The jokes need to stop
One of the best viral videos going around mass media features a caption saying, “You think you can hurt my feelings?” Different users go on to respond with their own humorous caption demonstrating a point of belittlement. One response is “Well try being single your first semester at BYU.” Being single while attending BYU can make numerous accomplishments become less important. Women here at BYU face problems like this every day. Hard work and accomplishments are overlooked by the jokes and statements that they will be married before their first year is up. People need to stop demeaning the achievements of women attending BYU with humor regarding their marital status.
Many automatically assume women here are going to find their partner by choosing to attend BYU. Others should choose to be interested in the education that women are going to receive. The test scores, GPA and extracurriculars required to get into BYU are not an easy feat. Yet, the accomplishment of getting in is overlooked almost immediately by family, friends, or even peers on campus because of the marriage rates that coordinate with the university.
Overall, the jokes and expectations being made about a marital status must stop. All the women at BYU have installed a self-driven work ethic that has allowed them success in their journey this far. They are choosing to be educated regardless of where a love life could lead throughout college. Take part in realizing the potential of others here at campus beyond a relationship.
BreAnn Benson
Idaho Falls, ID
It’s time to come together
I was in the JFSB a few weeks ago when the fire alarms sounded. I had evacuated the JFSB before, but this time the crowd outside surprised me. Students, faculty, and others poured from every visible building. After a minute, my curiosity got the better of me: were people evacuating every building on campus? I left to find out.
I started looking at buildings but quickly turned to the people. Those coming from the JFSB had a hipster feel and they stood around making conversation. The denizens of the Talmage building were mostly seated, squinting at screens with the mid-day sun’s glare. As I walked past the JKB, I saw a circle of students around a professor, speaking loudly in a language I didn’t recognize.
I neared the Wilk and saw students with stylish haircuts and clothes laughing together and others, alone and downcast. I had never seen anything like this: all the people on campus out in the open without anywhere to go.
The alarms soon turned off and people flooded back into their respective buildings. I wandered back to the quiet, isolated place where I had been working, thinking about what I had just witnessed: much of the BYU community forced to be together in a new way. And before we try to “save” BYU from one another, or protest one another’s views, or shun or attack one another, we should try to remember that necessary togetherness. This campus contains multitudes. We should do our best to love them all.
Taylor Topham
Meridian, ID
