Being a Democrat at BYU

Today I decided to sport my Obama shirt to school.There was a democrat-liberation debate and I wanted to support my party. Last week was disability awareness week, and every student was encouraged to adopt a disability for a few hours. I lost my right arm. People stared at me, opened doors for me, and even chuckled as I tried to do Water Aerobics, homework, and other things with only one arm. The attention I got from that experience doesn't compare to today.
I've gotten a thousand glares, a bunch of groans, a few smirks, and lots of negative jokes. Some kid coughed into his arm something that suspiciously sounded like "commie." I've always heard the crazy conversative stories from BYU, but in my heart of hearts I dared not believe it. I hoped that I would come down here and find open-minded regular college students. It stuns me to find out how hated I am here.
But alas, there is that one in a thousand who checks out my shirt, makes eye contact and shows a hint of a smile, quickly to look away and hurry off, trying to mask their difference. And for that one student, I stay hopeful.

Surprise, surprise. After five months of this blog's existence, I'm finally writing my third post!
In the interim between posts, I've had a boyfriend, gotten kissed, vacationed, worried, and learned how to cope with change. But alas, this blog never heard those stories. Maybe I'll be better about keeping up with this thing. Maybe not. I'm not making any promises.
My cabin in Arizona, with it's sweet pine smells and towering sandstone walls, holds half of my heart. If I could live there all the time I would. My weeks there were made even more enjoyable by Suzanne's joining me for nine days. I marvel that I have never fought with this girl, and that after 216 unending hours in her presence I never felt annoyed or unhappy. So it was quite a shock going from constant companionship with Suzanne to forty-five miles of separation a week later. It's a lonely world when your best friend lives miles away.
My first day of college I cried because I missed the high school world of seeing a friendly face in every class. In the solitude I've taken up talking to myself.
I'm also more easily amused. For example, yesterday I was headed to the "President's Reception" for the Honor's College, wearing my white blouse, black pencil skirt, and shiny black shoes. Joining other honors students at the crosswalk on our way to the event, I burst out in a fit of snorting laughter when I realized that everyone around me also wore a white top and black bottoms. This sounds even less amusing when I write about it, but for some reason the coincidence struck me as outrageously hysterical and I looked a bit off my rocker as I stood there shaking with laughter.
College improves as time goes on. I've gotten to know Ashley, Jocelyn, and Rosie better and I enjoy their sweetness. I look forward to the Sorority activities and to Aerobics. So life goes on even without my Austin sister. Hopefully she won't get married too soon.

Attack of the marble staircase

It was 11:50 am, the professor excused us from an enthralling seminar about reading Renaissance Iconography and invited us to take a slice of pizza from the table outside of the classroom. As a poor college student who doesn’t have a meal plan, I was one of the first people to jump up from my chair and exit the classroom. I was sorely disappointed when all the pizza choices included meat. But, seeing as I was desperate, I decided to take a piece of pepperoni anyways. I start to descend the marble staircase, picking off the pepperonis as I went. About half way down the stairs my foot slipped from underneath me and down I went. All the way down. A minute later I found myself in a heap at the bottom of the stairs with my pizza, plate, pepperonis, and bag sprawled all around me. My state of shock was broken only when a kid started shouting “Holy Moly” about ten times at the top of his lungs. I looked up to see a class of about 100 exiting their classroom right in front of me. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t in some horror film. When I realized that this was in fact real life, grabbing the dislodged items, I hopped up and ran for the door. I got outside the building, but was still too mortified to stop. I finally found refuge across the street and behind a tree. I waited until all the students had left the building before enabling the 10 second rule and eating my pizza and hurrying off to my next class.
So yeah I win for the most embarrassing college moment so far.

The first taste of real life...

Tibetan Prayer Flags make a border of the otherwise boringly white walls in my dorm room. The Tibetan national flag makes a headrest for my bed. Obama posters dot my room here and there, and my desk shelf is full of Jane Austen and Buddhist teachings…. I’m at home.
College was nothing like what I expected…. Thousands of students swarm campus, half the people I see link themselves together by holding hands, ah only at BYU. My quest for marriage seemed almost attainable this morning when I walked to my first college class. I somehow won the lottery and signed up for a Book of Mormon class primarily for RMs… maybe this was the church’s way of setting up matches. It’s just me, six other freshman girls, and thirty fresh-off-their-missions-cute-21-year-old-men! We’ll see how that goes.
Other than the crazy RMs, the excessive hand-holding, the prayers at the beginning of every class, and the pompous phrase “The Lord’s Univeristy,” BYU is actually kinda cool… who would have thought?
I have my own room and apartment, I have a tv, I have a popcorn maker, I have food storage, I have two awesome roommates, friends living in all the surrounding buildings, and I have my independence! If my Austen sister and real sister were here it would be absolutely perfect.
The other day the wind blew through my hair as I raced through Helaman Halls on my scooter, laughing hysterically, getting weird looks for the onlookers, getting creamed by Alyssa, but knowing I was going to love it here.