I am feeling rather nostalgic; I just passed the ten-year anniversary of my college graduation. On the one hand, I think Where have the past ten years gone? It seems like just yesterday... On the other hand, I think Wow! I really must be getting old to have graduated from BYU ten years ago! That seems like a lifetime ago. It's kind of weird to try to reconcile both schools of thought in my one little brain.I loved my college experience. I mean, I really loved it. I loved being around so many LDS kids; I'd never lived in such an atmosphere and I just ate it up. I had my share of roommates--some with whom I will share lifelong friendships and others from whom I learned important lessons about learning to get along with others. I worked several jobs in my years at the Y: telemarketer (I'm always polite to them on the phone; I've been there!), custodian, laundry worker, folklore archivist.
I remember my bitter-sweet feelings on graduation day. I was so excited! I was happy to be done with homework. I couldn't wait to read only books I'd chosen. I was happy thinking about not writing paper after paper (we English majors did have our fair share of those). But, I was sad to leave. And a little scared. I wasn't sure what was going to happen in my life. I wasn't married (the horror!) and didn't have a job lined-up. I did have my boyfriend, my Michael, and he was fun, but I wasn't sure he was what I was looking for. I had all of these conflicting feelings going on at once.Despite my butterfly-filled stomach, I had a great time with the whole graduation thing. My roommate, Kimber, and I took tons of cheesy photos in our caps and gowns (the pics are MIA in my house right now) and my entire family was there to cheer me on (thanks to my brother's wedding taking place the next day).
I was the second of my parent's children to graduate from college. Neither of my parents is a college graduate and they very much encouraged all of us to go on and get a higher education. They sacrificed quite a bit in order to help seven of us go to college. I recognize and am extremely grateful for that. I can't imagine the story of my life without the chapters at BYU in it.
7 comments:
I hear you Mendy. I was so sad to decide not to go to grad school when I got engaged, but I was relieved to be done with papers. I knew I was missing BYU already when I made Jake's mom and dad follow us around the entire campus and take pictures of us in all our nostalgic places. I still wish I had more . . .
Great post! It seems like nearly everyone who went to BYU really loved it :)
I loved BYU too. Those are fun memories.
Oh the Y - I loved the atmosphere too!! BYU changed my life and I really miss my days of tunnel-singing and Tuesday devotionals. Happy grad day anniversary to you!! :)
I love college!! Sometimes I wish I were still there. I can't believe how fast the time goes either! It's amazing that we graduated so long ago, but it seems like just yesterday. I too will always remember those days as some of the funnest, but also sometimes the hardest times. Thanks for the post, it's fun to remember...
I just had to comment again on your pics!! How fun and neat they are!! You got to meet Elder Oaks!! Adrian got to meet him and Russia!
I LOVED the Y experience too and while I went through a period of diesenchantment because they made it difficult for me to finish-once I did it was all okay.After all I met my mr. right there and we still love watching the football games together. Also I remember my freshman year you were one of the only people I knew from home at BYU -you were kinda like my little mentor-I think you even tried to set me up with one of Michael's friends once.
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