I'm Only Good at Being Young...

So I’m growing tired of being mistaken for a freshman. I am a junior and will be 21 years old in December. So one morning I log onto the “internets” to find an article for “Cover Model-Worthy Hair” plastered on my MSN.com homepage. Oooh Oooh! I think to myself Here’s my chance to look older. So I dig into my basket of hair tools (that basically hibernate since my Plain-Jane straightening iron is quick and convenient) and unearth my blowdryer, some styling mousse, and a wide tooth comb. Following the directions more religiously than usual (i.e., compared to my cooking alterations) I blow dry my product-laden hair – upside down and against my normal part, for voluminous purposes – and comb through for a “Cover-Worthy” result. I decide I look older, more sophisticated. That, or I just look like I do when I wear more make-up – 16, and just crawling out of my mother’s makeup counter.The Finished Product?

So armed with my new look I’m off to New Student Orientation at BYU. Nestled in among thousands of freshmen and their empty-nested parents is my little Y-group of transfer students and returned missionaries. Convocation is superior. I soak in the history of Brigham Young University and the Aims of a BYU Education (click here). The president of BYU speaks and tells us that each of us, each and every one of us – myself included – was carefully and prayerfully selected, and that we are here for a specific reason. I hear a similar comment from the dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Then we are treated to a lunch from Jason’s deli (YUM!) on Helaman fields, and the following evening the transfer students have a catered BBQ dinner in the Wilkinson Center ballroom, along with entertainment from one of the University’s bands (there are other fun orientation events going on during this time, but of course I have to highlight the food). During the dinner I consider that I have driven two thousand miles from Alabama to Utah, and here I am eating Barbequed Pork (which I never ate the entire time I was in Tuscaloosa) and enjoying three lovely minutes of Sweet Home Alabama being strummed on violins. The most surprising part of all of this is that when the familiar opening chords are strummed, everyone cheers. I had always thought people only cheered for this song in Alabama. Seriously, why cheer for someone else singing about their home state? I wouldn’t cheer for “Sweet Home New Hampshire.” All humor aside, I’m really excited for the opportunities here that I’m already benefiting from. BYU is most certainly a friendly and uplifting place to be.

This past Monday I make my way over to my new apartment – car all loaded up with the necessities and treasures that I couldn’t seem to part with. I’m teeming over with excitement, but as I carry my boxes up the stairs I see two of my roommates – freshmen – accompanied and aided by their parents. I remember my freshman year when Mom and Dad moved me into the Lakeside dorms at UA. Nostalgia kicks in, and my eyes begin to water. All of a sudden life seems cold and lonely, and I just feel old.

My half, and the bathroom :)

[Smile] but life moves forward, Dad and Libby call regularly, and Mom sends a card in the mail. This morning I wake up to find, in my inbox, e-mails from both my Aunt Bobbie and Papa, along with an adorable YouTube video of my little cousins prodigy-ing the violin. Papa’s e-mail about school is just what I need to hear – as is often the case – and I am in a state of pleasant gratitude. Even if my new mane ritual earns me no new dating prospects, life is still beautiful.