I still remember when I loaded up my 1998 pearl white Mazda 626 and drove more than 250 miles to Starkville, Miss in August 2004. I was all by myself hitting the road at 4 a.m. I don't even know how I made it there (I had only been there once before), but I did. When I got on campus I didn't even know where my dorm was. I literally had to call the registrar's office and get them to direct me to Herbert Hall. I pulled up to my new home and walked inside. The lady, who seemed very exasperated, handed me a key and told me that I would be "lucky" enough to be one of only three people on the entire campus to not just have one roommate but two. Yippee! I can still see the joyous look on my roommate's face when she opened the door.
Knock, knock.
(She opens the door.)
Me: Hi, I'm you're roommate!
Her: (while rolling her eyes) Gosh, another one!
Me: (shrugging my shoulders) Uh yea, looks like it.
Her: So you need help with ya stuff or what?
Awww joy. That was just the first day of an extremely trying two months of my life. I had no idea how much college would cost. I went to the campus bookstore to buy my textbooks and I was shocked at the prices...and extremely dismayed because I did not have $400 to buy books. And I looked for a job EVERYWHERE! Finally, I took one at Sonic. Needless to say it only lasted one night. So I resorted to student loans (which reminds me I'm going to have to start paying those back here pretty soon).
I was just a kid all on my own. I didn't go up there with a bunch of friends. Heck, my Mom didn't even drop me off. I was courageous, independent and confident. I was ready to take on the world. In actuality, it was more like naïve and ignorant. But I learned a lot over those two years, and then I decided to make my next move.
Hawaii. Ah, the spirit of aloha! I've never been before so why not move over there and go to school? So that's what I did. I boarded a plane in August 2006, and I haven't been the same person since.
Boy, was I in for the shock of my life...a culture shock that is. Only 45% of the students who go to BYU-Hawaii are from the U.S. mainland, while the other 55% comes from mostly the Asian-Pacific Rim and other foreign countries. But this was not what shocked me. I was shocked by all the Mormons! Now don't get me wrong I was raised a Latter-day Saint, but coming from southern Mississippi I was never surrounded by this many Mormons before. Everyone was so pure and spiritually motivated. It was inspiring but depressing at the same time because I felt like I couldn't live up to the school's high standard.
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| Brigham Young University-Hawaii |
We had to follow an honor code while attending. This honor code includes "abiding by the standards of Christian living taught by the Church, being honest in all behavior, respecting personal and property rights, obeying the law, avoiding drug abuse, complying with all university regulations, observing the church's Word of Wisdom (which includes abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee), abstaining from sexual relations outside of marriage, observing high standards of taste and decency, observing university standards of dress and grooming and helping others fulfill their responsibilities under this code." I know what you're thinking: so you sign a piece of paper, but these are college students no one is going to follow the rules. But trust me they did. And I did too :)
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| My Mom and Me at graduation |
Hawaii changed my life. I graduated in December 2008, I left the island and I have missed it ever since.
It wasn't as grueling as I thought it would be. It was a lot of work, stress and driving (an hour and a half each way) but it went by fast and now I'm done. I can't even believe it sometimes. I feel like I've been in school forever. It's actually kind of weird knowing that I don't have a paper due next week and I don't have any exams to study for. So I'll go ahead and mark that one off my list of things to do...
Get pregnant...
