One of those days

You know those days when you’re just a little off? Well, today was one of those days for me. It’s not that I was upset, or that today was unusually bad- it was probably leaning towards a good day, actually. I had lunch with two of my friends and my classes were great, but I have had this heavy feeling all day. It’s like when you’re running and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to go any faster; it’s like my feet are made of lead. I think it’s because I tend to worry too much, and every once and a while it seems to catch up with me. I worry about school, I worry about my friends, I worry about my family, and I worry that I should be doing more. If only one thing, College has showed me that learning isn't easy, but today I wish it were. I’m sure this “funk” will be gone by tomorrow, but until then I’m going to curl up in a blanket and watch some Psych with my best friend (because some nights you just need to). And hey, maybe if I’m feeling productive I’ll finish all that homework that will be waiting for me tomorrow!

The News

Last week was my first week of watching the news for my writing 150 project, and so far I think I made a good choice with this one. The first thing I watched was the Manti Te’o story, since that was the motivation behind the whole project (see my previous blog post). Honestly, I don’t think knowing about Manti Te’o’s life is going to help me become a better writer, but it is nice to be in the loop haha. After that I checked out the headlines at CNN.com, which I think will be one of my main resources throughout the semester. I learned a lot in just the few minutes I was there! For example, I had no idea about the controversy and hearings over Hillary Clinton’s action toward the Libya attacks. I watched a segment of the Benghazi hearing and I was impressed with how she presented her case and the sorrow she showed for those who were lost.

                I am still figuring out what sources to use and other details about my project, but I am glad I chose to do this. I am excited to finally be more informed, because it has become apparent to me how important it is to care about the world we live in. I know that watching the news won’t “fix” any of the problems that they talk about, but I figure if I am more aware I will be better equipped to help wherever I can.

Special Project

For my freshmen writing class we are supposed to complete a “special project” by doing something an hour a week that would improve our writing. We were discussing ideas in class and my teacher suggested that we do something fun. I was having a hard time coming up with something (because I usually don’t associate writing with being fun), but I finally came up with an idea I am excited about! So, for the rest of the semester I am going to be watching at least one hour of news stories per week in order to learn more about the world.

                I chose this project because I realized that I am pathetically behind when I comes to what’s going on in the world. In class we were talking about Manti Te’o and his fake girlfriend, which everyone knew about but me, and that’s when I decided I needed to get in the loop. I think this is a good project because not only will I understand what others are chatting about, but I will also have more knowledge about the world and more facts to add to my arguments. I think I will be a more convincing writer if I take the time to learn more and I will also seem much more credible to my audience if I have recent news examples.

A great Monday

Last night I had a combined Family Home Evening with everyone in my ward where people got up and shared their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. It was such a great experience! Beforehand we were asked to prepare with our individual Family Home Evening Groups (which consists of 4 apartments) with a “Book of Mormon Themed” activity. My group decided to just sit and discuss the importance of the Book of Mormon and also our own personal experiences and testimonies. It was nice to start out with a small group because everyone got to voice their opinion and we were all very comfortable with each other.

Afterwards we headed over to the group FHE, and I admit that I didn’t feel very spiritually prepared, but the great thing is that the Lord still let me hear what I needed to. A lot of people who bore their testimonies shared the importance of consistently reading the Book of Mormon, which is something I have been taught my entire life, but when they talked about the power that is available to everyone who takes the time to study the scriptures, it was a great confirmation to me. Someone brought up a point that I loved, and that was that the power of the scriptures comes at a price. At first I was taken-back because I didn’t know what he meant, but he then explained that although the power of the scriptures is “free” or available to everyone, you have to put in an effort to get that power. The power is not free, because you must be dedicated to your study and have a desire to learn from the Word of the Lord. I know now that if I expect all my questions to be answered in the scriptures, I have to work at it, and I can’t wait to start trying.

Why I love and Hate History

I just finished watching a movie called The Judgment at Nuremberg for an American Heritage assignment, and I’m left with this uneasy feeling. The thing about history is it’s fascinating and important, but it isn’t usually a happy subject. And how can it be? Even though there is so much good in this world, we have to recognize the evil that has always been out their fighting against that goodness. Recognizing “The Human Predicament”- as my American Heritage teacher calls it- and the human history of brutality,  is history’s specialty.

The Judgment at Nuremburg was about the trial of judges who practiced during WWII in Nazi Germany that sentenced countless citizens and stood by as unjust laws were set in place under Hitler’s reign. In the film they kept saying that “they didn’t know” what was going on, but in the end one of the judges said that although they may not have known everything, they just didn’t want to see what was right in front of them. It scares me to think about what we are all capable of sometimes, but I am grateful that history is there to help us learn, even if it is a hard lesson.

Freewrite assignment

So I choose to write my oped on the importance of learning about a culture before you try and serve them. I chose this first because I wanted something that would let me talk about charity work and service in foreign countries because I think it is one of the only things I actually get passionate about. I also thought of this idea because I am taking an international development class that has really made me rethink development and charity work. Like my teacher was saying the audience for this piece is supposed to be BYU students and so I thought that since we’re all religious here that service would be an easily accepted topic. But then I was doing the reading in WR chapter 2 and it said that you want to introduce an argument that won’t automatically be agreed with. So I am thinking of introducing my argument as the importance of individualistic services versus serving millions. By this I mean that I think it is much more effective to give meaningful service that you KNOW will help someone (because you took the time to get to know them beforehand) versus just pumping money into a “less developed” country.  I thought to support my argument I could talk about my experience in northern India about a year ago. I went to a town called Chamba, India and taught young children English for a week. Some things that I realized is that although our service was meaningful to the kids the English lessons we prepared for them could have been better prepared personally on my part. I should have studied out the materials before hand in order to make the learning the most profitable for the kids. I still think they learned, but if I would have been better prepared then I would have been able to adjust better to what their personal needs were instead of just what I was “supposed to do”. One thing that I really did like about my group though was the personal time we got to spend getting to know the children. We spent all week getting to know the school kids we were serving and at the end we had the chance to implement a special service project based on their needs. For example in my school we taught on the roof because the basement (the actual school) was unfinished. The roof was flat and plesant but it also had a large drop off the side and if any kid would have fallen off of it they could have been seriously hurt. So for our personalized project we hired local workers to build a barrier around the  roof so the kids would be safe. I am so glad we did serviced this way instead of deciding what the children needed before we even met them, because I think whatever we would have chosen beforehand would have been unsatisfactory. When you take the time to learn about a culture and individual’s needs before you start serving it makes the service so much more meaningful. It’s like any paper, if you don’t take time to do the research needed or think about what you want to say beforehand the paper won’t be nearly as persuasive or meaningful as it could have been if you were prepared. I hope when I’m writing this paper that I can find some good statistics to help prove my point as well as provide my personal experience from India. I don’t know if everyone will be interested in the topic but I hope if I present it well enough people will be. I hope  that I can write in such a way that not only inspires people to serve in other nations but also to go about that service in the right way. In my development class my professor talked about how the common idea of what a developed nation should be is a capitalist society that has a democracy, but he brought up the point that that may not be what every culture wants or needs. So in order to best help those in developing countries you have to first go there and get a feel for their culture and actually talk to CITIZENS not the government who may not always have the poor in their best interest. When you talk to the people you plan on implementing a certain development plan on you can change it and mold it to match their needs. The downside to this approach of service is that it can not be as wide-scaled or “mass production” like us, as americans, would like it to be and so it could be frustrating to people. They would rather help a lot of people a tiny  bit rather than a small village or group a lot. I think it is a fine line to walk because you want to help as many people as possible, but I also know that if you try to implement the same pan for everyone it definely won’t work. Because every culture, every town, and every person is different so when you try to make a blanket solution it may help a few, but the rest will be left off no better than before.   I’m scared to write this paper because I think it is going to be hard to get my argument to come across the right way. I also really want it to be persuasive and meaningful to b=people because it is so meaningful to me. I also think I need more examples to demonstrate my point because one personal experience just isn’t enough. Maybe if I talk to my international development teacher he could point me to some good research…  

01/14/13

Mondays are long days… and they’re even longer when I don’t get any sleep the night before haha I go to school all day and then I fulfill my duties as an FHE mom at night, and try to fit in a little bit of homework. I somehow managed to get behind in one of my classes already and I’ve only been here one week (Not a good omen). But do you know what saves me? Tuesdays and Thursdays, they are the best thing. I don’t have school on either Tuesday or Thursday and so I just focus on my job and catching up on all the homework. I don’t know how I got lucky enough for this schedule, but I absolutely love it. There is nothing better than waking up in your own time and not to some pesky alarm that seems to go off earlier and earlier every day. I’m just excited for this semester in general though, not because all my classes are going to be easy, because I don’t think they will be, but because I have some great teachers who make class interesting. I think that I may even enjoy American Heritage, which is just plain crazy if you ask me!