Freshmen

One of my responsibilities as an academic advisor is to organize our college presentation for New Student Orientation for all the new BYU students who have high hopes of being admitted into the very competitive arts programs (and some, unwittingly, with hopes of making a living as an artist . . . I say that, just slightly sarcastically, as I was one of those students). It's not my favorite thing to plan because, really, with everything else going on how much are they really listening to our presentation about how to apply, what classes to take, etc.

When I think back to my New Student Orientation, the most lasting thing was not the piles of information shoved my way, but the friendships we made. Amazing how 2 short days could create some very lasting friendships. As I recall, that was where we first met Wes and Joe, who subsequently became some of our best friends our freshman year. We would have met them eventually as they were in our ward, but I think it was fate that they were assigned to our group (I think we all feel how much a hand our Heavenly Father had in getting Wes and Lori together).

I have fond memories of hanging out with Wes and Joe that year: ice-blocking down the hill at Rock Canyon park; long chats in our kitchen, with Joe rolling back and forth on his skateboard, occasionally practicing his jumps (remember how our kitchen was also a living room? very strange); throwing fruit and vegetables into the air and cutting through them with the chop-knife they thought was so awesome; the first time it snowed that winter; going to the temple early in the morning to do baptisms (I usually drove, and I always drove into DT in the "one-way" lane--I never thought it was a big deal, but I think Wes and Joe always chastised me for breaking the law). A lot of my memories are pretty blurred now (can't believe that was almost 12 years ago!) but the ones that remain are all good memories.

Heather (Rust) Severson