Bit of Ivory

Well, for a first day of school, today sure seemed a lot like summer
vacation.
You see, I only have two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and I’m
dropping one of them, more later); one at 2:00 and one at 3:00. I work
starting at 8:00. So it seemed like just another day waking up early
and going to work. It was weird.
There were a few differences today, though. I work from 8-10, then have
an hour break, then is the University Devotional (we have them once a
week), then I work again from noon until 1. I have another hour break,
then class. Weird enough on normal days, but since today was the first
day of class, there was no devotional. Now, there are no classes
scheduled during the devotional, and usually all the services on campus
(library, bookstore, food court, everything) shut down during the
devotional. Since there wasn’t one today, everything stayed open. And
the entire student body converged on the Wilkinson Center (the student
union). Do you know what it’s like to have 29,000 students hanging
around campus with nothing to do? It’s crazy.
So with so many breaks, and no homework I’ve put off doing, I was at a
loss about what to do. I finally checked another Perry Mason book out
of the library and read. I’m going to like my first class on Tuesdays
and Thursdays: Social Dance. I like to waltz, swing, cha-cha, etc., but
this will be the first time I’ve taken an actual class in it (unless
you count the 1-hour foxtrot class I took at the Murray Arts Center).
Most of the guys are freshman, but I’m not in it to meet guys, anyway.
My second class, however, I think I’m going to drop. It’s not that it’s
going to be a hard class or anything, in fact, it’s almost comically
simple: Flexibility. The teacher said that all we have to do to get an
“A” is go to a women’s basketball game (she’s an assistant coach; she
actually played for the Utah Starzz for two seasons) and bring in an
inspirational quote from someone we look up to. Easy, right? There’s
just one problem: you have to dress in BYU-issue P.E. clothing. Now,
this is the paradox of the century, but true nonetheless: remember how
I said that LDS garments go all the way to your knees? BYU issue shorts
don’t. They’re not mini-shorts by any means, but they’re not really
long, either. There’s been a lot of complaining about that, I
can assure you. Anyway, I would have to change out of my garments,
which is not something I really want to do in a public locker room. So
I think I’m going to drop the class. I’ll take bowling next year
instead.
So when I got home from class, my sisters and I went swimming. That was
fun. I haven’t been swimming in over two years, for two reasons: 1) I
look awful in a swimsuit (I still don’t look great, but I look better
than I did two years ago, by virtue of losing 15 lbs.) and 2) I can’t
see worth beans. I am so nearsighted that without my contacts in or
glasses on, I can’t see more than a few inches from my face. I hate not
being able to see. I can’t wear my contacts in the pool–I have rigid
gas-permeable lenses), and goggles leak anyway. Swimming’s just no fun
when you can’t even tell who the person next to you is. So I just
haven’t gone swimming for a while. Today I got around the contacts
issue by just not getting my face wet. It worked quite well; although I
couldn’t do any real serious swimming, but since that wasn’t the point,
I didn’t mind. I think I’ll go swimming as often as I can; until the
weather gets to cold and my complex empties it out and covers it up.
Long entry. Oh, well. It was a long day.
Oh, and Elizabeth: you can’t quit. ‘Nuff said.