I have many consistent thoughts on my mind, but one of the biggies is this: Does BYU give me what I am paying for?
When it comes to textbooks, here is the answer. No. I can't even walk by the place without the threat of losing money looming over my head. The textbook industry is a racket, and even though you may think otherwise of a Church-sponsored institution, the BYU Bookstore is out there to make a profit.
The only redeeming factor of making your textbook transactions through BYU is the darn convenience of it all. You're already there, you can see what condition the books are in, you can buy them in a hurry and sell them for a little extra Christmas cash before you go home for finals, you don't have to deal with sketchy online presences, there is no shipping, and you can basically forget about them the moment the semester ends.
But it will never be a monetarily good deal. Selling back perfectly new books at 50% of what I bought them for? It's like at the end of my first semester at BYU, someone shanked me and I feel the hurt of it at the end of every subsequent semester.
So, here is my list of how to get a good deal.
1) Don't buy any of your books ever. You never know if the books the professors assign are actually helpful, so obviously, do not give them the benefit of the doubt. Give yourself a little extra cash and just forgo the whole institution. Guess what? The library probably has them. If not, make a friend and take them out to eat once in awhile in exchange for a few hours with their books before finals.
That is the only strategy, my friends. If you buy textbooks, you will always get ripped off, either in time or convenience. It's worth the extra $300 in your pocket to just stay away from booksellers and struggle a little more throughout the semester. Dig it.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Journey to Fulfill that BYU Tradition, Marriage
The other day when I was talking to my dad on the phone, he asked me if I had any social plans for the weekend...in a slanted manner. My sister recently got married, so I feel like my parent's eyes are on me now. (We haven't forgotten about my 23 year old brother, I think). No Dad, I'm not going to do anything this weekend. No Dad, I'm not sitting at home every night. No Dad, you're not going to see me married by next April. Give me a couple years.
But I don't really care if I don't have a social life! Here's the thing. I'm doing what I can to make friends and whatnot. I go to all the ward activities, I talk to (a few) people, I dress okay, I smell okay, I smile. Tonight, for instance, we had a ward break-the-fast. I brought black beans. It doesn't matter if I got my food and went back to my apartment, because you know what? It was cold. The grass was wet. I had a nice dry apartment 10 feet away where I could enjoy my dinner without having to choke over a poorly conceived conversation with someone mutually disinterested.
I don't feel desperate enough for company that I want to have to trip over myself in introductions and smalltalk. Things usually work out. And until the weather gets nicer, it had better be pretty worth my time for me to leave this apartment.
But I don't really care if I don't have a social life! Here's the thing. I'm doing what I can to make friends and whatnot. I go to all the ward activities, I talk to (a few) people, I dress okay, I smell okay, I smile. Tonight, for instance, we had a ward break-the-fast. I brought black beans. It doesn't matter if I got my food and went back to my apartment, because you know what? It was cold. The grass was wet. I had a nice dry apartment 10 feet away where I could enjoy my dinner without having to choke over a poorly conceived conversation with someone mutually disinterested.
I don't feel desperate enough for company that I want to have to trip over myself in introductions and smalltalk. Things usually work out. And until the weather gets nicer, it had better be pretty worth my time for me to leave this apartment.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Self-Photography
Sometimes, I loathe Facebook. I hate the status updates of popular people. I hate being spammed stupid videos and apps. I hate that I spend so much time on it. But you know what I hate most of all? People who take pictures of themselves in the bathroom and don't even try to hide the fact that they're doing it.
Contrary to what you may think, we don't want to see the inside of your bathroom. Even if you crop out most of the bathroom, you think we can't tell what that flashing light is right next to your face? And what are you doing with your mouth? If you're not going to look normal, at least don't try to make your face appear skinnier than it really is by sucking your cheeks in and making some sort of pouty lip. If your picture wasn't already disgraced by the fact that you took it in a bathroom mirror, your mouth is further cheapening it. Oh, and are you really going to walk out in public wearing that? If you think you look hot, then it probably isn't appropriate for the rest of us to see. We have our own chests, thanks, and we don't need a heaping of yours to have to death with too.
Also...what are you trying to communicate with that peace sign? Do you think looking cool and groovy will make up for the fact that you have been taking pictures of yourself for the past 10 minutes? Fact is, none of us believe that you're all out for peace or whatever. You're doing it because you can't think of what to do with your hand. Just let it hang at your side, kids.
To wrap it up, if you're going to insist on taking a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror...at least look at the lens of the camera instead of at your picture in the screen. We know you're obsessed with yourself...and looking at yourself instead of out at the people viewing your picture only makes it worse.
Just ask someone else to take the picture, will you?
Contrary to what you may think, we don't want to see the inside of your bathroom. Even if you crop out most of the bathroom, you think we can't tell what that flashing light is right next to your face? And what are you doing with your mouth? If you're not going to look normal, at least don't try to make your face appear skinnier than it really is by sucking your cheeks in and making some sort of pouty lip. If your picture wasn't already disgraced by the fact that you took it in a bathroom mirror, your mouth is further cheapening it. Oh, and are you really going to walk out in public wearing that? If you think you look hot, then it probably isn't appropriate for the rest of us to see. We have our own chests, thanks, and we don't need a heaping of yours to have to death with too.
Also...what are you trying to communicate with that peace sign? Do you think looking cool and groovy will make up for the fact that you have been taking pictures of yourself for the past 10 minutes? Fact is, none of us believe that you're all out for peace or whatever. You're doing it because you can't think of what to do with your hand. Just let it hang at your side, kids.
To wrap it up, if you're going to insist on taking a picture of yourself in the bathroom mirror...at least look at the lens of the camera instead of at your picture in the screen. We know you're obsessed with yourself...and looking at yourself instead of out at the people viewing your picture only makes it worse.
Just ask someone else to take the picture, will you?
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Limbo
College is a weird time of life. I constantly feel "between" places. I'm between homes--Provo and Grand Junction. I'm definitely between two singles wards and my home ward. I'm between jobs, between payments, between midterms, between semesters. My life is just punctuated here and there with significant instances and the rest of the time I'm just "between". I don't really mind. Being between two homes is better than being homeless. And "between" comes with a certain amount of freedom and a lot of choices, two thing which I obviously love. It's kind of nice not to be tied down to anything.
It's also nice to be home though. I'm consistently enthralled by the size of the television every time I see it, and I love all the time there is to enjoy showers. I love the smell of my room--smells empty--and I love my bed. I am in love with many things. Not that I condone that practice with people.
It's also nice to be home though. I'm consistently enthralled by the size of the television every time I see it, and I love all the time there is to enjoy showers. I love the smell of my room--smells empty--and I love my bed. I am in love with many things. Not that I condone that practice with people.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Today in General
I took an American Heritage test today. I got a B. I hate getting B's. They are aggressively average. It helped me realize, though, that studying really does a test good. My last two B grades on a test were tests I studied an average of 20 minutes for. Studying for me usually involves opening the book and leaving it there for a few minutes while I try to decide what to study. Then I get anxious and make a usually poor decision to go take the test immediately. So yeah. Studying=good.
Also, I get really irritated when people try to classify majors as useless. Liberal arts degrees are good for the world. I gained more knowledge and perspective and global awareness in one art history class than a lot of people get in a lifetime. Majors like art history and philosophy and humanities and english help you feel connected to the inhabitants of the world both past and present, and having that scope of connection is really important. So yeah, an art history degree won't be good for designing staplers, but it does incredible good for an individual, and that perfection of the individual will contribute hugely to perfecting the world at large.
IOn an unrelated note, I'm so happy to be at BYU during this Jimmer idol worship crisis. Frankly, its hilarious, and I'm sure even God has to laugh at some of those quips.
Also, I get really irritated when people try to classify majors as useless. Liberal arts degrees are good for the world. I gained more knowledge and perspective and global awareness in one art history class than a lot of people get in a lifetime. Majors like art history and philosophy and humanities and english help you feel connected to the inhabitants of the world both past and present, and having that scope of connection is really important. So yeah, an art history degree won't be good for designing staplers, but it does incredible good for an individual, and that perfection of the individual will contribute hugely to perfecting the world at large.
IOn an unrelated note, I'm so happy to be at BYU during this Jimmer idol worship crisis. Frankly, its hilarious, and I'm sure even God has to laugh at some of those quips.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Moments Worthy of Ashton
Life has been kind of ridiculous lately. Here is a list of things I wish I was getting punk'd for:
1. Mastering Biology. 30$. Assignments that are completely unrelated to the things we talk about in class.
2. Professor Nelson
3. Weather
4. The long process of writing letters
5. 30$ American Heritage Reading packet.
6. American Heritage
7. Book of Mormon study guide
8. The propensity to overheat whilst wearing sweats in bed
9. FHE group attendance
10. The inability to tell if brownies are cooked long enough
11. Not hearing about housing
12. People who think they can live without sleep
13. Murder mysteries--to write them, you have to be smarter than your brilliant detective
14. French accents
15. NASA channel
16. Adam "hugging" Jimmer picture
17. People who say they're going to visit and never do
18. Salad sevoy
19. Rotten lettuce
20. The Roommate
1. Mastering Biology. 30$. Assignments that are completely unrelated to the things we talk about in class.
2. Professor Nelson
3. Weather
4. The long process of writing letters
5. 30$ American Heritage Reading packet.
6. American Heritage
7. Book of Mormon study guide
8. The propensity to overheat whilst wearing sweats in bed
9. FHE group attendance
10. The inability to tell if brownies are cooked long enough
11. Not hearing about housing
12. People who think they can live without sleep
13. Murder mysteries--to write them, you have to be smarter than your brilliant detective
14. French accents
15. NASA channel
16. Adam "hugging" Jimmer picture
17. People who say they're going to visit and never do
18. Salad sevoy
19. Rotten lettuce
20. The Roommate
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Human Moments
The great thing about college is that you have 8 opportunities to start the process of meeting people and making friends all over again (oh wait did I say that was a good thing?). The pool of available acquaintances is deep and fresh and sometimes full of vicious watery creatures.
Of course, meeting people requires talking to them, and the first couple days of the semester are usually full of questions like What's your name, Where are you from, What are you majoring in, How many credits are you taking, Are you a democrat, What Hogwarts house are you in, etc. My answers are always the same: Rachel, Colorado, something you'll judge me for, 16, NO, Slytherin. Once you memorize the answers to these questions, you can recite them verbatim before the questions can even come out of your conversation partner's mouth, which is an efficient skill guaranteed to end the conversation in an awkward silence and the annoyance of the other person.
Today, I successfully managed to avoid opening my mouth in my first and only class of the day. I almost escaped silence without having to talk to anyone...until someone at the bus stop was able to discern that I was deeply absorbed in my book and therefore deserved to be talked to. We talked. The conversation did not come easily. Luckily, the bus ride was short.
When I arrived home, I had to take a quick trip to the store. The girl at the counter launched a pleasant verbal assault on me as soon as I walked in the door. While I checked out, we had a short conversation about how nice it was to have Christmas break. While I was having this conversation, the thought "Wow, I bet she talks about the same thing with everyone. This is not very deep" popped into my head.
As I left, however, I came to a realization. The quality of the conversation didn't matter as much as the effort to engage another human being in conversation at all. People tend to ignore one another's existence as best as possible outside of a small group of friends and we often do a great job of pretending not to see someone walking past you or entering the same room as you. Conversation, however awkward and redundant, is at least an acknowledgment of another's existence. Life doesn't have to be full of profundity, it just has to be full of effort.
On another note, I want my books to come in the mail.
Of course, meeting people requires talking to them, and the first couple days of the semester are usually full of questions like What's your name, Where are you from, What are you majoring in, How many credits are you taking, Are you a democrat, What Hogwarts house are you in, etc. My answers are always the same: Rachel, Colorado, something you'll judge me for, 16, NO, Slytherin. Once you memorize the answers to these questions, you can recite them verbatim before the questions can even come out of your conversation partner's mouth, which is an efficient skill guaranteed to end the conversation in an awkward silence and the annoyance of the other person.
Today, I successfully managed to avoid opening my mouth in my first and only class of the day. I almost escaped silence without having to talk to anyone...until someone at the bus stop was able to discern that I was deeply absorbed in my book and therefore deserved to be talked to. We talked. The conversation did not come easily. Luckily, the bus ride was short.
When I arrived home, I had to take a quick trip to the store. The girl at the counter launched a pleasant verbal assault on me as soon as I walked in the door. While I checked out, we had a short conversation about how nice it was to have Christmas break. While I was having this conversation, the thought "Wow, I bet she talks about the same thing with everyone. This is not very deep" popped into my head.
As I left, however, I came to a realization. The quality of the conversation didn't matter as much as the effort to engage another human being in conversation at all. People tend to ignore one another's existence as best as possible outside of a small group of friends and we often do a great job of pretending not to see someone walking past you or entering the same room as you. Conversation, however awkward and redundant, is at least an acknowledgment of another's existence. Life doesn't have to be full of profundity, it just has to be full of effort.
On another note, I want my books to come in the mail.
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