Dear BYU-Idaho Parking Services...

I'm going to try to make this as civil as possible. (Which will be easier to do now that I'm not in the moment of all-encompassing rage that I was in earlier.)

To sum up this letter/post in a nutshell, y'all need to step up your game.

Earlier today, I was roughly 30 minutes late to my class because all of the North zone parking spots were full (except for in the free lot which is WAY farther from the building my class is in than what I would enjoy). Granted, I left my apartment 5 minutes before the class started, so that's where my fault is. But I've noticed that if I want even a chance of getting a spot on campus, I have to be on campus no later than 7:30 AM. That's a little ridiculous considering the fact that none of my classes start until 9 AM.

This is my first semester parking on campus during the day, and I have to say I'm not impressed so far. Here are my reasons why:

1. Apparently faculty can park wherever they darn well please? There have been far too many times that I've walked through what is designated as student parking, and I see a car with a faculty placard hanging from the mirror. NOT COOL. As evidenced by the map below, the faculty has PLENTY of parking to choose from. They don't have to go taking from the students. Also, if the students have to be held to such a high obligation of making sure they're in the right zone, I think the faculty should also be held to that obligation.

   

   Blue = North student parking
   Yellow = South student parking
   Red = Faculty/Staff parking

2. Sometimes it feels like you sell more parking permits than there are parking stalls, and then sit and bask in whatever joy you find from performing such evil. This morning, I was not the only student who had a North zone placard driving all over campus trying to find a spot. Yes, there are the free lots, but those are so far away from a majority of the buildings that you have to tack on probably an extra 15-30 minutes to account for the time spent walking from your car to your destination. 

I thought I had more, but I can't think of them. 

Anyway. I'm anxiously awaiting to see what zone will go in the new parking lot across the street from the Spori. If my vote was worth anything, I'd say you should make it 100% North zone. (But I know that would never happen.)

Have a splendid day.

Spring Semester 2015

A little prologue is needed before I write the rest of this post:

For those of you who still don’t know (which, honestly, I have no idea who doesn’t know), in December I found out I am unable to serve a mission due to health reasons. The doctor gave me a six-month “waiting period” for when I can reapply, which expires in June (meaning I have to wait until June to even consider reapplying). So we’ll see what happens then. Because I’m unable to serve a mission now, I am required to return to school; otherwise I lose my enrollment (and I only have two semesters left, so I really don’t want to do that). End prologue.

A new semester will begin two weeks from TODAY, and I have all of the emotions regarding that fact. I’m excited to be reunited with friends I haven’t seen in about seven months; I’m excited to learn new things; I’m unhappy about all of the homework I know I’ll have (I’m registered for 17 credits, so please pray for me); I’m stressed about how I’m going to pay for my books and rent while still being able to eat food; etc. etc. I’m also moving to a brand new (to me) apartment complex, which means a brand new ward, so I’ll be able to meet TONS of new people. (If I did my math right, there will be more boys than girls in the ward, which is a HUGE deal.)

That being said, the main reason for writing this post is to have my goals for the semester in some sort of tangible place. I also wanted them to be visible to others so I can be held accountable for them. (You guys have to hold me accountable, k?) Therefore, I present to you my goals for Spring Semester 2015:

1. Meet at least four new people, and become friends with them. This is not including my new roommates. In the past, I’ve made it a goal just to make new friends, but that wasn’t specific enough. I have social anxiety, which makes it really difficult for me to talk to people I don’t know (and sometimes people I do know). So, I want to meet at least three new people, which honestly isn’t going to include that dumb “introduce yourself to your neighbor” thing teachers make us do on the first day of class. I want to introduce myself without someone telling me to do so. I also don’t want to include people that my roommates introduce me to. It’ll be nice to have those acquaintances, but they won’t count towards this goal.
2. Workout three times a week. I’ve made this a goal of mine several times in the past to no avail. This semester, however, I have charted out my weekly school schedule (which I now get to do all over again due to course scheduling conflicts), and I made sure to include time to exercise every day. Whether or not I make it to the gym every day is something we’ll have to see, but I know I want to go at least three times a week. Slightly along with this goal, I want to stop eating junk food (which will be WAY easier than in the past since I’m not working at Domino’s this semester) and start eating healthier foods…within the limits of my budget, anyway. I’m not going to cut out junk food completely; I’ll allow myself to splurge every once in a while, but not as often as I’m used to.
3. Save money. “With a new apartment comes a greater amount of rent.” –me. It was my hope to be able to pay off my rent before I even got to Rexburg (or at the very beginning of the semester). Unfortunately, due to my poor spending habits that is not the case. My apartment manager also is not willing to work with me to come up with a payment plan outside of the “pay the monthly amount on the day it’s due” rule (which I guess is setting me up for when I have an apartment in the real world, so it’s a good thing…), so that’s super stressful due to me only being able to work 20 hours a week at the campus newspaper. Sometimes I think I will need to get a second job to be able to pay for everything, but there wouldn’t be any time for it with classes, homework, more homework, and my first job. Therefore, I’m going to put myself on a strict budget for the semester (which I have yet to come up with) and I’m really hoping it works. Pray for me.
4. Go to the temple every week. Recently I received my own endowment in the temple, and it was a super awesome amazing experience. I have a greater love for the temple now. In addition to exercise, I have also set aside time to go to the temple. I’m going to apply the principle of “if you make time for the Lord and for the bigger things, the smaller things will fall into place” into my life this semester, and I’m hoping it works.
5. 3.0 final GPA. In the last couple of semesters, I have failed as a student. (Figuratively and literally.) Because of that, I will be having a friend change my social media passwords at the beginning of the semester so I will not be able to have access to them. It will be difficult due to working for a newspaper and working alongside a bunch of communication majors. And I’m just addicted to social media. But I know that it’s something I need to do in order to get good grades and bring my cumulative GPA up. I have also blocked out HUGE chunks of time to work on homework on that weekly calendar thing so I can spend that time doing homework/studying.
6. Take pictures. I don’t use my camera as often as I would like, so it’d be nice if I could find time to take pictures of stuff. But even if I’m not able to take pictures with my camera, I still want to take pictures with my phone. Memories and stuff, ya know?
7. No focusing on dating. I made this one of my goals a couple of years ago, and that semester I ended up with a boyfriend by the end of it. I’m pretty certain it was that “things come to you when you least expect it” principle. However, getting a boyfriend is not the reason for this goal. Ain’t nobody got time to go on dates when you have 17 credits’ worth of homework to accomplish. Actually that’s not true; I set aside time on my calendar thing to have fun. But still. I have other things I want to focus on, and I don’t want worrying about boys to get in the way of those higher priorities. Yes, it would be nice to go on dates, but I’m also not going to let myself get super sad over the fact that I’m not going on them. I’ll just go out with my new friends instead.

So those are the seven things I want to accomplish this semester. I’m really looking forward to working on these goals and am hoping I will be a better person by the end of them. Hold me accountable!