The First Year

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Cougar Football

Posted by Adam

Alrighty, I've been a little hesitant to put up a post about my love for Cougar football because I fear I would not do it justice.

Just to start off, I love BYU football; some of my earliest memories of my childhood were watching BYU games, wondering why my dad and brother kept yelling at the television every couple minutes. I'm pretty sure I had BYU diapers, and I have always had a couple BYU shirts on hand. All I'm trying to get at is--I'm a born and bred Cougar fan. I haven't missed watching a game in over four years. My yearly calendar essentially revolves around the Cougar football schedule. I even showed up late to a closing night performance of a show I was in because they couldn't pry me away from the TV. I missed the opening number!

So really, BYU football has always been more than just a game to me--it's been an entire life in the making. So you can imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to come to BYU and get an All-Sport Pass. I actually included the All-Sport Pass fee in my tuition budget--I wasn't going to get an education without being able to see the big games. And of all seasons to come to the school, I've been lucky enough to be at the one where the Cougars are ranked in the top 10 in the nation! I almost explode just thinking about it. I mean, did anyone go to the UCLA game? It was amazing! That stadium was off the hook! The games have been fun, but probably the best part of it all is the fact that I'm practically peers with the guys on the team! Although I still feel like a little boy compared to them.

Last week I was walking to my moped which was parked by the Indoor Practice Facility and, as soon as I get it started, I turn around to see none other than Austin Collie about two feet in front of me. Trying not to look like a complete idiot, I lifted up my jaw and just stared as he passed by me. But I couldn't get the courage to say anything to him; I was star struck for the first time in my life!

But to top it all off, earlier this afternoon, after my ballroom dance class, feeling like an idiot because I suddenly had two left feet on my quiz, I headed over to Jamba Juice with a friend of mine. I got a sour-patch-flavored smoothie. (It's totally off subject, but the sooner everyone else finds out about the secret menu at Jamba Juice, the sooner you'll all be happier in life. They have flavors not on the menu--white gummy bear, Skittles, sour patch, purple dinosaur, and lots of others . . . best of luck.) Anyway, as we were sitting there talking, I look over and notice none other than Curtis Brown at the cash register (if you don't know who he is, he's only BYU's all-time rushing leader) and next to him, Fui Vakapuna! (Now if you don't know who that is, shame on you, he's #1 . . . literally.)

Well, me and my friend just sat there like 12-year-old girls at a Hannah Montana concert; we probably said nothing other than, "Dude!" for like 10 minutes. But I wasn't about to let another opportunity pass me up, so I stood right up, went over, put my hand on Fui's massive shoulder, and said, "Fui Vakapuna, I love you," and shook his hand. Then I repeated the process with Curtis Brown, actually managing to spit out a couple coherent sentences before drooling all over the floor. It was nothing other than awesome! Then I just sat and stared at the beautiful bald heads and massive calves of two of the greatest rushers of all time--in my book at least. Sigh, I love BYU!

Note: Like other posts on The First Year blog, this post was written in 2008 and discusses events (the UCLA football game, meeting Fui Vakapuna and Curtis Brown) that happened a year ago.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Struggling on Sundays!

Posted by Ashley

Sundays are hard for me. It's difficult not having my family with me at church and having dinner together. Four of my roommates are from Utah. The other one used to live in Utah and has a ton of family who lives here. So most of my roommates go home every Sunday to see family. During the week I am so busy with school that it's hard to have time to think about home. But on Sundays I sure do get homesick.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Oodles of Tests!

Posted by Laura

This week I survived four midterm tests! It was actually pretty nerve racking just because it's the first test of a class and you don't really know what to expect. I have heard that college tests are just ridiculous, but what is the definition of ridiculous? Does it mean you have to memorize every word in the textbook and your notes to get a passing grade, or does it mean that if you decide to party the night before and don't study then you will get a ridiculous low grade?

Well, now that I have four under my belt I think the actual definition is that if you go to class and put in extra time outside of class to make sure you know the concepts, they are reasonable. I don't think I had ever put as much time in studying for a test throughout my educational history. But my preparation paid off and I felt really good about how I did on each of them. It just shows that hard work truly is the key to success.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wal-Mart!

Posted by Elise

It was midnight and we were sitting outside our building with nothing to do, trying to pretend we didn't have piles of homework waiting for us inside. After talking for a while, we were starting to get bored so we did what any normal college student would do—we went to Wal-Mart!

You may laugh, but do you realize how fun that store can be when you're the only ones there? We dug through Halloween costumes, played with toys, tried on shoes, and bought a whole lot of food. (A word of advice—never go shopping when you're hungry.)

Pretty soon we were all on that late-night energy high—skipping around, piggy back riding, and dancing through the aisles. Well, all except one kid who ended up taking a nap in the shopping cart. Overall it was a memorable, if not quite productive, evening.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Home Identity

Posted by Braden

College has been a lot of fun so far. I've got a routine now; I'm very comfortable with my roommates; there are definite advantages to eating whatever I want whenever I want. But every once in a while when I'm lying in bed about to fall asleep, I catch myself thinking, "I can't wait until I get home to tell my family and friends about all the—oh, this is home."

Like I said, college has been great to me so far! I really enjoy being here . . . but I enjoy it the way one enjoys a good vacation. It's something new, something fun, and then you go home and forever remember that fun experience you once had. Maybe you'll even go back sometime. This vacation isn't ending for a good long while yet, and the feeling I swore I wasn't going to feel when I came to college—homesickness—is peeping its ugly head out of my subconscious every once in a while.

I'm not falling to pieces, my world isn't crumbling, I'm not crying myself to sleep at night; but I still can't help but feeling like I'm not home here in Provo, yet. I know it will come eventually, but it hasn't happened yet.

It's an odd sort of feeling, homesickness; it's not overwhelming, but not pleasant either. And I'm not quite sure how to get rid of it either, to be honest. I'm going to keep on living here at college, though—making more memories, developing deeper friendships, getting more familiar with my new place of residence—and I sure hope my heart doesn't take too long in making the switch from Ohio to Utah, so I can start thinking at night about all the things I'll tell my family about home when I go to Ohio for Christmas.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

My Conversion Story

Posted by Ashley

In my last post, I mentioned my experience with seminary and how it played into my conversion. So here is the short version of my story.

My parents are both converts and became inactive when I was little. I would go to church every once in a while. I did go to girls camp every year though. That is where I met some of my best friends. When we started high school my friends would bug me everyday at lunch about going to seminary. Why would I want to go to a church class at 6 a.m.?

One day, about three weeks into school, they made a deal with me—to go to seminary the rest of the week. As it was Wednesday, I figured I could handle going for only two days. So I went and enjoyed it, even though I was confused since I rarely went to church. Monday rolled around and I got up to go to seminary. I continued to go every day.

My mom and I started going back to church; and then about three months later we asked for the missionaries to come give our family the discussions. So then I was baptized in February of 2005. I had gone to seminary every day and my teacher had no idea that I wasn't a member, neither did many of my church friends. Let's see . . . my dad went to church the day of my confirmation (that was the first time I remember him going to church) and he has continued to go ever since. And my sister who is only 17 months younger than me was baptized a year later.

Monday, September 21, 2009

From Spoiled Rotten, to New Fridge

Posted by Laura

I would not consider myself to be a morning person at all, however, a few days ago I tried to be a good and diligent student by waking up early to put in some extra studying time for a quiz I had that day. I decided to reward my diligence with a bowl of ice cream to really get my brain working in these dawn breaking hours. To my dismay, when I began scooping the ice cream out, it was pretty soggy and almost like a thick liquid. Instead of ice cream waking me up, the thought that our fridge was broken hit me with greater force. I went and woke up my roommates up and we began transferring the freezer items that were still cold enough to be safe, to the back room freezer, and oh how I wish there was a back room fridge as well, but there isn't.

So we gathered up enough courage to scatter our fridge food throughout other apartments in the ward, in hopes that all was not lost. I think we were able to scatter everything except for our mustard, ketchup, and pickles, which we ended up putting in the back freezer to keep cold (and the sour cream we ended up smelling later). We were able to save all this food because of my diligence of being a good student, which was comforting. So for the next little while, we managed by keeping a list of all the apartments and what foods they had stored for us.

Today, we have a sleek, new, black, and cold fridge in our apartment that holds all of our own food and ice cream. It is so nice to know that my cold 2 percent milk is waiting for me just a few feet away instead of a couple flights of stairs up and around the corner. So, when it comes down to it, being a diligent student and waking up in the morning to eat ice cream really does pay off.

My First Paper at BYU!

Posted by Ashley

Normally I am the one who dreads writing papers, but this one I actually enjoyed writing. It didn't take very long, which was a great plus. And that is not because I did a poor job on it but rather because it was a topic that I love and have a lot to say about it. This paper was for my Book of Mormon class. We were to write a paper on any gospel topic we wanted. The format is pretty much just what you would prepare for a talk in Sacrament meeting. I chose the topic of a change in heart or being truly converted to the gospel. Since I am a convert (I was baptized about three years ago) I figured this would be a great topic for me to write about.

I love my Book of Mormon class. It reminds me so much of seminary (I think it helps that my Book of Mormon class is pretty small compared to many.) Seminary is where my conversion story starts so it is something that I love and miss very much. I am very excited to see what I will learn in this class as well as how my testimony will be strengthened.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

In Our Lovely Deseret

Posted by Braden

The Church is the same in Ohio and in Utah. Being a member of the Church in Ohio is very much different than being a member of the church in Utah!

Shopping at Macey's I heard somebody say behind me, ". . . goes into the MTC on . . . ," and I got really excited! Then I realized I was in Utah and everybody knows somebody who is leaving in or going to be in the MTC soon.

Shopping in Wal-Mart I turned the corner and saw, Whoa! BYU backpacks, notebooks, helmets, paper weights, pencils, lunchboxes, bumper stickers, and pillow cases! For just a second I wondered just how many BYU items I could afford to buy without going over my weekly budget . . . then I realized that I'm in Utah, and those items aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

One day, talking about hometeaching with my roommates, I mentioned how we'd usually do our routes back home on Sundays because the 2.5–3 hour round trip would take up a lot of homework time on a weeknight . . . they then proceeded to tell me how they walked across the street to teach their first family and then went down the road one block to reach their other two.

Looking at Google Maps one night I zoomed out and showed them my stake boundaries. They moved the focus area to their city, zoomed in, and showed me their neighborhood; which was also their stake boundary.

In stake conference of November 2006, we were fortunate enough to hear Elder Henry B. Eyring speak in person! That was the first time I'd ever seen a general authority in person that I can remember. Less than two weeks into my time at BYU, I saw President Uchtdorf, President Packer, and Elder Holland all in the same day, in person, much closer than I'd been able to sit in stake conference.

In short, there are a whole lot of advantages to living where there is such a high concentration of members! More understanding for your beliefs, more merchandise for your school (Go Cougars!), more opportunities to hear the leadership speak in person . . . but there is one negative as well.

In the Midwest, when you meet somebody outside of a church function who is a member, there is an instant bond between you. You've never met him or her before, but you and he or she know that the two of you have a lot more in common at the fundamental level of who you are and what you believe in than probably anybody else around you! In Utah, a large part of that is lost—"You are a member? Yeah, me too. And so is she. And he. And him. And her. And what's that? You live 3 minutes away? Maybe I'll see you at Regional Conference."

Friday, September 18, 2009

Freedom!!

Posted by Ashley

I love all the freedom that I have here at college. But the one freedom that I don't have here . . . is being able to drive places and go wherever and whenever I want. Now if I want to go to the mall, I have to wait for the bus and hope I get on the right one. (It took forever to figure out which bus to take and what time it was coming for my first trip to the mall . . . hopefully I will get better at figuring out bus times.) It makes me laugh because the place I miss driving to the most is Wendy's. I use to go there all the time with my friends for Frosty runs. But don't worry . . . I found the nearest Wendy's and I can't wait to eat some food. So if anyone wants to go for a Frosty and fry run . . . let me know and I will be there in a heartbeat.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

YARRG!

Posted by Adam

What started off as seeming like an average, slow-paced, kick back and relax sort of afternoon suddenly changed when our friend from across the stairwell, Stuart, barges in and what to our surprise, he's wearing a pirate costume that cost him seven bucks at various thrift store locations. So my roommate Mike, who--if pirate-ing was a major he'd definitely be accepted into the program--without delay runs into our room and throws on his coveted pirate costume, which he has worn every Halloween since seventh grade, or at least since I've known him.

Well I, being one shrunken head short of a pirate costume, decided that I might as well impersonate a superhero, so I fashioned a cape out of a towel, threw on my favorite paper plumbers hat, and as weapons, I stationed a spare toothbrush and a recently purchased plunger in my holster.

Well, now that we're looking so savvy, what better to do than flaunt ourselves around the Wyview parking lot. Well, one thing led to another and within no time we had about 15 people in the parking lot, sword fighting and swashbuckling in anyway they could, dressed up in various ways as pirates or superheroes. (The picture only shows about half of the total amount.)

It soon became apparent that this motley crew of scallywags soon would have to take to the high seas of University Parkway, so I commandeered a scooter, with a woman on the back, and drove proudly through the streets with our large scale Jolly-Roger/Skull and Crossbones flag sailing right beind us. We passed people on the street and gave them a friendly "YARRRRRG!!" You'd be amazed what kind of attention a skull and crossbones can get a person.

Well the rest of our crew finally arrrrr-ived at the Creamery on Ninth, where we pillaged and plundered some gummy bears, and then with my super-saliva, we strategically stuck the gummies all over a certain friend's vessel.

But our work was not done for the night, we had one more task. What self-respecting pirate movie could end without an epic fight scene between Captain Jack Sparrow and a superhero. Sadly Sparrow prevailed, but as you see in the video, superheroes have an extra spirt of life that can only lead to another week's sequel . . . TO BE CONTINUED!

Sleep? . . . right!

Posted by Elise

When I first got here, my sleeping cycle went crazy. I've always been a morning person (like really super early in the morning); now all of a sudden I was staying up 'til 3 and sleeping 'til 10 or 11. This is like a five-hour shift from what I did all through high school! It's weird what happens when there are no parents there to remind you how late it is or how early you have to get up tomorrow. And who wants to sleep when you can listen to Brian Regan with your roommates 'til 3 or go feed the ducks at midnight?

After a few weeks of this it was starting to wear on me—in my energy level and in those wonderful Italian bags under my eyes. :) So the last two or three days I've been going to bed before (or close to) midnight. I feel so much better! Just like every other aspect of college life, I just have to be aware of what I'm doing and keep myself in check and I'll be fine!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Three Generations of Cougars

Posted by Laura

Last weekend was so fun! How could a BYU football game get any better? We completely dominated, smeared, demolished UCLA, and man, was it sweet to watch. What made it even more sweet was that my mom and grandma got to come watch it with me and my sister; it was a three generation event.


After the game, I was able to walk around with my mom and grandma and they were able to tell me some of their experiences at BYU. I never knew that my grandma still has get-togethers with her roommates from BYU or that she was on the newspaper organization kind of like our Daily Universe but it was called The Press back then. It was really neat hearing all of their stories and knowing that I am creating those memories that I will look back on, today.

I have loved my ward! Everyone is so friendly and outgoing. This Sunday at church, I was called to be the publicity coordinator. I am not too computer savvy, but I am still so excited to start. After church, my roommates pulled out the ice cream. Literally. When they scooped it, it came right out of the box and was just a big cube of ice cream. So we decided to do what any normal person would do and sculpted it, into a bus. Nobody wanted to ruin this art so it is on the plate in our freezer, firming up.


Note: Like other posts on The First Year blog, this post was written in 2008 and discusses events (the BYU-UCLA football game) that happened a year ago.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Hiking the Y and the First Football Game Ever

Posted by Sini

I've been so busy that I haven't even had time to write anything. Plus I have to admit I'm a really really lazy writer.

So the first two weeks of school have been awfully busy, quite overwhelming sometimes, but also a lot of fun! I really love BYU and I'm so glad to be here! But it's also hard. The greatest thing for me is to be surrounded by so many people who share my faith, principles and values. The regional conference and fireside last Sunday were amazing. I've never seen so many LDS members at one place—I couldn't believe my eyes! In the whole Finland there are around 4,000 members. So this seems like a dream sometimes.

On Saturday we went to hike the Y with our awesome Freshman Academy group, peer mentors, and our Book of Mormon teacher who is also our bishop (isn't that funny). I enjoyed it so much! We don't have mountains in Finland so they are something really special for me. And they are so beautiful. I like being outdoors, camping and hiking, so this hike was just a perfect start for Saturday.

Waking up so early on Saturday morning (we left at 8:30) wasn't my favorite thing though. But I've never hiked the Y before and I wanted to do it so badly so I didn't care about sleeping. And it was worth it, totally!

After the steep climb it felt so good to finally be there on top of the Y. I was the fifth one to reach the top! :) And what a view, it was unbelievable! I can't get enough of the mountains and the amazing views that you have once you climb up one. It's so breathtaking every time! Later we sang "High on the Mountain Top" (very surprising) and the bishop gave a short spiritual message. It was sweet to be up there with all my new friends and lovely roommates and our great bishop; it really feels like we're a big family.

Coming down was a lot easier and a lot faster, but I'd say not as much fun because you don't get the great, victorious feeling that you have when you reach the top. :)

All in all hiking the Y was a great experience! I loved it! And I'm definitely going to do that again some time!

My Saturday continued with the very first American football game of my life. We don't have football in Finland at all. And I think I couldn't have chosen a better game to start with. At first I didn't really understand what was going on in the game. I just cheered when everyone else was cheering. :) I don't know the rules, or I guess I have to say I didn't know the rules. Now I know, a little bit at least. I have never experienced anything like that before. We don't have university sports in Finland and not so many big sports events in general, and I don't think we even have such a big stadium. I almost lost my voice and got a little sunburned but that's part of it, I think. :)

I love being here and experiencing all these new, fun, and exciting things and the difficulties as well. There have been some hard times and bad days when I have thought that coming here was a huge mistake. But honestly I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than here at BYU!

Note: Like other posts on The First Year blog, this post was written in 2008 and discusses events (the regional conference and football game) that happened a year ago.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Distractions

Posted by Braden

The first night our FHE sisters came over to say hi, we were talking with them in the hallway when a smoke detector went off. We didn't think much of it and went on talking. After 20 seconds when nobody had done anything about it, we wondered why it wasn't being turned off. Then all of a sudden Cory goes, "My onion rings!" and runs in to rescue what used to be his onion rings but were now something black and crispy. Turns out, only the one side was burnt, so we ate the other half. But my, how distracting FHE sisters can be! :-)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Petty Little Freshman

Posted by Adam

One of the major downsides of being a freshman is the fact that, while being a pre-me, not a single girl on campus is interested! So here's the story. I go to my social dance class and I meet this girl in there, the name of said girl will remain unknown for her safety; she seemed like a pretty cool girl, and one of those people where you can tell a friendship will easily spring. So we danced for a good 30 flirty seconds and then switched partners and so forth.

After the class I headed to the Cougareat to grab some munchies. As I, a lonely freshman, look for a table with people I can meet, I see her sitting at a table by herself. She spotted me and invited me over to sit by her. I've often been told that I look at least 21, although I'm only 18—this can work for and against me. In most cases it's best to let the opposite sex just assume you're older, because when they find out, as "nameless girl from my social dance class" did, all conversation is shut off, and all interest in being peers is eliminated. I mean, I wasn't trying to date this girl, I was just having a friendly conversation, and it was a good solid conversation up until, "Oh . . . (awkward silence) . . . you look older than you are." After that point I probably got a good three sentence fragments out of her little mouth.

I mean honestly, are we freshman really that different? I mean, sure it's my first year of college, and maybe I don't own a car, or maybe I don't have a major, or maybe I don't have the refined stamina of an RM . . . but it's not like I'm a third grader or something, I can still carry on a coherent conversation with someone. Sigh, if this had been the only instance where this had happened, I wouldn't be making a fuss, but I have experienced this three; count em, three times, and am getting quite tired of it. In fact I have firmly resolved that I'm going to tell people that I'm 22 and just got back from Madagascar on my mission. It's goof proof, if not a little sacrilegious, but I want a woman!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Does it have to have a witty title?

Posted by Elise

This is gonna sound really weird and I'm sorry for that, but I actually think college classes are easier to focus in than in high school! The professors keep things moving and for the most part they're energetic and passionate about what they teach. Of course, it also helps that classes are only 50 minutes long. :)

Okay so that doesn't mean college is easier than high school by any stretch of the imagination. I've read more out of textbooks in the past week than I did in all of high school put together! Its a lot of work and takes more self-control, but it's a good kind of work because I feel like I'm learning a lot. I've actually really been enjoying most of my classes so far!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Yin Yang

Posted by Braden

No men's chorus for Braden this semester. :-( At callbacks, Sister Hall had each of us sing one by one in groups of 10, say who she wanted to stay, and let everybody else go. Then she had the people who had already sung once do it again and let more go. This continued until there were four of us left. I ended up singing for her five times! Every time, I thought I did really well (by my own standards), and she never gave me anything to try to correct like she did with some people, such as "a little brighter," or "taller vowels," or "you're a little sharp," etc.; so I never got any feedback as to what she didn't like. But there's a blessing in all of this too:

I was feeling really stressed out the other day. With a schedule of 17.5 credits, and weekly volunteering at the Bean museum, and whatever calling I end up with, and there are so many individual projects and assignments for each class to keep track of and at least 2 big term papers/projects that I know of, and home teaching, and scholarship applications, and monthly blogging/interviews, and—and I was just feeling really beat time-wise; didn't know how in the world I would be able to find the time to play or go on dates, etc. And now I suddenly find myself with 5 extra hours every week for the rest of the school year. :) And more than that, because that hour was isolated from other classes on three of the days, I don't have to waste the transition time. And the extra practices. And the days of missing school. And don't get me wrong, I really would have loved to be in it, but I'm happier if I believe now that the pros outweigh the cons. And all these pros really are real pros, too. I'm not just making them up.

Of course, one con is that now my parents have no excuse to come out and see me perform like they did for my two older siblings; it's kind of tradition that they come out freshmen year to see us performing in whatever group we're in. But Involv-A-Palooza has been going on in Brigham Square these past two days, and I've signed up for a bunch of clubs/activities and written down a lot of important dates. And on Friday when I would have been at men's chorus, instead I played volleyball for two hours, and it was wonderful. And I spent Thursday getting all of my assignments and exam dates and requirements for my classes down on two sheets of paper, so I'm feeling more settled. And Friday night I watched my sister Camille get proposed to on stage! And Thursday night after tryouts, Cory cooked some steaks for him and me! (Cory tried out, too, in second tenor, and he went through four rounds of callbacks, and he didn't make it either. He's a good guy; last night my five roomies and I just talked for about an hour in my room. That was fun). And we've started doing ward activities now so I'm getting to know more people, and know them better.

The main bummer in all of this is not so much not being in men's chorus, but rather, not making it. And singing is so much more personal than playing an instrument; bad noises out of a trumpet are because you can't play trumpet—it's the trumpet's fault for making bad noises. Bad noises out of your voice—that's all you. So there's a hint of a doubt now, to always have that voice in the back of my head wondering if I've ever been able to sing well, etc. Fortunately, I'm not fragile enough to accept those doubts; I've had enough positive experiences/reinforcements that one bad one isn't shakin' me. But it's a bummer being told you're not talented enough for something. I have more empathy now for people who haven't been as fortunate as I have in making groups and earning awards. Some of it is how much work you put into it, mind you, and I haven't invested the time in choir like a lot of these boys have, and maybe that lack of technique was the very cause that kept me out. But I'm sure there are some people who can't realistically practice enough to reach their dreams. No 5' 4" kid is ever going to be in the NBA, through no fault of his own. But you adjust—make dreams that are more realistic for yourself, as terrible as that sounds. Personally, men's chorus is still very much do-able; I was obviously close, and I wrote Sister Hall to see if she can't look in her notes to tell me what to work on for the next audition. I'll have to see a semester from now or two years from now if I still want to do it, and then if I make it, but maybe I'll find something more up my alley before then anyway. And until then, I'll find useful things to do with my five extra hours, including the roughly three hours a week of exercise for my new health class. My singing is already acceptable to me. My exercise habits are not. Better to fix the more broken skill, I figure.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Blisters Galore!

Posted by Laura

I am loving the college life! I have heard that passing the one week mark is like one of the many hills of college, and once you hit the peak, it only gets better from there. However, on this journey to reach the top of the hill, literally, I have gained quite the collections of blisters along the way (thirteen to be exact). Whether it was from walking in high heels to the Marriott Center or running up the stairs from the RB, I have learned that BYU has a very large campus. Yet, it still feels good being on the top of the hill knowing that you have a week of experience to your name. Faces are becoming familiar, I am getting a sense of direction of each building, and campus is beginning to feel like home. Today I went to the devotional, and I am really looking forward to attending those each week. Attending BYU has been incredible so far and it always reminds me that life is good!

It's My Party and I Can Cry If I Want To!

Posted by Ashley

So today I am celebrating my 19th birthday! WOOT! It's been a good day. A bit hard not having my family and friends here to party with me . . . but it's been good. The power in my dorm was out for a few hours today . . . that was interesting.

Last night my roommates baked me a cake so we had a party . . . since we all have crazy schedules during the week they wanted to do it when we were all there. They made a me a crown and everything. We sure enjoyed stuffing our faces with the cake. It was a chocolate cake with my all time favorite . . . Funfetti frosting. It was very delicious!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

First Week Impressions

Posted by Braden

My milk went bad on me on Friday. I've never experienced that before; we'd always just run out of milk at home. In a week and a half, I didn't finish a half gallon of milk. Granted, I don't use it for anything besides cereal, and even that I'm pretty conservative on. It was just a weird feeling—or taste, rather—losing that race with the milk. We'll see who wins next time . . .

Before leaving for BYU, I took a mental inventory of all the clothes I was bringing and how long they would last me. Laundry costs roughly $2, give or take a quarter or two. I found it advantageous to make the investment to buy enough of whatever was on the border line supply-wise so that I would only have to do the wash once every two weeks. These first two weeks were the test, and the answer is: it's quite do-able. Wasn't a problem at all. And now I'll save roughly $2 x 15 2-week periods in school minus $10 for the extra clothes I brought to bring me to the limit, for a net gain of $20. :-) Less than 1/5 the cost of the average textbook. :-( But every little bit counts, I suppose.

The weather—three main differences between Utah and Ohio:

1) The mountains! I love the mountains! Lost? The mountains are East—now be lost no more!
2) The lack of humidity. It's really quite dry here. I wake up in the morning and feel like I shouldn't dare smile, because my face might crack. I feel a bit like the tin man sometimes, but my skin is adjusting slowly.
3) The lack of oxygen. It's not a huge deal, but every once in a while I'll be running around or playing volleyball or climbing lots of stairs, and I'll wonder to myself, "why am I so out of shape?" It's because I'm used to having more oxygen readily available! No wonder the Denver Broncos used to have a such a large home field advantage in their Mile High Stadium!

My schedule is finally set at 16.5 credits (for a second there it looked like it was going to be 17.5! But I cut it down one), and the grand total for textbook costs is . . . *drum roll*. . . a very painful $650. OUCH! I was not prepared for that. But on the plus side, I should be able to get about half of that back when it comes time for sellback. And now that I'm here, I can ask the teachers for the classes that I'm going to be taking next semester and what books I'll need, so I can shop online for them next time. The most frustrating part of the experience was my chem book:

1) Brand new, it cost $194
2) It was just barely published, so there was no such thing as a "used price" for it.
3) I could buy the 10th edition instead for $130—the new book is the 11th edition—but because this is the last semester that it's being used, I wouldn't be able to sell it back at the end of the semester.
4) $40 of the price was a 'media pack' that came bundled with it, which I don't need, can't use for my particular class, and can't return. So when I return my book for 60% at buyback time, I will only be able to get 60% of the portion of the $194 for which the book was responsible.

The .5 credit mechanical engineering seminar that I'm taking looks like it's going to be exactly what I wanted! It's pass/fail, so there's little stress involved, and we'll be doing all the things that I was wondering how to do when I got here. We have an assigned staff member in the ME department with whom we have an interview and discuss our plans. The engineering organizations such as ASME, SAE, AIAA, and SME are coming to class and telling us how to get involved and what they do. I can ask all of my questions such as "How valuable is a minor? How do I get somebody else to pay for my doctorate? How valuable is an MBA? Is it alright to go straight to a PhD program after undergrad and skip the master's?" etc. I'm excited for how helpful it will be.

Friday, September 4, 2009

My Freshman Eating Experience

Posted by Adam

Oh the joy that one cup of "Cup Noodles" can bring a person. All my life I've heard that once college begins, eating habits go down, and a poor college student must resort to flavored salt on top of salt. But contrary to that belief I have eaten quite well since the beginning of this year, Between New Student Orientation, leftovers from a ward party, and a handful of girls trying to make a good impression, eating has been quite luxurious, Not that any meal may compare to the home cooked meals that my mother gave me at home. But heck, if I were cooking meals, I'd be choking down reheated, burnt soup for a month. These meals have ranged anywhere from German pancakes to Authentic Mexican taquitos . . . my mother would be proud. But there comes a point in every man's life when he has to go back to his roots. He has to take a stand and say, "No More!" and then blissfully experience the serene joy and happiness that one "Cup Noodles" can bring. May I never forget . . .


Thursday, September 3, 2009

The Sheer Volume of People

Posted by Elise

Oh my goodness! It has been such a busy week I haven't even had time to post anything!

The most shocking part of this whole college thing is just the size of it! Yes, the campus is huge and the buildings and classes are bigger. You could go all day without running into someone you know on campus (which definitely never happened in high school.) It feels weird not to know all the people you walk by, or even all the people in your class. I've met so many people in the past week that I'm sure I'll never see again; BYU is just so big!

Today I went to the top of the Kimball Tower during those ten minutes when everyone is headed to their next class. Wow. That was exciting to see all those buildings and all those people. I'm sure it was just like Karl Maeser's vision of the university's future . . . well maybe not quite like that, but that's what it made me think of.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Big Bang

Posted by Sarah

This is what we exploded in class today. The teacher filled the baloon with hydrogen then set it on fire. The bang was so loud that some people couldn't hear for a few seconds. It was so cool to see. Sorry I couldn't get pictures of the actual explosion, but neither my finger, nor my camera is that fast.

Cold

Posted by Mitch

So here I am in day two of classes. My first class today was interesting. I love history, so that class will be a thrill.

To the point. It's only day two of classes and this morning I woke up with a killer cold. I thought I was going to die last night trying to sleep. It's a good thing that BYU is so helpful with everything else so that I won't have to worry about being 100% on my game today. I guess I shouldn't have stayed in the snow back home last weekend. Fortunately, I've come prepared for this. TheraFlu and Sudafed will be my companions for a while I'm afraid.

If you see some blond kid sniffling and wiping his nose, say "hi", it's most likely me.

Judgment Day

Posted by Peter B. Gardner (BA '98), Senior Editor

On Aug. 26 Terrance updated his Facebook status message: “Terrance Motley only has ONE WEEK to prepare.” The countdown continued through the week: “Terrance Motley is 5 days away.” “Terrance Motley is 3 days away from destiny.” “Terrance Motley has 2 days. Judgment day cometh.” “Terrance Motley [has] one more day.” “Terrance Motley: TODAY IS THE DAY.”

The day in question was Sept. 2, the first day of school. But the countdown was for something that loomed much larger in Terrance’s mind: BYU football walk-on tryouts. Amidst his navigations of campus and class syllabi, Terrance found himself lined up in BYU’s Indoor Practice Facility with dozens of other former high school football players who had not been recruited to play for BYU but wanted to take a shot.

After a series of drills, coaches made their evaluations and soon posted the results. As Terrance walked up to the sheet, he was repeating in his mind, “I probably didn’t make it. I didn’t make it.” As he scanned the list of players who had made the team, his name was not there. But then he looked below at the list of people who had been invited to participate in the lifting class, and he saw the words Terrance Motley. Even though he had not made the team, he knew the coaches were interested.

“The coaches liked what they saw,” he says, “but they didn’t have any offensive line spots open.” So they invited Terrance to work out with BYU’s strength and conditioning staff three days a week at 6 a.m. to add to his 280 lbs. frame and prepare himself to possibly join the team later that year or after his mission. And that was enough to make Terrance’s day.