The academics at BYU are very similar to how I imagined them to be, but some of the social experiences have been shocking. After the initial shock of singing an opening hymn with hundreds of other kids at Freshman Orientation, I got used to the idea of everyone believing the same thing I do. I have loved being here. I am able to pinpoint the ways those around me are living the gospel. We all have different strengths; thus, we can be examples of different aspects of the gospel to each other. My social interactions have been a little different than expected. Since I grew up in Indiana with very few LDS boys to date, I expected to be dating every weekend. With a three-to-one girl-to-boy ratio in my ward with no return missionaries, I have dated vary rarely. My experience has been that I mostly like to hang out with my roommates. However, I have been surprised in all the new ways I have been able to meet people. When I first came, I thought I would spend the majority of the time with my twin cousins who room with me. However, I have made new friends on my floor, my Family Home Evening group, my classes, and other random places. I expected older students to not want anything to do with all of the "freshies," but I was pleasantly surprised; everyone has been so welcoming.
My biggest Aha moment has been the respect and love I have noticed from my family. In high school, my parents had unbelievably high expectations of me. Now that I am at BYU and am continuing to live up to their goals for me, they never fail to tell me how well I am doing. Every good test score is responded with praising texts with a bunch of "Emojis." My dad will text me out of the blue just to tell me that he loves me and that I'm the best. Even my grandparents, who knew about my successful high school years were shocked to hear that I was doing well in my college classes. Honestly, I felt slightly insulted.
For the rest of the semester, I plan to continue the same patterns in my schoolwork. I want to make more of an attempt to go visit my extended family in neighboring cities. I have visited extended family more in the past month, but I waited almost two months before venturing out of Provo to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Overall, I have enjoyed BYU so far. Despite a new social climate (and weather climate), I love attending school here because I learn so much every day.
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