9. Surprises in Coming to BYU

    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.      

8. Research Paper Process

     Writing this research paper has been quite a process, yet I surprisingly enjoyed it.  At first I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of this paper; I had no idea what I wanted to write about or even which family member I wanted to research.  At first, I considered researching World War II era and even further back.  However, after much reflection, I realized how much I missed my immediate family and decided to pick a topic somehow related to them.  I contemplated the relationships within my family and remembered  a huge difference between my siblings and I.  My sister, Abby, is an introvert, while my brother Ian, sister Hailey, and I are all extroverts.  I recalled times of my childhood in which this was evident, and set my topic.  I was the most interested in how my parents raised Abby differently from the rest of their children.
     We went to the library and started doing research on databases.  I found many good sources, including a book, which I reserved on an inter-library loan.  After, I began working on my annotated bibliography and pulling out the direct quotes and information that seemed the most relevant to my paper.  I then was able to form a good thesis based on the information I had gleaned.
     Next, I sat down to start writing.  I started with my introduction because I work better if I can write a paper from start to finish.  Next, I did the background section.  The next day, I sat down and I wrote the first half of my body paper.  The next day, I wrote the second half of my paper.  The next class period, we did peer review and gave a copy of what we had to Mrs. Steadman.
     On Monday, I went into Mrs. Steadman's office and got my paper reviewed.  She said I was nearly there and gave me some things to correct.  I set off to correct the errors I had.  Next, I wrote my conclusion and set a draft off to my mother, who was an English major for a few years before changing her major.  She edited it, gave me some pointers, and I implemented them in my paper.
     I printed out another copy of my paper.  Someone else in class peer-edited my introduction.  I then went through and edited it one more time and put the changes into my paper.  After, I read it through one more time and saved it.
     I printed it, but my ink ran out.  I spent a good 45 minutes changing the ink cartridge because I had never done that before.  Finally, I was able to print out my paper in its entirety, put it in the folder with the rubric, and add in the several rough drafts.
     Overall, I was very happy with this paper.  When I neared the completion of my paper, both of my parents read it, my dad mostly because he was interested in what I had written.  Abby, who was the focus of the paper, read it and really liked it.  I liked this paper because researching the topic and analyzing it helped me understand my little sister, as well as my family dynamic, a little bit better.

7. Joy in Family History

     As a kid, I was always fascinated with the idea of where my family came from.  I loved to spend Sunday afternoons looking at the places where my ancestors came from, speculating what world events they might have experienced.  I was especially drawn to my ancestors who had walked across the plains.  I never really paid much attention to the ordinance work that needed to be done for my ancestors, because everyone in my family was convinced that our work was done.  Many of my older relatives were obsessed with genealogy, my grandfather had paid to have his genealogy completed, and many of my ancestors were members of the church in its earliest days.

     Last Sunday night, my roommate and I were talking about family history.  She had found lots of names through techniques learned in her Family History class.  I told her how lucky she was because I had no family history work left for me to do.  She convinced my that family history work is never done because you can work sideways instead of just working on direct lines.  She sat down with me at my desk and showed me a few new tools I had never used before, like Ancestry.com and Puzilla.org, which made the process easier.  We worked for an hour, looking at various lines.  Within an hour, we had found 11 names for me to take to the temple on our weekly temple visit.  I was amazed.  I was so grateful for my roommate's diligence in teaching me.  We have made a goal to work on Family History for an hour or two after church on Sunday and take our own family names to the temple when we go every week.     

6. Rhetorical Analysis of Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "Lord Is It I?"

     Occasionally when members of the church sit in meetings, they think the messages presented from the pulpit are not to them, but to everyone else in the congregation.  In other words, they are the exception to the rule or do not need to hear the message.  In his 2014 General Conference talk, "Lord, Is It I?", President Dieter F. Uchtdorf exhorts the men of the church to examine their lives for sin through the use of repetition, anecdotes, and authoritative tone.

     President Uchtdorf uses repetition to soften the hearts of the men and allow them to examine their lives for worthiness.  He repeats the phrase, "Lord, Is it I?", which was taken from the scriptures during the last supper when the apostles wondered who would betray the savior.  As Uchtdorf eloquently weaves this phrase within his talk, he prompts individuals to examine their own weaknesses and shortcomings.  He sums up the message of his repetitions by saying, "Have you disengaged--even slightly--from the gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to [your trust]"  (Uchtdorf).  Overall, this repetition of "Lord, Is It I?", which even serves as the talk's title, gently, yet purposefully encourages men to examine their lives.

     President Uchtdorf uses anecdotes to help men see where they could be overlooking their own weaknesses.  He first describes a man who observes his neighbor's yard with one dandelion.  The man is distressed because one dandelion could ruin such a nice lawn; however, at the anecdote, the man goes back to his own yard, which has a myriad of dandelions and weeds.  Uchtdorf's use of anecdote helps individuals see how blind they can be in seeing their own issues and how members of the church should focus on their own weaknesses instead of others.  Some additionally anecdotes used by Uchtdorf include the parable of beams and motes in one's eye from the scriptures, the study in which the worst students rank their abilities as the highest, and the modern story in which divorce devastated a ward that had some of the best statistics in the church.  All of these anecdotes used by Uchtdorf demonstrated the importance of examining one's life honestly to truly be able to improve, to stay on the straight and narrow path, and become more like Heavenly Father.

     President Uchtdorf uses both an understanding tone  to persuade the men of the church to truly analyze their own lives.  Uchtdorf says, "Brethren, none of us likes to admit when we are drifting off the right course, often we try to avoid looking deeply into our souls and confronting our weaknesses, limitations, and fears" (Uchtdorf).  By placing himself in the category of struggling to evaluate one's own life, he places himself as one who also struggles to examine his life, which is what he wants the brethren to do.  He, in essence, says he is not perfect; many times, the most persuasive individuals are those who we see like ourselves, not someone put up on a pedestal.
     Additionally, though, he does use an authoritative tone when saying, "Those who do not which to learn and change probably will not and most likely will begin to wonder if the church has anything to offer them" (Uchtdorf).  Through this quote, the reader understands that Uchtdorf is an apostle of the Lord, and that consequences, like not valuing the gospel, will result if the audience does not follow his counsel.  Thus, the combination of an understanding tone and an authoritative tone to create a message that is both approachable but firm.

     President Uchtdorf''s message serves to persuade the men of the church to examine their lives to see if improvements are necessary to ensure that they stay on the straight and narrow; Uchtdorf portrays his message through the use of repetition, anecdotes, and authoritative tone.  As members of the church, individuals should examine their lives to be able to put them more in harmony with the teachings of Christ.

5. Research Paper Topic

        Picking a topic for my research paper has been surprisingly difficult!  I know so much about my family history, that picking just one to research has been surprising difficult.  So far, I have thought about researching aspects of World War II, aspects of northern European history during the 18th and 19th centuries, and pioneers.  Ultimately, though, I decided I wanted to write about something related to my immediate family, probably because I miss them and think of them quite often.  At first I wanted to focus on the importance at stay at home moms, but then I determined I wanted to focus on how parents have to raise introverted children much differently than their extroverted children.  I have a very shy sister, Abby, and my dad has always commented that my parents have had to raise her differently than us.  For example, she receives a smaller punishment for mistakes, does not receive as "intense" lectures, and although she is very smart and athletic, not pushed to the extent that my other siblings and I are.  I want to know:

How many people are really "introverted"?

Why do parents have to raise "introverts" differently than their extrovert children?

How does one identify an introvert?

What negative outcomes could occur if introverted children were raised in the exact same manner as their extrovert siblings?

Is being introverted genetic?

In what specific ways do parents have to raise their introverted children differently than their extroverted children?



THESIS:  No matter the cause of introversion, parents must adapt their child-rearing tactics to fit their child's needs.  To raise well-adjusted introverts, parents should consider children to new experiences gradually, punishing them less harshly than extroverted children, and adapting their child's environment to lower the amount of stimulation in their lives.

4. Rhetorical Analysis Reflection

     Today, I turned in my Rhetorical Analysis for Writing 150.  I began the writing process by carefully picking a speech worth analyzing.  I felt I should choose a paper that I was not only interested in, but also one with a lot of figurative language and strong words.  I thought about using a Ronald Reagan Speech or Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death."  Instead, I chose "The American Crisis," by Thomas Paine.  I appreciated the commentary's creative word choice, length, and context.
     I went through my paper with several different-colored high lighters.  First, I read through the first sentence and last sentence of each paragraph to try to identify the main points of the commentary.  Next, I identified the commentary's thesis.  Finally, I went through picking out figurative language and very strong passages within Paine's commentary.  I decided that he used a lot of metaphor, diction, and exaggeration. I was able to come up with two strong examples for each.  I outlined my paper, coming up with the thesis and each piece of evidence.
     The next day, I wrote a rough draft for my paper.  I thought of other examples of strong commentaries for my hook and led into my thesis.  I wrote each body paragraph, making sure to include strong analysis.  I have always been taught that my analysis needs to be more abundant the evidence from the work I am reading.  As I reached my conclusion, I restated my thesis, and went from narrow to broad, ending with a quote to summarize the importance of rhetorical analysis.
     I came to class early on the day of my appointment with Mrs. Steadman.  Since I was early, I went to the writing center, where I got some advice about my diction paragraph.  Next, I met with Mrs. Steadman, where I received a lot of good feedback about paragraphing and a few aspects of word choice. 
     Next, I implemented those changes.  I emailed my paper to my mom, who was an English major at BYU for a few years before changing majors.  She also found a few words to change in my paper.  This extra editing session made my paper more clear.  With all of these changes from the writing center, Mrs. Steadman, and my mom implemented, I read my paper out loud to my roommates.  Once I felt confident, I checked my margins and citations and printed it.
     In the future, with the Research Paper, I want to become more familiar with citations.  I have used citations many times before but still do not feel completely confident.  With my future papers, I definitely want to have my rough draft completed early on like I did for my rhetorical analysis and have several editors, as different people have good advice for improvement, just as I did this time. 

3. Blessings Despite Homesickness

Yesterday marks the one month mark of when I left home.  I had been excited to attend BYU for as long as I can remember; it had been my ultimate goal since middle school and had become an obsession as I entered high school.  However, the leading weeks to my departure were difficult for me.  I imagined parting with my immediate family and felt very frightened.  Although I obviously miss my family, I have come to love my new home in Utah.  I knew I would like BYU, but I feared I would miss my family too much to truly enjoy it.  I have found that I have experienced many new and exciting opportunities that come with attending a university that values both secular and spiritual learning.  Throughout the past month, I have had more unique experiences pertaining to the gospel than ever before in my life.
The week before the semester started, I felt like I should go to the temple, as I had not had the opportunity in over a year, due to the 3.5 hour drive to the temple from my house in Indiana.  I made a goal to attend the temple at least once a week for my entire freshman year, and so far, I have stuck to my goal.  My roommate, Katie, has joined me in this goal.  Even on busy weekends, we always manage to find time, even if our main Friday night activity becomes going to the temple.
I have also had the great opportunity of hearing several apostles speak in person.  Before I came to Utah, I had only heard one apostle speak in person, M. Russell Ballard in March of 2013.  Since attending BYU, I have had the opportunity to hear from Henry B. Eyring, Richard G. Scott, and Russell M. Nelson.  In addition to hearing from these brethren at the inauguration of President Worthen and Regional Conference, we were able to feel of the spirit as President Thomas S. Monson entered the Marriott Center.  As we had seats far up in the center, I was surprised that I could feel the spirit before I even knew he entered the room.  I look forward to General Conference where I will have these opportunities again, as I have Saturday morning session tickets.
The last very unique experience I had was getting to participate in the Ogden, Utah temple dedication.  Before the semester started, I went through the open house with my dad and cousins.  Even though the dedication was in the Marriott Center, I felt blessed to be able to hear the messages given at the dedication and be in what was considered an extension of the temple that day.  I look forward to next fall when the Indianapolis, IN temple will be dedicated a mile from my dad's office.