So Many Updates!

I guess to start off I should tell you that I'M DONE! at BYU. Well, not done as in I have my diploma on the wall, but last week I was able to participate in our Summer commencement and convocation exercises. It was such a neat experience. I still have one Independent Study class to finish, but my time on campus is over. There are definitely things about that fact that make me sad, but I feel excited to begin this new phase of my life. I'll be working more at the bank for awhile and then I'm really hoping to get into law school for next August. I feel like that's the direction I'm supposed to head, and that excites me.

During the campus commencement, Elder Richard G. Scott gave a neat analogy where he compared us, as graduating students, to plants in a greenhouse (BYU). He pointed out that in the greenhouse, the seeds are able to get the nourishment they need to grow into saplings, but eventually the saplings grow to a point where they need to leave the greenhouse in order to become trees. He was much more eloquent than I, but the message is the same. BYU was an essential time in my life but one that I'm ready to leave behind to pursue bigger and better things.

I did want to use this post to thank a few people. Initially, my mom and dad. They have helped me financially numerous times over the last four years, including allowing me to move back in this last semester. Also, they have never stopped reminding me that I'm capable of more. Thanks to my siblings for their support at the graduation. Thanks to Nic, Ashley, Tyler, and Jessica for the laptop I'm currently typing on. That means so much to me. Thanks to David, Matt, and Jessica for sitting through both ceremonies. And thank you Jen and Heath for the nearly impossible task of taking four kids to sit in a quiet arena for two hours. :)

I feel like I'm more of a Cougar than ever before. Rise and Shout!