A broader view

So, now that I have spare time and a complete lack of the usual stress, I've realized a few things. One of which is that Obama + congress = deaf to America, so that means it'll be a fun couple of years. Do the democrats really want to lose that many seats? Campaign for America! Ron Paul!

I was reading a random blog the other day and was terribly impressed by the girl's passion for the causes she supported. And I saw that I haven't been that way about anything since I returned from my mission 7 months ago. I spent 2 years with a fiery resolve to do all I could to serve God, and that changes when you get home. Life comes at you in a completely different way, and I was so absorbed in my major (industrial design) that I had no spare time for reading or thinking. If you think I'm exaggerating, ask my peers, they're going through the same thing. And ever since I've dropped those classes, I've had this return to a normal, relaxed and generally happy life, and I've been coasting blissfully. It's great, but at the same time, it felt like nothing big was happening in my life. That was weird. It still is weird, because that's still how my life is. Not complaining, really, just realizing. Sitting in my room listening to records just isn't cutting it.

I used to live in Madison, which has a university about as different from BYU as you can imagine. I feel like Provo, blessed though it may be, is fairly withdrawn from a lot of the concerns and travails the rest of the world. And I think that rubs off onto the student body. I guess I'm not the spokesman for BYU's student body, or at least no one has informed me if I am that person, so maybe I'm part of a few students in this situation. I haven't polled, so I'm working off of assumptions. But Madison, for how crazy it is, has some things going for it. It's a really vibrant place to live, and there's a ton of stuff going on all the time. It's tremendously diverse. I met Africans from a bunch of different countries, the sweetest Latinos, black and white Americans from all sorts of different backgrounds and persuasions (and witches, who are curious), and various Asian people, but mostly Hmong. And that was sweet, to be in all of that and see a world I had never known in Vermont or in Utah. And the restaurants were consequently far, far better, but that's a different complaint. Aren't there any good Thai places in Utah county?

That's a lot of rambling, but I think I have a point. We'll find out, I suppose. BYU has students who have been everywhere thanks to their missionary service and study abroad programs, but it's very limited in diversity. I don't take any issue with that, that's the nature of Provo, Utah and BYU, but in an environment of such limits I think we have a hard time finding out what to do when we leave and enter the world outside of BYU. We haven't necessarily experienced a life where 98% of people don't share our religion or viewpoints, which are generally conservative, or had a ton of contact with people who come from backgrounds that are completely different from our own. BYU has its tremendous religious advantages. I didn't even bother applying to another university, because I wanted to go here more than anywhere else, but I'm excited to get out and about. I think my point is that we need to care about things and about the world, and I'm not saying in a grand, benevolent way. I mean understanding people and being empathetic and open minded. I think you can learn a lot by doing construction work, or by studying abroad, or by doing service in another country. And sorry, but selling pest control or security systems isn't really cutting it in my opinion.

This has been a complete ramble and at this point I think I'm the only reader of my blog, so it doesn't matter much. But my central idea is this: the BYU and even UVU students out there, myself included, would benefit from getting out into a more diverse and different world, understanding people and not judging them. I think we'd all come back next fall with a little more passion about school and appreciation for how life works. A broader view, I think. If we want people to understand us, our religion, our life, we need to reciprocate. BYU is a tremendous place, but as a whole it could benefit from either a more diverse student body or a student body with a greater love and understanding of diversity and what's going on in people's lives.

I know this is basically a plethora of various uncomposed thoughts. I was hoping for some profundity, but I'm too lazy to edit and rethink things.

In other news, I got a new preamp for my record player, and I'm excited about listening to my all-time favorite record for the first time since I returned from my mission (Radiohead's OK Computer). I'm a dirty hispter and I apologize.

Good luck to my industrial design boys. I'm rooting for you guys. Stick it to those life-demolishing professors.