Have You Gained Your Freshman 15?

Have you gained your freshman 15?

This is something that can be helped. My freshman year I actually lost weight instead of gaining. So how is this possible?

At BYU-Idaho the walk from lower campus to upper campus is about 20 minutes. My freshman year I was an English education major and the education building is the Hinckley which is upper campus. I lived in the Carriage House apartments which is lower campus. I was walking up hill every day for 6 months.

It was funny because I feel like all I ever did was eat, but I kept having people tell me that I was getting skinnier.

When I moved out of Carriage House, I moved to NorthPoint and my classes were in the Spori (which is only a 7 minute walk). I started going to the gym and working out for a half hour every day.

So my advice to you:

If you don’t want to gain that freshman 15, live at the opposite end of campus from where your classes are. Go to the school gym (it’s free!) On weekends get out of the apartments and do things. During the fall and spring semester there are so many things available. Live in an apartment complex that offers a gym.

Losing weight isn’t just exercising, it’s also eating correctly. Make sure that you’re eating the correct portions of everything.

Do these things and it will be difficult to gain that freshman 15.

Do NOT Plagiarize!

Do NOT Plagiarize.

You’re probably reading this and thinking why is this even being written.

It still happens.

My first semester I was one of the youngest in the apartment and my roommate who was a senior and supposed to graduate that semester ended up plagiarizing her final assignment. The teacher caught that fact and failed her assignment which was 50% of her grade.

She didn’t graduate that semester she ended up deferring for a year because she was so mad at the professor for failing her. She honestly didn’t believe that she had plagiarized.

So what is plagiarism?

Simple answer is that it is copying someone else’s work and using it as your own. If you’re quoting someone GIVE THEM CREDIT. Don’t let a simple mistake of forgetting to give someone credit keep you from passing a class and sometimes even graduating.

Plagiarism still happens and it is sad.

As we get to the end of the semester

Don’t quit!

Keep holding on!

You can make it!

There’s only a month left!

The Honor Code: We Knew this Blog Post was Coming

The Honor Code:

I know that this is something that gets pounded into year head throughout your first semester, but let me tell you this it doesn’t stop after that, it will continue for the next 3 years that you’re at school.

So why do we have the Honor Code?

According to the school website “The CES Honor Code exists to educate students in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a condition of admission and employment, students and employees of BYU-Idaho are expected to live by the Honor Code standards approved by the Board of Trustees “at all times… and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). Individuals who are not members of the Church are also expected to maintain the same standards of honor, integrity, morality, and consideration of others.”

So what is the Honor Code?

• Be honest
• Live a chaste and virtuous life
• Obey the law and all campus policies
• Use clean language
• Respect others
• Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse
• Participate regularly in church services
• Observe Dress and Grooming Standards
• Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

We are given a great opportunity to attend one of the Lord’s institutions. Attending this school comes with expectations. We need to keep our Ecclesiastical Endorsement in order to continue attending this great university.

So how do we keep our Ecclesiastical Endorsement?

• Attend all Church meetings
• Follow the Word of Wisdom
• Be Honest
• Be Chaste and Virtuous

Are these sounding familiar? Just following the Honor Code your school experience will be well worth it!

Keep Cool while obeying the Dress and Grooming Standards

I was talking to one of my friends last night and she asked for advice on how not to get heat stroke. That’s something that I am currently learning as this is my first spring semester on campus.

The Dress and Grooming standards can make things complicated when it comes to staying cool in the summer. It states:

For women “Clothing is immodest when it is sleeveless, does not cover the stomach or is low-cut in the front or back. Dresses and skirts should be knee-length or longer (even with leggings worn). No capris may be worn on campus. Women may wear one pair of earrings.”

For men “Hairstyles should be clean and neat, avoiding extreme styles or colors, and trimmed above the collar leaving the ear uncovered. Sideburns should not extend below the earlobe or onto the cheek. Men are expected to be clean shaven, mustaches, if worn, should be neatly trimmed and may not extend beyond or below the corners of the mouth. Beards are not appropriate.”

So how do we survive a hot spring semester?

Something that has worked for me is I wear skirts and sandals and cap sleeve shirts almost every day. When talking to my guy friends they gave the advice of short sleeved shirts and sandals as well.

No matter where you’re walking though you’re going to get hot and even sweat, I’ve just learned that for girls wearing a skirt and sandals has help decrease how hot I get.

Don’t Burn Bridges with Teachers!

Be careful what you say it may come back to hurt you.

I was hanging out in a teacher’s office today when she was talking to another teacher about how apparently she offended a student and she had this other teacher read an email that she had received from a student.

I’m not sure exactly what the email said, but just that it was a student complaining about how they feel like they shouldn’t have to do a certain assignment because of another class. First off this class has one assignment in it and it is one of the simplest classes this school has to offer. Second, this email was horrendous there were a ton of parts that didn’t make sense and contradicted itself.

It’s safe to say that this student burned the bridge with this teacher. This teacher is one of the greatest teachers that this campus has to offer.

My advice to you, if you’re going to complain to a teacher DON’T! Go talk it out with the teacher (and I mean talk, do not yell at the teacher). I’m sure you can come to some sort of agreement. Don’t hide behind an email. When writing emails, texts, or letters it is always hard to tell if someone is seriously or not and the email can be taken poorly.

Talk to your teachers, they’re there to help you. Don’t complain to them in an email, go to their office and talk it out with them.

Come to Learn. Come to Participate.

Come to Learn. Come to Participate. Take School Seriously.

If we don’t take school seriously how are our future employers supposed to take us seriously.

The whole reason that we are in school is to help us with our future careers.

Sister Scholes gave the advice “Come to learn. Come to participate.” We need to take school seriously. We are paying a lot of money to be here, and if we’re not paying for ourselves, our parents are paying for us, or we worked hard for the scholarships that we have.  It would be a shame to put that to waste.

I’m lucky enough to have my parents helping me pay my way through college, and I feel bad that they are helping me so much when it comes to money. However, because I know that it isn’t my money I’m not going to waste any of it. If we participate in class we tend to learn  more.

Come to Learn. Come to Participate. Take school seriously.

Procrastination and Distractions

Be Careful with Distractions

This advice comes from an experience that I had today. My friend Doug and I were making lunch (tomato soup and grilled cheese). Doug was so excited about the new Apple products coming out and was telling me all about them that we didn’t notice that the soup was about to overflow over the top of the pot.

We have so many distractions in our lives that are so easily accessible. Instead of doing homework we’re looking for other things in our life so help us procrastinate.

Netflix

Hulu

TV

Cell Phones

YouTube

Roommates

Friends

Family Drama

Xbox

Nintendo DS

And so much more. There are so many things in our lives that distract us and jeep us from doing our homework.

We need to prioritize what is important and what we can live without.

Take exploratory classes if you can’t decide what it is you will be good at.

This post kind of goes along with a previous one. (Your Major, Your Choice). You don’t have to know what you want to go into before you come to school. BYU-Idaho, as do most colleges, offers exploratory classes you can take those and then decide.

If you don’t know what you want to go in to then don’t worry about it. There are so many beginner classes and then you’ll figure out what you want to go in to.

I know this is a shorter post but it isn’t really one that can be expanded on.

If you don’t know what you want to go into don’t sweat it. Take beginner classes in every subject that sounds interesting to you. If you do this then I promise you, you will find the subject that you’re good at.

You are NOT Alone!

There are times in college where you’re going to feel like you are alone.

No one is there to help you.

You have to take on the whole world by yourself.

I’m here to tell you that those statements are false. You are NEVER alone. I can’t help but think of Into the Woods when I hear the statement “you are not alone”. We simply need to “just remember” that “no one is alone” and that “someone is on our side”.

We have an amazing opportunity here at BYU-Idaho. We are attending the Lord’s school (well one of them at least). We have the opportunity to attend church every Sunday. We receive callings, we get involved, and most importantly we receive guidance.

When we feel we are alone we must remember that Christ and our Heavenly Father are ALWAYS with us. If we need help we simply need to get down on our knees and pray for help and guidance to help out in our stressful lives.

Not only are our teachers there to help us succeed, but God wants us to succeed, our bishops want us to succeed, our friends, parents, siblings, and other family members want us to succeed. The list can go on and on, we must simply remember that we are able to have a constant communication with our Heavenly Father. We should talk to him the same amount that we talk to our parents, and in some cases even more than we talk to our own parents.

He is always there for us.

You’ve Got to Want to be Here!

“You’ve got to want to be here.”

Today’s advice comes from the BYU-Idaho Communication department secretary Sister Scholes. When I asked her what advice she could give to the freshmen the very first thing she said was “you’ve got to want to be here.” I completely agree with this statement.

If you don’t want to be here you’re not going to get anything out of college, and you’re going to be wasting either your money or you’re parent’s money.

College is great.

It is Fun, but sometimes it isn’t for everyone.

My junior year of High school everyone was talking about where they wanted to go to college and some were even applying. At that point in my time I didn’t even know if I wanted to go to college and I still didn’t even know if I wanted to go even when I got accepted to BYU-Idaho. My mom didn’t finish college so why did I even have to go?

My mom told me that I should at least go for a year and if I didn’t like it then I would come home. After having a fantastic first year I decided that it was for me.

Take Sister Scholes advice and study it. “You’ve got to want to be here.” If you don’t want to be here you won’t learn anything.