becoming a sun devil

I was born to bleed blue. Cougar blue.  Rise and Shout, the cougars are out!  And I will always bleed blue.  I think.

When deciding to take our jobs and stay in Arizona, I kept thinking… what will I tell my kids?  I always imagined our first child being born up at BYU, and buying her or him all of the little BYU outfits and brainwashing our children to all go to BYU because it’s the best university in the world. My parents both graduated from BYU, Dallin’s parents both graduated from BYU, and Dallin graduated from BYU.

But when it came down to deciding, I let all of these imaginary fantasies in my head go because it didn’t feel right anymore.  It wasn’t going to work.  We had to choose between two good things.

Dallin got a pretty good job offer down here that we just couldn’t let go.  I work for the same company, and we didn’t feel like we could do our jobs as effectively if we were telecommuting from Utah (the original plan).  So we found an apartment and I applied for ASU.

When the transfer credit evaluation came back, it wasn’t looking good.  Only 15 credits originally transferred.  I panicked.  I’d be in school forever.  We considered going back to BYU because it didn’t seem worth it, but we took a leap of faith and decided to stick it out.  We’d just have to fight for those credits to be transferred.
Not only did all of the credits transfer, but I will be graduating 6 months earlier than I would have if I had stayed at BYU.

And, do you want to know a secret? I really like it.  I have enjoyed finishing my education at a public university.  It is a completely different experience than BYU.  I am seeing the world in new ways, learning unique perspectives from people from such diverse backgrounds.  I have a very unique voice in my classes, and I like that.   Studying there has truly opened my eyes and helped me put myself in shoes that I didn’t even know existed. My classes are super interesting. The campus is gorgeous. The people are kind. Even though it is such a large university, you can find your place there.

I made my best friends at BYU and I met my husband at BYU.  I will always “go forth to serve” and I treasure my experiences there.  But I am also grateful for what I am learning as a “sun devil,” so to speak.  And while I will forever be a BYU football and basketball fan, I can’t express how much I have learned and grown by transferring schools.

Life never is how you expected or how you pictured it.  I have a deep love of learning and I believe in the power of education.  BYU is a great school and full of wonderful people.  But, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to education.  No matter where someone decides to go to school, they can find a community and find their place.  And most of the time, what you always thought you wanted, isn’t actually what you needed, and when you take that leap of faith, you’ll find you’ve grown so much more than you ever could have dreamed.