BYU Baby! Woot!

Once upon a time, a measly 5 YEARS ago, I remember as I finished my senior year how excited I was for the upcoming adventure of being a college student at my university of choice, BYU. I was so nervous and excited being a wee 17 yr. old (mind you I was still 6 ft. 3"). Anywho, it was the super coolest, most adult feeling ever to be leaving home and starting things off on my own. Well I went on up there, my mom and awesome Aunt Allyson VanPatten navigating us there and hauling a butt-load of clothes, bedding, household and kitchen items up in her car. I love that Both years that I went up to the Y before my mission Allyson found herself along on our trip. I mean, both times it was so last second too that we asked her if she would come. What a champ. 

Well, we made quite the team us 3 as we shopped and prepped my dorm and living situation. We were quite the bargain shoppers and we did so in a snip-snap sort of fashion. Another wonderful thing about the Dana Rodgers/Allyson VP team is that they have like this skill to "Design on a Dime" and do "Extreme Makeover's" on rooms. I mean seriously people, we walked into Target and went out Champions for the cool stuff we found. Allyson even had this great idea to make pictures on the wall of these postcards of Paris and they were such cheapie stuff, but in these affordable chic frames looked absolutely great. I tell you my dorm was the envied one up there.

Now BYU was an amazing experience before the mission. I absolutely loved the classes (even though many were challenging), the environment, the people, etc. It felt so RIGHT to me. The best part of my experience was my choir experience. I HAD to do a choir because if my life doesn't have some sort of musical portion I spontaneously implode. Well I auditioned my freshman year and got into the Concert Choir. Take that world, 1 of 4 freshman in the whole choir of 100+ people. The director's name was (and is still) Sis. Rosalind Hall. Sis. Hall hails from the country of Whales in the UK and I tell you, she is one of my absolute favorite people in the whole wide world. I think everyone should have the opportunity to get to know her, observe her, and participate in one of her rehearsals. She had such a gift to make choir experiences spiritual experiences and teach you things about more than just music. Concert choir was training for life, and the relationships between sections and friends made it feel like one big family.

Interesting facts about Sis. Hall.  1) Received her undergraduate degree in Vocal Performance from the Oxfard School of Music. 2) Decided to get her Master's degree in choral conducting from BYU to learn how to be a better Ward Choir director 3) Replaced Mack Wilberg when he left to take his post with MoTab 4) Directs the BYU Concert Choir and Men's Chorus (largest men's choir in the world - 250+) 5) ONLY shops at Nordstrom 6) Is one of the best groomed/dressed people I know 7) Genuinely loves her students and music and strives to be her best at all times 7) Memorizes all her music before we even begin practicing a piece 8) Has THE BEST quotes and stories you can imagine.

This woman changed my BYU experience and I will forever be grateful to her. I may be auditioning this upcoming year for Vocal Point (a 9-person a capella group), but if it does not work out I will for sure be participating in Concert Choir once more. I will say that I was not a perfect student but I didn't do poorly. I did try my hardest though. I had a 1/2 scholarship which I promptly lost my second year around because I had like a 3.62 and you need like a 3.9 to keep them (ridiculous!). Oh well, I was grateful to have it for the short time I did.

I worked at one of the best places ever. I worked in the athletic building locker rooms. I actually kinda got the job not knowing what I was getting into, but all I knew is that the hours worked perfectly for me. I was responsible for checking out clothing, equipment or lockers, etc. to students. Now, I know what you are all thinking. A locker room? Uhhhh lame, gross environment, dumb job. Yeah I know, BUT, consider this. I was allowed to do homework in my work when there was no one to attend to. We always had 2 of us on a shift and it never got TOO stressful. I worked the busiest shift of the day, and I was never TOO overwhelmed. Anywho, chill environment where you mostly sit and do homework, while getting paid = great job. Didn't pay much but covered my expenses.

I never really chose a major back then, I was too indecisive, too fear-driven to choose. I did mostly all generals and got a lot done. I think I have now about 80 credits. 42 of those credits came from AP stuff I did before my mission (Those tests totally paid off!). 

Now here I am 5 years from where I started headed back to the Y. I am SO excited to finish what I started and make my future. I have decided to pursue Psychology for my undergrad and from there possibly pursue a JD-MBA (Law degree and a Masters in Business Administration combined). I can't tel you exactly why I chose these things, but I just feel like it's right. I remember when I was on my mission in my last six months, I was so worried about not knowing what to do after my mission, but I trusted that the Lord would fulfill his promise and help me if I served. Well I remember 2 distinct occasions where I felt a strong prompting that I should, 1st, study Psychology.

Remember those tests when you were little and were about your likes and skills and told you the careers that were most suited for you. Yeah well, mine always always came back that I was best suited as a Psychologist or a Psychiatrist. I thought, Me? pshhhhh. Why would I want to hear all about people's problems and meet the crazies, thus in turn giving me depression from all their crap? That was my mentality. BUT after serving a mission, I could see myself doing it. In a sense, being a missionary has many parallels to psychology and I indeed enjoyed it.  So that became my plan, Psychology. And then, one Sunday, I remember having the strongest impression right in the middle of church that I should go to law school.

HUH? Law school? I began to 2nd guess my motives and why this thought would appear randomly in my head. The money? what? What could it be? Well nothing stood to reason and I just accepted the fact that somebody a lot higher than me had given me the answer that I had long searched for. Now I'm not saying that I could not be successful in, perhaps, music or something. BUT I do believe that the Lord showed me a possible path I could take and be successful in, thus achieving many of the other life-long goals that I have.

So, here I go. I'm supposed to be packing right now and I am procrastinating the torture of it all. Tomorrow at the butt-crack of dawn we are pulling out and heading to Provo. The nice part of it this time is that my little bro. and best friend Jamyn (18 yrs.) is coming up to the Y with me. It'll be so great to have family up there. I'm living off-campus in the Riviera with a missionary friend of mine, Murphy Randle. It's going to be an awesome year. I'm a wee bit nervous about the financial situation of things. I'm responsible for almost everything this go around and I will have to pay for insurance and car stuff, etc. Everything depends on me getting a decent job. I'm actually training myself on some programming and basic web-design right now to get one of the higher-paying on-campus jobs. Here's praying that I can learn this stuff quick. Everything depends on it.

Well, off to pack now. The next update will be Utah style. Can't wait!

Cougars and Creameries,

Bryson