Practice What You Teach

I've made a new goal for myself to write a blog post at the very least every Sunday. I'm terrible about journal writing, so I think this is a good goal and I'll do my best to stick to it! In my head, this week was going to be terrible. I had two midterms this week one of which was for Physical Science the worst class in the world. I was completely and utterly stressed about it. I seriously was just straight up convinced that I was going to fail. Nonetheless, I went to the review session and studied like crazy. I decided I would take the test on Saturday morning. I got up and went to the gym with my friend Sam (more about my new attempt at a healthy life later), and then we both went to the Testing Center together to take our tests. As I sat there, I said a silent prayer before I started the test. As I was taking I felt that I was really understanding each question. I was focused and read each question closely and was feeling pretty confident. I turned in my test, descend...

I've been thinking a lot today about what a crucial point in my life that I'm at right now. I am on my own for the first time in my life. As my former YW president, Sister Hatch, told me before I left for BYU, college is the one time in your life where you really get to discover who YOU are. You are independent, away from your family and are responsible for all of your own decisions. You get to choose what your major is, what classes to take, how to spend your time, and the list just keeps on going. I just completed the process of applying to a very difficult degree program, Music Education. It is probably one of the most competitive programs at BYU. I turned in my application on Wednesday, and have since then been worrying on and off about whether or not I will be accepted. Today as I was sitting in church, I was thinking about all of this. All of a sudden, and overwhelming feeling of peace came over me. I knew that it was my Heavenly Father assuring me that everything was goi...

Since my last blog post was a bit of a downer, I thought I'd ya know... write about some happy things that have happened recently! -I actually got mail TWICE this week (we college kids really really love mail, we faithfully check our mailboxes every night after dinner) from my mom and my grandparents! -Grandma called me this week to tell me that she and Grandpa are going to be here for Conference and that she wants to take Matthew and I to go see the Sunday Morning session with VIP tickets!!! That means that we are also going to get to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast!! I'm seriously SO excited! We are also gonna go to Joseph where Grandpa was raised! I am so excited to see the place where all of the amazing stories he tells actually happened! I'm super excited that they decided to come visit! -my dad sent me beautiful flowers on Valentine's Day! -I set a New Year's Resolution to be healthier, both with eating habits and exercising and it's going r...

So, it's seriously KILLING me that I'm not home right now. Like honestly, I haven't been this homesick all semester. I've become really accustomed to college life, and the homesickness had sort of all but gone away until now. Except this time there's a specific reason for it, not just generally missing home. My sister Amy is in Cabaret this weekend and I just hate so SO MUCH that I can't be there. You see, the two years that we were in high school together, I was an upper classmen. In the world of high school choir/theatre that essentially translates into it's your time in the spotlight. Amy was my biggest supporter the entire time. She would always be by my side giving me pep talks before I went on stage, and would be the first one to run up and give me a hug and tell me how proud she was of me. She's truly my best friend, and I don't think she ever truly knew how much her support meant to me. I know so many people who don't get along with there...

As part of my Music Ed application, I was required to make a video of myself teaching a group of elementary schoolers. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty scared. I've never really taught before, and I was worried the whole thing would be a complete and utter failure. Then I realized that this is what I want to do with my life, so I have to start somewhere. A ten minute lesson to a group of second graders seemed like a pretty good place to start! So today, I went to my mom's cousin Mindy's second grade class to teach a short lesson about rhythm. The second I walked in, I was greeted by adorable smiles and waves from the cute kids. The lesson I taught them went really well too! They got so into it, and I'm really glad I chose to do something interactive, because they were loving it! The whole thing made me realize that I really do want to be a Elementary school teacher! These cute kids had such sweet personalities and were just so excited to learn! I can't wait until...

Those who know me well know that I get super stressed out really easily. Like, REALLY easily. Just one test that probably won't even make a difference to me a week later is enough to send me into a frenzy. That being said, I am currently applying for the Elementary Music Ed program here at BYU. It is the most stressful application process ever, and to top it all off, only 8 to 10 applicants get accepted into the program each year. Yes you read that right, EIGHT TO TEN. This process entails: a four week long night class with two and half hour sessions (I had the last one this past Wednesday YES), in which the professor essentially tells us that we should all reconsider and decide if this major is really right for us, because they want to weed out the "bad candidates." You think I'm exaggerating? I promise I am not. So, that wasn't fun, but it's over now. Then we have an application, two essays, an audition, an audition video, a video of ourselves teaching, and ...