Possibly Insightful Ramblings

"Sealed for time and all eternity." Or at least until rivalry week is over.

Ten years ago today, my life changed forever. On that morning half my life ago, I arrived to my fifth grade class and was shocked by the stories I was hearing. To my innocent 10-year-old mind, such things as terrorist attacks were unheard of. Sure, people had been mean to each other during the World Wars and there were a few skirmishes since then, but in my modern world, people were civil to one another. That childhood illusion was lost that day. I suddenly realized that the world I was about to enter was not the friendly place it had once seemed. At the same time, though, I was humbled and moved by the stories of those who risked and gave their lives to save others. Human nature shone at its brightest that day, showing me that goodness truly conquers evil. As my nation turned to God, so did I, and I came to know Him through the events of that day more than I ever had before. My generation grew up a great deal that day. There was no way we could remain the same, not after what we’...

My last day of summer before moving back to Provo for school. There were nigh unto a million things I wanted to cram in before summer ended - do some more reading, prep more for my classes, work on the honors program, write, sleep, maybe pack. Right. But instead (and perhaps in addition - there's still more time today) I set out with my family to accomplish one of my life goals of hiking Squaw Peak. I had accidentally discovered the trail to Squaw Peak a couple weeks ago while hiking through Rock Canyon with a friend. We explored it and made it to what seemed to be the top - I mean, it started going downhill and there was a huge field of wildflowers. Plus, we had to meet our ride at a certain time so we turned back, only to be informed later that we were half an hour away from the top. But today I was determined to conquer that mountain. It's beautiful! (But right now it kind of makes me sore to look at it.) More beauty As we hiked, all of my concerns and obligation...

As a biologist, I get super excited when I see plants and animals. Like, really. I mean, think about how incredible it is that millions of tiny cells make a flower able to photosynthesize, and little elephant cells give the elephant its trunk. The little storage vacuoles are keeping the lilies turgid so they don't wilt, and the pigments not only make the flowers look gorgeous, but they allow them to use light (LIGHT! Seriously!) to synthesize their food and structural components. Life is nothing short of a miracle, and zoos and gardens make me stand in reverent awe. Earlier this summer my family went to the Hogle Zoo. The zoo had acquired some cute, still-surviving specimens of creatures we thought to be extinct. But my buddy the T-Rex was very much alive. Actually, no. But he tried hard to be. Look at all those little elephant cells! It boggles my mind every time, just thinking about how they work together so perfectly to make an elephant. Look at how different gene...

What a beautiful miracle it is that our Savior walked alone so that none of us would ever have to. I am deeply grateful that He did.

As I was walking across BYU campus this past week, I realized this was the seventh time I have been at BYU's Education Week. That made me feel old. And educated. It's my family tradition/vacation to attend Education Week together every year, and we always look forward to it for months. My younger brother was fourteen this year, and he was super exited to finally be able to join in the festivities. After attending class for 28 hours in four days and taking over 10,000 words of notes, I feel a great deal smarter now than I did on Monday. At the same time, though, the more I learn, the more acutely I realize how little I know. There are so many scholars in the world who know so much more than I do about communication, Islam, C.S. Lewis, Jesus Christ, and my religion. And even they know nothing compared with the knowledge the God of the universe possesses. And that is why I am grateful I had the opportunity to learn from both the scholars and my God this week. The people you me...

Last Monday at approximately 8:09 A.M., the number of times I've left my state of birth increased by 33.33%. (Go ahead, do the math. But no worries, I shall see the world someday. Someday soon.) I discovered that a couple of the main attractions in Wyoming are fireworks (an obvious fact, I know, but I still had to laugh at how many firework stores dotted the landscape) and 50 cent ice cream cones (a great billboard proudly announced that these soft serve cones were to be obtained in a mere 60 miles. . . biggest attraction around, I suppose). Kansas was our destination as I embarked on this road trip with my wonderful best friend, Megan, and her family. And I rather fell in love with Kansas. Fields of corn as far as the eye can see, and hundreds and hundreds of hay rolls, and miles and miles of windmills made me feel as if I was back home, except on a much larger scale. I enjoyed the embrace of the humid summer air and even learned to love to the cacophonous cicadas...