BY SCOTT BELL
bell@du2.byu.edu
The time has finally come.
It's time to throw the backpack in the corner, sell back my books for the last time, hang up my pen (at least for The Daily Universe) and move on.
It's time to graduate.
That's a pretty intimidating thought. Life seems to break up into convenient segments, and college graduation has always been a major dot on the time line. Next comes the real world with a real job, bills, kids (someday) and all that good stuff.
But before moving on, I want to reflect back one last time on my years at BYU. I will forever be grateful for attending this university. BYU is definitely not perfect, and neither are the people here. Still, this is a special place which presents unique opportunities, some of which will never be available to us again.
Working as the Opinion Editor at the Universe the last four months has given me a unique perspective. Yes, there are some 'individuals' out there. And yes, we do have a problem at BYU of being overly judgmental and hypocritical. But as much as anything, I think that stems from the expectations we all have of this university.
Most of us here are Latter-day Saints, and many of the non-members here come from extremely religious backgrounds. Everyone expects so much of the rest of the students here, when we see someone come short of those expectation, fair or not, we tend to be disappointed and sometimes judgmental.
The key to our 'BYU experience,' however, is to recognize the vast majority of good here in comparison to the small amounts of bad that will exist no matter where we go. My good memories from BYU will easily outnumber the bad ones. Along those lines, here's a recap of some of the experiences I've had that have helped me in the various aspects of life.
Spiritual: Sitting in Byron Merrill's Book of Mormon class as a freshman forever changed me. I muttered under my breath when he had us read the first half of The Book of Mormon in the first two weeks of class. But I did it anyway, and I can directly trace much of the foundation of my testimony to those readings.
Sports: I had the chance to view many games from the press box as a former Sports Editor for the Universe. But nothing can compare to the 1996 WAC Championship Game I watched with my buddies from the stands at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. After Ethan Pochman won the game in overtime with a field goal, we rushed the field, sending Wyoming fans reeling in our wake. The joy was surreal.
Education: I've had many good classes, but nothing can match American Heritage with Dr. Frank Fox. The repeated video clips were a bonus, but the lectures were even better. I remember sitting there while he talked or showed a clip feeling completely inspired. That class made me want to make a difference in life.
Service: Where else can you drive down the road, see a group of girls you don't know carrying bread to their car, stop and ask them if they have any for you and have them say yes. And have the bread not be poisoned. I experienced this very incident a couple of weeks ago after Priesthood Session. And the bread was good.
Social: The list of friends and acquaintances from BYU goes on forever. As freshmen, a big group of friends and I went to one of those freshmen dances and then headed to the Nutty Putty caves. Coming home, we came across a drunk guy who had driven his car into a ditch. We ended up calling the police and waiting with him until they came at about 5 a.m. No real point to that story, just something I'll remember.
I've spent the last two years in one capacity or another at the Universe (known affectionately to employees as the Uni). It's been good experience in my field, and I've worked with quality people. The newspaper may have been riddled with mistakes some days, but none of them were my fault. Just kidding, it's a student laboratory, so you take your lumps over time.
So that's it. I'm done.
Good luck to everyone in the future. I wish success and happiness to all of us, and I hope we can all do as much good in the world as BYU has done for us.