Campus Entertainment: So many tickets

There are a bazillion things to do on campus. The ones I like usually require tickets and happen in the HFAC. Or are Divine Comedy related. 

For someone who grew up singing and maybe having some of the BYU Singers CD's memorized, I went to surprisingly few (2) Singers/choir concerts. One for Valentines Day (remember? The best holiday ever?) and a free one with my BFF who is now married and so by definition is now someone else's BFF, Jacob Hunsaker. 

At first most of the things I went to were because of Humanities 101 and my dear Lauri. Because when I was in her class you were required to attend specific performances for writing paper purposes. That semester I attended WOD, The Marriage of Figarro, and another straight play. 

I began to like attending things like this more and more, especially when I was working at the TMA office and you know, got free tickets. Nbd. It was really fun to go to plays when you knew who was directing it or who the stage manager was or what drama they had gone through to get the rights to the play, etc. Some of my favorite plays I have seen at BYU have been Elephant Man (amazing!), Merrily We Roll Along (awesome music), Peter Pan (WOW) and Dial M for Murder. I always had a hard time with plays in high school because I have some weird hyper-sensitivity to people being fake in general. This means that when an actor on stage isn't believable I just cringe the whole play. I can't pretend every actor/actress on BYU stages doesn't do this to me, but there is a bigger amount of them that don't make me cringe than I have previously experienced in my life. You follow that?

Oh and I also saw some AWESOME Commedia dell'arte during the lovely Thursday NELKE performances of directing classes. Of course these were directed by my dear ronnie Kiely Smith. She put on two in different semesters, and they were both hilarious. Seriously. Y'all should check that art form out. 

And then we come to Divine Comedy. Well this all started when my very first BYU friend Megan started working at the TMA office (yes, I in fact took her job when she went on a mission, then she took it back when she got back and I left for student teaching. Providence.) Megan got free tickets to the show so she started taking me. I remember my first one was a Best Of show in the JSB Auditorium and I was overwhelmed with the candy and the glowsticks. I thought it was hilarious even though I didn't get the Twilight references, having never seen it. But this began my love for Divine Comedy. I never missed a show. Except for when they had Best Of for Fall semesters every year at the same time as CAW. Thanks a lot. But they made up for it by the fact that my last show ever was also Matt Meese's last show ever. More providence. Seriously though, some awesome times were had at these shows. And then Megan went and became their stage manager! It was actually kind of awkward seeing them outside of their context and I only ever really talked to Adam. But it's cool. 

I guess I should also talk about Vocal Point in this portion of the blog post? I also love Vocal Point. But I think I'll talk about that more in a future post about knowing campus celebrities (that intrigues you...doesn't it?)

Lauri's TA: Who could ask for more?

So I need to talk also about another wonderful job I had on campus. Being a TA for Lauri Haddock.

So I took her Humanities 101 class as a freshman and got an A. I loved the class, sat in the 3rd row in the middle every day and did really well. I never made a comment but one time when she talked about So You Think You Can Dance I finally raised my hand and told her I had the first three seasons on my DVR and I could bring in Sweet Dreams by Sabra and Neil (Youtube was not accessible on campus...for lame reasons). So I brought it in and felt super cool.

Fast-forward 1.5 years later, my fall semester at Freshman Academy and I'm assigned to Lauri's class. we began to meet with her before the semester because she was our adviser for University 101, etc. By the second or third meeting I finally got the guts up to say something about how I'd been in her class. And she said "I knew you looked familiar!" Anyone who has had Lauri knows she actually gets to know student names which is a feat for university professors. She even knows the names of those who don't comment. Amazingly. So I was her peer mentor and we got closer that year.

Then fast forward to when I decided to quit Freshman Academy. I didn't want to quit until I had another job secured so I emailed Lauri to ask how she would feel about me being her TA. I ended up quitting before I heard from her because I felt strongly that I had to. Faith! The very next day I heard from her saying she would love for me to be her TA! The Lord just needed me to show a little faith. But that was a scary 24 hours man.

So I started as her TA that Fall, the same Fall I started at the TMA office because I only was her TA for 10 hours a week, then at the office for the other 10 hours. It was perfect because I needed 20 hours a week but needed some flexibility, which is what TAing gives you.

Throughout my time with her, I have sat through her 101 course 7 times now. And I take notes every time. I sometimes feel like I have it memorized. But then she had me teach a few times when she left and I realized I definitely didn't have it memorized. But I'm fairly close. :)

Also throughout my time her, I didn't just learn humanities, I also learned about learning and life in general. We got to be pretty close and I love staying after class just to chat with her about life, etc. The moment I realized she liked me as a friend and not just a TA was when she said she had a plan for me. I would go to grad school so I would still be around when her son got back from his mission (which yes, means he is 4 years younger than me, at least) so I could marry him and then be her daughter in law. Probably not in the stars, but I loved knowing she really cared about me outside of campus.

The last time I saw her at the 101 final, she refused to say goodbye because she says we will see each other again. I agree. :) She goes to Western Europe every summer and I have already decided that since I'm a teacher with summers off, once I've survived my first year of teaching I will most definitely go to Europe with her (if I can afford it on a teacher's salary). But I shall definitely go with her at least once in my life. I must.

Freshman Academy: I'm seriously getting paid to do this?

In my second Winter semester I was jobless, but I quickly began to consider working at Freshman Academy.

Now I was part of Freshman Academy as a freshman and I really enjoyed it. Mostly because if I hadn't been in it I wouldn't have made any freshman friends at all since I lived off campus. I didn't need it academically, but socially it really helped me. And since I'm a future teacher and like the idea of helping people and working with teenagers (even if they are only a couple of years younger than me) I decided to apply!

I still remember my interview very clearly, Sharon Bigelow my future supervisor was in there as well as Lori Frodsham who I later worked with. I didn't remember ever being that nervous for a job interview! Maybe it's because it was the first time I'd actually ever had a job interview? Perhaps.

But I got the job! And I started in the Spring with training. For the entire first term I just trained with all the new peer mentors and learned what the program was all about. It was one of the first times I said an oft repeated phrase "I'm seriously getting paid to do this?". Training would consist of reading conference talks or studies on education, how people learn, how to help people, how to be a good person, etc. All things that help you as a mentor. And a person. I attended a bunch of workshops on how to be a good student also, so my grades were pretty good as a peer mentor.

That summer I got my first batch of students and I was a co-mentor with Dan Giullian. Dan and I were very different, but I learned a lot from him. I had great students who were super fun and delightful. I attended their American Heritage class with them sometimes as well as their Book of Mormon class. I remember the first time I finally attended their American Heritage lab and I was so disappointed that I hadn't been doing it all semester. They cracked me up! They were having a debate and their TA was George Washington. I don't think I participated in the debate much but that's where I got a gem of a quote from Matthew Page. You'll also see there a quote from Spencer Sutton when I attended their University 101 class for the first time. Another mistake that I didn't go to that class with them more!

I loved my first students! They were so kind and fun and great to get to know. They're not starting to get back from their missions and I see them on my facebook feed but don't feel like they remember me quite enough to say anything to them...oh social awkwardness.

That Fall I was put in the Humanities community with three other co-mentors and 38 students of my own. Oh and Lauri Haddock was the professor, so my very own Humanities 101 professor became my students' professor. I never thought she would have remembered me because I never spoke in her class, but she totally did! My co-mentors/new best friends were Chelsea Blotter-now-Storrs, Brooke Ford, and Jolysa Sedgwick. Those girls got me through some tough times that year.

My students were so fantastic! I still remember that by the time I met them I basically already had their names memorized because I had their pictures in a database. And by the about second day of class, one of my students who had been silently observing me asked me "How do you know all of our names?". I truthfully told her it was probably just a gift from God because I rarely have an affinity for names.

Some of these students I still associate with on a weekly basis as they are in my singles ward. :) But I had great experiences with these students, they were really talented and funny and kind. We had a talent show at one point in the semester and I learned that one of my students is basically the most amazing singer/pianist of ever. Jonny Vance. Look for him. One day he will be famous and he had better get me backstage.

The next semester I didn't have any students and everyone was working on projects except for me because I was so busy with SPAC and 276 (the-class-with-so-many-credit-hours-and-not-enough-worth). So I read a LOT of General Conference articles and devotionals, etc. And some awesome books. Seedfolks! You should read that book. And A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink (see the video for his book Drive under "Really Fantastic Things").

About halfway through the semester I began to seriously feel that I should quit. This was heartbreaking. I knew that if I made the touring team for folk (PAC) I would never have the time to devote to my students. However to be honest, me making PAC at that point seemed like it would never happen. But I still felt like I should quit. So I quit. And cried to Sharon when I quit, but she seemed to understand. I stepped into the dark and it was thoroughly frightened.

Thankfully, the day after I quit I heard from Lauri saying she would love me to be her TA for Humanities 101 (which I had now sat through twice by now after attending with my students). And so began my epic friendship with Lauri. :)

The other senior year in a nutshell: The end of it all

Here it goes.

Spring/Summer
Spring was spent in Europe. Yeah. You've heard about that already here, and here, and here. And here and here and here.  So you are not in want of information on that excursion.

Summer was spent working. I had 20 hours at the TMA office and 10 hours as Lauri's TA. But then on the first day back as Lauri's TA I was asked to TA another Humanities class for another 10 hours a week. So yeah, working three jobs 40 hours a week. Ended up being a little busy.

I did find time to finally meet my friend Mikey at a wedding reception for one of my BF's Jake (both of whom will appear in the BYU celebrity post). And I ended up getting to know Mikey really well that summer, which was needed for me. I hadn't had a good guy friend in a long time, and it's a lot easier to not have to worry about chemistry with a guy when he's married. Easy peasy.

Fall semester
A new PAC family was made this year! I ended up becoming really close to some people who were my "students" in SPAC. I also got to experience a different director. My first year dearest Edwin G. Austin was our director. And this year it has been Jeanette Geslison.

This was the semester of extra practices for PAC. We had two guest choreographers (Luba from Ukraine and Richard from Hungary) and lots of performances.

As for the academics, this was the semester of education classes. I kind of decided to take all the education classes in one single semester. I heard they were all pretty useless (kind of true, sadly, but I think it's just the nature of the beast) and you might as well get them over with quickly. So I took classroom management, adolescent development, multicultural education, educating students with disabilities, practicum in social science teaching, and history teaching methods. They were nearly all block classes and...all started second block. Yeah. So the first half of my semester was full of folk dance and the second half was full of education classes.

I got over my fear of research papers in my Capstone research seminar. I researched Senator Reed Smoot and yes, he hurried along the depression with a silly tariff. Thankfully my paper ended before that section of his life. In this class I also finally read a book about the Black Death that was extremely interesting. Weird that it's taken this long to write a book that makes the Black Death interesting. People love death!

Finally, I took Dance 474: Advanced Percussive Foot Styles. This was THE best dance class I have ever taken. Greg Tucker was the teacher (once again, the only clogging teacher I've ever had). We learned French Canadian, crazy hard clogging, tap (yessssssssssssssssssss), and Irish. It was bomb. And in this class I bonded with the dear dear Amber Shepherd who is basically my favorite human.

Oh and I not only saw Savion Glover perform, but also took a workshop from him. Oops, I almost blogged about that but never did.

Winter semester
I student taught.

And worked 20 hours a week for the most part.

And was in PAC (thankfully no mid-semester tour this year!) with a few weekend shows and mid-week shows as well.

You're not supposed to do anything BUT student teach, required to not have jobs or other classes. Oops.

So I was an hour late to PAC everyday (at least) and always felt behind on the times. I thought I'd never make it at some points. But I did! At the beginning of the semester I heard that one student teacher had said student teaching was the hardest thing she'd ever done including losing her father to cancer. I thought she was crazy. But now I see where she was coming from, though I wouldn't necessarily go that far.

I was teaching partners with Maddie Belnap, someone I never would have chosen but am entirely glad I was able to learn from her all semester. My mentor teacher Wendy King is probably the most on top of it person in the whole wide world and a wonderful teacher to learn from. And I have a newfound love for the orange and blue of Timpview High School.

And then I graduated. 


Okay or I will next week. Close enough.

The end.

PS, sorry I didn't write down funny quotes from this year in my computer and I've already packed up all my notebooks.

Senior year in a nutshell: Folk dancey

Here's the one that is supposed to be the end. 5 year plans are the norm now right?

Spring/Summer
This here is the spring of SPAC. And the summer of home. We'll talk about both of those later.

Oh and I made PAC this summer. :)

Fall semester
This was my first semester of PAC. Uh. Yeah, it was crazy.

I also continued to pretend I was going to minor in Political Science so I took both Intro to International Politics and Western Political Heritage, which was basically political philosophy. I loved Intro to International Politics and it actually kind of changed my life (the professor, Valerie Hudson, shall be discussed again in the favorite professors post). Western Political Heritage? Well, I made it through. And there was a super cute guy in that class! Yeah. Me and philosophy are not friends.

I took a World War II class this semester so my future teenage boy students will think I'm cool. But it just further reminded me that I think military history is lame-o. However I did watch a bunch of awesome movies and read a cool book whose name I can't remember.

I took intermediate Irish and it was fantastic. I finally purchased my own pair of hard shoes from Sarah Klopp which I use to this day. And I danced with Kana Tyler a lot, and laughed a lot.

I took the Doctrine and Teachings of Joseph Smith and tried to like it. But after you take religion classes from Professor Fluhman, you really can't go back to anyone else. It's like Western Family chocolate chips versus Ghiradelli.

As for PAC. We'll talk about it later really. Suffice it to say I had more performances than I ever imagined and I'm pretty sure I constantly had gel in my hair. And I came to love my folk dance sweats. So comfortable.

Oh. And I started working at the TMA office this Fall. I had quit Freshman Academy to make room for folk dance. I also worked for Lauri Haddock (the one I took Humanities 101 from and who my freshmen from the year before took Humanities from) as a TA. That began a lovely friendship.

Winter semester
Sometimes I still wonder how I survived this one.

This is the semester I stopped pretending to be a political science minor and started pretending to be a geography teaching minor. So I took Geography 101 and Geography 250 about the US and Canada.

I had Geography 101 from President Monson's son and it remains my very worst grade at BYU. B-. Really? Clearly science is not my thing. I even did better in Physical Science as a freshman! I had Geography 250 from Professor Galland and it was hilarious and fun and I still don't understand what Geography is after that class.

This semester I took perhaps my very favorite class that I ever took from Professor Fluhman, American Christianity. It was fascinating! I loved learning about different religions, I really had never known very much about them, having grown up in Utah my whole life. Oh also, Jimmer was in this class too. However, this was THE year of Jimmer and during March Madness he clearly didn't come to class. And after March Madness the poor boy couldn't even come to class without being mobbed. So yeah, I didn't see him much.

In addition to this, I had performances about every single weekend. The weekends I didn't have a performance I would have rehearsal either for PAC or SPAC because I was on PAC and I was the TA for SPAC. I remember clearly one Saturday to myself. Holy what? Yeah. It was so worth it though! Because then when a lot of people from SPAC made PAC the next year I was already great friends with them! Genius. I also got to choreograph a dance with Mike Romney for SPAC which was super cool to see my choreography onstage! One day I need to get my hands on a recording of that baby.

Some funny moments: Class quotes

• If I don't spell this right I'm just going to tell you this is how they spell it in Canada. - Professor Gilchrist
• I find them simple and boring and it's the Apostasy so I don't care. - Professor Gilchrist
• We'll find out the truth after we die. Which doesn't help you much because you have a midterm next week. - Professor Hudson
• Let's just say Italy's got problems and one of them is the zipper of their Prime Minister's pants - Professor Hudson
• Terrorists are not the most stable of characters. They get kind of angry. - Professor Hudson
• He painted him with Satan getting bit in his brotherly parts - Professor Haddock
• Come on men, give me a beautiful hand, no military hands, only beauty. There is no shame, no shame, only pride. - Professor Haddock
• What else can I say about tornadoes? They seem to target trailer parks... - Professor Monson
• This time it worked. That time it didn't. Life is hard. Don't blame me - Professor York
• Historians are pretty desperate for people to read their books and say they're relevant. And they don't and we're not- Professor York.
• Oh I thought this was a bow-tie petition, a peaceful protest against my sartorial splendor - Professor York
• These are mountains. Not fire. - student
• We've got to take this stupid quiz. I mean...awesome quiz. - Professor Galland
• Oh, and it's illegal to detonate a nuclear weapon or cause a catastrophe - Liz Smith
• You know because you are geography majors, or you went to the 5th grade. - Professor Galland

Junior year in a nutshell: the one with more social interaction

Year 3! Over halfway there.

Spring/Summer
This spring term I began another wonderful journey. I started a job at Freshman Academy. In the year I was at this job I made a lot of friends, I learned a lot of things, and I became a much better person.

I took Irish dance from Jeanette Geslison, little realizing she would become a big part of my life (she is the current director of PAC).

I took a World Dance class from Rustin, my kinsman. All I really remember is Javanese salutation from that class, but I couldn't actually do it for you. And in this class I met Christina Craven and somehow we became amazing friends. Neither of us remember how. But we're both fairly sure it had to do with Gilmore Girls and coffee flavored ice cream that she hated and I loved.

I also took another LDS history class from Brother Fluhman. And Jimmer was in that class. Nbd.

Summer term. Yeah, I went all the way through. First, this was my first time with students at Freshman Academy (some of whom are already home from their missions, holy cow), and in addition I was taking 6 credits.

I took basic guitar this summer! I had gotten a child size guitar for Christmas the year before (I have small hands, okay?) and now I could play it! On a particularly melancholy day I even decided to write a song. However, I didn't know enough minor chords to actually make it melancholy so...yeah. It's more of an upper.

Also, another important folk dance step, I took Spanish dance from Delynne Peay. Perfect idea. She is the director of the backup team and by taking a class from her, my folk dance career really zoomed forward.

Fall semester
This semester, I was on a backup folk dance team and was in my first Christmas Around the World. I was also, by this time, taking Advanced Clogging with Greg (always, in fact I've never had another clogging teacher in my life, literally) and still his TA for intermediate clogging now.

Advanced Clogging was fantastic. I was always with Greg Rawlings and we had an amazing final. Enjoy


Yeah. My hair was that long. Sometimes I forget to cut it. For a year.

I also took a cooking class with my Ronnie (roomie) Kiely. It was terrible horrible no good very bad. But at least we spent at least 4 hours together every Tuesday? Seriously. It was bad. Kiely was once yelled at by our teacher for using the wrong pan or something...which thing we'd never learned about it class. Thanks lady. However, we had a grand old time studying for the midterm and final together. Some of the hardest laughter in my life occurred then.

Winter semester
This was my last semester of Spanish. A big deal considering for the last year and a half I'd had Spanish every morning at 8. Also, my teacher this semester was not American. Nor was he a native Spanish speaker. He was from Romania. He didn't even serve a Spanish-speaking mission. Random? Also awesome.

I took the entry course for history teaching. It was 20 hours a week for the first block. I'm still furious that they demanded that much out of my week. I always say I'll write a letter. Maybe one day I really will.

I started my first minor, Political Science Teaching by taking the entry course, American Government and Politics. A one-hundred level class where a junior couldn't snag an A on her papers. I have sympathy for all poli sci majors now.

Oh and I was on SPAC. Yeah. I'm not even going to try, they have an entire post coming up.

I was also affected by SAD this semester. It still occasionally comes up, but never as bad as it was this semester.

Some laughs: Class quotes

• I know there are all sorts of signs that say no food and drink...we're all friends here (the donuts lesson in American Heritage) - Dr. Pope
• We're the tyrannical democrats. You can have your rights; just give them all to use! - Matt Page
• Ambiguity is like a multi-headed dragon... -Spencer Sutton
• *As Britain's unofficial anthem plays* Everybody! ...We're not going to build an empire if you don't get into it! Come on! - Dr. York
• I have not eliminated your agency, you can leave it blank. Grading will be simplified. - Dr. York
• Go ahead [and vote on the final essay topic], I'm the electoral college! - Dr. York
• You probably can't sleep without knowing these dates, and I understand that - Professor Haddock.
• And we will talk about all the teenage mutant ninja turtles this semester. - Professor Haddock
• Do I have to sing a song? Do I have to cry? I don't know - Professor Strate
• The Bible is about 35% more correct in Spanish than in English. According to my...scientific calculations - Profe McNeil. 
• But not the man that's holding you down, the man that's raising the roof. - Profe McNeil
• She's also vice president of the Tae-Kwon-Do club - a student
• Oh, well will watch ourselves - Professor Horrocks
• Oh! I know this! I know this! I'm Scottish! - Jim Puida
• First, he is not a very good example of...a person - Professor Horrocks
• My name is Brady and there's no way that I'm a lady - Brady
• Que cheesy - Profe. Iclenceau
• Republicans sleep in different beds, sometimes even different rooms, that's why there are more Democrats. - Professor Davis

Freshman year in a nutshell: that girl who lived off campus

So yes, it's true. I never lived in dorms. *gasp* That, my friends, is why I got fantastic grades my first semester and went to bed at 10 every night. A good year. A very good year. 


So here we go. Freshman year at a glance. 


Pre-Semester
My first day of NSO I meet up with  my Freshman Academy group and meet Megan (Megan-o) Ward. We became instant friends. (We're now roommates, ps). We had two Y-group leaders, I only remember one. Her name was Mariah. And she's still in BYU Singers, I'm sure she is a grad student by now. But every time I see her I remember her. Creepy? Maybe.
Semester 1
My Freshman Academy peer mentor was Crystalee Webb. I remember being amazed at how happy she was all the time and how positive she was about life and BYU and how on top of things she seemed. I wanted to be just like her. 


My Freshman Academy peeps were a group of off-campus people and Wyview. Most of them were in Wyview, which was kind of on the opposite side of campus. But I went there often to visit Megan. She introduced me to Sons of Provo. Good.  


I took a Humanities 101 class from none other than Lauri Haddock, who is now one of my dearest friends. That class has stuck with me through my time here at BYU. I basically have it memorized by now. But I'm getting ahead of myself!


I took Book of Mormon from Clyde Williams. ...I made it through. 


I took Physical Science with my BFF Jacob at 8 AM , MWF. So this was the first college class I ever attended! We had an iClicker and I thought I was so legit. Jacob came...generally. But it's cool, he came about as much as I had expected. ;) I also had this class with my kinsman Rustin VanKatwyk (my sister-in-law's brother) and I thought I was pretty cool knowing a senior, especially one on the folk dance team. 


I took my first modern dance class with Jana Shumway. I'm still not really sure what modern dance is. But I sure loved Jana. That class was full of MDT's and boys who for some reason had their feet bleed? It happened like 3 or 4 times. Random. We also had live music sometimes, and I'm sure I had a crush on our pianist because I'm like that. 


I ate a ham and cheese sandwich pretty much every day. But sometimes I would break down and eat Teriyaki Chicken even though it made me sick. 


I had a Robots lunchbox (High School Musical didn't come until later)


I became instant best friends with my roommate Kiely. But we'll talk more about roommates later. 


I was an FHE mom. And I was freaked out of my mind because I was basically the only freshman. But I had the best FHE family ever (to this day...they win hands down), we called ourselves the Marshyncanjags, made up of all the first letters of everyone's last name. Genius. 


I tried out for folk dance and didn't even make call backs. 


I tried out for the dance major and made call backs, but not the major.


I found out my mom had breast cancer. 


Semester 2


I took a beginning clogging class with my recently RM sister and met Greg Tucker for the first time. 


I took an Orientation to Dance Class and pretended to be a dance major for a while. 


I took a once-a-week History class that ran 2.5 hours and loved it. This solidified for me that I really loved history and going into history teaching was perfect for me. (I came into BYU with that major, I'm one of those people.)


I took a 300 level history class not realizing that was upper level and meant for not freshmen. Somehow I still got an A- in The Age of the Enlightenment. I still think Kendall realized I was a freshman and was just being nice to me. I legitimately didn't understand most of the comments my classmates said. I do remember feeling smart the day one of my classmates admitted he didn't know what the word "aesthetic" meant. And I knew what it meant. So I felt cool. 


I took Humanities 202 without taking 201 and felt a similar worry of the 300 level history class. But it was nbd. And I met Michael Koecher, who was a Sunday School teacher in my ward who wore a bowtie. (he was in my phone as bowtie boy for a good long time) I also ended up having a lot of people from the ward in that class and that's what started me to get really social in my ward. 

Thanks Bowtie boy!

I took Honors Book of Mormon from Merrill and loved it. There was also a kid in that class that always made funny comments. He wore square glasses. This is a good time to mention that I have written down all the funny comments and things said in my classes in all of college. I will probably share some of those gems now. 

• They committed fornication and they died! Yeah, it kills you. - Bro. Williams.
• Did you recognize the world, or did you think it was a love sack? - Prof. Haddock
• And it was closed so ducks...wouldn't float to Rome. - Prof. Haddock
• I have decided that textbook companies are probably secret combinations. - Bro. Merrill
• You’re gonna start thinking I’m cynical. No I’m not, I’m just really, really suspicious. - Bro. Merrill
• If you live in the wrong part of Utah county you can have 104 sunbeams. - Bro. Merrill
• The unitard. The worst invention ever. - Robin
• She does everything perfect except for on thing, she calls me grandma. - Prof. Hamblin
• She no longer calls me grandma, she now calls me Bill. - Prof. Hamblin
• Conference center as a pagan Ziggarut? You decide. - Prof. Hamblin
• I have gone through my entire undergrad not understanding aesthetic and today I am declaring war. - a student
• And if in fact you get to heaven that is what you will be doing, turning a crane. - Prof. Brown
• Revelation says that dogs don't go to heaven. - Prof Brown ...as far as it is translated correctly- a student

So there you have...Freshman Year, in a nutshell. 

Total control. Total freedom.

I am joining the ranks of ideological bloggers today, I hope no one minds. Oh who am I kidding, who even reads this?

I have been in Humanities 101 with Lauri Haddock for 4 semesters, once as a student and three times as a TA/mentor. Every time we talk about dance this quote by Edward Villella is introduced to the students. And every year I hear about it, it resonates with me more and more and causes me to think for weeks on end about it. I have had about 3 perspectives of thought regarding this quote. The first just has to do with dance itself. The second regards to the Gospel. The third and the one that has come most recently, has to do with creativity.

As for dance. I am a dancer, and this quote was said by a dancer, so clearly this was my first train of thought in hearing this quote. And I don't think there is a dancer out there that would argue of the truthfulness of this idea. Once you gain complete control over your bodily faculties, the possibilities are endless. When a ballerina has mastered the technique of her art form, she then becomes free to execute moves that would be impossible otherwise. I usually think of this in term of my core or balance. If I don't have control over my core or my balance, I can't do any of the dance moves I want, and thus my freedom is much less.

The Gospel implication are very clear in this to me. It brings about the mind-boggling concept of human agency and obedience and how it is that they fit together as they must because they are both eternal truths. It is interesting to me how while this concept of total control and total freedom will make sense to people when applied to something temporal such as dance, but when the concept is introduced in a Gospel sense they scoff at it. "It just doesn't make sense," they say "that in giving me a list of rules to obey constantly (i.e. The Ten Commandments) I gain more freedom." How often do we hear as Latter-day Saints or just religious people in general that the commandments, both scriptural and modern, take away their freedom and doesn't allow them to "do what they want to do". But for those of us who have adhered to those commandments we have been given, we have seen the blessings in our lives. This is, I think, even bigger than the usual answer given that when we keep our bodies free of certain substances we are more free to make better choices and have better control of our faculties. When you are making choices that are conducive to the Spirit and to the Light of Christ, how can your freedom not be enlarged? With these two instruments you are able to be inspired and see things that you cannot see without it. Furthermore, how much more clear is your mind when you are happy than when you are not? With obedience to commandments, that internal happiness can always be present and can always be effective. This argument is only the tip of the iceberg, but I must move on.

The last idea I have had concerning this quote has come very recently and it struck me today in a beautiful tangent we went on in my American Christianity class. (I could probably write an entire blog post on that tangent. After hearing what my professor said I just wanted to walk up to him and say, Professor Fluhman, I LIVE in there I am so with you on this. Does this intrigue you?) So the phrase that was said that got me thinking was when Professor Fluhman mentioned that he liked the fenced-in-ness of the Mormon Church because it forces us to bloom where we are planted. Suddenly something clicked! I grew up feeling like creativity would come when I was given a metaphorical blank sheet of paper and told to go at it. However, for me this never produced very good results. The more parameters and rules I was given, the more creative I became because I had to become so. I experienced this a lot in the modern dance classes I have taken at BYU. For a final in one of my composition classes we were told to base our dance on a painting and I was so annoyed by this because I had so many ideas that I wanted to use! But once I dug into the assignment not only did I love the end result, but it was an end result that NEVER would have happened had I not been given the parameters. So in fact I was introduced to new opportunities and new avenues that I wouldn't have even known existed had I not followed the rules. Isn't that amazing? New opportunities just for following the rules? It kind of melts my brain a little. But it's pretty true. :)