Then & Now

Graduate school has definitely been an adjustment, but after getting my undergrad 2,000 miles away from home, I am definitely enjoying home. Today I decided to do a "now and then" post...where I will attempt to compare my life as an undergrad in UT to life as a grad student back at home.

THEN I lived a block away from campus and walked to and from school everyday. I used to leave for campus ten minutes before class started, come home during breaks, and walk home when my day was all finished. When I wanted to workout or participate in an event on campus, I would text a friend and walk over. But, whenever I wanted to go home (real home in NC), I had to get a $300-$500 plane ticket, and spend a day on airplanes and in airports in order to do so.

NOW I commute to school four days a week, which is roughly equivalent to 9 hours, 350 miles, and $40 dollars worth of gas every (just in case you were wondering). For the most part, I drive to school, go to class, and come home. I don't do much at all on campus, and spend my free time at/around home. A friend from my graduate cohort told me jokingly that I spent around the same amount of time driving as she spends working as a graduate assistant. Now I find myself thinking about the money I could be making while I drive, haha. As a little related side-note, I will share a newly developed wish of mine. Last week I drove to campus 5 days, and on Thursday I didn't have time to grab lunch. So when classes were finished, I stopped by Chick-fil-a for chicken nuggets and a diet lemonade (delicious). When I hit the highway, I imagined how sweet my life would be if I could put my car on autopilot, and take a nice nap after eating Chick-fil-a on the ride home. Maybe one day in the future, commuting graduate students will enjoy that beautiful luxury :) But, in all honesty, I actually don't mind the drive 90% of the time. Sure, there are days when the drive seems to take foreeeeever, and I haven't hit wintertime yet--but I'm pretty lucky to have nice, scenic drive to and from school. I have found ways to make driving more productive too. I started listening to a General Conference Talk on my way to school (usually followed by thinking/quiet time), and then began rotating the music and NPR stations on the way home. If I can figure out how to free up a little space on my iPhone,  I plan to download a few audiobooks or podcasts in the future. I do a lot of thinking, listening, singing, and talking back to the liberal radio broadcasters while I drive...which can be pretty productive after all.

Okay, moving on. THEN the academic focus was on tests and GPA. NOW the focus is on clinical application.  After 7 weeks in the SLP program, I am finally beginning to appreciate the type of learning that happens in grad school. First off, I absolutely love that my time and effort is no longer spent cramming for exams. Let me say that again because it sounds so good. I LOVE that cramming for exams is no longer the focus of my education.  Instead, there are lots of projects, application activities, and discussions. It's this whole new mindset, where I am thinking about how I will apply the things I am learning when I become a professional. Sometimes I think to myself, "What if a client asks a question about this topic, and I don't know what I am doing?" Needless to say, I am a lot more motivated to listen to lecture. This semester is all classes, but every semester after this one will include clinical placements--finishing with a 12 credit internship. So the clinical application will only become more real with more time.

Continuing with the comparison/contrast.

THEN I enjoyed weekend dance parties, live BYU football, late nights with my roomies, and a student ward. NOW I am loving YSA activities, BYU football from the couch, hanging out with the family, and a family ward.

I want to take a minute to say that Provo is seriously one of a kind when it comes to college life. Due to the fact that the 30,000 students attending BYU agree to live by the Honor Code, students are able to live life as a college student without being constantly surrounded by alcohol, drugs, sex, etc. Although you can find all of those things if you look hard enough, you do have to look for them as opposed to being bombarded with them in the traditional college setting. Students at BYU choose for themselves to attend college in this type of environment, and monitor themselves when it comes to keeping the standards.The Princeton Review even deemed BYU the nation's most 'Stone Cold Sober' University for the 16th year in a row. The Honor Code (and the environment it creates at BYU) was one of the main reasons I chose to attend, and I am so grateful for my experience. I am all about good clean fun! It was nice to have a few years where I was completely surrounded with people that believed the same things that I did. THEN, as a result of the Honor Code, I had a blast in Provo with a lot of amazing friends without worrying about getting myself into risky and/or uncomfortable situations.

 Dance parties were my favorite (especially around Halloween, as you can see to the right), and when the weekends roll around, I still miss getting ready and heading out with my Provo girlies. I had the best roommates at BYU, and my best friends today are those same roomies from freshman year. I loved our chats, movie nights, random puppet shows, stoplight dancing, doughnut dumpster diving, and on and on.  Last of all, because of the large amount of LDS students in the Provo area, our wards (congregations) were made up completely of students (aside from the bishopric), and that was the coolest experience.

Oh, and there's nothing quite like a live BYU football game in LaVelle Edwards Stadium!

NOW, I am getting used to a new group of buddies.  It's great to be back with the friends I grew up with in church youth. We've all gone different ways over the past few years, but I love the group we are getting together. I look forward to attending institute (weekly scripture study), regional activities, pool parties, and so on. We are geographically a lot more spread out than my buddies in Provo, but there's something special about banding together as LDS members in the South. We had a great summer, and there are quite a few activities coming up.

 

NOW, there are 23 girls in my graduate cohort, and I am  getting to know a few of the girls really well. I am really liking our 'table', group snacks, group work, and library study time. They keep me laughing!

It's also great to be back at home with my parents and two younger sisters. I missed out on a few years of family time when I was out at school, and it's nice to be around for birthdays, holidays, shopping trips, and nightly dinners again. My dad's side of the family is also really big, so I couldn't be happier to see them all a lot more regularly (especially for family get-togethers at El Paso Mexican Restaurant).

So NC is going quite well. It's also pretty nice to have my old room back, and a free laundry machine down the hall. And watching BYU football from a cozy couch with my dad and sisters is pretty good too. We even had a kickoff party for the first game of the season. My dad played football for BYU, so he is a lifelong, true blue FAN!



I am back in my family ward now, and I am currently serving with the youth. I am the 1st Counselor in the Young Women's Presidency, and it's the best. I loved the Young Women's program when I was in it, and I love being part of it again. They are so much fun! The Sunday lessons and Wednesday night activities keep me busy and involved, and I learn so much from the girls all the time. I was a little nervous about it at first because I am not much older than a lot of the girls, but it's going great. And being closer to them in age is actually one of the biggest blessings, because we connect with each other on a really special level.


THEN I worked at the most AMAZING place as student employee, and NOW I am starting to substitute teach. My last year at BYU, I landed the perfect on-campus job at the Education In Zion Gallery. EIZ is basically a gallery that beautifully combines art and history to showcase the history of Education in the LDS church as well as the history of Brigham Young University. I worked at the info desk, gave tours, led weekly programs, and had awesome coworkers. One of my favorite parts of the job was my view from the desk at sunset.

NOW I am attempting to work as a substitute teacher. I have all of my paperwork in, and now I am just waiting to get called to sub. I can really only work Fridays because of my school (and driving) schedule, but a little extra money will be greatly appreciated.

There are also a few commonalities that I have noticed among my life THEN and NOW. Both BYU and my current school are surrounded by mountains (just very different kinds). Textbooks are just as expensive in graduate school as they were in undergrad. I still classify myself as a poor college student...(thank goodness for student loans and lots of help from my parents). I still have great friends and family that make up a big part of my life, and I did then.

And with that, I am finished with my "now and then" entry. I could think of lots more, but I this is a good place to stop (I'm afraid you're already bored to tears, haha). It's easy to wish for what you had, and look forward to what will be, but I am trying every day to enjoy the 'right now'. I think that if we don't enjoy today, we will spend all of our lives being unhappy with where we are--always waiting for the next phase to begin. I know that I don't want to live that way. No matter where I am, I will always look for the good in the 'now' while being happy I had such a wonderful 'then'. Cheers to the changes that come along with grad school!

NOW and THEN I was/am definitely busy, happy, and blessed.