The Longest Week Ever Invented

...and to get my point across I'll make this post extra long. Mostly I want to make everyone else suffer as much as I have this week. Ha. Suckers.

Week one of my second semester at BYU has almost come to a close, and not a moment too soon. Each day has felt like a month. This is going to be a long semester.

The week started out with a disastrous Relief Society lesson that I had to teach. Word of advice: be aware that any time your lesson has any element of technology (ie, a dvd player), something is bound to go wrong. I was left babbling for a half an hour about nothing in particular. Oh, did I mention I had no voice either?

I got sick last Friday right before coming back down to Provo, and this dang cold has been lingering a little too long. Every morning I wake up feeling like my head has been stuffed with a lifetime supply of cotton balls. It does not make concentrating in classes very easy.

Speaking of classses...I've changed my schedule about a million times over the past 3 weeks or so, and I think I'm finally content. Here's the low-down on my class schedule...because I know you're all on the edge of your seats, dying to know what I'm taking. Right?

1. theBOM.com: I hate it when people use that phrase. But whatever. I signed up for a Book of Mormon class for returned missionaries because I heard the teacher was good and that was the only time my friend and I could take the class together. Luckily the teacher didn't kick us out of the class. I feel like I'm going to learn a ton. It should be a good time.

2. Leery of Theory: Intro to Social Inquiry. Sounds very sophisticated, right? Basically it's a sociology theory class. The teacher shockingly knew everyone's name in the class. It was sorta creepy. It's a very small class - which is both good and bad. Either way, it's definitely a major change compared to last semester's 600+ people in a class. The level and way of thinking in this class is infinitely different than anything I've ever experienced. I can't really explain it, but I literally walk out of that class and my brain physically hurts from thinking so hard.

3. Bed of Roses: I was in a Social Psychology class that was held once a week in the evenings for 2 1/2 hours. I wanted to die. After the first day I knew I couldn't stay in that class. I was kind of in over my head with the subject because I don't have a very firm sociological foundation...so basically I had no clue what the professor was talking about. I figured that was probably not a very good sign since it was only the first day.

My friend told me there were openings in her floral design class, so I transfered into it. I couldn't be happier. The teacher is basically amazing. She does a drawing every day to win some random thing (usually a floral arrangement she makes). For some reason I've always wanted to learn how to do floral arrangements, so I'm pretty stoked about the class.

4. Surveys, Questionnaires, and Statistics, Oh My! Methods of Social Research. Doesn't the title of that make you want to die a little? Yeah, me too. I have a feeling it'll be rather dull, although I can't decide if that is due to my teacher's monotone voice or the subject matter itself.

5. The Proposal: I just got engaged to the man of my dreams. We met a week ago. He proposed in the Cougar Eat in front of hundreds of people. How in the world did he know I always wanted a public proposal? It was so romantic.

Ha! Not really. I'm taking a grant writing class. By the end of the semester I'll be the best grant proposal writer this world has ever seen. I'm mega stoked about this class. Everyone in there wants to pursue a career in the non-profit world. It's very refreshing to be in that sort of setting and surrounded by people who are passionate about the same sort of stuff as me. The teacher seems super chill. He used to teach elementary school, so we do cheesy activities and I love it. Knowing how to write grants will be extremely beneficial down the road somewhere, so I'm very excited about it.

6. Do You Want Fries With That? I'm working at the MTC again this semester and I absolutely love it. Who knew slopping cheese sauce on a roast beef sandwich could be so fun?


This semester is going to be pretty tough. I know my classes probably don't seem that hard, but they're going to be very time consuming and pretty challenging. I feel extraordinarily inadequate and discouraged in my sociology classes...and it's only the first week! For some reason the professors just automatically assume we all understand weird sociological terms and concepts. Did I miss something in my Intro to Sociology class?

I sit in class and scribble notes like a mad woman (I learned from last semester that I can't be trusted to take notes on my computer. I get far too distracted with the wonders of WiFi and somehow end up blog stalking or on Facebook) in hopes that I'll be able to make sense of the jibberish after re-reading my notes. It's doubtful, but I'm holding out hope. I'm just going to have to put in hours of study and push through it I suppose. I guess I'll know for sure after this semester if sociology is really what I want to study for the next few years.

Here's to hoping this semester goes well!

(PS...Brooke, sorry I sort of copied your format. Mostly I'm a big loser and couldn't think of anything original to do. But you know what they say...imitation is the best for of flattery...or something like that)