Evaluative Conclusion... Goodbye to Both My National and International Friends

Another semester at BYU has come and gone, but this time I have a blog of entries that document my experiences here for Fall 2011. Because of this blog, I have realized some things about myself that will help me continue education and progression throughout my life:

1. The first main purpose of this blog only occurred to me now that I have reviewed my posts. Although almost every single one of my posts started out with me explaining some kind of secular problem or experience that I was facing in my life, somehow I always related it to a spiritual lesson I learned. Because I having been preparing to submit my mission papers throughout most of this semester, a lot of my focus has been in this area. I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to express lessons, blessings, and realizations I've had throughout the semester pertaining to this significant time in my life. I can't say enough how grateful I am that I happened to take this class at such a perfect time. Had I taken it next semester, I may not have been able to prepare for my mission as much as I did this semester.

2. Sharing the gospel and my small testimony has also seemed very important and reoccurring throughout most of my posts. I find it interesting and fortunate that I got the opportunity to have people from all around the world reading my blog. With 8 different countries reading my blog and about 1/3 of my blog's views coming from Russia alone, I know that it was important that I always related my posts back to the gospel. I didn't realize it until now, but I had been given a special opportunity to share the gospel in a unique way this semester.

3. I used to write in my journal every week on Sunday. Since the beginning of my senior year, I seemed to think that I had become too busy to be able to write in my journal. Unfortunately, I have missed out on several opportunities to be able to document all the experiences that I have had in the last 2 years. Because of this semester, I have realized that I really do have time to write in my journal. I have a renewed interest in doing so because I was often able to write on my blog more than twice a week.

4. A final thing that I've learned this semester because of my blog pertains to my character. At the beginning of the semester, I made a goal to write on my blog every Tuesday and Thursday. As soon as I had made this goal, I stuck to it. Now that the semester is over, I am proud to say that I have 30 posts on my blog, 10 more than was required. Not only did I keep my promise and obtain my goal of an average of 2 posts a week, I have really come to enjoy this new form of expressing myself.

Although most of my Writing class didn't actually work on keeping up with their blog throughout the semester and ended up posting an absurd amount in the last week, I'm grateful that I have spaced it out because I have been able to see a real progression throughout the semester. Even though I am not the professor and have no say in grades, I feel that I have done all that I could to make this blog a real goal and continuing task throughout this semester. THANK YOU SISTER STEADMAN!!!!! I'VE BEEN CONVERTED TO BLOGGING!!

Finals!! Get at ME!!!

With the upcoming finals that just seem to linger intimidatingly in the near future, I've begun to realize just how much there is to deal with. I have always taken pride in scheduling out every week and making sure that everything, inside out outside of school, are always taken care of, but given that these next two weeks are going to be really stressful, planning out everything was extremely hard. I'm proud to say now though that my I have everything planned out for the rest of the semester. With different scheduled final test taking times, review sessions, assignments due, and mission papers preparation, it's an understatement to say that I'm stressed out.

For my mission, I got my shots yesterday so now all I have left is the interview with the Bishop and the Stake President. It's hard to believe that I'll have my mission call in just over a month!! On top of that, it always surprises me when I realize that I could be on my mission in 5 months... Time has flown by faster than I thought it would and the mission will be on my doorstep sooner than I expect. I think it's safe to say that I really need to start preparing more now that it is getting so close. I read my scriptures every night but I want to start putting a focus on studying from Preach My Gospel.

Although finals are typically a time to stress and I'm definitely getting my fair share of stress, I'm the type of person that loves a challenge. Because I will need to study for a long amount of time to be able to pull off the grades that I want in each of my classes, I'm excited for this challenge that I have. I know it's going to take a lot of work and studying to be able to pull off what I want but I know that once it's all said and done and I've achieved what I'm working for, it will all be worth it. Good luck to everyone on their finals!!

Blogs.... A Type of Journal?

At the beginning of this semester when we were given the task of keeping up with a blog, I never thought that I'd be able to consistently post something. In order to make sure that I would have enough posts by the end of the semester, I decided that I would blog Tuesday and Wednesday every week. At first, I thought that this was an unrealistic goal and there was no way that I would be able to keep up with it. As I continued through the semester, blogging became easier and it didn't seem like I was having to search as hard to find something to talk about. Thankfully, I have successfully made it through the semester and have learned a very important lesson. With the task of blogging, I thought it would be a complete waste of time, but I now understand how it has helped me. Regardless of whether I keep up with this blog in the future, I know now the importance of writing my thoughts down. A way that I can do this every week is to keep a journal. I'm sorry to say that I currently own 2 journals and use neither of them at all. I used to be much better about keeping a journal but since coming up here, I couldn't find the time to do it. If there's anything that I've learned from blogging, it's that I really do have the time; I just need to make writing in my journal a priority. I have a lot of spiritual experiences every week that I should be writing down to make sure that I can always remember them. Not only is writing in my journal just like blogging, I can also be more personal with what I say because I know I won't have other people reading it (like someone may be reading this right now). Overall, I'm very thankful for this opportunity to blog because it has taught me a great lesson and has motivated me to keep up with my journal after my Writing 150 class is over.

Inspiration

Throughout school this year, I have had many opportunities to reflect on what has kept me motivated. My education goals are to get into the Accounting program here at BYU. Knowing that my dad also went through the Accounting program here, I have tried extra hard this entire semester to do all that I can to be just like him. He has set a high standard for me to follow. Seeing as the Accounting program is now the second best in the U.S., I know it's going to take a lot of work to get into it. My dad has not only been an example to me throughout my life of achieving excellence in school, but he also has great knowledge and logic when it comes to life problems. I would have hated to admit this less than a year ago, but now that I have experienced BYU on my own, I understand where he comes from when he says what he says.

Another inspiration that has kept me motivated this week is a quote that has been on my wall. It says, "running is a big question mark that's there every day. It asks, 'are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" This semester I had decided that I would run a marathon. I have trained continuously throughout the semester so that I could stay healthy while up here at BYU, but nothing has kept me going more than this simple quote. I would wake up early in the morning, question whether it was worth running, look at the quote, and then reluctantly put on my running gear. Now that the semester is almost over, I can't say enough how much I appreciated and needed this quote as help.

Lastly, there has been one other inspiration for me. You have probably been wondering why there is a picture of Emma Watson (or Hermoine Granger as some of you may know her) on this blog post. Well, Emma Watson has been a symbol of standards and morality to me recently. Although she isn't Mormon and she is a celebrity, she still places importance on dressing modestly and staying clean. And besides, she's cute!