Why BYU-I?

"So, what's next?"

"What are you doing for college?"

"What's your plan?"

"When do you leave?"

"What's your major?"

I have been endlessly answering these questions for the past few months. I don't mind, it just seems to be the only thing a lot of people know to ask me about. Which is fine; the future is exciting. But I feel bad for those who are asking it after others have, because sometimes I get tired of saying the same answers over and over.

So. Here's the low down.

On August 14 I will be flying to Utah to live at my dad's house. 

On September 9th I will drive/move to Rexburg, Idaho to attend BYU-Idaho on the Fall/Spring track. This means that I have school September-December and then April-July.

My major is declared as a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Theatre and Speech Education. My goal/dream/mission is to teach theatre to middle school or high school students.

Yes, I already have housing. No, I don't know yet who my roommates are. Yes, my boyfriend is also attending BYU-Idaho.

My plan is to live in Utah during my off-track, which is January-March.

But that's not the main reason for this post. The main reason is that I've had a lot of people questioning why I chose to go to BYU-Idaho. 

So let me share my story.

When applying for college, I KNEW I didn't want to go to college in California. I KNEW I didn't want to go to a "party" school. I KNEW I needed scholarships to help me pay for tuition. So I applied for various scholarships at schools and within my community. 

I only applied to 5 schools:

BYU Provo (Brigham Young University, Provo campus)

BYU Idaho (Brigham Young University, Rexburg campus)

SUU (Southern Utah University)

USU (Utah Statue University)

UVU (Utah Valley University)

You can see the trend. 

I was accepted to UVU as a non-resident, USU at the Price campus with a small scholarship, SUU with a full tuition non-resident scholarship, and BYU-Idaho with a half-tuition scholarship. I was not accepted to BYU Provo, which was my number one university.

UVU and USU were just considered back up schools for me. Something to fall back on if the rest of my plans fell to crap.

SUU was also considered a back up school, but they have an AMAZING theatre program. 

BYU-Idaho was my second choice.

Now, some people don't understand why I chose BYU Idaho. After all, SUU offered me a *non-resident full tuition scholarship - so my schooling was basically automatically paid for. Lots of people don't understand how I could attend a school with rules as "demanding" as the **Honor Code. 

*non-resident scholarship means that I cannot register to vote in Utah or get married in Utah while attending the school, or the scholarship is withdrawn.

**The Honor Code is basically the code of conduct for BYU. It is almost exactly the same at every campus, with a few exceptions. Each applicant to BYU must read and agree to the Honor Code BEFORE filling out the admissions application. As a student at BYU-Idaho, I can not (and will not) have male visitors in my bedroom or stay overnight in my apartment, will not do drugs, will not drink alcohol, will not have premarital sex, and will wear clothing that covers my body according to the campus specific guidelines. 

In my life, big decisions require a lot of thought and research. A huge part of my research wasn't about what details the schools each had. An important part of my "research" when deciding between SUU and BYU-Idaho was praying to God to know which school experience would benefit me better and suit me better. As a Latter-Day Saint (LDS or Mormon) I believe in education. I have a firm belief that God wants me to continue with my education. Therefore, it was important to me to counsel with God on where to go. I got a very definite answer that BYU-Idaho was the place for me to be. Not everyone agrees with the rules there, but I did before I even applied- so I knew what I was getting into. It's not a surprise and I'm not upset or complaining. 

For me, it was important to attend a CES (Church Education System) university. More important than knowing all of my tuition would be paid for.

As a result of these decisions, not only am I working hard whenever school is not in session to continually earn the money I need to pay rent, tuition, buy books/supplies, and buy food - but I will also be working hard to keep good grades in my classes in order to keep my partial scholarship and hopefully receive additional scholarships in the future.

"Hard is not bad; hard is just hard."