Graduation

The time has finally arrived. I am officially a graduate of Brigham Young University. The journey that started Fall 2004 has reached its climax and come to a wonderful end. I began the endeavor planning to finish with a degree in chemical engineering. However, a strange series of events brought me to the history major, where I have learned to write, analyze, evaluate, and inform. The process was accompanied by a lot of dancing and a little bit of singing to get me through the rough parts. All in all, I feel like it was a major success. All the good days, the bad days, the unbelievable semesters of work and study are gone. Something that seemed so surreal and available to so many people, but not to me is now mine. Mission impossible=Accomplished.
Now, on to graduate school. Salzburg, here I come!

Senior Citizens and Social Skills

So, an update on the 101 year old woman who needs a friend... She's fantastic. Her name is Alice and I adore her. I've gone to visit her twice now, and both times I have left feeling uplifted and empowered. Andrea(a good friend) and I were talking about some of the things Alice has lived through, and we made the following list:
World War I
World War II
Vietnam
Korea
Feminist Movement
Great Depression
Blacks receiving the priesthood
JFK assassination
Landing on the moon
invention of the television
development of the automobile
It only took us a few minutes to make the list, and there are a lot of things missing (obviously there are more than 11 world events that happen over the course of a century). In any case, when I went to visit Alice last night, we talked and enjoyed each others' company for a short hour and didn't even talk about one of those events. In that time, Alice brought up the growth of the LDS Church in Southern California, the 'invention' of Disneyland, and a few other things that I had just accepted as existing somehow forever. Alice helped me understand that there are so many questions to ask and so many answers to seek. I learned from her the art of social skills and how to enjoy the simplicity of a conversation without outside distractions. Her age may or may not be a contributing factor to her wisdom and patience, but I am appreciative of that wisdom and patience nonetheless.

Addictions

Addictions are an interesting thing. I know people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, and some people are even addicted to pain. Pain might be the creepiest addiction in existence--just listen to the Rihanna and Eminem song that's exploding onto the billboard charts. The lyrics are sickening. Anyway, I digress. I think that my preferred addiction, after ice cream, is service. How great would it be to have to help others, as a way to survive?

I walked past the Center for Service and Learning on campus yesterday and one of the service opportunities was: "101 Year-old Woman Needs a Friend." Honestly, how hard is it to be a friend? So, I jotted down the number and called it up. The woman who made the posting was so kind, and we're getting together tonight for a visit. For just one hour, I can make someone's day. Really. And how much is an hour? People waste an hour on facebook every day, or just looking at the clock thinking of something to do. I've even spent a half hour just sitting and not doing anything more than letting my thoughts fly around in my head.

Conclusion: one hour a day or week is easy to give in order to help someone, and I can't think of a better weekly addiction than that of service to others. It helps the person being served, it lifts the person doing the serving, and in the end, there really isn't a downside.

Let's start a service epidemic!

Outta Control

So, I just found out that none of my siblings will be attending my graduation. It's kind of like a kick in the face to me, as it seems to be the biggest thing in my life for a long time coming, and I'm moving to Austria again for a year. Cool. Maybe I'll see you again in a year. REALLY?!
On the other side of the argument, two of them just got new jobs in the last two weeks, and another is coming out to Utah for her brother-in-law's wedding in October. The last one has three kids, and still might be coming. In that light, it's understandable, but it still hurts.
I'm learning how to face the facts with grace, rather than choosing to ingore them for the next 8 weeks until I leave for Salzburg. We'll see which wins out in the end--emotion or self control.

Alas, It's Time to Start Blogging

Well, the time has come. I have avoided the blogging addiction for 4 years since people started telling me to blog in 2006. This will be the blog that I update, and I'll do my best to let everyone know what I'm up to and what my vacation days are for those who plan to visit. If you're interested, I'll even learn how to post pictures to the blog... although I'll let you know in advance: I'm not much of a photographer. For the next year, plan on seeing about one blog a month--if I'm really ambitious.

So I decided to get my very own blog, because it seemed like the "in" thing to do, and I figured it would be a place for me to vent whenever I feel like it. So, here we go with another way for me to tell the world what I think and how I feel.