My First Impressions of BYU

So I realize that my parents and maybe a few relatives will be the only people to ever read this blog, but I figured that if nothing else this will be a great place to vent frustration. I can get on my soapbox and rant on about whatever I feel like whenever I want. The internet is amazing!

A safe place to start off I think would be my first impressions of college/Utah/BYU. Since high school I have worked in good old Fort Wayne Indiana with my parents, and had the insane opportunity to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the wonderful land of Quebec. (For the record, throwing yourself into another country without speaking their language hurts like no other)If anyone is not familiar with this church, I'd suggest checking out www.mormon.org, it’s’ pretty sweet in English. Anyway, here I am 22 years old, bilingual, moving across the country to start my freshman year of college while all my friends back home finish up their last semesters or are starting grad school. Not gonna lie, it's kind of awkward.

It's so dry here! It's the first time in my life that I've had to use chap stick and lotion for cracked knuckles and stuff. And where ever I stand, I seem to be standing on an incline. There's so many stairs everywhere, I'm out of breath where ever I go. My knees will be shot by the time I'm done here. But the mountains are freaking beautiful. The other week I was able to climb up a mountain to a giant Y painted on a mountain near campus. The view of Provo was incredible. So I guess there's good and bad in it all. I say it's worth it.

College is completely different from what I expected. The key to college doesn't seem to be intelligence or the ability to learn, as it seems to be all about endurance. There are so many tutors, review sessions, and assistants with help on writing papers that if you would just spend all your time using the available resources you could get straight As all the time. It all comes down to how much strength, discipline, and endurance does one have before their brains explode. It's fun to see the differences between high school and college. The biggest one seems that in high school, the teacher taught while homework supplemented their lessons. While in college, the homework teaches the lessons while teachers' lectures supplement the work. Nobody bothers explaining that going into things.

Life in Provo or "happy valley" takes a little getting used to. There are so many Mormons, and everyone is so nice that it kind of freaks me out. It makes me want to explode, shouting waves of obscenities that would make the sheltered Utah girl in my Book of Mormon class cry. But I promise it's a good kind of freak out. I almost feel cheated out of the "true" college experience. No crazy roommate trying to bring girls into our room at night, no parties full of beer pong and such, and no crazy liberal hippies promoted various causes on campus. (In fact, I seem to be about as liberal as they come)

But then I realize that I've been standing strong as the weird Mormon kid my whole life so why not be in the majority for a change. My service as a missionary and adventures in happy valley will keep me rooted in religion no matter what life throws at me.

There you have it; I actually managed to find the time to write my first post. I have no idea how often I'll write, but thanks for reading Mom and Dad. And if anyone else actually read this to the end let me know, you just became my new best friend!