C.S. Lewis

Alright, so for our final exam we are working on a project that relates to disciple scholarship (but of course). So our group picked C.S. Lewis. We've decided on a few different service projects that we can be doing, which I think will be a lot of fun! I think this is a really good project because it will help us apply what we have been learning about all semester to real life. I think I will be able to see how these people represent a disciple scholar and what types of things they've been doing, like service projects, or influential things they've produced. This will be especially cool just because they've had a big impact on the whole world, not just the few people close to them. Which is still cool and I guess just as rewarding. It will also be neat to see the other groups pick for a disciple scholar and the reasons they chose them. I'm actually pretty excited about this. And it doesn't hurt that we don't have to take an actual test! :D

Gratzi...

While being here at BYU I've learned a few things. For one, there are a lot of LDS people here. Haha. No but really, I have learned that it takes a lot of hard work and commitment to get the results you want to in college. A disciple scholar is someone who works hard and keeps commitment while at the same time is learning the non-secular thigns as well. I think this pretty much sums up my life while being here. Any class you take here can be related back to the gospel in some way. Like my humanities class, it's ridiculous the presence of religion impacted people's lives in history. But it's not just relating the secular with the non secular, it's also just focusing on the nonsecular. Like going to church, and meetings, and firesides and waht not. Being committed to that too. Right now I've been committed to studying for my humanities test every tues. and thurs. with the help of my big sis MEGHAN MARIE! She's awesome for helping me out so much. I know she gives up a lot of time helping me out when she could be doing things for herself or spending time with her hubby DEVIN LEE. She's a disciple scholar too, and such a great example. I don't know what I would do without her up here leading the way. She's pretty much set the path I should follow. Maybe not follow, but make reference to once in a while when I'm in a tough spot. So thanks to her for making me see what a disciple scholar is as well. Hopefully all this will pay off after the humanities test on monday! :D We shall see. Happy day to you all. BYE!

disciple scholar

alrighty, so tonight we had this amazing aesthetic night of beauty thing for humanities. I really enjoyed it. I thought i wasn't going to like it and it was going to be boring, but it turned out way way good! So anyway, for this night Me and Christie and Lyndsey performed "Come Thou Fount" on our violins. It was super cool. Especially since i haven't played for practically 4 years. Anyway, i thought this made me a better disciple scholar because it made me be open to things i am not usually willing to do. It allowed me to share my talents with others and just spread the joy that comes from music. Also, it was an opportunity to just bear testimony in song, and i think a part of being a disciple scholar is using your abilities to speak of the lord, and praise  him as well. It was just an all around good time. It was also good to watch other people share their talents and insights. I think being on the opposite end of the spectrum gave me a different way to view learning and accepting others. It was happy times. 

School In Zion...AGAIN!

so we went to the school in zion for class last friday. That was kinda cool, not gonna lie. I think sometimes i forget how much was sacrificed for me to be here at this school. Plus, i heard some new stories i didn't hear before. For instance, back in the olden days, they could pay their tuition and what not by IOU's. cool huh? yaa. But also, kids back then didn't have as much, and still had to sacrifice a TON more! Oh goodness. I'm so lazy it's ridiculous. I can just sit on a lap top and type away. People used to have to use type writers. Kinda funny, yet kinda sad. Sad for them, cuz my ways easier. Sad for me, cuz they've learned hard work, and well I haven't necessarily fully gotten there yet. 

There are two HUGE pictures in the school of zion. WOW!! they are amazing. They make me want to take a photograph or two like that someday. beautiful! Also, I watched this video that had President Hinckley in it. It made me sad, cuz i miss him and love him oh so very much. 

Oh ya, I also didn't realize how much they tried to portray the light of christ in the museumish thing. Like the sun roof at the top of the building, and the vines on the couches, and on the rug, and also in the paintings where it had the light shining on the school and stuff. It was cool. Also made me feel bad cuz that just goes to show how little i pay attention to detail. I didn't figure it out on my own...the lady working there had to tell me .

I should probably go back and visit that place a few more times, and see how many new things i can learn everytime! mmm. yummy yummy knowledge. BYE!

Childhood In An Indian Village

So for University this week we had to read and annotate some articles. I'll just talk about Childhood in an indian village. It was actually a really good read. At first i thought it was going to be kinda lame, but it totally wasn't. It was this guy talking about how when he was a kid they used to play games and sports and do different activities, but no one was better at something than anybody else. Everybody was equal. Nothing was work. No one was a ruler or the boss of anyone. Everyone contributed. Everyone shared, and was giving to everyone. It sounded way cool. Almost like a perfect system to me. It showed me that if we have honest people doing honest work, then we really shouldn't have to worry about getting cheated or cheating anyone else. It also taught me a lot about attitude and how different attitudes reward people differently, and can bring someone to a way different outcome. Like, if you take something that is technically work, and regard it as something that just simply must be done in order to further your life, it won't seem that bad. It will just be something that is there that is going to get accomplished, and you're gonna like doing it. I thought it was way cool that there were any villages that existed like this. He also talked about how people came in and changed their way of doing things. It made me kinda upset to think that other people came in and tried to take control and force them into doing things. I think of how upset i would be if someone did that to me or my family or community or something. It would totally be crappy. They don't know me or my standards or ideals or my way of living. So how could they possibly think that they have a better way of living and doing things than I do? Ya, that part made me pretty upset. Also, I just thought it was cool how kids got to think for themselves and weren't forced into their parents ways. Eventually life came out the right way, but for the time being they got to act and think and be the person that they wanted to be. It seemed waaaay cool! I loved it. He also said something about how while he was writing he was also exploring what had happened. This reminded me of journal writing and how if we took the time to write down the events of our lives, we would understand and gain a lot more from them, instead of just letting the days and weeks and months pass us by, as if nothing important was happening. Obviously we would have to learn something during this time. But there's always a deeper meaning to something. So we should probably take a deeper look at it to find that. Well, that is all for now. Thanks for reading. You are much too kind! :D LOVE YOU!

Revere it, Cherish it, Love it,

So today I went to the Education in Zion exhibit in the JFSB. It was super cool to see how our ancestors started out BYU, or what was then called BYA. I loved reading about the different contributions people made, or the things they had to say when they lived back then. One point that stuck out the most was the segregation that existed throughout the world between church and school. The world believed that you couldn't bring faith into education, because faith was things that couldn't be seen, and education is based on fact. Bringing the two together just didn't make any sense. That is, it didn't make sense to the rest of the world, but to Brigham Young and Karl G. Maeser, it did. I'm really thankful for their determination to do so too. This has brought many blessings to the church and its people through these last generations. One quote that was on the board said that the soul and spirit of the children must develop with proper teaching. They said that this was through education in the hearts and minds. The only way to do this was through secular and nonsecular learning. This learning however only does us good if we revere it, cherish it, and love it. We have to accept it into our lives and use it on a daily basis. When we do this, we will be rewarded in this life and in our eternal lives. :D How cool is that!? Plus learning is fun. So why not do it if we receive those blessings TOO!!!!

I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it

So last week for my University 101 class we had to take a test on Map Works through BYU. It asked a series of questions about how i study and act, and the goals i have, etc. Anyway, I got my results back and they point out a few interesting things, like the fact that a lot of students overestimate the grades that they will receive in school, which results in a lack of effort and getting poor grades. Also, grades reflect academic/learning ability, but that is not all. They also are a reflection of how hard i work and how much dedication i have with school and my classes. I thought that was interesting because I always think that a bad grade just means i'm stupid or something, but that's not necessarily true...In fact, I'd assume that most of the time it was just a lack of effort on my part. It also said that by starting out strong and committed I will more likely continue that way throughout the semester. This is sooo true! I find a lot of times that one of the reasons I don't work as hard as i should be is because i didn't start out that way and i feel it's too late to get into the swing of things. Plus, it's just hard when I've been so used to wasting away my time to all the sudden switch over to this really determined, hard working, planned out schedule. Understand?

It said I'm Strong in these three areas....

And I need to work harder in these three areas...

It's funny because this was a self evaluation. So I know that these are the things that I'm not doing so hot with, and yet I haven't changed them yet. But don't worry, I'm trying a lot harder on 2 of the 3 thus far. Spending time to study (More in depth, even though it's only a day or two before the test, so i guess i can work on that now), and paying attention in class. It's always been one of those things that's been really hard for me, but i feel i'm doing a bit better. :D So that's good. 

It also told me to spread out my study times and don't study for more than an hour during each period. As well as spending at least 3 hours of studying for each college exam i take. YIKES! 

so basically this is the breakdown. I'm good at the cores, i need to work on studying habits and advanced academic behaviors, and i'm really not spending enough time studying. 

Focusing on my weaknesses can help a lot. It's going to take a lot more time than i expect to get good grades. 

Hopefully i can do all these things and just take it one step at a time. It reminds me of the quote, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." 

METACOGNITION

Last week in University 101 we learned about Metacognition. To some that may be a very complicated word...I know i didn't understand what it meant before the class, but it has to do with they way we think, and the way we think about what we think. It kinda has to do with the thoughts being produced as you are given an assignment and as you are tackling the assignment as well. It's funny because after learning about this process I realized that it's nothing NEW I have to incorporate into my study habits or life, because it's stuff that I'm already doing. I look at an assignment and make sure I know what it's asking and whether I can do it. I think about how i'm going to handle the assignment, and the steps that I'm going to take to complete it. I can do this by incorporating any skills and talents I already have, or by developing new ones. Without even thinking about what I'm thinking about I then evaluate how my approach is being effect and if I'm going to need to fix it in any way. And then lastly look at my end result and compare it to things i will change or do the same for future references. It might seem at first like a complicated process, but really it's just a natural thing I'm already doing, and have been doing since I've started school. It's way cool. Now that I'm aware of it though, it can definitely be a little more helpful. 

Meeeeetings Galore!

Alright so this past week I had a meeting with my PM. My first thought when we were told we are required to have this meeting was "WOW, LAME!" But it actually turned out to be very helpful. Amy is my PM's name. She's way cool. Anywho, she asked a bunch of questions about how I feel about school and my study habits and what not. She gave me this wheel of topics to choose from of something I would work on throughout the semester. I chose the topic more effective studying. I figured that'd be a good one. I've never done very well at studying, or at least targeted studying. I always pretend like i'm studying really hard, or like i'm doing the stuff i'm supposed to, but half the time I'm just doing the required and nothing more. And most all of those times I'm just doing it to say i did it. Not really to gain anything. So i think it's a real good thing I met with Amy. She helped me find a goal, and focus on it. She also helped me figure out some ways that i can see this goal through. I'm glad, and i really hope that i can follow through with them. It would be very helpful in my schooling and grades, and overall attitude towards school. We also have to meet with an advisor to help us with our major. I am really looking forward to this. I have a meeting tomorrow, so hopefully that goes well and it helps me out a lot more. Aww, I'm kinda nervous. :-/ so we'll see how it goes. Until next time, this has been JaNae Lee Waters. Signing off. 

HUH!!!

For University 101 we had to teach this dance we learned in class last week to 3 people. I taught my sister, my brother in law, and this Kelsey girl from my intramural volleyball game. It was way fun to teach them. I don't know why, but I felt good because it was something I knew and they didn't. Plus I just liked watching them look ridiculous as they did it. Even though I probably looked just as ridiculous as them. I enjoyed it as well because I went to the world of dance thing last night, and it made me like dancing way more than I ever thought I would. Not that this dancing compares even closely to the dancing I did. But still cool that I could relate the two. Anywho, that's all for now. Peace out!

My Grandpa Waters

My Grandpa Waters...Love of my life. He recently got very very sick. I was so upset to hear about this. He will be turning 91 this Saturday. He may be old, but he's the most spunky 91 year old man you'd ever run into. He's so friendly and loving, and he could seriously talk anybody's ear off. He's the cutest little man I know. You can imagine my anxiety when I heard how sick he was, and the seriousness of the surgery he would be having. Long story short, he had a build up of blood in his brain and would need to get it drained. They said he didn't have much chance of surviving. This is my grandpa. Life without him just doesn't seem possible. I prayed and prayed that I would be able to see him this weekend, in case anything happened. The surgery was planned for next Thursday, so I was happy to hear that I'd definitely get to see him before anything took place. Then, the surgery got jumped up to Wednesday afternoon. I was so upset. But for some reason, I just knew that I'd be able to see him. I did get to talk to him on the phone a few times, but I can't lie, that just wasn't good enough. So Wednesday I get the good news that he came out of surgery just fine. Oh was that a relief! I traveled home this weekend to see him. I was so nervous about seeing him and the condition he was in. I get in there, and he has all sorts of tubes and what not hooked into him. It did not look fun. I was happy that in my time there I got to visit him a lot and spend some good time with him. It was hard to see him like that, not being able to feed himself, laying in the hospital bed all day, and not always having someone from the family there with him. I observed a lot of great things about my Grandpa, things I always knew, but were especially present as he was there in the hospital. He is the most loving man I have ever seen. One night when my grandma was getting ready to leave, my grandpa told her to come stand next to him. He struggled to put his arm around her, and then he sang her a love song. If that isn't cute, I dont know what is. My grandparents have the cutest relationship ever! I think they act the same way they did when they first fell in love. They look out for each other, and love each other, and are just soo amazing together. I hope that one day I can have a relationship just as good as theirs. I also noticed what things were most important to my grandpa, like making sure the family was ok, his wife was ok, make sure that we all were choosing the right, and that we were all praying and keeping our faith in God. He just amazed me the whole time I was there. Anyways, on my way back to Provo I stopped by to see him for the last time. He was reminding me of the things that I should be doing, like always having faith, hope, charity, and love. He told me I should love everyone. If I don't love people, how will they ever love me? He also told me to always forgive people because that is something that would make me the truly happy. As he was saying this, I just began to cry. I didn't want to leave him. As i started to walk away he looked at me and started to cry too and asked if I really had to go. I didn't want to, but I had to. So we parted, and I started to drive back to Provo. I started thinking about how I did get to see him like I prayed for, but how much I didn't want that to be the last time I got to see him. It reminded me of a song that says, "One more day, one more time, one more sunset baby and I'd be satisfied, but then again, I know what it would do...Leave me wishing still for one more day with you." I probably listened to that song 20 times on the way home. It made me so sad. I am very grateful that I did get to see him, and that he made it through the surgery and that he is recovering very well at this point. I'm glad that he's my grandpa, and that he has been able to teach me soo much. He makes me very happy.

University 101

Just a quick preface...My University 101 teacher asked our class to blog about the things happening in the class, or things we do in the class as far as assignments and projects and what not. I guess that's what this blog will be filled with. Maybe more, maybe not. I'm still undecided. 

So I just got done annotating the article we were supposed to read for university 101. It was by Henry B. Eyrings, and it was called "A Child of God." It really got me to thinking about my education and how important it should be to me because of how important it is to my Heavenly Father. One part in particular made me think about something I've been taught from the time i was born. You see, I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we believe in present day revelation by prophets called and chosen by God. So, you see, this is something I've known all my life, but it didn't really hit me that I was being taught by the man who knows all, the man who created all things, and is most powerful and knowing. ME PERSONALLY!? Being taught by such a powerful and learned man? So cool! It made me wonder how excited I would be if I was told that I was being taught here at BYU by the most knowledgeable professor there ever was. A professor that knew things no one else knew, someone who knew his subject like the back of his hand. To me, that would just be the coolest thing ever! Anyways, that was just one thing that really stuck out to me in the reading. I loved it. I'm glad we had to annotate it instead of just reading it. I gained so much more from it by actually thinking about what I was reading, and trying to come up with something deeper than what was just on paper. Well, I guess that's all for now, until I think of some more. BUH BIA NOW!