General Reflections and Musings

Things I have learned in my first two weeks at college:

1.  Some things about college are pretty similar to high school, but in a good way.

2.  35,000 people is a LOT of people.

3.  Not having a temple recommend is a horrible thing.

4.  There are always boys in my apartment.

5.  The aforementioned boys really like cookies.

6.  It's a lot easier to not do homework than it is to do it.

7.  It's helpful to have friends in your classes who know how to help you.

8.  Calculus without plus tens, puns, and corny jokes is different but not necessarily bad.

9.  1:00 A.M. is the best time to have a heart-to-heart with your roomates in the kitchen (whilst eating cookies.)

10.  Campus isn't nearly as big or as scary as it seems.

11.  My scriptures are my best friend.

12.  Sometimes Heavenly Father has different plans for you than you have for yourself.  And He always knows best.

13.  It's really easy to listen attentively when your professor is British.

14.  When I am myself all the time, people end up liking me for it.

15.  My Heavenly Father loves me and knows me and cares about me more than I can comprehend.

16.  I love BYU.  I love my ward and my roommates and my classes and my professors and my friends and the campus and sitting reading my textbooks in the grass and singing along with good musicians and concerts in parking garages and having long conversations with people I don't know and falling in love with my life.

P.S. Sorry there are no pictures.  I will take some and put them up soon.  PROMISE.

On My Way

Today, I took the final things down from my wall.

I took everything off my shelves and my floor and my closet.

My room is completely empty.  Just a shell of what it was, when it was still mine.

Everything I know and love is packed into rubbermaid tubs, stacked in the car.

It's scary and thrilling and unreal and exciting and weird.

I am on my way to a completely new world.

And I can't wait.

Why I Love Summer

Last week I got to do several really fun things:

1. Register for college classes at 1:00 A.M.  (Maybe this was more stressful than fun.  But the concept of college is really exciting.)  I actually got into all but one of the classes I wanted. 

2. Finish a GREAT book series: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.  It's well-written, and the author is LDS.  I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a good book.

3. Watch some really great movies.  A lot of them.  Here are just a few:

4. Plan for camp, teach the camp song, meet with my cabin moms...!

5.Go to a dance! Even if I am technically too old, it was still really fun!



The End.

Today I took my last AP test.  EVER.  That makes 7 in all, somewhere from 28-30 hours of testing for hopefully 45 hours of college credit. 

You don't know how happy I am about this.

I Feel Empty and Lost (at least for the next 5 minutes)

What am I supposed to do?
Ever?
I just finished Season 4, Episode 6 of Lark Rise.  Such a strange despondency has settled over me that I hardly know what to do. 
I'll miss everyone so much.
Like him.

And him.

And her.

And him.

And her.

And most especially her.

I love this show and am so sad it's over.  But I'll find a new BBC miniseries soon enough.



Lyrical Melodies

These are the lyrics to my song I sang yesterday, in case anyone was curious.
(I got second place! (: )

My Worst Enemy

I'm way too good at fooling myself
Don't even know half of what I'm saying aloud
At times I think it came from somewhere else

It's too easy to change my own mind
I talk myself out of doing what's good
Then wish I hadn't as I leave my heart behind

I've known that flicker of strength
That moment of resolve
When I'm undeniably sure
But as I go through the day
My comfort seems to dissolve
And I'm as scared as I ever was before

Chorus:
Help me learn to hear your voice
When my thoughts are my worst enemy
Give me the courage to defy
All my fears of the world around me
I'm well aware of what it is I ought to do
But I pull myself so far away from you
When I lie to myself
Help me learn to hear your voice

I wish I'd never learned to justify
Instead of just accepting my mistakes
I tell myself that what I did was right

I swear that this time I'll change
This time I'm sincere
There is nothing I wouldn't do
But now that I'm unsafe
It seems that all I can hear
Are the lies I tell myself are true

Chorus

I cried myself to sleep last night
It's almost routine, it's happened so many times
Because when it's dark and I know I've gone wrong
I'm a stranger to peace with nowhere to belong

The truth inside me tells me I belong in your arms

Chorus

Heritage Halls

Advice for all considering applying to BYU:
TURN YOUR APPLICATION IN EARLY!!!!!  And by EARLY, I mean within 15 days of it being available.
I got one of the last rooms for girls in Heritage Halls yesterday, and today they're all gone.  Every one of them.  I learned too late you pick housing based on how early you turn in your application.  Well, I sure feel bad for the people that don't pick until April 13.  Yikes.  I watched the rooms disappearing and said "I really hope I get Heritage.  I don't even care where at this point.  Just don't let them be all gone!"
And when I logged on yesterday and 4:00 PM MDT, there were only forty-something rooms left. (Now there are none.)

(the blue bed is mine)

So I am an official resident-to-be of Gates Hall.  Not where I had originally planned to be, or even my backup, or even my second, third, or fourth backups.  But I'm just glad to be in Heritage Halls.

I CANNOT WAIT FOR COLLEGE.