First off, I would like to say thank you again to all those who have been praying for me over the past week or so. Moving off to college was a million times harder than I thought it would be. Leaving my family at the terminal was hard enough and then Ethan dropping me off at Rexburg was the final straw. It finally hit me that me living by myself would become the norm. I mean, I know that I have roommates, but I still feel like its mostly me watching out for myself. The best way to describe it is being independent.
The good side is that the homesickness has finally started to wear off. Not that I no longer miss my family, but the sadness I feel at being far away from them has been reduced to a manageable portion. Life has to go on and I've got classes and such to do here. Speaking of classes, I'll give everyone a quick little run down on my schedule.
My schedule is obviously posted above, but that doesn't explain what my day is like. Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are the hardest, but still quite fun. I actually really enjoy all of my classes so far. The class I was most scared about was my Calc II class which start right where my high school AP Calc class left off. Fortunately my teacher is super nice and I think I'm really going to like her. My Calc I teacher (which I only had for a day) seemed mean and determined to make Calc I a difficult class. She even promised 3 hours of studying per hour of class time. yikes! I mean, I know I need to study in order to do well in my classes...but there is no way I need to study that much for a class. Especially not on average. Anyway, Calc II is way cooler and its exciting to start learning where AP Calc left off. Physics is probably my toughest class because it applies a lot of things that I didn't really learn in high school physics. In high school physics I learned several topics really well, but in college physics it looks like I may need to understand a lot more. Potentially my favorite class is the Intro to Software Development. Before we even got into how to actually program, I was writing some C++ code in the Linux lab. For those who aren't familiar with computer programming terminology, C++ is a Object Oriented (OO) programming language. Linux is an operating system much like Windows XP or Vista. Linux is common among programmers. Anyway, its pretty interesting to start learning a few things about how to make programs. Thus far all I've done is make the computer display some text and create conditional statements based on user input. Don't worry, it sounds way more complicated that it actually is.
The religion class is great as is World Civ. Both teachers are way cool and know their stuff. I especially like my World Civ teacher because he doesn't even need to look at a book to teach us stuff, he just knows it that well.
Lastly, I want to slip in a quick technological update. If any of you are using the internet (which all of you must be in order to view an online blog) go to this website and download the Google Toolbar. Granted, I have to really like a browser plugin before using it because I hate any performance slow downs and I hate plugins that take up precious viewing space. the Google Toolbar does neither. Once downloaded, check out the "Send To" button. Find a web page and click the "Send To" button and then click "Gmail." Basically, you send a copy of the web page you are viewing via e-mail to anyone. It's really a neat feature to show someone exactly what you are looking at. Anyway, that's all I've got for you guys today. Stay classy San Diego. I'm Ron Burgundy?
great update, adam! we miss you a lot, too, but i'm glad you're getting settled in.
i'm glad you understand & like your classes. i like school and learning, but i lost you right after you said calculus. i think i tend to learn on different subjects, but i'm totally impressed.
i like the toolbar too. i'll have to download it. thanks for the update.
I'm glad you're getting settled in at BYUI and that things are going well. It is a hard transition. I think especially so, when you are so far from home. But this will be a time of growth and some great experiences, I feel sure! You have classes and things that will keep you busy and there are lots of opportunities that await you. We miss you, but are thankful you have this opportunity.
Your classes sound interesting (I'd be completely lost in Calculus) and I think you will enjoy them and do well. Thanks for all the details - I like hearing about your impressions of things.
Oh, and thanks for the tech. update! You know we count on you for these things!
Take care, RWYA, and we love you!