Judging by the title of this entry, I'm guessing that you've already assumed that this is my last post. Well, you're both right and wrong in thinking that. This is my last blog if you look at it as a class assignment, but I don't see my blog as solely that. So while this is my last required post for Writing 150, I still plan on writing blogs in the future! I've come to find that I actually really enjoy writing this blog and I think it will be beneficial for me to look back on, kind of like how a journal is.
Speaking of looking back, this required entry's topic is evaluation. I'm not exactly sure what type of evaluation my teacher is looking for, but I'll write about the following: my experiences in Writing 150, my thoughts on this blog, and what I've learned from my freshman year.
Firstly, I cannot believe how fast this semester has flown by. How can it almost be over? I feel like I walked into my first Writing 150 class, like, yesterday. It's funny how life is like that. Sometimes it seems like time is moving unbearably slow, while other times it feels like I blink and another day is gone. I also find it funny that I used to think that I absolutely hated writing, but I don't think I can say that's the case anymore. Throughout this course I've had to write several papers and they weren't always my favorite things to do. They also weren't the easiest, but I learned to appreciate writing and the different styles that I was assigned to write in. I can definitely say that I've learned more about writing and how to become a better writer. I hope that what I've been taught in this class will stay with me because I'll have to write papers in pretty much every class following this one.
Secondly, I guess I've already touched on my thoughts about writing this blog, but I'll further my opinion. At first I was a little skeptical about this assignment because I didn't know what I'd ever write about. It wasn't always easy coming up with blog post ideas, as you can probably tell from how random some of them turned out. But I'm glad I wrote them! I want to remember a lot of the memories I wrote about and the internet is forever so they aren't going anywhere. I also really enjoyed reading blogs posted by my classmates. It's interesting to read all of their different experiences, testimonies, and overall thoughts on various topics. All in all, I enjoyed this assignment and I hope that the people who may have read my posts liked them too!
Lastly, this past school year has easily been both the hardest and most memorable year of my life. My first semester was definitely harder on me than this one is, mainly because I was homesick a lot more then. But I think my blog's title "Changing Perspective" sums up my freshman year quite well. I have had to adapt to a lot of changes since starting college. I've learned how to live on my own, how to manage school-induced stress, how to deal with being away from home, and what it's like to be surrounded by so many Latter-day saints! When I look back at the girl I was this past September, I see a nervous, yet excited seventeen year-old who had know idea what was coming her way. I'd like to think that I've grown in a lot of ways, specifically in a spiritual way. Before coming to BYU, I didn't really see a mission in my future. I wasn't opposed to serving, but it also wasn't a top priority of mine. Now I'm extremely eager to serve and I feel like my testimony has been strengthened as well!
I'm so grateful for everything that I've been blessed with this past year. I know that even though some times were hard, I grew a lot from them and that Heavenly Father has so much in store for me if I just continue to be faithful and obedient. Well, it's been fun writing this blog for my class. Stay tuned for more posts coming your way this summer! :)
Sometimes I forget about how big this world is. It's in moments where I'll watch a spectacular sunset or hike to the top of a mountain that I think about how I'm only witnessing a tiny, secluded part of the earth. There is so much more out there that I haven't even experienced! There is a lot of the U.S. that I haven't traveled to and I've never been out of the country, so you can see how much I truly haven't experienced. Maybe someday I'll be able to travel the world, but until then I'm just going to blog about it. Here are the top 3 places I really want to visit:
1.) SAMOA.
Come on, y'all saw this one coming, right? I mean my mom was born there so it basically has to make my top 3. In all seriousness though, I've always wanted to visit Samoa because of that reason. I'd love to meet some of my relatives, experience the culture, and explore the island. From what I've heard and seen in pictures, Samoa is a very beautiful place and I really hope to witness that for myself one day! Additionally, I want to learn the language so that I can speak it with my mom, grandma, and other family members. Currently I only know simple phrases, I'll have to work on that before I visit Samoa! ;)
2.) ENGLAND.
I don't know what it is about England, but it's been a dream of mine to go for a long time. I remember while I was in middle school, I had my mind set on moving to London once I was an adult. Times have changed though, I'm content with just visiting now. I think my main reason for having England in my top 3 is my slight obsession with Pride and Prejudice. I know you can't base everything off of movies, but I can't help but long to visit England when I watch it. I mean how can one not swoon over this scene?
the feels are strong here
3.) VENICE, Italy.
I feel like all of my reasons behind this location are superficial. Honestly I really just want to go because it's beautiful. But isn't that reason enough? I know it's no where near its actual beauty, but my first glimpse of Venice was The Venetian in Las Vegas, NV. Even if it completely pales in comparison, I was still mesmerized by the idea of buildings on water, romantic gondola rides, and Italian cuisine. I can't even imagine how many pictures I'd take just of buildings, they're so pretty! Hopefully I'll be able to fill a camera full of pictures from my visit to Venice...here's to someday!
This past weekend was awesome! Don't get me wrong, pretty much all General Conference weekends are, but this time was different. If you would have asked me how I thought this past weekend was going to go last Friday, I probably would have said that it was going to be frustrating. For the most part, that was true...up until Saturday night.
You see, I had gotten tickets to the Sunday morning session of General Conference and I was really excited to go. The only problem was that I couldn't find a ride and I had asked everyone I could possibly think of. But nothing was working out! I thought about taking the frontrunner, but there were no details about it running during Conference weekend on its website. So I came to the conclusion that the only way I was going to make it was by renting a car and driving myself. This scared me because I didn't know how traffic and parking was going to be. Luckily I didn't have to go through that because my friend Catherine told me that the guy she was riding with, Parker, could take me as well! I was so relieved and my excitement for attending Conference was restored!
As the three of us drove to Salt Lake, we had to make a stop at Parker's uncle's house for their tickets. Unfortunately, there was a mix-up and his uncle accidentally got them tickets for the Sunday afternoon session. But we didn't let that stop us because we all pretty much figured that they would get in on stand-by, which they did! So that all worked out.
The first Sunday session was awesome! It was only my second time being in the Conference Center; my first was when I attended Women's Conference last October. It's so powerful to be in the same room with so many wonderful leaders and saints of the church. I wasn't expecting my day to get much better than that until Catherine and Parker told me that they weren't planning on staying for the following session and that I could have their tickets. Because they were my only ride, I was about to pass up on the tickets and just ride home with them. However, I changed my mind once Parker showed me that the tickets were for seats located on the bottom floor in row C! Apparently Parker's uncle was actually the second counselor of the General Young Men's presidency, Brother Ridd, who got released this past weekend. I couldn't let those tickets go, so I quickly made arrangements for a ride home and decided to stay.
I'm so glad I stayed because I don't think I'll ever be able to experience Conference the same way again! It was epic to be so close to the stand and just feet away from the prophet! I loved every minute of Conference this weekend and I can't believe how blessed I was to be able to attend both Sunday sessions. It was seriously the best General Conference weekend ever!
Now to fulfill another one of my blog assignments, which is to write a mini-analysis of a General Conference talk. I've chosen to write about the talk given by Elder Holland during the Sunday morning session entitled "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet." I don't think I've ever heard a talk from Elder Holland that I haven't enjoyed and this one was no exception.
He began his talk with a story, a form of pathos that is very common among General Conference talks. The story is about two boys who went climbing in southern Utah without the aid of climbing gear. They quickly ran into a problem that left one of the boys in a life-threatening situation. He came to the conclusion that he had to vertically jump to reach a ledge to safety; however, missing it would lead to his death. Once he made the jump, he put his arms to the ledge only to find that it was sandy and that there was nothing for him to grasp. At that moment, the boy realized that he was about to die. But what he didn't know was that his brother's arms would quickly grab him and pull him to safety.
Elder Holland then related this story to the Savior and His Atonement. Although we were born into an inevitable fallen state because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, the Savior is always there for us. Just like the boy who saved his brother from falling, Christ is there to reach out His arms whenever we need Him. Elder Holland also emphasized that in order to see the significance of the Atonement fully, we must understand the Fall. Because this talk was also given on Easter Sunday, Elder Holland made this statement: "So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had---to say nothing of resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins."
I know that Christ's Atonement was the most important thing that has happened in all of history and that will ever happen. I'm so grateful for His sacrifice and for His arms that are always outstretched to help me during my trials. I know that because of the Atonement, I can overcome physical death and be resurrected. I know that the Atonement also always me to repent for my sins; thus, granting me the ability to live with my family, Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father again. I love this gospel with all my heart and I can't wait to share it with as many people as I can!
In addition to posting our narrative papers on our blogs, my class has also been asked to write a reflection on said paper. So that's what this post is going to be! :) I've decided to accomplish this by answering a variety of questions below:
What did you like about writing your narrative paper?
To be honest, I like how this paper was easier to write than the others I've had to write for this class. It was easier because I felt like I got to just write! Yes, I still followed the guidelines of a narrative paper, but it also helped that it isn't as rigid and restrictive as I feel like a rhetoric or research paper is. Because I was writing a story from my life, it was easier to pull information. The only difficult part was finding the best way to portray my central message to readers without just flat-out writing it.
What was the hardest part about writing you narrative paper?
Like I mentioned in the first question, the hardest part was writing my central message in an ideal way. I had trouble not just telling the reader what I wanted them to know. Being able to show through my words and not tell was a challenge for me. I could definitely still improve in this aspect!
Why did you choose the story that you did for your narrative paper?
It took me a while to figure out what it was I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about something that I'm passionate about, but also not make it all about me. I decided to write about the talent show because I really love singing and performing in front of people. Even though it terrifies me right up until the moment I'm on stage, I instantly love performing once it's actually happening.
What do you want readers to get out of your narrative paper?
I wanted to portray how grateful I am for my family and friends. It meant everything to me to have all of them there to support me. I don't think I would have been able to make it through the talent show, or any of my performances for that matter, without their continual love and support.
What are your overall thoughts on writing this narrative paper?
I really loved it! It's easily my favorite paper that I've had to write for this class. I hope the people who read my paper enjoyed it! :)
One of the required blogs that my class has been asked to do is to post our narrative papers. So without further ado, here's my paper:
Performing
for Neon Stars
Me, Summer, and Kayla
The muffled voices of the crowd
seemed to increase in volume by the minute, but I refused to sneak-a-peek
behind the curtain as if my life depended on it. I was sure that one glance was
all it would take to turn me into a helpless mess of nerves and fear. Instead,
I found refuge backstage in a dressing room that smelled entirely of hairspray
and that felt like the air-conditioning had iced the room over. My hands were
both covered in sweat and shaking uncontrollably, but I knew the temperature of
the dressing room had nothing to do with that. Just as I knew that it also
wasn’t causing my heart to pound so hard within my chest that I was sure the
crowd could hear it as well. The crowd. Not
one minute could pass without the thought creeping its way into my mind. What
had I gotten myself into? In just a few short minutes I was about to find
myself center-stage, mic in hand, hopefully ready to sing in front of an
unknown amount of people.
A week before this, I passed the
sign-up sheet for my high school’s talent show while walking to chorus class. I
had always wanted to audition, but the courage to do so had never quite built
up enough for me to write my name down. But
it’s senior year, this is your last chance! I found myself participating in
a lot of things I normally wouldn’t have, only because it was senior year. I
had attended a majority of my school’s football games, joined clubs that had
always interested me, and even conquered my fear of donating blood all within
my senior year. So why not add the talent show to that list? Before I had the
chance to talk myself out of it, I quickly signed my name. However, without
hesitation I also added “and Summer Renslow” beside my name before capping my
pen and hurriedly making my way into class. I guiltily took my seat in the alto
section next to my best friend, Summer, who instantly knew something was off.
“What’s up? You look like something
bad just happened to you,” she said being the observant friend that she is.
I decided to get straight to the
point as I answered, “Not exactly. You know how I’ve always wanted to sing in
the talent show? Well, I just signed up for it…in fact, I signed us up
together.”
Not that I was very worried that
Summer would be upset with me, but her reply was a relief, “That’s a great
idea! We should ask Kayla to sing with us!”
Almost before I could comprehend
what had just happened, I found myself and two of my friends auditioning to
sing in our school’s talent show.
Knock-knock.
The sharp sound upon the dressing room door brought me back to reality,
deserting my flashback of how I had gotten in this position.
The door opened and Summer appeared,
“Hey, are you doing okay? The show is about to start. We are the fourth act, so
you can stay in here a little while longer if you want.”
Can
I stay in here forever? Almost against my will, the words “Yeah, I’m fine.
I’ll meet you out there in a minute” escaped my mouth.
She gave me a reassuring nod and a
smile before stepping out of the room. If
only my nerves could have left along with her. Just as I was attempting to
bring myself together, the voice of a woman welcoming everyone to the talent
show quieted the crowd. She welcomed the first performer on stage and
unknowingly started my inner-countdown of performances before my own.
The first performer, Michael, was a
very talented singer. His voice had the opposite effect on me than what I had
expected. The back of my mind was telling me that I should be worried, that his
talent as a singer should make me feel incomparable. But that wasn’t how I was
feeling at all. Where doubt and fear should have been, a feeling of peace
replaced it. Because over the sound of Michael’s singing, I could also hear the
cheers and shouts of support coming from his friends and family. I was
overwhelmed with this feeling of gratitude towards the people that had
previously told me that they would attend the talent show for me. I realized
that it was because of them that I would be able to make it through my
performance.
As I gathered the courage to stand
up, I caught myself in the reflection of the dressing room mirror. You can do this. You’ve rehearsed countless
times. After about a minute of giving myself a pep talk, I smoothed my hair
and smiled at my reflection. Let’s do
this. I opened the door and tried to find my way around the pitch-black
darkness of backstage. My eyes adjusted around the same time that Michael’s
song ended and I joined in on the loud applause that followed him. The big
smile upon his face surged another wave of confidence within me and I smiled
along with him. I found Summer and Kayla waiting behind the navy, felt curtain
just as the next act was being announced. Summer grabbed my hand, gave it a
tight squeeze, and a look on her face that seemed to say “we can do this.” I know
we can.
As the talent show went on, the
three of us went over our performance one last time. “Remember,” Summer made eye-contact with me and
continued, “Ashley, you’re going to be on stage first. Just like how we did in
rehearsal. The spotlight will come on you, you’ll sing for a while and then
Kayla and I will walk down the aisles next to the audience and meet you on
stage later.”
Although the idea of having a single
spotlight on me was a little terrifying, I smiled and nodded my head.
Kayla then said, “I’m really scared
that I’m going to forget the lyrics. I can’t sing that one part by myself.
Ashley, please sing with me on my solo!”
I knew she was really nervous about
her solo, not just because of the troubles it had brought her during our
rehearsals, but also because of the look on her face. In a way, Kayla’s
nervousness comforted me while the strong confidence that always seemed to
emanate from Summer left me feeling a little childish.
I agreed to sing with her and added,
“Also, don’t forget that at the bridge of the song we are going to wave our arms
towards the crowd to get them to do the same.”
After they both gave me their nods
of acknowledgement, it was announced that we were to perform next. We hugged each
other and smiled one last time before Summer and Kayla walked down the stairs
to take their places within the aisles of the crowd, leaving me backstage and
alone. I closed my eyes and thought about my family and friends in the crowd. A
member of the tech crew handed me my microphone, followed by a reassuring “Good
luck!” I smiled at him, turned my mic on, and proceeded to walk onto the stage.
I maneuvered myself through the
darkness to center-stage and took a deep breath. I looked up just as the spotlight
hit me and tried not to look like a deer caught in a headlight.
Just then, the voice of one of my
friends from the audience echoed through the auditorium, “You better sing,
Ashley! You’ve got this girl!”
I couldn’t help the instant smile
that appeared on my face because of that one cheer of support. At that moment,
Taylor Swift’s “Breathe” started playing and I began to sing. The feeling of
nerves and fear of forgetting lyrics immediately left me and I was completely
happy. The words left my mouth effortlessly and I became even happier once
Summer and Kayla joined the stage with me soon after. I was loving every second
of singing with them and I couldn’t imagine it getting any better!
Much to my surprise, during the song’s
bridge where the three of us got the crowd waving, my mom had given my family
and friends glow sticks. The auditorium went from being a vast wall of darkness
to a sea of neon blue, green, and pink. As they started to wave in time to the
music, the glow sticks lost their individual color and soon became a single
mixture of neon. That section of the crowd emanated a beautiful light within an
otherwise pitch-black auditorium. But it was more than the effect of the glow
sticks that brought me so much bliss, it was the support of the people holding
them.
The song came to a close, the stage
lights dimmed, and the curtains began to enclose the three of us back into
darkness. I stood frozen on stage as I looked out on the crowd before the
curtains completely closed. I will always remember the brilliancy of the glow
sticks against the darkness of the auditorium, like stars in the sky of a late
summer night.
Well, I hope you enjoyed reading my narrative and watching our performance! Unfortunately, for a good part of the song the lights crew wasn't paying attention and didn't center the spotlight, thus making me pretty much invisible. But it's all good, I loved singing with my friends and I'd do it all again if I could! :)
I'm just going to put this out there from the start: the title of this blog doesn't really fit with what I'm going to write about. I feel like when you read it you may expect some sort of metaphor that compares my life to, like, the beauty of the colors of this earth or something, but really I just want to talk about the Festival of Colors. And honestly, I felt like titling this blog entry with the event would be lame, but maybe a cliche title just makes it more lame.
Anyway, if it wasn't obvious, I got to go to the Festival of Colors yesterday! It was my first time, which was exciting because I'd always seen people from my stake back home go to BYU and then post pictures of them at this event. I've done the Color Run before so I felt prepared for all the chalk and the lack of oxygen that follows the countdown to everyone throwing their chalk up at the same time. I really enjoyed this festival! I mean it's hard not to love rockin' music, being covered in color, and beautiful weather. One of the coolest things about this event was it's location, which was at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. It was a pretty awesome building and my roommate and I loved being able to go to the upper part of it. The view up there was pretty sweet and the warm breeze that passed through felt great.
It was also a much-needed occasional escape from the constant cloud of chalk below, you'd be surprised at how much of that stuff gets in your mouth. Spoiler: it doesn't taste pleasant...like, at all. But it's not too bad, I wouldn't not go just because of that. However, I'd suggest wearing sunglasses and bringing a bandanna to cover your mouth if you're worried about it.
Since the festival is so popular, there were a ton of people there! It got a little hectic briefly because my roommate and I got separated from each other and cell service wasn't too great out there. After a while though, we found each other so it was all good. Then we had to find the other people we went with, which took quite a bit of time as well. So basically what I'm saying is that I've learned the importance of designating a meet-up spot...the hard way. I'll have to keep that in mind for future things!
Once everyone was together again and we were all ready to go, we decided to drive to a nearby creek and wash off. The water was really cold...at least that was what I was told. I honestly didn't really notice the temperature because just jumping in filled me with a bunch of adrenaline. We went to a part of the creek that was pretty deep and that had a rock that you could jump off into it. The only bad thing was that if you didn't jump far enough out off the rock, you risked landing in a shallow area. It took me a long time to build up the courage to make myself jump, but part of me must have hesitated because I didn't quite make it to the deep part.
Messiest and most crowded car ride ever, btw
Luckily the ground was muddy and really soft! It was like landing on a memory foam slide because my body slid down the ground and I was still completely submerged in the water. But yeah, what an adventure that was!
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to go! It was worth the hassle of getting all the chalk out of my hair, clothes, and shoes. Going to the festival yesterday made me realize that this semester, and freshman year, really is almost over. Now's the time to not only focus on finals and all of that, but also have fun and enjoy my time here at BYU. Sure school is challenging, but I wouldn't give up the remainder of my semester for anything!
This past Friday morning, the church released a new video and I felt really inspired to share it. I know that I've already written a blog about Mormon Messages before, but honestly you can never watch too many! This particular video was made with Easter in mind and I absolutely love it. Here it is:
Pretty awesome, right? I think that sometimes we forget why we really celebrate this special holiday. It's easy for us to get caught up in Easter egg hunts, candy, and presents from the Easter bunny. But those things aren't what makes it such a special Sunday. Don't get me wrong though, I love a good Easter egg hunt and an occasional Reese's peanut-butter egg (or dozens of them) just like everyone else. However, we celebrate Easter to remember that Jesus Christ lives! He came to this earth willingly and prepared to pay the ultimate price for our sins. He loved us so much that he suffered persecution, rejection, and eventually death so that we can return to Him and our Heavenly Father again. But just as the video testifies, the greatest miracle was the he rose on the third day and overcame death. I know that my Savior lives and what a blessing that is!
My favorite part of this video is when it turns into a personal application. Because He lives, we can always turn to Him. It doesn't matter what it is you need help with, who you are, or the things you have done in the past, He loves you and is always there for you! I know that this is true. I know that even during the times that I feel completely alone, I'm not. I know that my Savior is always there for me, it's just up to me to reach out to Him. I'm so grateful for Him and for the knowledge that He lives!
I hope you enjoyed this video. Feel free to share it with as many people as you can! Let us remember Christ always, but especially during this Easter holiday.
P.S. General Conference is this coming weekend! Tune in here for some uplifting talks and all-around awesomeness :)
.jpg)
