The End is Near

Well, today is the last Sunday I'll have as a freshman at BYU. I am excited to be finished, but sad to go. It has been a year for me to learn and grow, but it's gone so fast that I haven't done everything that I wanted. But, I am very grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be at Brigham Young.

I've done a lot of things since I moved out here in August. I better learned what career I am interested in pursuing and how to get there. Living without my parents has made me take on greater responsibilities for taking care of my house, and made me develop my culinary skills. I am also very proud that I have learned to play the guitar in only a few months. Elder's Quorum activities have given me the opportunity to have some friendly competitions and see just what I can do. My friends made sure that I had plenty of fun dates! Even busting open my eyebrow wasn't too bad. I think that most importantly, I have gotten to grow my testimony of Jesus Christ by being able to attend the temple regularly, teach in church, and take classes on the Book of Mormon.

I think that I owe everything good that has happened to me here to the wonderful people around me. I have had the privilege of being a part of the Provo Young Single Adults 48th Ward. I am thoroughly convinced that we have the best ward in the stake, if not the entire church. They have befriended me and taught me meaningful lessons. Parker Evans has shown me what it means to work hard and the amazing results you can achieve. Kati Briggs and Sadie Meyers have taught me that happiness is a choice, not a result of your circumstances. Brandon Quinn has demonstrated going above and beyond your call of duty. And my roommates have shown me how to be patient. These are only a small set of the many teachers I have had the pleasure to call friends. I hope that I can keep in touch with all of the people who have touched my life in this freshman ward.

It's true that it hasn't all been easy. I had trouble with the classwork. Sometimes I struggled a little financially. Making friends didn't come as easily as I had hoped at first. I even had to get thirteen stitches in my eyebrow! But, despite all of this I would not change any of this experience. I have loved getting to be a BYU Cougar!