The semester has been pretty great! I've been through about two sets of midterms now.
The first wave of mid-terms were staggered about one class a week, which was very nice because it gave me time to prepare individually for each one. These first tests were extremely important. I hadn't taken a test for over two years and I was nervous that I would be a little out of the swing of things. I also had a great deal to prove of myself. I was heavily leaning on these tests, every second of my life has seem to have been dedicated to preparing for this. Depending on how I did would greatly affect how I thought of myself. Do I have what it takes to be an exceptional student? Or am I missing some vital characteristic that others have? Will I just be average in all things?
The first test came and I studied very hard for it (Music History). Came out with a 96%! But I knew I couldn't let my guard down. I very cautiously put in extreme effort for my next exam (Child Development) and came out with 94%! Then we go into class the next day and the professor tells us that she's going to give us some extra points for badly worded questions. wow! So at this point I'm feeling pretty good about myself! But I knew that my hardest exams were yet to be taken. The next exam was in Doctrine and Covenants. Now this was a class to be scared of! I had been putting in so much effort into my other classes that I had skirted some of the readings for D&C. I crammed hard before taking it and WHAM, 92%. Not bad at all. Then came the American Heritage test. I've heard horror stories about this class and so to be honest, I don't think I've ever studied harder for any test I've ever taken. EVER. So I go in with my heart pounding and feel great about every question! I hand my test in and walk down the creepy stairs and the testing center to check my score. 90%!!! I got an A on every midterm!! Every class!! PLUS American Heritage is graded on a curve. I found out later that the average for the test was a C, so my A will be rounded up to... an A++?
Things were tough that next week. I thought that now I had taken my first midterm for every class that I would then have a little break before having to stress about another test! I was wrong. The next day my professor reminded us that our exam opens today. WHAT?! Not even one day to breathe. I had spent so much time focusing on these exams but at the same time all the classes are continuing on to new units. I realized that I need to learn how to prepare for tests throughout the semester so that way I don't need to spend the extra time the few days before and exam. I need to study all my classes evenly and consistently. Well that weekend was General Conference and so I didn't get much studying done. There was an enormous announcement made by President Monson and I'll talk about that in a minute!
My calling as Elders Quorum President has taken up a little bit of time too, but I've actually got a pretty lucky break with very few church meetings this month (temple dedication, stake conference, general conference...). I started to feel a little sick on Sunday and that made me very nervous. That was NOT the week to get sick. But I got some extra sleep and I felt super blessed to be feeling good the next day! I crammed hard the next two days and managed two high Bs. I don't want to score that low again though. A huge essay was due at the end of the week and I managed to get that written without losing much sleep. Phew. It made for a crazy week. There have been a few other tough assignments and essays, but I've done well. A couple days ago I had to stay up late to finish a big 7 page essay. I ended up with only 4 hours of sleep before having to wake up for work.
Now I have about 2 weeks of a break from exams, but then all five classes hit nearly at once. They're not staggered like they were at the beginning of the semester. This worries me that I won't be prepared enough when they all hit. I've been spending my whole life on school that I don't know the ward extremely well, but that's okay. It doesn't bug me too much and it's worth it. This last week has been a bit better though. I've spent a little more time with the ward. Sunday was spent revising the Home teaching list. It took about 3 hours with my counselors! It felt great to get them done once and for all.
I spend lots of time with girls from before the mission and some from class. The only time I hang out is while I'm studying, on Fridays, or at football games. It's also funny that a lot of my friends right now are freshmen since I'm taking general classes and class time is my social time. Whoever I sit around. I've gotten some really close friends this semester even with the amount of time I spend with work and academics.
The announcement in General Conference was monumental. I had just gotten back from my normal Saturday schedule of laundry and shopping and I timed it perfect where I was back just as it was getting started. Within the first few minutes President Monson tells us that the missionary required ages are being lowered to 18 for men and 19 for women! We couldn't believe it! This changes everything! BYU and church culture will completely change now. My work at the MTC will change, BYU dating will change... everything will be different. This affects the family a lot! My little bros will be able to see each other in between missions instead of the 4 year gap that Ty and I won't see each other for. I'm amazed at the response from the girls at BYU particularly. And I suppose world-wide too! There is such an excitement for missionary work right now and about 90% of the girls I know are putting in their papers. It's great to see that this is the caliber of the youth in the church. I love it.
...at the same time though, there go all my friends! Pretty interesting change of dynamics here at BYU.
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