President Uchtdorf

(For make-up points)

I am going to take a break from my normal bucket list items and talk a little about what I have learned from listening to this wonderful session of general conference. I was not able to watch conference on Saturday because I was working, so I will only be writing about Sunday’s talks. I will probably talk about the Saturday session after I watch all of the talks online (That is the beauty of technology).

Anyway, the first talk I wanted to share my thoughts on was Elder Uchtdorf’s talk about the light of Christ. Uchtdorf said that “Darkness exists, but we can choose not to dwell there.” There are always things that are going to be going wrong in the world and in our own personal lives, but as we rely on Christ we can make it through the darkness of sin and trial. The light of Christ gives us the hope to make it through anything. Elder Uchtdorf suggests that to bring the light of Christ into our lives we must first start from where we are. It does not matter how far behind you think you are because belief brings blessings, and as we turn to Heavenly Father in prayer, he will help us to grow. I know that we can receive the light of Christ into our lives more and more every day, and as we do we can be blessed with happiness and clarity.

Scripture Mastery

When I originally started here at BYU in the fall the combination of education and the Gospel was something I had to adjust to. Growing up I always heard “keep church and state separate”, so coming to a private university that openly discusses the gospel of the LDS church was amazing and shocking all at once.  Now that I have adjusted though, I believe that incorporating the Gospel into my education has been a great and powerful blessing in my life.

I think the greatest blessing has been my religion classes. Again, it was a major change from the relaxed seminary atmosphere I had experienced in high school, and I was discouraged when I didn’t know the scriptures as well as other students did. Yet after I fully dedicated myself to learning new things about the scriptures there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t learned something new. I am grateful for my current professor, Brother Largey, because he exemplifies a love for the scriptures that I have not seen from anyone else before. He can probably quote half of the Book of Mormon word for word, it’s insane. I have a goal to become a scripture expert like him someday, and I am so happy I have religion classes to push me to learn! 

Learn to Play the Guitar

I am not a very musical person, except for jamming out in the car with my radio, but I’ve always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I know it’s not exactly a unique bucket list item, but I think it would be a great skill to have. I would love to be the person that everyone took camping just so we could all sing and hang out around the campfire while I played the guitar. Some of the best camping trips I’ve ever had have involved a good guitar session around the campfire.

Besides singing along to the radio I have played the cello for 6 years, so my guitar dream isn’t completely unfeasible. I mean I can read music and my fingers have already been toughened by the think strings of the cello. I would also like to say that I’m not completely tone deaf and that I can keep a steady beat, so I hope that would help. I may not ever become an expert on the guitar, or even decent for that matter haha But if I do nothing else, I at least want to learn one song on the guitar. And I will learn it so well that people might think I am good at guitar. 

TV Free

I think we can all agree that Netflix is awesome, and also that it is horribly addictive. You find me a good TV series on Netflix and somehow all my time goes down the drain without me even realizing it. For example the other day I planned on watching one episode of Dr. Who (my latest Netflix series) after a long night at work, and then four hours later I figured that it was probably time to go to bed. Netflix is like popcorn or candy: you can never just have one piece of candy and you can never watch only one episode!

Before I die, I would like to go at least one year without watching TV… and yes that means no Netflix too. I lose so much of my time to Facebook, Netflix, “I waste so Much Time” (At least they are honest with their name haha), etc., that I think getting rid of just one form of media would be extremely beneficial. Mainly, I think it would be amazing to see how much I could get done without all these distractions. I’d probably find some other meaningless activity for relaxation, but it would help a little at least. 

English Symposium

At the English Symposium on Friday I decided to go to the panel on Creative Nonfiction to fill my hour requirement, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not that I didn’t think that the pieces would be good, because I thought they would be amazing (which they were). But I also thought that their writing would be over my head, or that it would be something that only experienced writers could fully appreciate. So I was surprised when I really felt what the writers were talking about. I haven’t had the exact same experiences as the writers but I could relate, because they talked about feelings and emotions that I think everyone has experienced in one form or the other.

I was especially impressed by my teacher’s essay. She talked a lot about regret and the pain of losing someone close to you, which I can really relate to. I think I was specifically impressed by her story because it introduced to me a person I hadn’t met before. When she talked she was not my teacher anymore, but a woman who has had experiences and emotions that I could relate to. What I loved most was her ability to perfectly describe an instant. She was able to describe what it feels like to be sitting next to someone you love, and those moments when pain overwhelms you. I felt like I was there, feeling what she felt while also remembering my own experiences. I didn’t know that was possible.

 I am not the best at writing; in fact, I even have a hard time just saying what I feel most of the time. I am glad I went to this symposium because it taught me that your writing can be an outlet, can build a deep connection with your audience, and that it can perfectly preserve moments and memories. I learned that through your writing you can share with people who you really are, and I think that is amazing!

Hi my name is Anika, and I am a sugar addict

I have realized that I have somewhat of what I call a “sweets problem.” Today I had cupcakes and ice cream, the day before I had cookies and milk, the day before that I had cookie dough… I think you can see where this is going haha. I can’t remember a day that I didn’t have at least a little something sugary. To make it worse my roommates also love to cook, so there is always something good lying around. It’s a serious problem. Last year my family was supposed to be having “Healthy 2012” and even then I couldn’t give up the sugary goodness! The best I did was going without chocolate for a few months.

 Here’s the goal: No sweets for a year! I can do it… I think. I figure it won’t be that bad after I get used to not having sweets, but for those first few months I will be fighting it.

Second Goal: not really related to what I was talking about before, but I also want to be vegetarian for a year. My sister and her family did that this past year and she said it was great! I also really love meat, so this won’t be easier either, but it’s about time I started eating healthier.

Grades

I’m just going to come out and say it… does anyone else think that college is crazy hard? And by this I mean in comparison to high school. In high school I would always put my homework off until the night before (or even the class period before) and I always seemed to slip by. It’s not that I didn’t pull my weight in high school, I think I did, but I also think that people had a lot lower of expectation. In high school I feel like I got baby-sitted, and now I’m expected to be responsible… WHAT?! In all seriousness though, college has been a great growing experience for me. I used to rely on others for everything: to remind me to do my homework, to cook, and especially to do my laundry! Oh man I miss not doing laundry. Growing up is hard, but it’s worth it. I like this more independent version of me.

So, in order to prove how responsible I am, I am adding to my bucket list a goal to get a 4.0 GPA (one semester). I didn’t do half-bad my first semester here, but I know I can push myself harder. Ideally I would like to have a lot of semesters with straight A’s but let’s start small eh?