Time Whizzed By

At the end of this semester, I find myself reflecting on everything that has happened since August. I arrived at BYU for summer semester, and had a pretty good handle of what I thought college was like. But when I came into the fall semester those perceptions were erased and were in need of re-building.

The amount of new students was staggering. Not only was this the first time I had ever seen a line for the Cannon Center, but instead of 3 summer wards, there were close to 30. I was seeing faces I had never seen before and meeting new people left and right. Forgetting everybody's names became standard procedure to me, and I swear over 60% of the people I met one time, I have never seen again.

Classes were a different story. Instead of taking 7.0 credits, I was taking 14.5. I had to actually do homework, and sometimes had to consider doing homework instead of going out on a Tuesday night. Things had taken a huge turn and I seemed to be jumping on to a moving train.

Of course, I got in the groove, and now am very comfortable with my classes, schedule, and group of friends. What I am not used to however, is the fact that this could happen in such a short period of time. I have learned so much material, typed tens of thousands of words, and spent countless hours studying and taking tests. The academic learning curve is almost as steep as the social situation learning curve. Living with a bunch of boys and girls my age, two to a room, hundreds to a building, and thousands to a complex, is mind-boggling. Going to church in a classroom, living at my school's campus, and navigating a brand new city. I can't believe this year is half way over, and I can't believe my freshman year will be over in just the same amount of time since I began. And so ends one chapter, as another one begins.

Giving Thanks

Going home for Thanksgiving is something that I have been looking forward to all semester. Ever since I have been here, I have slowly come to appreciate all the things about home. Not only is the weather miles better, but I miss my friends, my parents, my cat, my favorite restaurants, and of course the beach! As I reflected on all the things I missed, I came to find that these were all the things I was thankful for. I always found it hard to count my blessings and give thanks during the season because I had a hard time discerning between blessings and things that I had brought upon myself. But when I look at it now, its obvious that everything around me is a blessing. My clothes, my bed, the opportunity to attend a University, the laptop I am typing on, the ability to type, and even access to the internet. The hymn Count Your Blessings is one of my favorites around this time of year. I wish I could count them all, but I don't think I can count that high!

Helpful Habits

There are many habits to gain while at college that can and will assist in the future:

1. Read Your Scriptures Daily- There is a lot of power in the scriptures. Reading them daily will
increase knowledge in them and help in the daily fight against
temptation.

2. Pray Often- Pray often and you will see miracles happen in your life.

3. Do Work in Advance- When work is done in advance, there will be more time to review and
revise your work.
- You will also not have to deal with points off your grade for late work.

4. Make a Daily Planner- It becomes easier to not miss things and prepare for them when a
daily planner is kept.

5. Stress Relieving Activities- College builds up stress. It is a given fact. While doing work and
studying is important, regularly participating in stress relieving
activities helps keep the mind and body healthy.

6. School Comes First- There are many different activities that can be very distracting .
- To help prepare for the future, make sure schoolwork is done before
engaging in distracting activities.

7. Healthy Eating Habits- Eating healthy foods will allow for a good inside and keep your energy
levels up to stay on top of work.
- Only eating junk food will burn you out

8. Regular Exercise- Also adds to a healthy inside and will prolong life/relieve stress.
- Can help build confidence for classes and help attract a mate

Family

My favorite part of the holidays is the chance I have to see my family. We use these times to come together, catch up with what's been going on in everyone's lives, and just enjoy each other's company. This year, my family decided to stay home for Thanksgiving, but since I hadn't seen them for a long time, it still was a reunion of sorts.

Within 10 minutes of my being home, it felt normal. It was almost scary how quickly i slipped back into my place in the family. I loved it. There was no awkwardness, and nobody made a big to-do about me being home. But we all felt joy. It was where I was supposed to be, and they were happy I was there.

I think that dying will be a bit like that. Heaven, and the people that we see there, will be very familiar to us. There will be people to welcome us, and we'll talk about what's been going on since the last time we saw each other. We'll fit right back into where we belong, and during this life we choose where we'll fit into this heavenly home. I wonder why I've never made this connection before! After all, we are family, eagerly waiting for the reunion.

Haves & the Have Nots

I think that Marx was on to something when he first developed his theory of social interactions between the "haves" and the "have nots." Over this Thanksgiving season, I had the opportunity to closely reflect upon the blessing of my upbringing. I was born into a well-to-do family and have been blessed with many opportunities that most people of the world do not get to experience. Watching the movie the Blind Side, I was reminded of how much I have compared to those who have absolutely nothing. In the movie, Michael Ore is fortunate enough to be adopted by an upper class family and eventually ends up playing college football. When looking at the global perspective, Michael was much more fortunate than many, and I feel more blessed than he.

This holiday season, I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity structure that I do. In my sociology class, we have talked much about the differences in chances of success in life for the different social classes. My eyes have been opened to the inequity of the social system, and have realized that I find myself on the favored end of the social spectrum. As disciples of Christ, it is expected of us to help those in need of our substance, to lend a hand to the "have nots." I am continually surprised with how frequently the Gospel of Christ is supported by scientific findings. Then I am reminded that both strive for truth, just use different means to reach that result.

Decisions

Decision making is a huge part of each individual's life. The best way for Americans to educated and informed decisions is for them to be exposed to many different views and opinions. When people only listen to louder echoes of their own voices (especially over the internet), their views can become narrow and fragmentation and a series of uninformed decisions may come. Since citizens elect the officials that will be representing them, it is important to know all sides of candidates and issues that they will be addressing. While they can hear the good effects of a particular decision that would be made by a candidate, if they do not understand the negative effects, things could turn catastrophic. For example, if most people from a particular party favored expansion of the United States into other territories and voted for a candidate who said that he would do this, a war could possibly be started with other countries and citizens of other countries would be put in harm’s way.

A Season of Thanks Giving

With it being Thanksgiving, I thought it would be appropriate to write about gratitude. This month for visiting teaching, we had to pick a talk from General Conference. My roommate and I chose President Monson's talk on gratitude. He tells us to remember all the good in the world instead of dwelling on the bad. This talk came up again with my visiting teachers as they taught me and also in relief society last sunday. Of course, everyone was thinking about Thanksgiving which influenced their choice to talk about this specific talk. However, it was interesting that the main points each person pointed out from the talk was almost exactly the same. The first point was what I said before about remembering and being grateful for all of the good in the world. The second point was a quote by President Joseph F. Smith which says, "a prayerful life is the key to possessing gratitude." Everyone focused on the fact that our gratitude for our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the most important. Without Him, we wouldn't have anything else to be grateful for. This Thanksgiving season, I'm going to focus on remembering all of the things I'm grateful for, especially the little things, and espeicially Jesus Christ.

Bruce, Bruckner, and Einstein Stop Time

Our subjects are from the same planet but different worlds.

• Bruce Springsteen - "The Boss" of New Jersey, a legendary god of Rock and Roll
• Anton Bruckner - 19th Century composer who wrote beautiful yet tragic music until the day he died
• Albert Einstein - Physicist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect and developed the math behind large and small mass physics.

What do these three men of differing backgrounds have in common? It is their ability to stop time dead where it stands.

Einstein's ability to stop time is least surprising. After all, physicists can do anything, right? Einstein proposed that when approaching a mass density of near infinite proportions, the space/time continuum would warp, slowing time until the inevitable moment it stopped altogether. Although Einstein never quite managed to perform this feat in time to forestall his own death, his discovery still influences physics today.

Bruce Springsteen and Anton Bruckner are far more curious cases. How do a rock musician with terrible pitch and a depressed, dying composer manage to stop freeze time? The answer takes us back to the first week of class.

Kairos.

It's that indescribable sensation that the world has dropped away entirely for that moment. Although a watch could measure the phenomenon in hours and minutes, you know it lasted far longer than that.

Last Tuesday (16 Nov), "The Boss" stopped by Jimmy Fallon's late night show and performed two songs. As he does frequently in his arena shows, Springsteen went over his allotted time. "?uestlove", Fallon's drummer said of the experience,

"If you look at the last 20 seconds [of "Because the Night"], all of us are literally in a circle. It's like no one else is in that room except Little Steven, the Professor, Bruce, and all seven of my guys," says ?uestlove. "We're totally disregarding the minute mark and the deadline. I'm surprised they got it all on there 'cause Lord knows we went 32 bars over." [courtesy of Rolling Stone]

Two days later (18 Nov), the Utah Symphony Orchestra stopped by BYU, performing Anton Bruckner's final symphony, the famous No. 9. As the final notes faded away, the conductor left his baton in the air long after the end of the song. As it dropped to his side, complete silence filled the hall. For fifteen seconds, the crowd struggled to break the musical hypnosis.

Finally, the first pair of hands began to clap and slowly the rest of the room joined in. According to the program, Symphony No. 9 runs just under an hour, but everybody in the room knew differently. Decades of anguish and joy, disappointment and triumph had been poured into Bruckner's final work, written as his mind and body broke down. No, that one hour had lasted far longer than sixty mere minutes.

A good life should never be measured in years and months. It's true, we only live for so long, but it's what we do with our time that makes us who we are.

Don't ever let time get in your way. It is, after all, only here for a moment.

Jargon

“There’s probably some of you in here that have taken the technical writing course,” a course required for the majors in the room.

I looked around and saw a few nod their heads

“You’re taught in it to avoid jargon. Now this is one of the times that you can’t really avoid jargon.”

I flashed back to my statistics class last year.

“So why do we have to phrase it that way?”

“First of all, it’s the clearest way of explaining it that isn’t incorrect, and second of all, if you give an incorrect explanation, it can get you into legal trouble.”

Back here in Stat 201, the teacher went on to explain the common errors people make that are wrong.

“Now before I explain how you’re supposed to explain this, here’s some common errors people make…”

I believe there is a language we enjoy using to prove we are knowledgeable on a subject. Instead of baptism, we say waters of Judah. Instead of the Messiah, we say the stem of Jesse. This isn’t necessarily bad. It’s the principle of “milk before meat,” and applies to everything we learn.

We must know our audience. We may look smart when we say something like “integrate the module into the GUI subroutine,” but when we say instead we’re just making computer programs that send numbers and variables to each other, we may be oversimplifying, but it’s very necessary. In this case, knowing our audience does not only tell us whether we need point-first or point-last statements, but also whether we need a lengthy exposition in the middle to explain the foreign terminology we are about to use.

Possibly the most difficult element is that we have to do this all while keeping the reader interested. If successful, and we explain a revolutionary new tool in the required terminology, we can find ourselves with a devoted audience, but if there is a disconnect in communication, the audience will not be at fault for their ignorance.

We will soon not be strangers to this disconnect. A friend of my brother’s worked in an internship at Honeywell, claiming he didn’t understand all the acronyms and language until 6 month’s time. My sister-in-law, a middle-school English teacher, said that just the acronyms used for paperwork and reports took a few weeks to learn.

Advice to everyone in just about every field of study: know your audience, and simplify accordingly.

Change as the constant

In scientific experiments, constants are essential. As a scientist, you are always trying to be sure to account for every possible variable, to make sure that absolutely everything is the same each time you repeat a procedure, so that you can see the effect of that one intended change you make.

Life is kind of the opposite. As the saying goes, the only constant is change. The world around us is constantly changing as time goes by, people come and go, technology progresses. Most often we are even working to change ourselves, trying to exercise more, waste less time, serve others more, be better.

In the experiment of life - our effort to learn and progress and become like our Father in Heaven - change must be held constant. We keep our hearts changing and our lives changing as we constantly strive to become better. Just as holding everything constant in a science experiment allows us to see the effects of the intentional variables we introduce, so our constant effort to change ourselves allows us to take advantage of the effects of the central part of life's experiment that does not change - the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.

This idea of changing all kinds of things at once, all the while focusing not on any of those changes but on a single element that will never change, does not sound anything like science. And I am so grateful that it does not, because as wonderful as science is, it is by no means a sure thing.
Science experiments go inexplicably wrong all the time, and that is considered completely normal. But I can be absolutely sure that my life experiment will not go wrong because constant change for the better is about faith, not science. Jesus Christ will never fail me, and knowing that is all that really matters.

An Attitude of Gratitude

A week or so ago my brother and I drove up to Salt Lake to enjoy a saturday night together. We went shopping, went to a movie, and topped off the evening with an enjoyable meal. As we walked back to the car to head home, we saw a homeless man huddled down on the side walk, trying to stay warm. I stood there, looking at the man as a wave of pity for the man came over me. It was so sad that he had nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep, and I would have bet he hadn't eaten in days.

As we drove home, I couldn't help but think of that poor man and how hard his life must be. I then thought how incredibly grateful I am for having a place to go each night, instead of trying to find warmth on a freezing concrete corner in Salt Lake. I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the things I'm grateful for. Maybe it's because Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I think people should always have an attitude of gratitude, not just around the holidays.

Everything in my life, I am grateful for. Not just the good things, but also the hard and difficult trials that I face. I'm so grateful for who I am and where I come from. I seriously love my family so much, and I share a special bond with each and every one one of my siblings and parents. I'm so blessed to be here at this university and there is nowhere I would rather be. I'm grateful I live in a day and age where a girl like me can actually attain an education and with it, have a career of her choosing. I'm grateful for little things as well, like my bed, thai food, Dr. Pepper, books, boys, cell phones, and music. As well as being grateful for the big things in our lives like having a home, family, and the gospel, I think it's just as important, if not more, to be grateful for the little things in our lives.

I found this quote the other day that I really liked:

"Can you see the holiness in those things that you take for granted- a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul"

- Rabbi Harold Kushner

I like this because it's true. We need to be aware and grateful for even the little things in our lives and see the good and positive in every situation. As hard as that can be, it can ultimately change our lives.

Relativity of Size

This semester I am enrolled in both a chemistry and a biology class. In these classes, we examine different aspects of the world around us on a submicroscopic scale. I always knew that life was complex, but now I realize truly how amazing life is. So many different processes come together to make our bodies work as a unit.
We discussed in chemistry how there are more atoms in a mole of element than there are stars in the known universe, or grain of sands on the beaches of the earth. This concept is truly mind-boggling. With a perspective such as that, we can look at ourselves as giants--massive creatures made up of a vast amount of materials. Infinitely complex and nothing short of a miracle.
Then, when preparing to register for classes I stumbled upon the astronomy classes. I was reminded of an Imax movie I saw about the universe and the vast expanse of space. The sizes of the galaxies in the universe are just as unimaginable as is the size of an atom or electron.
As a Latter-Day Saint, I realize that these relative sizes serve a most holy purpose. We are here on earth to grow and develop. While our bodies were made by a Creator, they must follow physical laws, else they not exist, and God be a liar. But as He does not lie, our bodies are fashioned in a physical sense obeying the physical laws of nature. That is why we are so complex. A temple for an offspring of our Heavenly Father should be no less.
Our Father has innumerable creations, thus immense expanse of space. There must be a place for each one of these creations.
As I pondered these sizes, it makes me grateful for the positions and experiences in which I find myself. There are a great many other places where I could find myself, yet I am here because my Father knows what is best for me. Being here at BYU is what is best for me.

Professors, Parables, and Positive Externalities

In economics, externalities are anything that one produces that isn't considered in costs or benefits. For example, when a factory produces steel, the smoke that belches from the stacks is a negative externality since everybody gets to deal with it, but the factory itself doesn't pay the cost. Similarly, a friendly and rich neighbor who puts on a private fireworks display produces a positive externality because the whole neighborhood will get to enjoy the fireworks.

As Jim Kearl, BYU Economics professor put it, "All of Christ's parables tell you one thing: produce positive externalities or you go to Hell!"

A laughable connection, but a valid one.

You see, production of positive externalities is always low. Mutual enjoyment of activities is always appreciated, but underproduced. When the good Samaritan stopped for the traveller, he produced a positive externality by benefitting his neighbor at cost to himself. Last week, my mom and dad knew I was having a rough time, so they called and left messages letting me know they missed me. More positive externalities!

The power of positive externalities is a curious thing, however. We (as manual-reading LDS persons) tend to think of it as SERVICE, the magic word of Scouts, mothers, and college acceptance committees. When one produces service, there is an obvious benefit to society (the positive externality). However, what Dr. Kearl failed to mention is what Christ taught about positive externalities and service, as he voiced from his Father.

"For this is [my economic benefit]: to bring to pass the [positive externality] of man."

A curious thing! It would seem as though a higher law transcends economic principles! That, however, leads into a discussion of market failures...and frankly, that's just for another time.

Bad Attitude

"Another stupid floor meeting," I thought as I reluctantly walked out of my door room and into the hall. My fellow roommates were being annoying happy which I didn't understand because floor meetings have got to be the most boring thing next to staring at a wall.

Ok, maybe I'm making floor meetings sound a lot worse than they are. I mean who wouldn't want to gather as a hall and discuss boys, classes, and ways to improve friendships? Maybe I'm just being Debbie Downer but honestly they are the biggest waste of time. I could be doing more important things like writing this blog.

All of us gathered in the lobby of our building as our RA began discussing plans for upcoming events and reading inspirational quotes, etc. I slouched in my chair, watching the clock, hoping the meeting would come to a conclusion sometime soon. And then, I looked at all the girls and noticed how happy they were. Maybe if I at least tried to apply myself, I could get something out of that meeting.

My RA went on to explain that everyone has trials, but that's how we gain strength in this life. I perked up and recalled learning in my Book of Mormon class earlier that day about how the Lord prunes, digs, and dungs his vineyard(us) but it ultimately produces more fruit to grow on the trees. I loved learning about that in my class, so I decided to share it with all the girls in the meeting.

I realized that I should be more open to learning opportunities and that connections are indeed everywhere around us. In all honesty, I actually enjoyed today's floor meeting and I know now that next time I wont walk in with a preconceived idea that it will be a waste of my time. Everything we do, no matter how boring or annoying it may seem at the time, is only for our benefit.

To cook or not to cook. That is the question

Before I decided to come to BYU I contemplated the idea of just going to culinary school. Cooking has always been a passion of mine and something that I knew I eventually wanted to pursue. Yet after a lot of mental debate and long nights of stressing over not knowing what to do with my life, I came to the decision that in this suffering economy, there is nothing more valuable than a college degree. What what made my that much harder, however, was the fact that BYU has absolutely no culinary program at all. Alas i felt momentarily defeated.
But I wasn't about to give up without a fight. I researched all the possible outlets for any type of cooking class and found one called "cooking for the home." I jumped at the first chance and reworked my entire schedule just so that i could have my cooking outlet. And while I have found the class to be almost insultingly basic, I also found other ways to "get my fix of cooking". In french we are in our food unit and so learning how to pronounce all the different foods and beverages in french. Then in chemistry, I found that combing chemicals in their stiochiomentric relationships is almost like following a recipe. Lastly, in my free time, as nerdy as it sounds, I look up recipes to dishes and desserts that I plan on making at some point.
While I miss having a kitchen and being able to cook whenever I please, this has been a major learning experience for me. I have learned just how passionate I really am about cooking, but also how I can incorporate it into all parts of my life. My new plan is to go to culinary school during my springs and summers and maybe even use my new knowledge of french to do a culinary study abroad in the heart of the culinary world-Paris. Yet however things turn out, I know that this will be a life long passion of mine.

Talkin 'Bout My Generation

This past weekend my grandma, mom, and younger brother came to visit me from Wisconsin. On Sunday, my mom and brother came with me to stake conference. One of the speakers was President Larry T. Hall, and in his talk, he mentioned the numerous changes in society and government that has occurred since his grandparents were born. This was interesting because there were many times throughout the weekend, while I was hanging out with my family, that the topic of changes happening over time occurred. We talked a lot about the way colleges have changed since my grandma went to college and the different activities that college students are involved with. Even since my mom was in college, things have changed so much. It's crazy to think how much times have changes from generation to generation and that everything will continue to change so that by the time we have our own kids, the activities and things we're doing now will seem so old and strange to them.

Looking inward and outward

In my music classes throughout elementary school, we sang a cute little song about making friends and being happy. The majority of the song consisted of repetition of the phrase, "I'm downright, upright, inright, outright, happy all the time!"

I love that! It reminds me of my strongly held belief that, in the face of any circumstances, we can choose to be "happy all the time." But there's another aspect of the song's wording that has kept bringing it to mind recently - the "inright, outright" part.

That's because for my leadership class I've been learning and reading a lot about two seemingly opposing "in" and "out" concepts. First, when it comes to leading and motivating others, you absolutely have to start by looking inside yourself. You focus on personal improvement before you try to effect change in others. But then, second, you don't focus on yourself. Rather, you must look outside yourself to the greatest degree possible, serving others and focusing on their needs.

Seems a little contradictory.

But President Uchtdorf helped clear up some of the confusion with his statement that we gain humility not by thinking less of ourselves but by thinking less about ourselves. The key here in my mind is humility. When I'm humble, I am willing to look inward and make the changes necessary to be the kind of person (and leader) that I need to be. As I am make those changes, and in the same spirit of humility, I want to help others more than I want to help myself.

Through this process of trying to look simultaneously inward and outward, I've been able to develop stronger relationships with many of my roommates, classmates, and others. It's a great pattern for living that brings a lot of joy. So it's fitting that the song ends: "It's good just to know I've made a lot of friends. I'm downright, upright, inright, outright, happy all the time!"

Enjoying Curses

One of the fun things I got to do over the weekend was play Curses, a card game, with a bunch of people I hardly knew. In Curses, a player must draw a challege card and do whatever rediculous antic it tells him or her to do. After this, the player gets to draw a curse card and give it to someone else. These curses include having to speak like a pirate, being forbidden to bend your elbows, and having to imitate the person on your right. The player must obey this card for the rest of the game. It's so funny to watch, and even more fun to play.It's amazing to me that a single activity can turn complete strangers into friends. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

You're probably wondering why this is my blog entry. Well, Curses is a completely insane game, therefore it can be compared to life.

Life comes with a set of rules, but you're brought into the game not knowing what's in store or how challenging it will be. At times, it seems like everyone around you has gone completely bonkers and there's no rhyme or reason that you can see. There are people who yell at you, compliment you, or tell you outrageous lies. There are times where you simply have to swallow your fear and do what you know you're supposed to, even if you really wish you didn't have to. And there are times when you laugh so hard you cry.

People are willing to help you through your challenges. They'll explain things you can't understand, or translate when others don't understand you. Sometimes you'll need to let them do things you can't do for yourself. Some will create your challenges, but it gives you a chance to grow. Everyone has different "curses" in life. Some are less noticeable than others, but they are still there. Each is difficult in its own way, and the best way to get through is to help each other.

Rising from the Ashes

My senior year of high school, I decided that I would actually do all the assigned reading. I had squeezed a 90% A out of my junior English class, but it was a miserable A. Besides the summer reading, the first book we read was The Quiet American by Graham Greene.

There are three main characters in The Quiet American, one symbolizing U.S. involvement in Vietnam, another symbolizing European involvement, and a third symbolizing Vietnam, named Phuong. One of the first lines in the book caught my attention and has stayed in my memory.

" 'Phuong,' I said — which means Phoenix, but nothing nowadays is fabulous and nothing rises from its ashes."

Upon reading this, I thought of the phrase, "a voice of one crying from the dust," a metaphor for how the Book of Mormon would come in the final days. We recently read Jacob 5 in Rel A 121 (and will review it today) and some of us may have paused upon reading this line:

"Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." Is this not analogous to the Phoenix, rising from the ashes?

I spoke with a friend yesterday as a bit of a complaint; I ranted about people who "had it easier." How wrong that is. The greatest leaders and men of the world forsook wealth and luxury to serve the world, that through their efforts, life is not as bad now. Lincoln had many sleepless nights in his two years as president; Washington spent years without seeing his wife or family; Abraham was asked to sacrifice to God what he had prayed for for decades; Moses watched his people turn to wickedness in spite of miracles; Joseph Smith was seen as a madman; Christ was followed by many who were not there to see his miracles and believe on his name, but catch him in his words and find a way to have him executed. And they succeeded! He was executed in a most painful manner. How can we call him a hero, if we do not wish to follow in his footsteps?

"We...hope to be able to endure all things."

There are many among us who believe they are given "poor ground." That will never fully determine your level of achievement in life. There are many ways to rise, as a phoenix from the ashes; we need not be bound by social norms and assumed levels of achievement. There will always be something magnificent we can do, that through our efforts now, life can be a little bit better later. And what do we live for, but to ease the burden of another?

Messages in Media

For me, classes have started to blend together; my professors have begun giving lectures on the same topics and they can seem fairly repetitive. I found one of these topics to be fairly interesting: "Are we just born that way?" Gendered messages in the media and cultural nurturing tend to be different in every society. From a young age, children are placed in an environment and are told, based on their gender, how to proceed; each human group determines its own ideas of what's masculine and feminine and what's proper and not proper. For example, the common greeting among friends and relatives in Chile consists of a hug and a handshake and sometimes embellished with a kiss on the right cheek for women. It is repeated when saying goodbye. As for Americans, personal space is valued and most would consider a kiss forward instead of friendly.

Changing residency from one part of the country to the other, I have learned that even states and different social societies can be drastically different. When I can hear Disney songs sung in public places and where words like "rad" are still cool, it feels like living in a different world.

Every collective group of people holds themselves to different social norms and I have begun to notice them more frequently.

AT BYU...

1. Hold the door if the next guy is within 15 feet of you and you may get stuck there for five minutes while ushering in the crowd.

2. It is ok to run through the dorm at night and yell as long as you are doing it with friends.

3. If there are no empty tables available, sit diagonally from someone and don't even worry about talking to them.

To be a pioneer

"You don't have to push a handcart...to be a pioneer!" Children's Songbook #218

In the past couple weeks I've gained a deeper appreciation for pioneers - not just for my plains-crossing ancestors but for every person in every aspect of society who has established a new way of doing something. This appreciation had come, oddly enough, through my research class.

This research class is called Phage Hunters, and the objective of the course is to find, isolate, and analyze a novel mycobacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria). I have been extremely lucky in my work so far: I was able to find my phage right away and progress through the research steps quickly because my particular phage has a relatively fast infection cycle, requiring only one day of incubation instead of the more typical two. Because of this success, I have been one of the first in the class to move on to each stage of research.

Now, this is the second year that Phage Hunters has been offered at BYU, but that doesn't mean that all of the procedures have already been established. We have done a lot of revising, changing things that didn't work out last year and trying to find the most effective and efficient protocol.

That is where my pioneer appreciation fits in.

I took my phage to the electron microscopy technician three times before I finally got really good images. We adjusted the stain, then the buffer solution, then the level of sterilization before I was able to get high-quality, clear pictures of my phage. I enjoyed participating in that problem-solving process, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But my classmates aren't going to have to go through that hassle. The main problems have been solved, and they will just have to follow directions for a method that we already know works.

So many aspects of life are like that. Even with simple things like cooking, exercising, or even studying, somebody else has gone before and figured out the best way (or at least a good way) to do it.

I am grateful for those figures of the past who problem-solved and set precedents so that, at least in most areas of life, I don't have to perform multiple experiments to make things work.

Is that my grandpa?

While losing the battle between my willpower and the heaviness of my eye lids, I found myself almost dozing in my Chemistry Class. I had been up till what could be hazily considered either late night or early morning, and my exhaustion was beginning to really set it. My brain had stopped comprehending what I was writing about 15 minutes prior and I was just about to enter the danger zone of dozing with my eyes open. That is until something sparked my attention.
My professor had been droning on (in explicit detail) about the many many experiments which had gone into the formation of our present day model of the atom. As he was explaining the very cumbersome "oil drop" experiment credited to Millikan, he began to smirk and added very proudly, "But I will let you all in on a little secret. The real brain behind the experiment was BYU's own Harvey Fletcher."
I was instantly knocked out of my comma of drowsiness. Wait; was that my grandpa that he just mentioned? I knew he had contributed to the discovery of what I thought was the electron but I had never really known exactly what he had done. For the remainder of the class I absorbed every word with great detail. I took copies notes and hung onto every syllable that my professor uttered.
And then what Professor Pierotti had been talking about in class suddenly made sense. it was the week that we had been discussing ethos pathos and logos, but it was the idea of ethos that had struck me. Ethos is the idea of playing up to someone's emotions in order to persuade them or convince them of your point of view. Hearing my grandfather's name had connected me personally to the classroom discussion. I felt tied to the lecture from then on and completely captivated. So without even know it, my professor had drawn me into the class by getting me emotionally invested in what he was saying.
Note to self: Ethos can be extremely effective.

Evolution Versus Religion

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about evolution in my PDBIO 120 class. I had always thought that evolution was a concept created by scientists to replace religion in their lives. I never recognized the value of evolution or the way that it is the fundamental basis of much of our scientific knowledge. I had previously read Elder Bruce R. McConkie's entry under evolution in Mormon Doctrine, and had found that in his views evolution is an impossiblity, a farce, a lie. However, my biology professor (he actually calls himself an evolutionary biologist) encouraged us to open our minds to the concept of biology. We read through the BYU approved Evolution Packet, and my findings were surprising. Contrary to what Elder McConkie had declared, the statements made by the First Presidency did not seem to condemn the concept of evolution.

Now, some may ask, how can we truly believe in evolution and believe in divine design. Well I would suggest that perhaps evolution IS divinely designed. Now I am not saying that humans are evolved from apes that were evolved from fish--no, the First Presidency statement was definitely opposed to that. Men are from Adam, and Adam from God. We know that. However, they said that what can be proved with science we will embrace with joy. I think that many people in our latter-day saint communities have discounted a viable explanation for the diversity of living organisms.

I personally believe that God has created each living and nonliving thing upon this earth. However, I am very open to the idea that He has caused them to change and vary over time--that evolution is indeed a part of God's mighty plan. For, evolution is not a myth. No, evolution is fact. We have studied different strains of viruses and bacteria evolve quickly to different environments. Rather, the application of this evolution is what contains all the controversy. I say that religion and evolution are not in opposition to one another. I say that they are both essential parts of a brilliant truth. We just must decide for ourselves how to accept and apply each into our own lives, according to the Spirit within us.

Deep Thoughts!

A couple of days ago I woke up, and had nowhere to go. As any college freshman boy would, I stayed in bed. But I really wasn't that tired, and so I thought. Honestly, I just began to think. I thought about life as a huge timeline. I thought about how my perspectives have changed and how marvelous the amount of knowledge I had gained in life. Then I marveled at how much more I have to learn! But the most awe inspiring thought was when I considered this: the 12 months from May 2010 to May 2011 will be the most critical and mercurial months of my life.

In May 2010, I graduated from my high school of 450 students. In June, I moved away from home, forever. I now life in a completely different climate, with all new people, all new situations, and attending a university with nearly 100 times the amount of students that my high school had. I attended summer semester, but didn't see it as that big of a change. I saw it more as a temporary home. But recently I am seeing things in a different light. This year, is the start of a whole era of my life.

The daily decisions, friends, and critical choices I make in the next year will steer me in one direction or another. Preparing for a mission, taking classes to apply for business school and making the right friends are all part of this new era.

So many deep thoughts; I think it's time to go back to TV.

Rhetoric and the Power of the Word

In TMA 201 (History of Performance, Ancient to Renaissance), we briefly learned the history of rhetoricians, actors, and the society's interactions around them in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

In Ancient Greece, actors and rhetoricians seemed to run the society. Playwrights were generally powerful and actors were as well. Philosophers, especially Socrates and Plato, disliked this. They saw the level of power in rhetoricians as over-invested, and expected them to do evil with their unwarranted power. Socrates was recorded as mocking orators and saying at the trial for his life that he should be judged by the facts, not by his oratory skills. Plato said the ideal state would not have actors, and complained of the power of rhetoricians in the execution of his mentor, Socrates.

In the Roman Empire, actors were considered below society and rhetoric was the art of state leaders. Cicero's explanations of rhetoric would be used in the Renaissance and is still used as a basis text for some on the art of rhetoric. Thankfully, we are learning it without translations and two thousand years in between us and Cicero, but in more tangible terms.

Because of the nature of modern communication, it is not easy nor acceptable to do what the Romans and Greeks did: pay someone to get on the anachronistic soap box and make a speech for your cause in the marketplace. Probably the closest analogy of rhetoricians to our society are salesmen/saleswomen. And who doesn't love them?

Trying to force across one's opinion isn't usually a favorable task. One seeking wealth will better find it through years of purposeful education rather than political speeches for support, in contrast to these ancient societies with rhetoricians that would support anything for the right price. But we will be trying to persuade someone in many discussions, even if we are truly in the right. A remark in one of my Chemical Engineering classes was something to the effect of "It's not good enough to be right, you have to convince your boss you're right as well."

Although rhetoric is not a word commonly in our mind, the art of persuasion is used do a degree in everything we do, and is essential to our success, from résumés to teaching. In order to profit from this, we must use our words precisely and skillfully, remembering what we wish to convey to the other side.