Enter to Learn. Go Forth to Serve.

I've been in school six weeks, and it has flown by. I am loving it. Even with Economics. Sometimes it still is a little weird surreal. I never thought I would actually go to school at BYU and that I would be a Cougar. The faculty of the MPA program really work to make it the best experience. Part of that is the unity in the program. Some departments, like law, are very competitive. Not the MPA program. Everyone is there to help each other. And we have a lot of fun together. We have a lounge and if you want to study in there, don't plan on getting a lot done. 

We have been divided into groups and a lot of our assignments are done in these groups. I absolutely love my group, Wii Fit and I feel that I will be successful in the program because of my group.

The classes I am taking are:

• Organizational Behavior (Team work and interpersonal skills. Fantastic discussions._
• Economics Decision Making for Managers (We've already had a midterm in this class.)
• Administration Environment (We learn about different pubic administrations. I haven't quiet figured out what I am going to take from this class yet.)
• Communication in Public Administration (Writing and presentation skills.)
• Decision Analysis for Administrators (I'm learning a lot of great Excel Skills in this class. Beyond the basic Excel skills.)

This is my room. Its a little corner of my aunt's basement. I really like it, and the price is unbeatable. My aunt is nice enough to let me live with her for free. This is such a huge blessing. I don't know how I would survive paying rent and tuition. I have also learned the smaller my room is, the cleaner I keep it. I think this is the cleanest room I've ever had. Its great!!!

She lives to the east of campus, up the mountain behind the temple.

Great view of the valley. You can see all the way to mountains on the other side of Utah Lake and to Payson. I like to ride my bike. Going to school is fantastic. I can get there probably just as fast as I do driving, because its down hill and I don't have to worry about parking. But going back home can be a kick in the pants. I feel proud of myself when I get all the way without stopping.

Things have changed since I was last in school two years ago. One thing that is different is everyone has a lap top in class to take notes. Although you can often find people doing things other than taking notes. I had a laptop but I felt it was kind of big and heavy to carry around to classes, so I got this little thing. I call her Gigdet and she is absolutely perfect for classes. I put the glass there so you can see how small she is. And she functions just like a normal laptop.

Funny story: Everyone has a laptop in class and one day the professor asked us to pull out a paper and pencil and everyone began scrambling, looking for pencil and paper. Not everyone had one. It was entertaining.

I am kind of bummed that BYU doesn't always have the regular devotionals every Tuesday like BYU-Idaho. They do have them, but some Tuesdays they have a forum or a performance instead. Devos were something I enjoyed every week at BYU-Idaho.

I am glad I am school. Even with the hefty price. I feel like this is where I am supposed to be now. It has been challenging, too. And I sometimes think about what I had to give up to be here but I know that things will be good in the end.