be celebrating Christmas break. Some have all of theirs scheduled and have to be done cramming, ready or not. I had half of my finals in class last week, and the other half are unscheduled. I have it planned out that I will have one each day and be finished on Thursday. I have actually felt pretty proud, taking a step back and looking at all that I have learned in each class.
I know that my prayers were truly answered this morning as I completed my first religion final and got 100 percent on the memorization section. I hope that if I put the time and effort into studying harder than ever, then all will all work out. It has been a great semester, and I am excited to finish finals, enjoy Christmas break, and start a fresh semester with some experience behind my name.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Glorious Day
Posted by Braden
Today was a day to be remembered: textbook sell-back day.
There were moments of pain--$170 of my original purchases were not being accepted for sell-back this semester. And they're not even books/packets that I have any interest in keeping! Two of them are also for a class that isn't offered at most colleges (history of creativity), so there is very slim chance that I'll be able to sell them online. :(
There were moments of joy--$276 in cash for the books that they would take back! I left with a much lighter backpack than when I showed up.
There were moments of boredom--I showed up with some friends 20 minutes before the Bookstore opened, and we had to walk down five separate full-length hallways in the Wilk to find the end of the line. And we were the lucky ones! Fortunately, the whole process only took about an hour.
And now studying for exams is going to be just a little bit more complicated . . . fortunately, the library has a few copies on reserve, I've got very thorough notes for most of my classes, and I can access one of my books online through the end of the year using the password that came on the inside of it.
Selling back my books didn't feel good enough to cancel out the $600 I spent buying them . . . but it certainly gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, nonetheless.
Today was a day to be remembered: textbook sell-back day.
There were moments of pain--$170 of my original purchases were not being accepted for sell-back this semester. And they're not even books/packets that I have any interest in keeping! Two of them are also for a class that isn't offered at most colleges (history of creativity), so there is very slim chance that I'll be able to sell them online. :(
There were moments of joy--$276 in cash for the books that they would take back! I left with a much lighter backpack than when I showed up.
There were moments of boredom--I showed up with some friends 20 minutes before the Bookstore opened, and we had to walk down five separate full-length hallways in the Wilk to find the end of the line. And we were the lucky ones! Fortunately, the whole process only took about an hour.
And now studying for exams is going to be just a little bit more complicated . . . fortunately, the library has a few copies on reserve, I've got very thorough notes for most of my classes, and I can access one of my books online through the end of the year using the password that came on the inside of it.
Selling back my books didn't feel good enough to cancel out the $600 I spent buying them . . . but it certainly gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, nonetheless.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Reading Day
Posted by Braden
My "Reading Day" looked an awful lot like any other day. If anything, it felt less full of schoolwork than regular days during the semester when you still have future exams to study for and projects to work on, but you also have homework to worry about.
I spent 4.5 hours sitting in classrooms--for exam reviews put on by TAs, rather than actual class--spent an hour or two outside of class studying materials and finishing up projects, and spent the rest of the day playing! Before, between, and after schoolwork, I found time to practice a song that my roommates and I are singing on Sunday, meet a friend for lunch, go grocery shopping, make puppy chow with some girls in my ward, watch the Dark Knight in their apartment, and stay up talking with them in the lobby until 1:30.
There was still plenty of work to do, but for someone who has kept up with work along the way and attends as many reviews as possible, it was relatively minimal in stress. I have been getting the sensation lately that I'm about to explode. After reviewing for all these comprehensive exams, I feel so full of information that I'm afraid I'll start leaking. I wish we could have started taking the exams last week! But alas, no. Instead, I'll spend an hour in a line outside the testing center on Monday, waiting to take my finals . . . just like everyone else.
My "Reading Day" looked an awful lot like any other day. If anything, it felt less full of schoolwork than regular days during the semester when you still have future exams to study for and projects to work on, but you also have homework to worry about.
I spent 4.5 hours sitting in classrooms--for exam reviews put on by TAs, rather than actual class--spent an hour or two outside of class studying materials and finishing up projects, and spent the rest of the day playing! Before, between, and after schoolwork, I found time to practice a song that my roommates and I are singing on Sunday, meet a friend for lunch, go grocery shopping, make puppy chow with some girls in my ward, watch the Dark Knight in their apartment, and stay up talking with them in the lobby until 1:30.
There was still plenty of work to do, but for someone who has kept up with work along the way and attends as many reviews as possible, it was relatively minimal in stress. I have been getting the sensation lately that I'm about to explode. After reviewing for all these comprehensive exams, I feel so full of information that I'm afraid I'll start leaking. I wish we could have started taking the exams last week! But alas, no. Instead, I'll spend an hour in a line outside the testing center on Monday, waiting to take my finals . . . just like everyone else.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Holy Schniky It's Already Over
Posted by Adam
It's been over a month since I posted a blog, and lemme tell ya what, a WHOLE lot has happened. I don't even know where to begin... so how about Halloween!
Halloween ROCKED! I had a couple friends from home come down for the night. Mixed with some friends we have here, we made the Mystery Gang from Scooby Doo. It's amazing what you can actually find at Savers and pull together!
November seemed to fly by without my permission. I'm sure there was a bunch of fun stuff, but everything really pales in comparison to the big exciting news I got on Nov. 26. I know I planned to stay for the entire year, but the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn't wait.
I was lucky enough to submit my mission papers, and I had them sent to my home because that's where I was gonna be for Thanksgiving! I had been scheming to tell my family in a creative way.
I got the call Wednesday. I hid the envelope in my shirt and brought in the rest of the mail. My sister was standing by the door, and I gave her this disappointed look and said, “Well, hopefully it'll come Friday.”
Then I snuck outside, ran across the street to the baseball field bleachers, and opened the call. I had to read it about four times before I finally comprehended that I was going to the Italy Milan Mission. Then I stood up and screamed like a little school girl. It was pretty embarrassing. I looked over and saw my neighbors walking their dogs. They stopped and looked at me, but I don't think they realized who I was.
I report on April 1--yup, April Fools' Day--learning the Italian language. It totally blew me away, and it was harder to pretend like I didn't have it than I thought it would be. I acted casual, played the piano, but then eventually got too fidgety that I had to go do something. I called and told my roommate Mike. Then that night we had a big friend get together, and I announced it to about six people and called a couple others.
When I got home, my other sister had just gotten home. My mom asked us if we'd go pick up some milk and an onion before we went to bed. On the car ride there, I figured I would need an accomplice, so I told her where I was going and we devised a plan.
The next morning my sister called everyone over for a quick game of speed Scrabble. If you don’t know what speed Scrabble is, it's Scrabble with no board and everyone working on their own words. When someone uses all their letters they yell "go," and everyone draws a tile. It continues till the tiles are all gone.
During the second game, every time someone said, “go” I pulled out another tile from my back pocket. I eventually spelled, "I'm goin' to Italy" in tiles and then yelled, “ I win!”
Everyone was into their own game, and they looked at my discombobbled tiles, figured I was kidding, and went back to work on their own games. Then my sister said, “No! Adam won!” So they all kinda stopped and stared at the tiles. It took a good five seconds to register. Then Mom started screaming, along with everyone else. I had the call underneath the tablecloth, so I pulled it out and showed them. My mom kept saying, “You’re so mean! I don’t believe you.” Then she read the call and believed me finally.
So now I've got four months before I head into the MTC. I leave just three weeks before the winter semester would end, so I'm not able to attend school. But I'll be able to earn some good money.
It's sad that we usually don't notice our blessings till they're almost or all the way gone. I've been trying to do my best at enjoying my stay here at BYU and now that I'm near the end of the experience I just want more. It seems like I've done so much, but still not enough. I think back to the beginning of the semester and want so much to just experience it all again. It's been an entirely rewarding experience, one that I'll never forget!
It's been over a month since I posted a blog, and lemme tell ya what, a WHOLE lot has happened. I don't even know where to begin... so how about Halloween!
Halloween ROCKED! I had a couple friends from home come down for the night. Mixed with some friends we have here, we made the Mystery Gang from Scooby Doo. It's amazing what you can actually find at Savers and pull together!
November seemed to fly by without my permission. I'm sure there was a bunch of fun stuff, but everything really pales in comparison to the big exciting news I got on Nov. 26. I know I planned to stay for the entire year, but the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn't wait.
I was lucky enough to submit my mission papers, and I had them sent to my home because that's where I was gonna be for Thanksgiving! I had been scheming to tell my family in a creative way.
I got the call Wednesday. I hid the envelope in my shirt and brought in the rest of the mail. My sister was standing by the door, and I gave her this disappointed look and said, “Well, hopefully it'll come Friday.”
Then I snuck outside, ran across the street to the baseball field bleachers, and opened the call. I had to read it about four times before I finally comprehended that I was going to the Italy Milan Mission. Then I stood up and screamed like a little school girl. It was pretty embarrassing. I looked over and saw my neighbors walking their dogs. They stopped and looked at me, but I don't think they realized who I was.
I report on April 1--yup, April Fools' Day--learning the Italian language. It totally blew me away, and it was harder to pretend like I didn't have it than I thought it would be. I acted casual, played the piano, but then eventually got too fidgety that I had to go do something. I called and told my roommate Mike. Then that night we had a big friend get together, and I announced it to about six people and called a couple others.
When I got home, my other sister had just gotten home. My mom asked us if we'd go pick up some milk and an onion before we went to bed. On the car ride there, I figured I would need an accomplice, so I told her where I was going and we devised a plan.
The next morning my sister called everyone over for a quick game of speed Scrabble. If you don’t know what speed Scrabble is, it's Scrabble with no board and everyone working on their own words. When someone uses all their letters they yell "go," and everyone draws a tile. It continues till the tiles are all gone.
During the second game, every time someone said, “go” I pulled out another tile from my back pocket. I eventually spelled, "I'm goin' to Italy" in tiles and then yelled, “ I win!”
Everyone was into their own game, and they looked at my discombobbled tiles, figured I was kidding, and went back to work on their own games. Then my sister said, “No! Adam won!” So they all kinda stopped and stared at the tiles. It took a good five seconds to register. Then Mom started screaming, along with everyone else. I had the call underneath the tablecloth, so I pulled it out and showed them. My mom kept saying, “You’re so mean! I don’t believe you.” Then she read the call and believed me finally.
So now I've got four months before I head into the MTC. I leave just three weeks before the winter semester would end, so I'm not able to attend school. But I'll be able to earn some good money.
It's sad that we usually don't notice our blessings till they're almost or all the way gone. I've been trying to do my best at enjoying my stay here at BYU and now that I'm near the end of the experience I just want more. It seems like I've done so much, but still not enough. I think back to the beginning of the semester and want so much to just experience it all again. It's been an entirely rewarding experience, one that I'll never forget!
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