Week 8 Learnings

This week I met Richard Searfoss, a commander of one of the NASA shuttle missions. It was so cool to meet him! He gave a fireside for my ward and he talked all about space, his family, what it was like to pilot a space mission, and so forth. Astronomy has always been a huge passion of mine and it was amazing to get to meet the commander of a NASA mission.  He talked also about how to juggle a career and a family. This was super beneficial to me because I’m a girl going through the Marriott School and sometimes it’s really hard to think about the future and how my degree can still be used while raising a family. I don’t want to be a super career woman that never settles down, but I also want to use my degree. Obviously Astronaut Searfoss’ situation was a little bit different, but he talked about he juggled being in space while raising a family and it really helped me to realize that you can do both, no matter if you’re in space or working for a corporation!

Week 7 Learnings

This week I learned how valuable hard work and dedication is. This past summer, I did an internship with Nissan and I tried my best to do really well. I took on a lot of projects and helped out a lot of people, hoping it would pay off. I’ve been hoping to go back and do another internship with them and eventually begin full time work with them after I graduate. I didn’t expect to hear back from them before December, but they called me on Thursday to offer my another internship early because they wanted to nail me down and make sure I got to work for them before someone else tried to hire me. They also gave me a huge pay raise. It was so wonderful to see all the late nights pay off and learn that the easy way is definitely not always the best way. A lot of the other interns I worked with did not get offers because they took long lunches and would leave early. It was super nice to see that hard work and dedication are still valued over flattery. 

Week 6 Learnings

This week I had to start scheduling my classes for next semester and I realized how close I am to graduating. It was really freaky to realize that this chapter of my life is coming to a close and that a new one, getting a job, is steadily approaching.  It definitely put school in its perspective for me, that even though I’m in the midst of midterms, it will all be ok because one day this isn’t going to be my life anymore. I should definitely focus more on the things that matter most, like being a good friend to people. My grades aren’t going to matter anymore and so I should put all my time and energy in the things that do matter. Obviously, I’m still going to try my best and do well in my classes, but it doesn’t hold the same weight like it used to. It was a good reminder for me. 

Week 5 Learnings

This past week, I went to the opening ceremonies for homecoming week, and they showed a video honoring one of the founders of BYU. His name was Abraham Smoot. It was a remarkable video and I learned a lot about this man who saved BYU. I had never known anything about him before. The thing that stood out to me the most was the fact that after BYU burned down, he mortgaged his home and his farm to pay off BYU’s debts so they could rebuild. He died penniless and gave up everything he owned to save the school because he loved it so much. This was very humbly to me to realize a man gave up everything he owned so that, years later, I could get an education. This taught me to value my experience here at BYU a lot more and to remember everything that people who came before me did so that I could come here and gain an invaluable education. 

Week 4 learnings

This past week I learned that you should always expect the unexpected. My car began to have trouble starting, and it eventually died on me, stranding me at Big Lots. I assumed it was the battery and began looking around to get it jumped. I was so surprised at how many people flat out refused to help me out. I asked four different people if they could help me and they all told me no. One lady said I could borrow her jumper cables, but not her car battery because she didn’t trust me. So, I now had jumper cables but no car. Two more people said no to help jump my car, but eventually a kind soul came and helped me. This taught me that you should always expect the unexpected. People might say no to helping you out, effectively stranding you in a parking lot, but others might not! It also taught me that I should always help others, since I had been on the receiving end of not getting any help and I realized what a terrible experience that was.