Thursday, April 14, 2011

To My Friends at BYU, As We Wrap Up

Wow, how time has flown by. Feels like just last week I was boarding a flight up to Utah. I was getting ready to begin a new chapter in my life. Now, I'm done with my first year of college.
This has definitely been the toughest part of my entire life. The transition between high school and college was not an easy one for me to take. I went from being a pretty well-known guy to just another nobody in a sea of people. I went from being a smart kid to just an average Joe in the class. It was a tough pill of humility for me to swallow.
Not everything went smoothly my first semester. I bit off a little more than I could chew. I took four extremely hard classes: Calculus 112, Greek & Roman Lit 110, Writing 150H, and Chem 105 (also known as the spawn of the devil). I was extremely overwhelmed by the workload that was given to me and ended up getting a C in a class for the first time in my life. I ended up losing a scholarship because of it. On top of that, my basketball career was cut short, something I was extremely disappointed about. 
I began to doubt my own abilities. Was I good enough to be here at BYU? At the time, I thought no. I had been through way too many disappointments and struggled so much that I felt like BYU was not the place for me. 
That's where great friends come in.
The friendships I have made here have been awesome. I have had the opportunity to meet so many different people here. 
To the guys in my hall. The guys in my hall are some of the greatest guys I have ever met. It's kinda funny because I chose this hall because I thought it was the closest hall to the Cannon Center. But I'm glad that I chose this hall. I don't think you could ever have a greater bunch of guys. Staying up until 2, 3 in the morning on a Friday night playing Age of Empires. Or having a group of 15 guys playing Apples to Apples for four hours until 2 in the morning. Or the endless pranks on J.R. Or hanging out in the Cannon Center after dinner and talking about the girls that walk by. Or the pranks on J.R. I think the greatest thing about this hall is the support they give to everyone else in the hall. When a mission call comes, all the guys are there to support you. When you need help with something, they will go out of their way to make sure you are taken care of. When you need someone to talk to, they will take the time to listen. I'm so glad that I have been able to spend the past couple of months with these guys. I have never known a better group of guys. I know that our friendship will continue beyond our stay at Budge Hall. Guys, you have been a great support for me in my times of weakness.
To the girls I have met over the time that I've been here. You girls are simply amazing. You have all the charm, beauty, smarts, and caring that I would hope for in a girl. All of you are wonderful people. It's quite a shame that 95% of you will be married and have two kids when I get back from my mission. The other 5% will only have one kid. Yes, including you Jamie, despite your emphatic declarations that you will serve a mission. And you too, Chelsea Sue. It's been awesome getting to know all of you.
To the people in my ward. You are my family away from my family. When I left my ward back home, I thought that no ward in the world could come close to the ward I had back home. I would say that my ward back home equals our ward here. It's hard for me to say which is better. Both have provided me with the help and support that I needed. I have enjoyed every minute of being with you guys, every Sunday going to church with you, and all the funny things said during sacrament meetings, or Sunday School, or priesthood meetings. And ward wrap-up was just so much fun. You guys have definitely been too good to me.
To everyone that's been there for me. You guys mean so much to me. You have no idea.
I'm sure there are so many more people that I have to be thankful for. And I wish I could individually thank you for all that you have done for me. But the time I have right now is limited. So, for now, I will leave it as a general thank you.
I have so many people to be thankful for. I just ask you do one more thing for me. Let me know when you're headed home so I can personally say good-bye to all of you. It's the least I can do.
My friends, God bless. 

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