My verdict...
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Hhhhokay. Hi. Where do I begin? Um, I'm in college now. I moved into my dorm on Wednesday. It already feels like home- not HOME home, but you know. Like the same way the bedroom in my Grandma's house where I always sleep feels like a home. Or the couch in Megan's living room where we frequently waste tragic amounts of time. Or Mr. Lev's classroom where I had AP Bio, env. science, and spent tons of time after school in environmental club.
Aaaanywaaaay, I'm pretty much settled in now. I'm in an apartment-style dorm with 5 other girls, split into 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. I love my roommates already, but I promise none of us got up in testimony meeting today to tell everybody so. It's bound to happen at some point, but we at least resisted this first time. The girl in the bedroom with me is McKenzie and she lives really close. She's SO nice and very friendly. Julie and Krista share another of the rooms, and they already knew each other. They're very bubbly, and they know how to get the dance parties going. :D In the other room is Caitlin and Somers. I've only seen Somers once because she's in Idaho with her family right now, but I've spent a lot of time with Caitlin and she's a fun time.I've been busy busy busy these past few days with orientation stuff. I've found all of my classrooms and I feel moderately comfortable getting everywhere I need to- during the day, anyway. Night time is scary because I can't see the mountains to orient myself, and everything looks different, but luckily I've always had groups to go with after dark. My orientation group has been super fun, and I've made some friends within it. Yesterday there was a dance in Brigham Square, and it was great. I saw Scott from the St. Paul Stake there and we chatted a bit, but neither of us have seen Jonathan Thibadeau yet. He's around here somewhere... among these thousands of people... somewhere...... :) Anyway, after the dance my bud Jake had an after-the-dance dance in front of his dorm, and pretty much everybody from Heritage Halls came and we had a good time. I was so BEAT afterwards.
My new Bishop is hilarious. He kind of reminds me of Chad Erickson. Hee. His wife led Relief Society today, and he came in halfway and their bantering cracked us up!
Happy Valley has really got my head spinning. It's aptly named, I can tell you that. Everyone (well the vast majority) is so FRIENDLY and there's none of the usual social barriers that exist among people who've never met. It hasn't mattered one bit that I didn't know a single person when I got here. For example, here's my best story of the week:
So on Thursday I didn't go on the tour with my group because they don't do me much good, and then at noonish I went to this field to meet up with them for lunch and the rest of the day's doings. I was just standing around looking for my group and waiting for them to come into the field. I was wearing my Pickle Pack t-shirt, which I'll explain since I bet all of .5% of the people reading this will know what that is. It's this shirt with a pickle on it that shows you're a member of the Pickle Pack, which is a fan club for this podcast I'm obsessed with called MuggleCast. "Pickles" is kind of a lame but fun catchphrase/inside joke of the people who listen to or host the show. Anyway, I'm standing there by myself and all the sudden this girl I've never even SEEN before runs up to me and starts jumping up and down shouting, "PICKLES PICKLES PICKLES!!!" It took me a minute to understand what was going on- imagine if that happened to you- but once I did I was so excited! She was a member of the Pickle Pack too and neither of us EVER expected to meet someone else who knew what it was, so we were super psyched. We talked for a while and then got each other's numbers so we could talk later. That's one of the "codes" of this group of people... if you see someone wearing a Pickle Pack shirt, you MUST say hello and then be friends. It's very Mormon-like in that sense. :D So yep- I made a friend by wearing a shirt with a pickle on it.
I'm super nervous about my Honors Calc II class now, because I found out we don't get to use calculators- not just on the exams but AT ALL. AHHH!! I'm not positive I'll survive it. But I'm still determined to be a math teacher, so I'm giving it a shot.
Oh, and I met a guy from the Anoka stake today who's in my ward, and two guys who live in Utah now but used to live in Burnsville. So that was cool. I think I've actually danced with the guy from Anoka at one of the dances, but I didn't say anything about it in case I was wrong. I have to say, BYU boys are so much easier to be around than the ones at Forest Lake High School. You don't have to smack their heads for swearing or plug your ears during their dirty jokes. They're just GOOD, which I'm totally not used to.
All in all, I absolutely LOVE BYU. This place feels like it was meant for me. It's weird not being unique anymore. I've always been kind of the top of my class, and most of my friends were from AP classes and such. I felt nerdy around many of my friends because I liked school and, not to be snotty or anything, but I was really good at it. And I was one of the only Mormons in high school, and my standards singled me out a lot. Plus I was kind of famous for being a Mormon. It was like the second thing people would mention when introducing me: "This is my friend Mallory- she's a Mormon!" But here EVERYBODY is really smart, and likes to learn for learning's sake instead of just doing what was necessary to (maybe) pass a class. I'm surrounded by Mormons, and I have to say the dress code is like a breath of fresh air. It really does feel good. So I've stepped into this bubble where there are thousands of people I fit in with perfectly- Mormon, peppy, enthusiastic, smart, pretty nerdy sometimes, friendly, and raring to go!! Okay, so the constant happiness does get a little annoying, but if that's my biggest problem with the people here, then I'll take it. After all, I'm a pretty optimistic and happy person myself- I just didn't realize how much MORE so some people were.
I've always felt like I'm an adapter- I get used to new places and situations really quickly and without it phasing me much. I WAS a little homesick the first night right after my family left- I went into the shower to cry a little bit so people wouldn't come and ask me what's wrong (I HATE that- there's nothing worse in the world than attention when I cry, so I usually avoid crying quite well) But I slept it off and in the morning I was over it. I still miss everybody and I think about you all the time, but I'm not sad. Just wistful. I wish I could bring you all with me. Wanna come live in my cinderblock? (Actually my dorm is a lot nicer than I expected. we even have actuall walls for 3 of the 4 walls in my room and in the kitchen and bathroom, and everything works, and we have walk-in closets. And I have way more space for my stuff than I anticipated! I actually have EXTRA closet and drawer space. Wild, I know.)The vacation in Montana and Utah was lovely as well. My cousins are pretty much the bomb, and I'll just leave it at that.Oh, and you know that "freshman 15" thing? Not gonna happen for me. I'm walking soooo much, and I'm actually eating less than I usually do both because there's less time to do it and because I have to watch my budget. But I do have a new addiction to strawberry frosted shredded wheat. I've eaten it every morning except today. :DI'll update soon, probably next weekend after I've gone to all my classes and I get a chance to relax a tiny tiny bit. Love you!
Aaaanywaaaay, I'm pretty much settled in now. I'm in an apartment-style dorm with 5 other girls, split into 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. I love my roommates already, but I promise none of us got up in testimony meeting today to tell everybody so. It's bound to happen at some point, but we at least resisted this first time. The girl in the bedroom with me is McKenzie and she lives really close. She's SO nice and very friendly. Julie and Krista share another of the rooms, and they already knew each other. They're very bubbly, and they know how to get the dance parties going. :D In the other room is Caitlin and Somers. I've only seen Somers once because she's in Idaho with her family right now, but I've spent a lot of time with Caitlin and she's a fun time.I've been busy busy busy these past few days with orientation stuff. I've found all of my classrooms and I feel moderately comfortable getting everywhere I need to- during the day, anyway. Night time is scary because I can't see the mountains to orient myself, and everything looks different, but luckily I've always had groups to go with after dark. My orientation group has been super fun, and I've made some friends within it. Yesterday there was a dance in Brigham Square, and it was great. I saw Scott from the St. Paul Stake there and we chatted a bit, but neither of us have seen Jonathan Thibadeau yet. He's around here somewhere... among these thousands of people... somewhere...... :) Anyway, after the dance my bud Jake had an after-the-dance dance in front of his dorm, and pretty much everybody from Heritage Halls came and we had a good time. I was so BEAT afterwards.
My new Bishop is hilarious. He kind of reminds me of Chad Erickson. Hee. His wife led Relief Society today, and he came in halfway and their bantering cracked us up!
Happy Valley has really got my head spinning. It's aptly named, I can tell you that. Everyone (well the vast majority) is so FRIENDLY and there's none of the usual social barriers that exist among people who've never met. It hasn't mattered one bit that I didn't know a single person when I got here. For example, here's my best story of the week:
So on Thursday I didn't go on the tour with my group because they don't do me much good, and then at noonish I went to this field to meet up with them for lunch and the rest of the day's doings. I was just standing around looking for my group and waiting for them to come into the field. I was wearing my Pickle Pack t-shirt, which I'll explain since I bet all of .5% of the people reading this will know what that is. It's this shirt with a pickle on it that shows you're a member of the Pickle Pack, which is a fan club for this podcast I'm obsessed with called MuggleCast. "Pickles" is kind of a lame but fun catchphrase/inside joke of the people who listen to or host the show. Anyway, I'm standing there by myself and all the sudden this girl I've never even SEEN before runs up to me and starts jumping up and down shouting, "PICKLES PICKLES PICKLES!!!" It took me a minute to understand what was going on- imagine if that happened to you- but once I did I was so excited! She was a member of the Pickle Pack too and neither of us EVER expected to meet someone else who knew what it was, so we were super psyched. We talked for a while and then got each other's numbers so we could talk later. That's one of the "codes" of this group of people... if you see someone wearing a Pickle Pack shirt, you MUST say hello and then be friends. It's very Mormon-like in that sense. :D So yep- I made a friend by wearing a shirt with a pickle on it.
I'm super nervous about my Honors Calc II class now, because I found out we don't get to use calculators- not just on the exams but AT ALL. AHHH!! I'm not positive I'll survive it. But I'm still determined to be a math teacher, so I'm giving it a shot.
Oh, and I met a guy from the Anoka stake today who's in my ward, and two guys who live in Utah now but used to live in Burnsville. So that was cool. I think I've actually danced with the guy from Anoka at one of the dances, but I didn't say anything about it in case I was wrong. I have to say, BYU boys are so much easier to be around than the ones at Forest Lake High School. You don't have to smack their heads for swearing or plug your ears during their dirty jokes. They're just GOOD, which I'm totally not used to.
All in all, I absolutely LOVE BYU. This place feels like it was meant for me. It's weird not being unique anymore. I've always been kind of the top of my class, and most of my friends were from AP classes and such. I felt nerdy around many of my friends because I liked school and, not to be snotty or anything, but I was really good at it. And I was one of the only Mormons in high school, and my standards singled me out a lot. Plus I was kind of famous for being a Mormon. It was like the second thing people would mention when introducing me: "This is my friend Mallory- she's a Mormon!" But here EVERYBODY is really smart, and likes to learn for learning's sake instead of just doing what was necessary to (maybe) pass a class. I'm surrounded by Mormons, and I have to say the dress code is like a breath of fresh air. It really does feel good. So I've stepped into this bubble where there are thousands of people I fit in with perfectly- Mormon, peppy, enthusiastic, smart, pretty nerdy sometimes, friendly, and raring to go!! Okay, so the constant happiness does get a little annoying, but if that's my biggest problem with the people here, then I'll take it. After all, I'm a pretty optimistic and happy person myself- I just didn't realize how much MORE so some people were.
I've always felt like I'm an adapter- I get used to new places and situations really quickly and without it phasing me much. I WAS a little homesick the first night right after my family left- I went into the shower to cry a little bit so people wouldn't come and ask me what's wrong (I HATE that- there's nothing worse in the world than attention when I cry, so I usually avoid crying quite well) But I slept it off and in the morning I was over it. I still miss everybody and I think about you all the time, but I'm not sad. Just wistful. I wish I could bring you all with me. Wanna come live in my cinderblock? (Actually my dorm is a lot nicer than I expected. we even have actuall walls for 3 of the 4 walls in my room and in the kitchen and bathroom, and everything works, and we have walk-in closets. And I have way more space for my stuff than I anticipated! I actually have EXTRA closet and drawer space. Wild, I know.)The vacation in Montana and Utah was lovely as well. My cousins are pretty much the bomb, and I'll just leave it at that.Oh, and you know that "freshman 15" thing? Not gonna happen for me. I'm walking soooo much, and I'm actually eating less than I usually do both because there's less time to do it and because I have to watch my budget. But I do have a new addiction to strawberry frosted shredded wheat. I've eaten it every morning except today. :DI'll update soon, probably next weekend after I've gone to all my classes and I get a chance to relax a tiny tiny bit. Love you!
6 comments:
Wow. This was long. Sorry 'bout that.
What a treat to hear you are settled in. This school was built for you! After surviving FL you will still shine at BYU, but there will be others to support and sustain you. Getting to know your way around is quite a chore. It was hard when we were there, and campus is much bigger now! Enjoy your time there, and we will look forward to your youthful and enthusiastic reports. We love you and miss you here, but will look forward to your visits!
Keep the stories coming Mal....I love the details you give us!
It sounds like you are having a fabulous time already. Being an adapter is a great quality to have. Have fun!
Well, I am almost in tears I miss you so much! You are going to LOVE your new life!!! There is just something special about BYU. I should know...I went to 2 other colleges as well! Which leads me to my next point. I will be in Utah from the 23-26 and I REALLY want to take you out to lunch. I have completely forgotten my way around, so figure it out before I get there. I totally love you.
Heck YES Anne! Let's do it! My classes are over at 10:00 am on Fridays, so I have pretty much the rest of the day available. Or we can figure something else out. I'm so excited now! I totally love you more!!
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