How beautiful are they?: The testimony

I would like to start this by saying I am not one of those BYU people who says that BYU is "the Lord's chosen school" and and every good Mormon should go there. Admittedly I tease about it sometimes, but it is only in jest. Really.

That being said, there are many opportunities and experiences I had here that I could have had at any university I attended. But there are also many experiences I have had that could have only happened at BYU. But that's not what this post is about.

This post is based on a scripture and a visiting teaching experience early in my time at BYU. The scripture was read to me by  my Relief Society president during a visiting teaching interview at the end of my first semester. The scripture she shared with me was Mosiah 18:30

"And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest of that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever."

There are a couple of things that strike me in this verse. The first is the amount of times they say "Mormon", it almost seems as though they are obsessed with it. But when something, someone, or some place has been incredibly influential in your life, has fundamentally changed the way you think and live in certain aspects, or perhaps all aspects, don't you feel the same way?When I hear other people talk about Dance Excellence, or BYU folk dance, or Freshman Academy/Mentoring, I can't get enough of talking about them, mentioning them, bringing them up in conversations. Because these experiences have fundamentally changed the way I thought about something, and changed some aspect of my life. Dance Excellence changed the way I thought about dance, folk dance changed the way I thought about other people and cultures, and Freshman Academy/Mentoring changed the way I thought about learning. 

But my experiences at BYU, they changed the way I thought about the Gospel, the Gospel which is fundamentally about my Redeemer and His sacrifice for me. The things I learned at BYU, sometimes because of my classes, ward experiences, roommates, friends, etc., and sometimes in spite of them, have made me consider everything differently. It was a subtle change, unnoticed while I was at BYU, but it becomes more noticeable as I have moved back home to the space I inhabited for the first 19 years of my life. I begin to revert to the person I was then. Now, don't get me wrong, I was not a bad person as a teenager. In fact I was a pretty good teenager (I think...). I was generally kind and hardworking, and I really did have a testimony of the Gospel, my own strong testimony. Perhaps because I already had that testimony it was even harder to see the change while at BYU. 

But change my testimony did. It strengthened exponentially. It created hallways, new rooms, new levels that I couldn't have even imagined as a 19 year old living in my parent's house. There's no telling exactly why this happened. Living on my own? Experiencing new wards? Religion classes? Friends? Leaders? Folk dance? Classes and teachers? BYU in and of itself? Surely it's all of those and more things I maybe can't even remember. 

So I can't say that I have a testimony of BYU, but I have a testimony that my experiences at BYU changed me. I have a surer testimony of my Savior, who died for the sins of the world out of pure love and obedience to our Father's will. I have a testimony of the concept of Zion, of its importance and its manifestations in doctrines of wards, stakes, and families. I have a clearer view of charity, of what it entails and of my capacity for it. I have a greater love of people, and a testimony of their divinity through our Savior. I know more assuredly of the modern history of this Church, of its difficulties, of its failings, and of how those things contribute instead of detract from its mission and its responsibility as the house of Truth. I have a more rigorous understanding of the scriptures, both ancient and latter day. And I know that I have miles to go and many more "blessed" places to encounter in my life. 

And so ends the BYU chapter of my life. The first half of my title has been fulfilled. Now comes "Beyond". 

The end of the end: A commentary

So, at the end of my freshman year, and the very first blog post ever done on this here blog, I posted an entry called "The end of the beginning".  I will look back at this list of things I learned, and expand upon them/change them/make them true for my entire college experience.

1. 10 25 page papers aren't as hard as they seem when you have something to say. And in fact, I have a lot of things to say, and research, and learn. What I actually need to do is cut down on the words. As proven by this blog. 
2. Sleep is very, very important. Generally. But it can, and is done without at times. And life goes on. 
3. Getting along with roommates is harder than it seems sometimes, but in the end a great relationship with a roommate is worth the sacrifice. But it's less likely for you to make the necessary sacrifices when you're busy and dishes are stacked and you think you don't have the time or patience for it. 
4. College All boys and male persons are just as silly or sillier than as high school boys. Just older. But I'm silly too. 
5. Important comfort foods to have: chocolate chips and ice cream. And beef jerky. 
6. No matter how many credits you have, even if you are technically a sophomore, if it is your first year of college, you look, act, and feel like a freshman. Take joy in it. It only happens once! Your senior year on the other hand...isn't always so lucky. 
7. You change a lot in college. And in my case it has been in a really wonderful way. 

RE: Folk dance the actual last: PAC 2

I pretended to start this post earlier. But I simply couldn't write this post without having finished our summer tour. And man I'm glad I didn't, because so many wonderful things happened on this tour!

Quickly in the year I established who my BFF's would be. After a week of killer rehearsals (we learned all of our World of Dance stuff in one week!) we went to a cabin retreat in the middle of nowhere, Utah. It was so far out of the way I was concerned that Mike Romney was really leading us to our death. But there was a cabin and we did retreat! Soon after arriving I was wandering around, wondering who to room with. I was already good friends with basically everyone on the team thanks to the fact that I was the TA for SPAC the year before. However I didn't know who my "group" was yet, and had no idea who to room with. Thankfully, I peeked in on Kelsey's room (we had been SPAC roommates and dear friends since then) and she invited me to stay in that room with her, Mikayla Ellison, and Amber Shepherd. Mikayla and Amber were both girls I loved and wanted to be great friends with but didn't know if they would be friends with me (perpetual high school feeling anyone?).

Thankfully I was intensely wrong. We bonded over Buzz Lightyear, nougat, and lots of laughter. That was the first of many sleepovers that hopefully aren't yet finished even  though Kelsey and I have graduated.

The retreat was super fun and awesome and was extremely indicative of the rest of the year. Everyone got along super well this year. We were all just great friends and worked really well together. And our new director, Jeanette was perfect for this group of people. There was just a feeling of fun but still hard work that permeated our time together. She was the reason! This woman is a fun hard-worker. Both.

The year started with a bang. For World of Dance we did Lucnica, our Slovakian Suite, Keltatak, our Irish Suite, and Classical Indian. World of Dance this year was infinitesimally better than last year. I was much more comfortable with my spot on the team and with the BYU dance department in general. So I actually talked to people from the other teams much more than I had the year before. I only wish I could do it again because then I would make even more friends! My only regret from that show was that I had only a CDT number (Chakra) to get ready for Classical Indian because their piece was about 8 minutes long. So I didn't get to see that number for the whole run of the show. Bummer. 

After World of Dance we did not slow down. The first half of our semester was full of rehearsals as we had two professional choreographers come to teach us some new pieces. First we learned Volyn (Ukrainian) from Luba. I love this woman! She was definitely tough, but she was really kind and helpful and a very strong woman. Apparently she was dancing on a broken foot? She kept telling us she couldn't do things full out but she was still doing them eons better than us. Volyn ended up being one of my favorite dances ever. I was really disappointed when I was taken out of it after Christmas Around the World for logistic reasons. The best part about her visit was that when she left she gave us a little pep talk and told us that she had been much easier on us than she usually is because she just cared about so much. She got teary eyed and you could tell she had really been affected by the Spirit she felt around us. We sang "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again" and she cried and some of us cried (meaning me) and it was such a wonderful experience. 

Our next choreographer was Richard. Now, with these choreographers we would add on to our MWF 2-5 rehearsals. The choreographer would come in Thursday so we would have a Thursday night rehearsal, our regular Friday rehearsal with an extra Friday night rehearsal and then a Saturday morning rehearsal. Richard was choreographing a gypsy dance for us and the first two parts of it was just boys, so the girls didn't have to come until I think Friday night. So by the time the girls came on Friday the boys were quite practiced in the styling. Also, boys tend to have a lot of motivation when it comes to dances like this (dances around the Hungary region) because they are slappy and manly. The girls first rehearsal with Richard was...intimidating. But we all got through it and by the end he even smiled when we performed it! I similarly loved this dance and was really sad that I never got to perform it (even though Richard picked me to be in it originally. Not bitter.)

After these choreographers was a rush of performances for visiting dignitaries and then the scramble to prepare for and perform Christmas Around the World. This year was much better than the last year when I was terribly ill. Although there was some drama and it was emotionally challenging, but just because it is widely acknowledged that this was the most demanding PAC repertoire...ever. Every single dance we performed in CAW was completely new to the program except for 1, and that was the only one we had already performed in World of Dance. We were all taxed. But we made it! I weeped openly in the moments before my last Hopak in the Marriot Center and thankfully had an understanding partner (thanks Thomas!). It didn't help that this year there were transitions in between each dance which actually tied it into Christmas, and the transition before Hopak was especially spiritual. 

The next semester was, um, hard. Just for me really. As I've said before, student teaching while doing PAC and having a job wasn't the best idea I've ever had. I had to be approximately an hour late for rehearsal every day. I missed warm-up everyday as well as E.D.D's (every day drills) which I actually really was sad to miss! Our team also started running together and I never got to do that (though this was...less sad to me). But because of this I had a hard time really feeling in the loop and part of the team for the semester. Weekend shows helped, but we actually didn't have very  many of those at all. 

Our "home show" at the Covey Center in Provo was...interesting. We were down 1 girl from the get-go because she had been sick for a while and didn't know yet what was wrong. And a few numbers into the show another one of our members had to stop because he was also quite ill. There were a lot of last minute adjustments and prayers said and thankfully both of those members recovered for upcoming performances. 

Then came summer tour! This year not only was our director different (Jeanette instead of Edwin) but we had a different tour director (Julie instead of John) as well as a new tech manager (Travis instead of Mark). A whole new team! I can't pretend I wasn't worried about a let-down of a tour since I had gone to Europe the year before. But after hearing what was planned I was pretty much stoked and continued to be throughout the tour. Here are some highlights. 

Aztec ruins! AH! History  nerdiness. This was a building removed from the rest of the complex that had concentric circles. Um, tabernacle of Israel anyone?

We visited the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi!

I bought a Mexican mu'umu'u!

Music videos were made. Check 'em here and here.

Beauty at the Oak Alley Plantation near New Orleans, LA.

I held an alligator!

There was a duck posse

Live jazz music in New Orleans. 

All the last years. I'll miss y'all! 

Thanks for a great year my dearest friends. You'd better dang well keep in contact with me. Fo' real.

Rate my professors: My favorites are usually the funny ones

Ratemyprofessors.com, an extremely helpful website to aid in the choosing of professors. It rates them on helpfulness, easiness, clarity, and hotness (awkward?).

I can't pretend I didn't use this site. But let me tell you, I probably didn't use it the way it was intended. When I saw a professor that was rated low, especially on easiness, I knew I'd found the winner. I don't like to be handed A's. I like to earn them because I actually adore learning. And the learning process necessitates hard work. That's just truth people. So when I saw a professor who was difficult, when I saw comments that said the tests were impossible and the assignments were so hard I thought to myself "Jackpot".

Just say it to yourself, I know you want to. Nerd. Don't you feel better now? I did try a couple of times to take classes from those people that were rated high and everyone said was great. Not for me. Although I can say that there have only been 2 teachers at BYU that I have had that I really just generally disliked. Pretty good ratio. I like people I guess.

That being said, here are my favorite professors of all time (though two of them aren't technically "professors" to my knowledge).

1. Greg Tucker
2. Arwen Rogers
3. Lauri Haddock
4. Valerie Hudson
5. J. Spencer Fluhman

1. Greg Tucker is not just a teacher but also a good friend. I took my first and last clogging class from him. And everything in between. I grew up tapping (remember when I freaked out about Savion Glover?) and I didn't know much about clogging. Five years later I love clogging and am adamant on finding a studio so I can keep clogging.

One of the reasons Greg is such a good friend is because after 1 semester of beginning from him, he let me be his TA for beginning clogging while I took intermediate. And for the next couple of years I took and TA'd classes from Greg. One semester I saw him everyday (TA twice a week and taking a class three times a week) and other semesters I would see him for two hours in a row three times a week because of TAing and taking classes. Greg always teased me (also: everybody) about dating. And even though dating teasing is hard to take sometimes when you're just a sad girl, he gave me a lot of good advice that I still think about. He's a great guy and I will really miss being at BYU with him.

Now I can just hope his recommended studio will let me dance with them so I can compete against him. Muahahahaha. 

2. Arwen Rogers was my teacher for "modern marathon". In the quest for a dance degree I took what is called "modern marathon", two modern classes you have to take at the same time with the same section and with the same teacher. I was lucky enough to get Arwen. Now, I'm no modern dance guru and in fact I don't like most of it. But, in this class I learned to love movement, not just modern dance. I loved the fact that Arwen was willing to use all kinds of music (some modern dance teachers are opposed to certain kinds of music which I think to be silly) and all kinds of inspiration in her movement and movement quality. She helped me discover a lot about how I dance and move (my friend Kayleen learned one day that I initiate movement from...well...somewhere unexpected) as well as how to take care of my body. 

It was Arwen's class that made me realize once and for all that I need to eat better. Depending on what time in my life you knew me could determine what you know about my eating habits. But I now love raw vegetables and fruits and just dig eating well. I was amazed at what a difference it made. I vowed to eat the things I should, though I never vowed to cut out things I shouldn't. I am a choco-holic. However, this made me realize that vegetables make me feel better, so I eat them more than I ever used to just because of that! 

3. Lauri, like Greg, is also a good friend. Being her student, her student's peer mentor, and her TA made us pretty close. But not only that she is a great teacher. 

There are tons of stories from her Humanities class that I don't just know word for word but I have applied to lots of situations because I have learned from her to see their bearings on art and the Gospel. I recently had a really interesting discussion on the Priesthood with a friend I made on my folk dance tour and I whipped out this picture and could relate it to the Priesthood. Basically, Lauri as a professor gave me the ability to really see how art history relates to the Gospel. Handel, Michelangelo, Beethoven to name a few artists who I have learned were inspired more than just by a "muse". 

She is also hilarious.

• Did you recognize the world, or did you think it was a love sack? - Prof. Haddock
• You know I've gotta wear it while I can because it's a pumpkin...dress. - Prof. Haddock
• And it was closed so ducks...wouldn't float to Rome. - Prof. Haddock
• Wow. Do not play this while you're driving. Stop sign? Whatever. Was I turning left? Oops. - Prof. Haddock
• I call it foo fa. You can spell it however you like
• I’m crying over cotton? Are you serious!?
• Come on men, give me a beautiful hand, no military hands, only beauty.
• This is one of the most famous shots of him because holy cow try that at home. (Mikhail Barishnykov)
• I think we all know as Kevin Bacon has shown us that you can’t stop people from dancing.
• Yeah! This is Jonah and the whale-dog-dragon.
• He painted him with Satan getting bit in his brotherly parts.
• The heavens had to open and God dropkicked me into graduate school.
• We have this cool thing, who’s the coolest human, other than prophets, apostles and the Savior…and then we go down to Charlton Heston, who played Michelangelo, so it’s a sign.
• You’re not a genius, inventing submarines and propellers and forget the eyebrows. (The Mona Lisa)
• And we will talk about all of the teenage ninja turtles this semester

4. Valerie Hudson. This woman is so amazing that she is on my list of fantastic things at the top of this page. Valerie taught me Introduction to International Politics. I have never really been interested in International Politics. Since taking her class I desperately want a subscription to the New York Times and I love paying attention to world affairs and politics. I got especially interested in the Bosnian Crisis from the 90's and I even cut out the front page the day Ratko Mladic was caught. Little snake.

This woman makes you think about things differently. She's an extremely intellectual woman, she consults the government in international politics and security (apparently once she played this national security game for them and she got to play Israel! She loved it), she was in the military in some fashion (she jumped out of planes? I forget), and she's a Mormon with a lot of kids, I want to say 10 but I can't remember. She also runs a women's study. She has a couple of really interesting things to say about women and the priesthood and polygamy (the polygamy podcast especially gave me an intellectual charge, especially as I happen to be studying D&C 132).

I love taking notes and love reviewing them but I loved it even more in that class. I don't think I've ever taken as many notes as I did in that class.

She's also hilarious. But I truly think you can't be that accomplished without being funny. Humor gets you through life right?

• North Korea as you know is a very strange country
• Terrorists are not the most stable characters. They get kind of angry
• This isn’t Reader’s Digest version of Marx, Lenin and Mao, this is like the Twitter version of Marx, Lenin and Mao.
• I’m sure a lot of foreign policy makers wish the Balkans would disappear.
• Let’s just say Italy’s got problems and one of them is the zipper of their Prime Minister’s pants.
• We’ll find out truth after we die. Which doesn’t help you much because you have a midterm next week.
• You’re dumb, keep buying under-priced Chinese goods please.
• Thought it was maybe a…text message from God.
• You rotten unipolar empirical hegemon you.
• Now I don’t want you to say I think President Faust is full of it because that’s…not true. 

5. J. Spencer Fluhman. Okay so I said they are in no particular order but this man is definitely number 1. When I got to BYU Brother Fluhman was in the religion department teaching the first two parts of Church History, both halves of Doctrine and Covenants, and American Christianity. As I progressed in the history program he began to teach Utah History and he is now teaching in the History Department, also teaching American History. Now, this is probably one of the reasons I dig this man so much. He did his academic work in history and he always took a historical approach, especially to the Doctrine and Covenants.

When it comes to religion classes, the more academic they are the better.  You want an academic religion class? You go to Brother Fluhman. Sadly I only got to take the first half of the Doctrine and Covenants from him so I'll never know what he has to say on the second half. What a loss!

You can tell how much I loved this man because I took nearly every single class possible from him. First half of D&C, two Church History's, American Christianity (HOLY cow that class was amazing, I could write an entire blog post just on it, easy), and Utah History. So I was only missing the second half of D&C, his classes were kind of like Pokemon for me. Gotta catch 'em all. But then he switched to the History Department and started teaching American History classes that I had already taken! It was like a nightmare. It was now impossible for me to take them all. And the whole graduating thing. Yeah. 

The best part of taking his classes was the point when he recognized me. It was probably my lunch box that did it (a High School Musical lunchbox isn't terribly popular on a college campus). But I don't mind. The fact that he knew my name and said hi to me when he saw me on campus, I felt awesome about that. It probably also helped that I tried to TA for him at least twice...I'm kind of annoying like that. And now that he has written an awesome op-ed in the NYT (my fav newspaper remember?) I can brag that he was my professor.  He also has a book coming out that I definitely need to pre-order. He is also included in my list of fantastic things up at the top. 

He's also hilarious. I'll include some of his awesome quotes, though I don't want to embarrass him. I know he wants what is said about him on the internet to not be taken out of context. 

• Caught it, jungle cat reflexes on this one.
• An Arch-bishop by the name of I can’t remember.
• I don’t care who you are that cheese sandwich thing is fun. (this quote actually is quite similar to something my favorite seminary teacher Brother Rees would say. I just know they would be BFF)
• Too much sports! That doesn’t make any sense to me, it’s like too much joy, I have too much joy.
• They wear belt buckles on their hats, we don’t know why.
• I’m tired of reaching, I’ve got lasers.
• If you are a public figure and you have done wrong, you best get yourself on Oprah. You’re kind of kidding and I’m kind of not. (he was talking, I think, about this book)
• You didn’t have class Tuesday what did you do? Cry?
• Puritans wouldn’t relax. In fact that’s the truest thing I’ve said all year.
• And plus the fact that I’m boundlessly curious and must know everything.
• I will grant that the charts were many and furious in their presentation.
• This is completely voluntary you do not need to participate. But you need to participate.(talking about his March Madness bracket)
• We learn several things, white people should not incorporate reggae calypso into their worship.
• In a fit of joy and insight your brain will explode.
• What do you do? I re-enact Senate hearings, from the early 20^th century.
• In fact the metal folding chair is a deeply Mormon phenomenon.
• The academic advisor emailed me, professors let’s chat…let’s talk…[Jimmer’s] a little busy.
• I’m so thrilled with your comment I can’t stand myself!
• I think I will write a poem at some point to begin this lecture. “Ode to the Beaver”
• Ute Indians. History. Shazam!
• Did you notice I like maps? I’m madly in love with maps
• The 1850’s are fun, you can’t say the 1850’s aren’t fun.
• The only people on earth who love Fillmore are Mormons.
• In fact, we oughta make t-shirts! Mormons <3 fillmore="fillmore">
• You’ve signed an Honor code *mimes throwing our tests to us* live it!
• Okay, reading and writing cancelled. Is this a course or a party?.
• I keep telling people it’s ironic and they just look at me…stupid intellectual.
• Booyah. That’s point Fluhman there.
• Holy cow woman can write. Home girl can WRITE.
• Is it frightening when you read the board and you don’t know if it’s a foreign language or science?
• Let’s hug it out. Catholic/Mormon hug right now. We actually did hug.
• -snaps his fingers- What’s my fancy word?
• Okay, our break. To the Dorito machines O Israel!
• Cow are big. Take that from a suburbanite, I’ve seen a few and they’re big.
• Houston had a problem…I didn’t even mean that. Accidentally awesome.
• Hell hath no fury like an offended duck.
• Lucky for us, our daughters practice their smiles in the mirror.
• You don’t know Helen Whitney? Read a book!
• We had a big trophy. It melted in my brother’s car.
• Lynette you lost something, rolled somewhere over there. Lip gloss? Super glue? Nitroglycerin?
• Hardline this semester! I don’t know what that means, I don’t know what hardline means. Please don’t text?
• Let’s play a game, try to name a band that I’ve ever heard of in my life. .. ‘Modest Mouse’…Never. Never in my life. … ‘student names others’ … Nothing. I got nothing.
• So everyone’s offended, just hold on!
• I love the joy, love the friendship. Make it stop
• We’ve got ample evidence that they just sang how they wanted…..to…?
• Check this out for enlightenment, perspectives on a massacre.
• Kinda sad that name went out, Ziba. It’s got a ring to it. Somebody should bring it back, I dare you.
• We’re a runaway train, of joy and revelation. We’re flying
• Like 5 of us and Terrell Gibbons and my mind melting because he’s so smart
• …because it will melt your brain, in a good way. (talking about The Science of Theology by Parley P. Pratt)
• *girl walks in* oops, wrong class. Bro Fluhman-you’re missing out, that’s all we’re going to say
• I love it when Protestant pastors drop by
• Adorable. Almost as cute as a human (commenting on a student’s new puppy)
• You were introduced to the Shaker’s by me, my article with the creepy picture of me in the middle. Admit it! You didn’t want to look at it but you couldn’t look away!
• Going once, going twice? Ignored!
• This is kind of a downer. Someone sing a song or something.
• I just teach my classes…and garden.
• The only other tab you can have open is that picture of me from the Shaker article to scare you into submission.
• Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. A big whoop.

Some raw data: Be patient, I'm not good with numbers.

Alright, this post should be easiest. But not for me. Me and numbers aren't super compatible. I'm very good at counting to 8 but that's kind of my limit.

As a student...
Dance - 23
English - 1
Humanities - 2
Science - 1
Religion - 11
History - 11
Education - 9
Music - 3
Spanish - 5
Health - 1 (HEPE...which may not really count, the fact that it is no longer required may give you a clue)
Cooking - 1
Miscellaneous - 2 (Student Development for Freshman Academy, Culture Class for my Europe tour)
Political Science - 3
Geography - 2

And yes. I majored in history teaching. Not dance. In fact I was still three classes away from minoring in dance. What? And I think I finished my religion requirements two times over... :) I like religion.

Lowest-Highest GPA - 3.52/4.0 (the semester I did student teaching and PAC so...it doesn't seem like it counts)
Cumulative GPA - 3.75

Total credits at BYU 150.5

As a TA/Mentor
TA
Beginning clogging - 1
Intermediate clogging - 3
Spanish dance - 1
SPAC/World Dance Showcase - 1
11 RB folk team - 1
If each dance class had about 20 people in it (with folk teams having 32), I was a TA for about 164 people in the folk dance program.
(all the dance ones were unpaid)
For these students I danced many-a-day, gave one-on-one help, even sometimes set up sessions outside of class to help them (sometimes when they weren't my student anymore...Justin...), and hopefully helped them become better dancers.

Humanities 101 - 5
Humanities 202 - 2 (technically, I came into one class a couple of weeks late and had to leave another way halfway through the semester because the class was 2 students short. Lame.)
If each of these classes had 40 in it, which is the minimum for a TA, I have been a TA for 280 Humanities students. However, I know that some of those classes had much more than 40. But I don't have exact numbers.
For these students I attended many lectures (I have Lauri's 101 lectures practically memorized now), ran review sessions, taught some classes, and graded a lot of papers

Peer Mentor
Summer term - About 15 (Dan and I shared our students, so only some of them were lucky enough to be mine!)
Fall semester - About 38 (sorry no absolutes...I didn't keep as good of notes as I thought!)


Basically. In my time at BYU I have taken a lot of classes and met a lot of people and hopefully helped a few. :)

When I was your age!: How BYU campus has changed.

There are some buildings on campus that were birthed in my time there. There are some that have also died. This is to commemorate those buildings.

One of the biggest things to change during my time at BYU was the death of the KMB.

Now, this building only existed for one year of my life at BYU. However, I walked past it every single morning on my way to Physical Science and saw ballroom dance classes going on in there. I always kind of hoped I would meet myself a ballroom man while walking past. No such luck. So instead of this building existing, there is now a HUGE and beautiful hill on the Southeast corner of campus that is used to play ultimate frisbee (a much loved Mormon game for some reason) and other sport-like endeavors that I have never participated in. Hopefully people roll down it. Not rolling down that hill should be a crime. 

This is simply to serve as an illustration. This is not the KMB-less hill. Apparently I can't find any pictures of that  by googling it? Weird. 

With this killing of the KMB came some awesome additions to the RB. Now, I'll be honest I can barely remember the RB before the additions which were built to house Living Legends, Ballroom, and the Young Ambassadors who had previously been in the KMB. But I do remember being annoyed at how long the construction took. And even though new rooms weren't built for the folk dancers, we have definitely benefited in sometimes being able to use a couple of the new rooms for our rehearsals. The ballroom is particularly awesome, being massive in size and having a huge and delightful window on one wall. 

Another big change was from so-called "rape hill" becoming respectful, not creepy and actually gorgeous! When I moved to BYU there was this pathway that, for me, linked the Richards Building with all my dance classes to my home by J-Dawgs in a way which would allow me to walk all the way home with no human contact. This is sometimes optimal. I would only wander upon the occasional duck, and as some of you may know, ducks are actually my favorite animals. Of all. (In fact as I typed this, I decided to make the commitment in adding a virtual pet to this blog. Donald the Duck. He's down on the right hand side of my blog. Go say hi!) The problems for me with "rape hill", other than it's horrible name and reputation, were the signs. They look like they should have blood dripping from it. Nice call on the creepy font BYU grounds.


However, this pathway has since been cleaned up and redone, the creek widened and even more full of ducks (!), benches and tables added, gardens added and maintained, and general joy infused. The new version is also something not google-able. So, just imagine it. The beauty. The ducks. The joy.

The most recent change is still happening. Many buildings whose names I am utterly unaware of (and a greenhouse) have been taken down in order to make room for a huge and beautiful new Life Sciences building at the end of the new duck pathway aforementioned.

Maybe it's just me but...that building looks seriously cool and large and useful for the studying of life sciences. So game on BYU. 

This reminds me of something my dear folk teacher Delynne used to say "The only thing constant in life is change". Keep changing BYU. I'm cool with it. 

Nooks and Crannies: My favorite parts of BYU campus

BYU campus has a lot of great spots, and it seems like every student has their favorite places to study or eat lunch. I have a few of those places. Keep in mind I didn't really study on campus nor did I usually have a lunch break. So these were just places I liked to exist. :)

• The TMA office. Okay I know this may be weird, but after I started working there, whenever I had some extra time or unexpected lunch time, I usually would go there. Then I got to be in a place I loved with people I loved. Double win. 
• JKB vending machine area. There are these great little booths near the vending machines on the 2nd floor of the JKB that are perfect for studying, warming up your lunch, and buying a little snacky when you're craving chocolate. These were always the vending machines that had this one kind of amazing chocolate bar. I can't remember what it was called, but it was awesome. 
• 1st floor computers in the library. For my first year at BYU I didn't have my own laptop and these are the computers that were sure to be open every afternoon so I could email my sister on her mission and check my facebook and do homework. The downside to this area, freezing cold. Be sure to bring a jacket. 
• 5th floor booths in the library. If you need yourself a desk for some research and studying, I especially recommend the fifth floor. I mean, the whole library is relatively quiet, but the fifth floor in particular has an ambiance that I appreciated. 
• Education in Zion Exhibit.  Now, while this is an awesome museum to go through, it is an even awesomer place to study and just chill. The only downside, no lunching here. 
• Nooks in JFSB. On floors 4 and 5 of the JFSB there are these awesome little lounges on every side of the square building. They have nice, comfy chairs and are always by a window showing you a view of the courtyard. Perfect for studying! But once again, no lunching. If you want to lunch in the JFSB you've pretty much just got the basement. OR
• JFSB rooftop veranda. This place isn't always open but when it is, it is this perfect and wonderful place to lunch or study or tan or all three! So peaceful. 
• Vending machine area of McKay Building. This is an awesome place to have lunch because there is ALWAYS a seat available. Seriously I have never seen this little nook crowded, an impressive feat on this massive campus. And they have a wide array of vending machines and a microwave. Perfecto?
• The RB. Anywhere on the dance side of the building. Since this is the building I spent THE most time in (easily), it is definitely the most comfortable for me. If I had some extra time or needed to eat my lunch somewhere, I would almost always just end up at the RB because I was sure to know someone there at any given time. Especially around the folk dance room or the clogging/tap room. Downsides to this area, barely any chairs (unless you venture into the MDT lounge which...you don't venture into unless you're quite brave) and it's quite a walk to a microwave. Upsides are that you're always bound to see a folk dance friend and find someone to eat with. I have spent many an hour sitting in the RB second floor hallway. I am well acquainted with its hard and uncomfortable carpet and trying to split the space with the ballroom dancers without actually having to talk to them... :) 

BYU dating: or the bad news...

So the sad truth is that my dating experience at the Y wasn't all good. In fact...you may have noticed that the last post was not very long. Yeah.

Now this isn't to say that I had negative experiences when actually dating people at the Y. The bad came from the fact that I didn't do much actual dating. Yeah. I'm totally one of those annoying girls who hopes that the brethren give talks on dating in Priesthood session... ahem. But anyway.

That being said I will now probably need to burst some bubbles. Contrary to popular belief, dating at the Y is not a dream come true. It was in fact, in my experience at least, uneventful, anticlimactic, and basically non-existent.

Now, I will take some of the blame in this. I am not sooooooo good at the whole flirting/showing interest/even talking to boys at all (and I may or may not closely resemble "the ugly one" in the previous link, not in appearance, just in spirit). So I can't say that I made it easy, and I do know that I can work it to get a date as I talked about in the previous post. But I'm going to be honest, the amount of work I put into getting that date is the amount of work that should be put in a burgeoning relationship. Not a pre-first date warm-up.  Just me opining.

Now I have already once posted a ranty, raving denunciational post of men who do not date. (It has since been retracted so don't try to look for it. Not that I no longer believe in it, just that I try to keep myself moderate on the internets because, you know, moderation in all things. Maybe it will it rub off on my normal life.) So this is just a post showing the other side of dating at the Y. The girls who aren't blonde flirts who make cookies and dinner and hang out at boy's apartments constantly because they are instead studying or folk dancing or making meaningful relationships with their roommates. And ice cream...

That being said, let me just say that the most frustrating part about dating at the Y for me was that I was the "asker" more often than I was the "asked". Proportionally. I don't have a problem being the one to ask the guys out but here's a tip guys. Girls would rather be pursued than doing the pursuing. We generally don't mind asking guys out (though there are a wide range of vehement opinions on every side, we are all different) but we do like guys who show initiative and interest. Would you rather "keep your cool" or have a date with an awesome girl? And if you're worried about rejection, read this awesome article. Not that I'm calling you a wuss whoever you are that is reading this post. I'm just saying. I'm man enough to ask for a date. And you are much more of a man than I. Literally. Well, that is if you're a man. This is all getting very confusing. 

For girls looking for help dating, I've found this awesome blog to be funny, enlightening, and fantastic. And rest assured, the males who write it are both attractive and awesome guys that you would want to date. So you can trust 'em. Much more than me.

And all of THAT being said, I shall just say that so far my experience in Ogden has shown me that the dating outside of Provo seems fundamentally more effective. This is not from personal experience (yet...) but from the amount of engagements I've seen in my singles ward in the last three weeks. At least one every week if not more. And so I can say that with the experiences I've had, dating at the Y is in fact, less effective than in other areas. So. Man up BYU. 


The end. That wasn't too bad was it?

BYU dating: do you want the good news first?

So, as this post implies, there will be two sides to this BYU dating story. But we might as well start with the positives right? Because  I really am not this bitter BYU-man-hating woman, I had some great dating experiences at this place! So let's talk about them yes?

One thing about BYU that I heard about was RM's "preying" on freshmen. Now, this is something I never experienced but I imagine it is because I was not an easily identified freshman, as I lived in off-campus regular people housing. But I will be honest, it was pretty creepy at first to think that I would be going on dates with people that were at least 2-3 years older than me. I got over it pretty quick though. ... ;)

I'm pretty sure that my first BYU date was with a friend I knew from home, and I asked him. So it doesn't really count .

Now, my first BYU date with an RM (gasp!) was the next summer and let me tell you, I worked hard for that date. He was in my ward and I was pretty interested in him, we had had a class together and we had a study group together. And I even made him cookies! Anyone who knows me knows that I generally mock "cookie-making girls". Even though I have done it a few times. So you know. Take that as you will. Sadly this date didn't lead to anything. At all. Except to teach me how to treat a boy after you don't want another date. Which you know, is important to learn!

Other dates with awesome people included going to a folk dance show (little knowing that by the next year I would be the one on that team), going on picnics, going to plays on and off campus, going to dinner, going museum hopping on campus (which I had been wanting to do for ages! Thanks Jeff!), learning to take pictures with a fancy camera, a piano concert, improv comedy, Divine Comedy! And one awesome time, a boy made me dinner.

Seriously boys. Making dinner for girls is a great idea. And this was even a first date, but it wasn't creepy or over the top. It was just nice! It was flattering and really nice to think that someone wanted to do something for you. So you should do it.

So really I got to go on some seriously fun dates in my time at BYU. I must say, I still have a lot of dream dates that I would love to experience some day. But I'll tell you about those some other time. ;)

When it all comes down to it, dating at BYU couldn't have been that great because...well...you know...

BYU Celebrities: Because I totally had a class with Jimmer!

So the title of this post is actually a lie. I did not have a class with Jimmer. I had TWO classes with Jimmer! Let me explain.

Spring term of 2009 I took a Church history class (1845-1900) with Brother Fluhman (and believe me, I will talk about Brother Fluhman in an upcoming post). It was a very small class, there were really only about 10-12 people in the class. This was ideal because I love Brother Fluhman. But there was this guy in the class who would sit next to me sometimes and I really had no idea who he was for quite some time. I thought he was weird to be honest because he would wear basketball shorts, sneakers, and long socks that were pulled up midway up his calf. I was pretty sure that was only cool in the 90s, but he didn't seem like a nerd.

Oh the scrunched 90s socks.

Turns out he wasn't a nerd. Turns out he was Jimmer. At this point I had pretty much never heard of him, but somehow or another I found out who he was and that he was actually super cool and then I felt intensely honored that he sometimes chose to sat by me. I'm quite sure we never conversed, he was a pretty quiet guy. 

Fast forward two years to winter semester 2011. Yes, that's right, the year of Jimmer. I was taking American Christianity from Brother Fluhman (I take a lot of classes from him okay? Like I said, I'll talk about it later). And Jimmer was in that class too! And what a semester to have a class with him. Especially because Brother Fluhman is kind of a college basketball maniac. After a while Jimmer didn't really come to class, I heard he was kind of busy in March? Weird. Brother Fluhman admitted once that he considered wearing his Jimmer jersey to class once but decided against it. 

Another BYU celebrity that I have had just enough contact with to write on this blog would be Matt Meese. Matt has been part of BYU's Divine Comedy for the last few years and he is intensely hilarious. After watching Divine Comedy for a couple of years I took a job at the TMA office. Remember? Well once a week the DC presidency would have their meetings with my boss Elizabeth. So for one school year he saw me every Thursday. He even said hi to me sometimes. So really...I know him way better than Jimmer. That's something right?

Okay, okay, there are some campus celebrities that I actually know quite well. Last's the best right? Let's talk about Vocal Point. Now members of Vocal Point are usually something of campus celebrities, but recently their appeal has gone even farther than BYU-I! Because of a little show called The Sing-off. (PS, they are not bringing that show back? What? Let's save it)

Anydangway. There are two faces in that group that I know well enough not just to be on FB friends terms with them, but in fact real like friends terms with them. Like if I saw them on the street we would talk to each other. And we'd probably hug! Amazing. First there is Mikey Christensen. Mikey was a folk dancer. If you have ever read this blog before in your whole life you will most likely know that I am a folk dancer. Now, our BYU folk dance paths never crossed, so while we had a million friends in common I didn't meet Mikey in folk dance but did meet him the summer before he did the Sing Off and we became quick friends. I needed a guy friend that I could talk to about life and he was terribly bored because his dear wife was in Europe with Clog America. So we bonded over Harry Potter. He's still a dear friend and I'm going to miss him while he is in New Mexico!

And finally. Jacob Glenn Hunsaker. Here is the short version of the friendship of Jacob and I. Our junior year of high school we both made Legacy Chamber Choir at Fremont High School. We had seminary together. I couldn't stand the kid. He was one of those kids who was smart/talented without trying. Then we did Legacy senior year together. Somehow during retreat we became great friends. For our senior year we were with each other every day (we had 4 of our 8 classes together plus lunches) and we pretty much knew everything about each other's lives. In fact once we had to be away from each other for almost two full weeks (I had a dance convention in LA then went on choir tour the next week which he didn't go on) and we pretty much thought we would die. I even have a note that we wrote me once. Why he wrote me a note? I still don't really know. But it happened. Then we went to BYU together. We took Physical Science together. Technically. He came sometimes. We rarely saw each other. He went on his mission. He wrote me twice. Nice. He came back, made Vocal Point, we still rarely saw each other but when we did we had a great time! Then he got married to a wife I highly approve of and I rarely see him. BUT, we were BFF senior year. And I have stories...that I will never reveal because I respect him too much. And I know how much he hates to blush. ;) And and yes, I call him Jacob. I have no idea why. I'm the only one.

Such an attractive picture. We were clearly paying great attention to the basketball game. Now if only I could find the picture of Jacob and I imitating the Silverline faces...

Student teaching: Am I really qualified to do this?

My final semester and I was embarking on the journey I always knew my university education would end with. Student teaching.

I had considered doing an internship but I didn't want to prolong graduation, and I also wanted to do folk dance as long as possible, so student teaching it was! I had gotten my assignment the semester before and before Christmas break I had even gone to meet my mentor teacher, Wendy King, and got the Geography book I would be teaching out of and a bunch of her material on my hard drive.  (And oh what a trial it was for me to get that stuff from her Mac computer to my hard drive, yet another reason I dislike Apple. But I digress.)

There was actually an interesting way that I arrived at being paired with Wendy. I was originally with another teacher, but a student who had been paired with him in practicum went up and told my professor that there was no way he should have a student teacher because he had been terrible. Thanks for standing up for me. :) I told my professor that if he felt like it was the right placement for me I wouldn't make any waves, but a while later he emailed me and told me that they were switching my placement. He never told me why, though I later found out why and let's just say my classmate was right in standing up for me.

Then, halfway through Christmas break I got an even bigger surprise, my professor emailed me yet again and asked if I would mind co-teaching with Madde Belnap? Uh, sure, why not? I had a rough idea of who Maddie was from my practicum class. I'll be honest, I was pretty worried because she had seemed like a pretty outspoken person in that class and I didn't necessarily agree with everyone she said. But, I said to myself, everything happens for a reason.

Why yes it does. Though Maddie and I had our problems, they were actually opposite of what I expected them to be! I am kind of a planning freak and doing lesson plans and scope and sequence is not just my bread and butter but an absolute joy to me. Maddie, however, is a much more free spirit than me, and wasn't as much of a planner than me, being much better at being flexible and in the moment in the classroom than me. So planning with these two different personalities could get difficult. Even more difficult when you added in a mentor teacher. Planning with three people is just hard, no matter how much you love all people involved. So I won't pretend it was easy. But I also won't pretend I didn't learn a TON from the experience and didn't come out loving Wendy and Maddie more than I ever thought I would.

As the semester went on, Maddie and seemed to get a handle on things, copies, lesson plans, disciplinary problems, writing tests. Yeah, did you know that writing tests is hard and that whenever there are mistakes students just LOVE to point them out? We became more relaxed and better friends and had more in the classroom with each other and with our students. And as time went on we got to help more and more with Wendy's AP World History class. Which was awesome!

Oh the kids? I guess I can talk about them. So Wendy only taught Geography classes and a couple of AP World History classes. Interesting because I was a History Teaching Major, not Social Studies Composite and not even a Geography minor (even though the Lord told me to get that minor, I just decided to ignore Him because I am endlessly prideful. And now I see why He told me to get it, oops.). So really Maddie and I were teaching four Geography courses, and we got fresh students  at the second half of the year, so they were all ours. Score. We did get to help teach the AP World classes, but the Geography classes were all ours and Wendy was great about stepping out and really letting us have full authority.

Maddie and I took charge of two of the classes but we both taught in all the classes. I had 3rd and 8th, and she had 4th and 7th. Timpview had odd/even days so it went 1/3/5/7 one day then 2/4/6/8 the next. We had 1st period prep (the BEST to do last minute prepping for a new lesson) and 6th period prep (which really ended up being a super long lunch) and AP World was 5th and 2nd.

Discipline wasn't half as hard as I had expected and let me be honest, I kind of love taking cell phones from children. I'm a total jerk right? But seriously you take a few the first week of school and then it isn't a problem. The best compliment I ever got was when a new student  had his cell phone taken from him about halfway through the term and his neighbor said to him "You chose the worst class to text in". That's right. I found that wearing severe pencil skirts and heels and wearing my hair in a bun made me feel the part of a disciplinarian. It also made me pretty distinct from the students, both in look and in feel, so it was easier for them to obey me. Don't worry, I was nice to them too, eventually. To be honest I never felt like I had to be super mean or anything at first. Just strict.

The students? I can't even express to you how much I love them. I haven't thought of the much recently, but as I write this, faces come up in my memory and I can't help but smile. Even though I thought I would come out with all these dears in the AP classes, truth is I just closer to my Geography students. Even though they were harder to handle and less excited about learning, they were my students, and we shared something! Even though let me tell you, I think the AP students were more sad to see us go than our Geography students, they were such dears and I really did love them. Promise.

I had my golden students who were hard workers and sweet and loved to learn. Wow some of them loved to learn so much! One of my students, if he asked a question I couldn't answer, would look it up for himself and come and tell me the answer the next day. And some of them were so thorough about their work and homework and did everything expected of them and much more!

Other students were more of a challenge, but I can gratefully say that I didn't leave not liking any of my students. All of my challenging students I was able to get to know in a way that helped me realize what it was that they really needed in their lives that caused them to act out. Some of them just needed more attention (and for positive things), some of them needed to feel needed, some of them needed to be largely left alone, some of them needed to just feel comfortable with me, some of them needed to admit they needed extra help. All of them just needed to feel accepted. I mean come on, we're talking about 9th graders. Oh and human beings. We were all 14 once and we still had human feelings, and human desires, and human reactions. And when we were acknowledged as humans instead of 14 years olds, didn't we respond much better to that? That's what I tried to do, treat my students as humans instead of 14 year olds. Because heavens 14 year olds are crazy. But humans are great. My confidence in 14 year olds actually skyrocketed after this experience, I saw their potential even though I didn't always know how to untap it. But isn't that the constant quest of a teacher? I can't wait to reach that goal. And for all the adventures I'm sure I'll have along the way.

 I gained an even better testimony of why the Lord chose a 14 year old in the Restoration of the truth. It's a pretty awesome age.


Oh and PS, when your professors tell you that you should ONLY student teach and not have a job or take any other classes (or maybe do both? Like have a job and do PAC...) you should definitely listen to them. That way you don't have a breakdown in the middle of the semester and you definitely won't get two colds right behind each other.