New Goals, New Life

Let me be the first to say that I have had the most incredible last two days. By just changing my outlook on life and how I interact with people, I have seen my happiness go up immensely. I have made and met so many friends in 2 days that is is almost uncanny. And this all comes down to two things, getting out of your comfort zone and talking to people.

Let me just start out by telling you about my friend Robbie. He  has helped me a lot because he is such a people person, and is great at talking to people of all types. When I am with him talking to those around me is so easy. We are very good at getting people to start conversations with us, and through that it is easy to make friends with him. And that is very cool because we have met some pretty awesome friends in just the last few days. Robbie and I have a class called "Life Planning and Decision Making" together, which was awesome because it is the class I always look forward to. Jake Heaps, the BYU freshman quarterback is even in that class. But the sad thing is, I would rather be friends with some of the other people in that class than him because their story is so interesting.

First we started sitting in the back row of that class. We met this hilarious girl from South Africa named Geraldine Hattingh. She has the best accent I have ever heard my whole life, and we always try and get her to say, "I know!" because she actually says, "I knohrrrrrrr!" Haha she is really fun to sit by. Then right in front of us is Elisabeth Lamprecht, a funny girl who actually wanted to check out my blog! She always has witty comments to say, and makes it fun sitting on that side of the room. There is also a girl named Maria Allen in that class, who is a BYU cheerleader. I knew I had met her earlier in the year when I was hanging out with my friend from back home, KayCee Gassaway, so I asked her and I was right. She is hilarious, and has such a funny personality. Robbie said he would make a sign that says I <3 Maria Allen #1 at the games and she laughed. So she is another friend we made in that class.

There is a girl in that class who joined late who is named Hongyi Wang. She was different than anyone else because she was straight out of China and is a TA here for Chinese Studies. Robbie and I wanted to sit by her because she has so much to say and is just the funniest person you could ever meet. I remember the quote, "I call my American name 'Lucky" Wang because it is like dog name. Everyone here named "Mary, Mary, Mary', and I am just 'Lucky'. I don't have any pretty name like 'Sofia' because I am not like that." She also said to our whole class, "I prefer short, fat men", and other things like that. So Robbie and I sat by her on Wednesday and by the end of the class she was teaching us how to write Chinese characters and was telling us about her home life and customs in China. We invited her to call us at the Career fair that day because if we went we would get extra credit for that class and she said she would see us there. She isn't a member, so our customs seem a little bit odd to her sometimes. In class she told everyone that it was weird that everyone was encouraged to date, and that her parents would never want her to have a boyfriend here at college. She said, "Maybe I need serious talk with my parents!"

So later on at the Career fair we found a friend from that class named Alexis Flake. As it turns out her Dad is a U.S. Congressmen for Arizona, named Jeff Flake. We talked to her and walked around for a long time and she said after our missions she could probably get us jobs as pages for her Dad or other people in Washington D.C. If I was going into politics this would be interesting, and even though it probably wouldn't happen just the fact she said that was amazing.

(R) Congressman Jeff Flake - Arizona

So we came upon Lucky just waking around the exhibits and walked with her for a little bit more. She told us about some Chinese customs and this Chinese boy came up to her and started bowing and asking how she was. Robbie and I immediately asked if we should bow to her in greeting, out of respect. We decided to do it anyways. After waltzing around some more, we came to the Panda Express booth where they were trying to get people to apply for the jobs there. Secretly, we wanted a fortune cookie, and Lucky kept saying, "I donna like this fake American Chinese food!" Robbie slipped the fortune, "You will excel in the field of medicine" in my hand without me noticing and I freaked out. The booth person was named Emily, and we joked around with her for a long time. She said if we came into her store that day she would give us 10% off, which was amazing! More on that later. :)

After the career fair we were walking through the Wilkinson Student Center and there are always these booths that people are handing out fliers and vouchers for certain things. These people happened to be handing out vouchers for the BYU Volleyball game on Saturday, which was cool. We started talking to the blonde girl there whose name is Eliza and she happened to be the one who does all the halftime stuff at BYU basketball games! I asked how she got that job and she just said, "applied and got lucky!" She was pretty cool.

Since yesterday was the biggest BYU basketball game of all time against #4 San Diego State University, we were all in line for hours upon hours trying to get in. This means that when the game was over, Panda Express was closed. We felt bad but promised we would go tommorow, or....yesterday. So we did! Last night after Astronomy Robbie and I went over to the Panda Express on Bulldog and 900. After waiting in line, we were asked what to order from the worker, Jessica. We tried some of the different stuff, and we asked where Emily was! She said that Thursday night was her only night off, and that she would still give us 10% off. We kept being nice to her and kept telling her she was our favorite ever, and she really liked it. I originally asked for beef and brocolli, but changed my order because there wasn't any out there. Well right as we were about to go buy our food, she scoops this huge scoop of beef and brocolli up on my plate on top of my other 2 entrees! I was like JESSICA you little rascal! You are the best! She was like, you guys deserve it, enjoy! So we got 10% off and an extra Entree. I realized last night that focusing on the name on the tag of a worker at a restaurant makes them feel a whole lot better than just treating them like garbage, someone who just serves everyone. Now wherever I go I look at the name on their tag so they feel like they are doing a great job. Robbie said when he worked at Subway he felt the same way. If people were nice to him he would make them a super nice sandwich with all the extra meet and veggies, and if they were mean and treated him like a jerk he would smash their sandwich a little as he rolled it up in the wrapping. Just be nice to those who you are around.

So I have a really big conscience. It always upsets me whenever I don't do something that it tells me to do. Take for instance, when I was walking home about a month ago, a girl worker was carrying this huge box and I just kept walking past. I felt sick to my stomach afterwards and my conscience never really forgave me for that. So last night after Astronomy after walking out of the Wilk I finally found a chance to redeem myself! Two young ladies were carrying and struggling with this huge 60 pound hot chocolate thing and I was quickly like, "Please! Let me help you!" Robbie helped carry the 3 boxes of donuts as well. My forearms burned as I attemped to carry this awkwardly shaped hot chocolate container all the way up the stairs and to the far end to a room in the Wilk. I was walking like a penguin with this thing, shuffling along, sweating. She kept asking, "Can I help you?!" I was like, "just lead on!" I was being stubborn because I didn't want her to have to lift that. Afterwards they were so grateful and offered us donuts for helping them. I didn't even care because my conscience was lifted and I felt so amazing after that.

As the night was winding to an end Robbie and I made the deal that we would try and make a new friend or make someone's day every day we can. That isn't too hard when you really think about it. It just requires a positive attitude and being in the right place at the right time. I have been so happy the last few days, meeting tons of people and helping others. I hope that we can all take this mindset into our lives as we go throughout our day. Just try and make friends, they could be lifelong for all you know.