This Is What My College Education Looks Like

BYU has goals for itself. Aims even. A BYU education aims to be:

(1) spiritually strengthening,

(2) intellectually enlarging, and

(3) character building, leading to

(4) lifelong learning and service.

I don't think you have to take Student Development 490 when you get a degree from BYU the normal way. I think once you take the 14 hours of religion credits and all the core classes and all your major requirements, they hand you a diploma and ask for a donation to BYU as you walk off stage.

BUT with the Bachelor of General Studies, finish at home what you started at BYU, you have to take a couple extra classes to PROVE you REALLY want the degree.

So, after all those wacky classes, I had one more class where I had to write about AAAAALLLLLLLL the classes I took. One big research paper, Two previously submitted papers from old classes, One chart where I had to evaluate each class I took and fit it into one of the 33 (!) BYU Aims and sub-aims, One paper on how all the courses together fulfilled the BYU aims, and one paper about this course of all those papers. Was a lot of work for me. I made a mess.

 I had this one big Tupperware box. When I finished a class, I'd gather all the paperwork and notes and pile it in the box.Kind of like how I used to keep all my bills in a shoebox. Once I put something inside, I forgot it existed.

There was a lotta soda I drunked. And snacks. I have a hard time focusing unless my mouth is engaged in eating or chewing. In the old school days, I'd chew up my pens. In the computer age, I gotta eat. And towards the end, it got really junky. Costco sized bags of chips and an entire cheesecake. Mmmm.

I sold back most of my books when I finished a class because I always needed the money to buy the next class's book. So I had to purchase THIS little thing to cite some basic definitions and remember Erik Erikson's name. It was Erik. This book was totally in my research paper's bibliography.

When I got desperate, 5 hour energy kept me awake, but not focused. It is nasty nasty stuff. But it does give you a good 5 hours. To waste blogging. As you run outta time to finish papers because you can't remember how to make yourself sit still and write papers.

But eventually and before time ran out, I wrote all those papers.

And when I was finally done, I was finish-your-first-5-K-then-give-birth happy!! Which is to say crazy happy emotional crying and I patted myself on the back. Cuz I was alone at that moment. And it was a huge moment for me.

Got my grades for that class today:

This was Sagan ... I was awfully happy that day, too.