When I began the college application process, BYU was far off my radar of where I wanted to attend college. My main goal was to go to San Diego State University and a few other California colleges. If all of those options had fallen through, I would have been just as content to go to the local junior college. As u can tell I did NOT want to be associated with BYU in any way shape or form. Until one day my oh so wonderful Bishop came up to me and said “I’m not accepting any college EXCEPT BYU.” Since the bishop of my ward is like a father to me, I knew it was BYU or bust. Next came my mom asking if I had filled out an application for BYU yet. Then came my aunt and a few other stragglers that I knew asking the same. So what did I do? I did what any teenager does when they are annoyed and want everyone off of their back. I went to www.BYU.edu and began the application process. Of course, I still had ZERO intent on going to BYU if I got accepted. I just did not want to do the “Mormon thing” and go to and LDS School. Especially attend a school that is in the Mormon capital of the world (no offense to any of you that live in Utah). As soon as I thought I was free from the attacks, my mom comes asking if I had applied for BYU scholarships and all that jazz that would help me get situated when I got to BYU. Long story short, I was talked into attending BYU, and I am very grateful for those pushed me in the right direction. I know this is the school that I needed to be attending.
A.LeGrand Richards reminds us that the curriculum for an education is in the scriptures. Doctrine and Covenants section 88 tells us that we need to understand all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God. We need to learn “of the things in heaven and in the earth…things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass…” (D&C 88:79) We need to learn these things to be prepared for when the Lord will send us our calling and our mission. Richards says that we need to focus on both our mission (family) and our careers. This is because in the end it’s not what our profession is that counts, it’s how we upheld our end of the bargain in raising a family. President David O.McKay said “The paramount ideal permeating all education in the grades, the high school, through college and the university, should be more spiritual than economic.” In fact, BYU’s mission is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. I can guarantee you guys that SDSU’s mission statement is non-comparable to that of BYU’s. Especially since SDSU is one of the top party school in the nation. (yes I do enjoy partying SAFELY!) Richards states that we should “…learn to grow where you are planted. In fact, learn to look for places where you can make a difference.”
I believe that BYU is the right place for ANY student to gain an education. Here at BYU, what we students can do for the college is not nearly as important as what we can do for our fellow brothers and sisters. The environment here at BYU is just uplifting. Many people walk around with smiles on their face and you can easily bet that they share the same beliefs. It just makes the transition into the “real world” that much easier. Since I have been here at BYU (wooohooo a whopping four weeks!) I have built a better base for me to stand upon. Back home I was constantly surrounded by drugs, sex, alcohol, and immorality. I still found a way to have a strong base, but it has been a much easier task here at the Y. I suggest that we all need to take full advantage of being at this wonderful establishment and make the best of it. Not only make it happen for ourselves but also for those around us. I know I am going to strive to be the best child of God that I can be. President McKay reminds us that “no success in life can compensate for failure in the home.”
My fellow cougars and cougarettes, let us “roll in the dough.” We hit the jackpot of all educations.
GO COUGARS!
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My history with BYU is a little different. Having grown up just a few minutes BYU and having visited campus numerous times, BYU is the school where I always EXPECTED I would attend. It's the school I've grown up around.
ReplyDeleteI did take some time to consider other schools, but in the end chose to stick with the school where I knew what I was getting. Where else can you find a school like BYU? Even ignoring the unique culture of the school, it's one of the best school in the country. For students who get and LDS tuition-discount, it's an amazing value.
After my first month on campus, I am surprised by the diversity of people here. With the honor code, I figured everybody would look and act the same. I was definitely wrong. All of the cliques from high school seem to have found their way into BYU, yet everybody reaches out to welcome others as well.
I feel the same way in many respects. I didn’t really want to go to BYU. I applied to BYU without thinking I would actually go there. At the end of my senior year however, I felt that BYU would be the best place for mission prep. That is the most important thing for me at this point in my life.
ReplyDeleteI want to be in the construction management program. The two other schools that I applied to accepted me into their program when I applied. However, after you got into BYU, you have to apply to be in the professional program. That’s what I’m working on.
Overall however, BYU is a great place. I like it here. I’m not that much of a fan of Utah though. It doesn’t matter when you can feel the sprit so strongly. I have been making an effort to go to the temple every week. I would not have that opportunity anywhere else. (it seems like there is a temple every block)
A year ago I would have never expected that I would be attending BYU. BYU was probably the last place I wanted to go to school. I was born and raised a University of Utah fan and always disliked the thought of surrounding myself with the stereotypical BYU students. I also disliked the thought of paying to take religion classes. But last spring I came down to Provo to take a tour of campus and everything changed. After the tour I met up with a couple friends of my friends from High School. They had nothing but praise for BYU and while we walked around campus I began to feel like BYU is where I belonged. I had always heard that once you visit a bunch of colleges you will just know which one is right for you. The feeling began to grow inside of me, no matter how hard I tried to suppress it. With each step I took I knew more and more that BYU was the right place for me.
ReplyDeleteNow that I have been here almost one month, I have to say that I couldn’t be happier. The things that I thought would bother me have become some of the things that I love most about BYU. I always thought I would hate taking a religion class but in all honesty I have learned so much and my Book of Mormon class has become one of my favorites. I love living away from home (but not too far). I love the atmosphere at BYU. I love that religion is infused into almost every subject. I am grateful to be at BYU and am glad I made the decision to come her.
BYU was/is the only university I have EVER wanted to attend. I am so happy to be here and I feel so blessed.
ReplyDeleteI too grew up in an environment that was filled with drugs, sex, pornography, partying, etc. I knew that any other college besides a Mormon one would have these same wicked occurences, only happening more frequently and on a larger scale.
Some of my best friends in high school even started getting into the partying phase as senior year progressed. They started committing many acts of immorality and drinking almost every weekend. It's very hard to see your friends go down that wrong path.
I know that they are doing those acts of wickedness even more now that they are in college. I know that if I decided to go to a different college (say a college in California, where I grew up) I would probably lose my testimony in the church and begin to do those things. The temptation would be just too great.
One of my best friends from high school is going to a college in Boston called Clark University. She says that her dorms are co-ed and that boys sleep over in the girls dorms nightly (and do more than sleep.) I am and will be forever grateful that I do not have to be around this immorality because it has such a negative impact on one's soul and makes the Spirit leave. It would be almost impossible to feel the spirit in a toxic environment such as that.
I am more grateful than words can express to my God who created this amazing university through inspired leaders like Karl Maesser (I don't think that is the proper spelling of his name.) I love this place with all my heart. Almost every person I see on campus has the evident light of Christ. It is incredible to see, especially since I lived in a community that is predominantly Jewish.
A BYU education is the best education one can get. Not because the classes are the most rigorous, because they're not, but because of the intergration of spiritual truths with temporal truths. I love how the professors here explicitly show the connection between things of academia and things of God, for they are truly intertwined.
Not only has my knowledge of things in the world grown in my first four weeks at BYU, but my testimony has as well. It is so great to finally be constantly around great people who share the same standards as me and are also trying to reach the celestial kingdom. Everything is so much clearer now that I am reading the Book of Mormon more in depth due to my rather rigorous Book of Mormon class, saying prayers before the start of classes, and saying more personal prayers.
When I applied to schools my senior year, the only application that really counted was the one for BYU. I knew since junior year of high school that this is the right place for me. It has already changed my life and I've only been here a month.
This university has everything I've ever wanted in a school. It has a great dance program, it has respectable people with high moral standards, it has intellectual students and experienced professors, it has a great football team, it has amazing study abroad programs, it has nice dorms, it has a spiritual aspect to its classes and campus, it has snow which I have never lived in, it has a great social life, it is right next to the mountains and it is very close to the Temple Square. Honestly, there is nothing more that I would want in a university.
I feel so honored to be here among people who are striving to be the best they can be and who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel through Joseph Smith. I love BYU and I am eternally grateful for all the many things it has already done for me.
I did not want to come to BYU. I was raised to love football, and I have been a huge fan of the University of Tennessee for my whole life. That's where I always wanted to go. It was only three hours away from home and I could go watch the UT games and it was going to be amazing. I was almost positive that that was where I was going to go to college.
ReplyDeleteThen the summer before my junior year of high school came around. I was trying to come up with a list of other schools that I was going to apply to (I thought it would be kind of silly to only apply to one school), and my parents told me that I should pray about BYU. I hate Utah, so I was not too happy about that. But I did as my parents asked, and I guess you know what my answer to that prayer was, as I'm here at BYU.
It took a while before I finally came to terms with the idea of going to BYU. It's a 2 day drive from home, I knew nothing about the football team, it's in Utah, the weather is cold... the list goes on and on of complaints that I had about BYU.
I eventually got used to the idea, though, and now I'm really glad that I chose to come to BYU. It's great having most people around me share the same beliefs and standards as me, and I really enjoy the devotionals. I love the environment here. Although I do miss the South and I follow UT football almost obsessively since I don't actually get to watch the games, I'm really glad that I came to BYU and I'm thankful for all the really amazing experiences that I've had and will continue to have because I chose to obey the promptings of the Spirit and come to a school where I can learn more about the Gospel and grow closer to the Lord while learning more academic subjects. It's really nice to be surrounded by things that will uplift me spiritually and I’m glad that I have the opportunity to grow closer to the Lord as I go through my years at BYU.
Well, after reading this response, I was thinking, 'Wow, that's almost my exact same story." But it looks as though I am not the only one... I won't publish my life story, but I'm glad to know that there are more of us unlikely BYU candidates here. I'm glad we made the right choice.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to try recount my whole life story either, but Quano makes a lot of excellent points. It truly is a blessing for all of us to be here. We're receiving a top-notch education with dirt-cheap tuition prices. It's also pretty awesome to realize that we can be here in a safe environment where we aren't bombarded with sex, drugs, profanity, and other harmful aspects of other non-church schools.
ReplyDeleteI've never been happier in my life now that I'm here at BYU. Of course I miss my family back home but I just feel so incredibly lucky to be here. I grew up in a very diverse suburb of Chicago. Though I lived in an upper-class neighborhood and didn't really struggle financially (I'm not saying this to boast or be proud), and was surrounded by tons of kids who basically got whatever they wanted from their parents. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, I also went to school with hundreds of minorities from all over the world, many of which suffered from poverty and/or were affiliated with violence, gangs, and drugs. It was incredibly diverse as far as ethnicity and social class were concerned. Thus, I got to experience in a sense of what the real world may be like.
In contrast, here at BYU where the population is MUCH more homogenous and uniform, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm grateful for once in my life I'm surrounded by people just like me -- at least for a time where my decisions affect who I am and who I will become. I'm grateful I can be here at BYU so I can have the opportunity to experience "both worlds," which will hopefully prepare me more for the real world.
We just need to make the most of our time here. We really do. Relying on the Lord will make all the difference; President Ezra Taft Benson once said "the Lord can do more with your life than you ever can." Let's let Him do just that.
I had kind of the same path here. I wasn't sure exaqctly where I wanted to go before my mission. Due to work for the mission, I never did get to go to college before that. While I was in the MTC though, I really grew to have a strong distaste for BYU dtudents. So cliche and 'righteous' on the outside, but kind of snotty and condescending I thought. I hated the horrified question-toned "Elder?" I'd hear from a random student employee because I didn't grab the door for a sister or something.
ReplyDeleteNear the end of my mission though, I heard that I was accepted here and could start just a couple of months after coming home, and my Mission President, who was a stud, sold me on it since he was previously a teacher in the Marriott school.
After being here a while though, and coming from my 'building the kingdom' experience as a missionary, I've really caught onto what the school is for. God is investing in us. God needs leaders in the future. Usually, God prepares us for our 'mission' (which is our personal perfection, and the salvation of our families) with callings that prepare for future callings, slowly sculpting us. Education, and simply the whole experience here is the best preperation at this point. This is our calling. We need to live up to this calling, magnify it.
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ReplyDeletelove how Brother Richards puts a game like school into an eternal perspective. I love his humor, ("Oh, Your Royal Highness, I tried to get my assignment in on time, but I was hit by a train on my way to campus and I've been crawling for three days. Won't you please, please accept it a little late?") I have been trying to sort out how seriously I should take school. School should be taken seriously because it can be put into an eternal context, but the academic world is so obviously pretentious ("Well, first you must take twelve laps around the McKay building and kiss my ring...and then I will need to consider if it is fair for my other subjects who turned the assignment in on time"). SWILUA says I should get at least one C. Maybe that should factor into my considerations.
ReplyDeleteLet me also say that I was !distressed! when I learned that the proper name for a resident of Utah is "Utard"!
This was a really powerful reading for me. LeGrand Richards really did an excellent job of putting the whole BYU experience and education into perspective. I know that sometimes I tend to do just as Brother Richards warns against. I tend to put so much emphasis on my education that I leave little time for the more important things in life. Getting an education is important. So important that general authorities comment on it all the time. But I especially liked the part where he said that "Saint Peter would [not] ask to see our transcripts"(20). I think that the point of an education at BYU is more than secular. If the whole point were just to gain a degree, any one of us could have chosen to go to any other college of our choice. The point is that here we are able to improve and porgress not only intellectually, but, more importantly, spiritually. The prayers, the devotionals, the student wards, the family home evening groups. I know that I came here to progress spiritually, but sometimes I can feel myself putting too much stress on the grades and the points, then on truly learning what I am here to learn.
ReplyDeleteMy experience was kind of the same! I never planned on going to BYU. I only applied here because my mom guilted me into doing it. THEN, my sister suggested that I should apply for summer term because she came for summer and it was the best! So…I discovered that I had been accepted, and I was devastated. I knew that my parents would leave me no choice but to go to BYU. I was so upset. I’ve been here for almost 4 months now. The first 2 months was absolutely miserable! I was so reluctant to give up my life of comfort and security at home in Tennessee. I’ve always hated Utah too. But, of course, I realize this is where I’ve needed to be at this point in my life. I’ve become so much stronger as an individual in God’s church. I’ve also developed some pretty rockin study skills. Not to mention I’ve been able to develop a fantastic relationship with my sister that I wouldn’t have been able to do elsewhere. Pretty much, I’m just really thankful for my parents forcing me to do something that I had no desire to do whatsoever. It’s been an incredible experience, and I look forward to the coming months – not including freezing to death. This is where I’ve needed to be to become the person I want to be.
ReplyDeleteI was planning on attending the University of Utah, and had already been accepted, until last september when we had the local universities come to our high school. I initially wanted to attend the UofU presentation for the first of three sessions we could attend, but it was full. I soon found myself in the seminary classroom listening to BYU's presentation. There was nothing especially exciting or enticing about the presentation, but for some reason the Spirit bore witness to me that BYU was where I was supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteI now know what that reason was. I have learned so much and have come so far since the beginning of Summer when I moved away from home. I have learned to trust in the lord. When I decided to come here, I had absolutely no Idea how I would pay for anything. The lord came through, though, and through hard work I was able to get the money. Of all the lessons I've learned, none of them include the idea that my career is the most important thing. In fact, i've changed my career path three times since deciding to come here, yet that hasn't effected the quality of my experience here. I know that I am not preparing myself for a future career here at BYU.
*...not only preparing...
ReplyDelete