I love it here!

I have now attended almost all my classes here now!

And I LOVE them!

The first class I had was my Humanities class, and it is called "Transitions in Art and Culture". The teacher is Brother Papworth, and he is a CRACK-UP. He reminds me a lot of my grandpa actually--his face, his sense of humor, his mannerisms, and his eyes especially. He is so funny. He came into the classroom and started class by saying, "Now I would like it if you could all write your names on a 3x5 card...which I forgot to bring. How about we write your names down in this book [walks over to the piano]...oh, never mind. That's a hymn book. Well, let's just have you all get a blank piece of paper out, write your name on it, and we'll do a short thing with it."

It was so funny! He cracks me up! He knows he's forgetful, and his hearing is going, but he embraces it and makes the best jokes out of it. However, even though he can be quite funny and crack me up, he also knows when to be respectful, and when to invite the Spirit in when there are more serious topics to discuss.

For example, we were looking at a statue of Michelangelo's Piety (Mary's Sorrow), and it was beautiful. It was just a picture online, but it was a statue of Mary holding Christ on her lap after he had been crucified. We each came up to the big screen and got to "stand" in front of the statue and emotionally take in what Michelangelo was trying to say with this sculpture. It was incredibly spiritual. We had an amazing discussion about Christ, artwork, Michelangelo, and the amazing detail that went in to the piece. We also learned a few tactics used by artists (mostly sculpturers) and what they may mean in a piece, or how frequently they appear in their works. I didn't want the class to end. Any class where you're able to talk about the Savior, look at amazing art pieces, start the class with a prayer, and read beautiful literature is the best class in the world. I was sad when it was actually time to leave class, but excited to get to see my other professors and learn things in my other classes. My homework for this class was to actually "stand" in front of some sculptures, pieces called "David", by Michelangelo, Donatello, and Verrocchio. They were BEAUTIFUL. And each of them, after a while of pondering and studying them, have SO many inside meanings, a beautiful background of how it came to be, and so much more. I actually love doing the homework here. It's so much fun, and I have already leaned so much!

My next class I had was my Book of Mormon class. This class was mostly filled with girls--I think I counted about 6 or 7 boys total. We sat in the classroom, and class was supposed to start at 11:30. I came in the classroom a little earlier, like 11:20, and a lot of other kids did as well. We waited, and 11:30 came. No teacher. Now usually, it seems like the teachers wander in at about the starting time, take 1 or 2 minutes to set up from their last class they had just come from, and then they'll start class, so I didn't think much about it. 11:35--no teacher. 11:45--no teacher. 11:50--no teacher. 12:00--still no teacher. At this point, class is halfway over. What's the point of sitting here without learning anything? About 1/3 of the class had drifted out over the passing minutes, and more and more kids decided to just leave. The teacher obviously wasn't showing up, and by the time she did, she wouldn't have half the class to talk to and no time to teach anything. At about 12:05, I left the classroom, along with a lot of other kids. Later that day, I got word that my teacher had cancelled class, but didn't send out an email. Her TA apparently came in a few minutes before the class would have been over and apologized for the inconvenience. Good thing I didn't stay. :) But I read through what I needed to do for the class, and printed all kinds of stuff out she wanted us to, and she sounds TOUGH. Her disclosure was 11 pages long, was super technical, and there were so many things she is expecting of us. She wants us to specifically have a composition notebook (nothing else) for tracking our scripture reading and journal entries about the scriptures; a 1 1/2" view binder (must be view or points are docked, and it can't be smaller than 1 1/2" or points will be docked) to put our final portfolio of the class together in; I had to buy a paperback copy of just the Book of Mormon, specifically to mark and use in class discussions and homework; a book report on The Continuous Atonement is due in about 6 weeks (Oct 24) and I am supposed to keep a log and journal on the book, as well as summaries about the chapters (and that's not even the report part of it); and there is so much more. So so much more. It's insane. I think I'll learn a lot from her, but she sounds like she's going to be hard. A lot of my classes this year sound like they're going to give me a run for my money--and my grades are going to really have to be worked for, unlike high school...

My next class was Science Foundations, and I really like my teacher. He's a cowboy at heart--a lot like my Grandpa Norton as well. His tie had a picture of a cowboy on a horse, he had a western belt on, and glasses like cowboys in the olden days would have worn. He actually, in his personality, reminded me a lot of John Bytheway. He's super nice, and really caring--you can tell he loves teaching and he already loves each of us. That's one things that I really appreciate about the teachers here at BYU-Idaho--they all LOVE teaching, and they invite the Spirit into their lessons, and teach the subject while incorporating the gospel into it. It truly is amazing. So many more things make sense, and so many more things fit together and I am learning so much so easily! I love it! We don't have a textbook for the class, instead we have online readings and then have discussions and whatnot during class. It's going to be a great year!

Today, my first class was Geography for Elementary Education, and I think I'm really going to love it! However, it's going to be HARD. I have to know all the states and capitals (I think) by Friday, and he gives us a lot of homework each day. The class is going to move quickly, and he said we really have to try and participate in order to get an A. Most of the time, when he teaches the class, the highest percentage of students get in the B range, but I have to get above a C- in order to receive credit for Elementary Education. He said in order to do that, I'm going to need to try really hard to be there every day, to participate in the discussions, and have everything ready. And I'm totally going to do it. But, I think I'm the only freshman in the class...Most everyone around me was a girl, and almost all of them had wedding rings on and looked a little older. The boys in there looked like they had just gotten home from a mission and were continuing going to school, or they had wedding rings on and looked like they might be seniors. I felt a little young in that class. But I want to show them that I can do hard things. I can totally fight through this class and get in the A range even if I am a freshman. :)

I then had American Foundations next, and I was soooo not looking forward to it. History classes haven't been the best for me usually....but I went with a good attitude. The class has 100 people in it, and I got to sit by two really cute guys: Wyatt, and Joseph. I didn't really get to talk to them much, but they were way cute. :) Anyways, there are quizzes every time we have a class, but he doesn't have them online like most of the teachers do. He has us do them at the testing center. So every week on Tuesday or Wednesday, I have to go take a RAT (Readiness Assurance Test). However much of a bogus class I thought it was, I lit up when he said there are no midterm tests and no finals. Just RATs. :) Pretty exciting, huh? Not really, I know.

Afterwards, I came home and worked on some homework, mostly finishing the paper for tomorrow's humanity class, took a really short nap, and then went to the first Tuesday devotional of the year! It was AWESOME! President Clark and his wife spoke, and they did really well. I learned so much. I think I have three pages of notes from them, mostly from President Clark though, as he took up most of the time. After the devotional, I came back to my dorm, worked on some more homework, and then went with Erin to go do some laundry. Come to find out, coin-op is not as hard as I was making it out to be. :) And I got to meet some new people who were also waiting downstairs for their laundry to be done.

In a few minutes, I get to meet with my bishop in an interview so he can get to know us. It's at 7:40, but we have no idea where his office is. We know it's in the Clarke building, but we don't know what room. He told us there would be a big camera outside of it, so look for that. Whatever. I hope this works. :) He also said on Sunday that we would be getting called in another time to receive our callings, but I don't know when that would be.

AAAAnnnnnnyyyywaaaays. :) That has been my school week so far! :)

Have fun reading!

I'll post more when I take my organ class on Friday! :)