So I'm finally back. Last semester was an uphill battle for me and I don't know what possessed me to think I'd have more time to write this in college. But I did make a list of the ideas that I got and, hopefully, I can get through them before I go off an join the ranks! Translation: Chesapeake Virginia Mission, here I come!!
First off, just an announcement: I went out into the world (or, as much of the world as BYUI gets that is :) and I'm not a pancake!! I made it! I realized that while the whole 'being hit with a load of bricks' did happen, Heavenly Father graciously only allowed one brick to fall at a time. Like when I naively signed up for one of the World Studies Foundations classes and took Pakistan. Yeah. Nightmares. But it was good for me. I often felt I was the only one visibly cringing and ducking behind my Disney-sticker-decorated laptop at some of the things we discussed but it allowed me to view some of the world at, I guess, a safe distance.
Another brick was my Foundations Capstone class where we look at real-life issues such as child labor laws, the death penalty, and the like and make decisions on them. We also talked about how foolish it can be to not only be a pessimist, but a full-fledged optimist.
Oops.
This didn't help me as I was already trying to figure out how to take everything else in. I wanted to be happy. To see the world and the people around me like I had before. But now I noticed more things. I guess it was only part of growing up, but I didn't like it. So its a good thing that teacher followed up with that statement because I might've been left a mess.
He said that what we really need to be was, what he called, an improver. Pessimists didn't see the solution and optimists didn't see the problem. In order for us to really make a difference in the world, we needed to see both.
Lightbuulb!
"Well, gee, I'm all for making differences," I thought to myself. That changed the semester for me. Instead of just complaining or turning my head the other way I learned that the best way to cope was to see what I could do about the problem, always trusting on my Father in Heaven. Especially when the problem was out of my circle of influence, like in my Pakistan class.
So that' s basically what that bunch of bricks taught Annelie. I learned that I could choose to be flattened, I could choose to ignore them, or I could take them and build a beautiful castle.
And I learned that we're never given more or less than we can use. We're given just what we need according to the Great Contractor of Castles.
First off, just an announcement: I went out into the world (or, as much of the world as BYUI gets that is :) and I'm not a pancake!! I made it! I realized that while the whole 'being hit with a load of bricks' did happen, Heavenly Father graciously only allowed one brick to fall at a time. Like when I naively signed up for one of the World Studies Foundations classes and took Pakistan. Yeah. Nightmares. But it was good for me. I often felt I was the only one visibly cringing and ducking behind my Disney-sticker-decorated laptop at some of the things we discussed but it allowed me to view some of the world at, I guess, a safe distance.
Another brick was my Foundations Capstone class where we look at real-life issues such as child labor laws, the death penalty, and the like and make decisions on them. We also talked about how foolish it can be to not only be a pessimist, but a full-fledged optimist.
Oops.
This didn't help me as I was already trying to figure out how to take everything else in. I wanted to be happy. To see the world and the people around me like I had before. But now I noticed more things. I guess it was only part of growing up, but I didn't like it. So its a good thing that teacher followed up with that statement because I might've been left a mess.
He said that what we really need to be was, what he called, an improver. Pessimists didn't see the solution and optimists didn't see the problem. In order for us to really make a difference in the world, we needed to see both.
Lightbuulb!
"Well, gee, I'm all for making differences," I thought to myself. That changed the semester for me. Instead of just complaining or turning my head the other way I learned that the best way to cope was to see what I could do about the problem, always trusting on my Father in Heaven. Especially when the problem was out of my circle of influence, like in my Pakistan class.
So that' s basically what that bunch of bricks taught Annelie. I learned that I could choose to be flattened, I could choose to ignore them, or I could take them and build a beautiful castle.
And I learned that we're never given more or less than we can use. We're given just what we need according to the Great Contractor of Castles.
