Diamond Head

The first hike of the Outdoor Adventures club for this semester:

Diamond Head

Woke up at 6:00

Got on the bus at 6:30

Arrived at the bottom around 8:00

And....started up.

There aren't really rules. They kinda just say that we are all adults and if we do something stupid that is on us. They had first aid stuff, and snacks for us, but besides that we could go as fast or as slow as we wanted, and if we missed the bus on the way back then that sucked haha.

(they did have people check in and out though so that was good)

This was the top view point.

TOTALLY CROWDED WITH TOURISTS

and I mean our group of 45 didn't help

So....we jumped the fence that said do not pass and went to a different little bunker....

.....and got the raddest pictures. 

So worth it.

And it wasn't crowded!

(well it became a little more crowded once all the other college kids realized that we hadn't gotten yelled out lol)

squinty eyes to the MAX am-i-right

Update

It is sooooo hard to continually update this blog!

Not because I don't want to, the days just all blend together and I forget what I have even done. Also it doesn't help that my phone is utterly destroyed and that was how I primarily took photos before. I'm on the hunt for a new phone, but until then they will be scarce. I do have my camera here, but I'm so apprehensive of taking it anywhere because it rains daily. Like EVERY SINGLE DAY. It is awful. So I'm scared to take it on hikes because it isn't waterproof, and I'm scared to take it to the beach because we usually just leave our stuff on the shore.

By now, I am 1/3 way through the semester! When I think of it that way it has FLOWN by! I am so excited for it to be over. My classes are just boring GE's and Physics is going to be the death of me. I'm praying for a B--feel free to pray for me too. It would be much appreciated.

Here is a list of things I've done recently:

(I'm not a fan of just reading stuff, I like pictures, but I don't really have any so...)

Went on a date to a Kahuku Red Raiders football game

Went surfing for my first time

Gone tanning (I'M SO TAN)

Gone to the beach sooooo many times

Got a new job here: audio/sound tech for the school

Interviewed for a humanitarian aid project this next summer

Created my schedule for next semester (All art pre-reqs! So excited!)

Written Benny every single day since being here--and he's done the same

Kept my goal of going to the temple weekly (the temple workers recognize me now which makes me happy!)

And got up to see the sunrise at 5:30

The excitement has worn off now, and I have a pretty good schedule of going to bed at about 10:30-11ish and waking at 6:30. My friend and I are hoping to go running every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then lift and rock climb every Tuesday and Thursday. I don't think I've gained much weight, but I do eat TONS of ice cream. I'm just bad at eating actual food. It's hard to find food I actually like here.

Class Summary

This semester I'm taking 17 credits, and let me tell you....

IT IS SO EASY

I'm dying!

I still don't have a job and I'm taking 2 religion classes, 2 GE classes, an art class, and Physics 2. I'm hardly busy at all truthfully. That's why I have time to do fun stuff all the time haha.

Here is a rundown of the classes.
(I will withhold professor names because I'm so scared they will find this haha)

1. Book of Mormon Doctrine

One of the 4 requirements for CES schools, it is a really good idea to have all students take this class. From my experience, the class is more of a "do the assigned reading and then come ask any questions in class". There isn't a ton of structure in the classroom, just random questions from students.

What I really like about the class is the articles and scriptures he assigns us to read. They are always super powerful and insightful, and it's nice to have someone pick them out for me instead of my having to search and find them.

The class itself is super easy. I think we get points for showing up, but most days he will just call out 10 random names and if they are all present, he marks everyone as attended. He also gives us 5-7 questions everyday that we are supposed to look up and answer. Those aid questions are the midterm and final questions, but on the tests they are multiple choice--I don't anticipate getting anything less than an A in this class.

2. Critical Inquiry and Analysis

This is one of 3 required GE classes, and it is a JOKE. I think it is mostly the teacher. There is no point to this class. He is honestly crazy. He has started writing a book about how "the technological revolution is the most important revolution in the world" but has no sound evidence whatsoever. So we basically spend 2 hours a week of sitting there listening to his crazy ideas. I would be fine with hearing his ideas if I actually thought he was intelligent and had sound proof, but he doesn't and is not smart. He will constantly be spelling things wrong, his first chapter of his book and our first like 3 classes were about the difference of exponential growth and linear graphs (IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE YOU BETTER LOOK IT UP REAL FAST)--the really really sad thing is that multiple people failed the quiz. How. You need to go back to 5th grade. This is freaking college.

The good thing is that he enjoys debating, so I constantly challenge just about everything he says in class. It's great. Everything he says is controversial or easy to attack, and he can't defend any of it because once again he has no proof! Every answer is "well that's what 'the scientist' have proven". I'm pretty sure everyone in my class thinks this class is stupid.

I could rant forever about this class (and I usually do), so I'll just spare you and move on.

3. Physics 2

The only class I have that is actually challenging. I'm so glad I switched into it though!

1. I'd be soooooo bored
2. This is the last class I'm taking that uses Calculus, so after I pass this class, I will never ever use hard math again !!!

Physics is time consuming though:  we have class every day, a 3 hour lab weekly, and I go to tutoring 3 times a week for 2 hours each day. So I mean that counts as like 2 classes I think.

Super worried about the first test though. I'm hoping it is not that bad. These 3 chapters we learned are supposed to have one of the hardest in the whole class so I think I will be fine. I think I kind of have grasped the concepts, I just need to memorize the equations better.

The homework for this class is INSANE though!! I don't even know like how to even start them (that's why I got to tutoring lol), we get like 6-7 problems weekly and it takes a total of about 5 hours to solve them.....ugh. I'm glad to start checking off pre-dental requirements though!

4. Foundations of the Restoration 

I'm not going to lie, this class is sooooooo boring.

It is so hard not to fall asleep.

Also, he is really strict about electronics so that sucks. I mean I'm not one of those people constantly on my phone because is like destroyed and barely works anyways, but I don't like it when teachers are like super strict like that.

The articles he has us read are amazing though. I enjoy the homework a lot.

5. Local Communities

This is a pretty cool class in theory.

We learn about historic Hawaiian culture, some Hawaiian words, etc.

The class has three little rotations it goes through: lecture (random person in community talking about something, one person talked about coral reefs), class discussion, and a field trip.

We have gone on two field trips, one to a fish pond that the people were restoring (apparently there used to be tons of them and Hawaii sustained itself, but now they import like 95% of their stuff), and a grass planting thing where we were trying to get rid of erosion (can't really remember why erosion is bad...I kinda fell asleep...but I thought it was good for the fish ponds, so idk).

It is really cool seeing all this stuff I'd probably never see otherwise, but it sucks in a sense that we really don't help a ton. Like I planted one plant and then carried a bunch of rocks. I don't know haha

6. Photography

This is a pretty cool easy class.

I like it because it gets me to take a lot more pictures!

I've been slacking on pictures because my phone screen is DESTROYED.

Like LCD is going out and super cracked and have duct tape on it.....

So I'm probably going to buy an iPhone 6 soon...it just sucks because it is $400.

#gofundme

lol jk

First 2 Weeks at the Y

I feel like when you say "the Y" that means Provo.

Oh well.

First week at the Y--the red one though!

Sorry it has taken so long to write this, but it's taken a little bit of time to adjust to a new place and new people and new classes and stuff.

all i'm going to say is that the first week felt like a month.

it just kept dragging on! sooo much stuff happened though (or i feel like i did anyways).

The Saturday before school started, we had a "Circle Island Tour" where we went to a few stops and circled the island lol. Some of the stops were actually so lame, but basically every freshman went and I didn't want to be the only student still on campus haha! I met a lot of people though, so that's good.

***Also I'm just going to add captions to pictures with people so you know who I'm talking about***

Jackie, London, Me, Lauren

Ben, London, Will, Lauren, Jackie, Me

On Monday school started. I will make a separate post about all my classes. Some of them I could go on and on about.

Between and after all those classes.....we seem to end up at beach pretty much every single day haha! It's not even worth trying not to go every day. I originally said I wasn't going to go all the time and study more, but so far I have done a good job and studying and partying lol

Front is Austin (from Oregon, there are 2) and Lauren 

Closest is Temple beach and that one is filled with coral so it hurts a lot! Then a little north is Hukilau which is a really fun nice beach! Then like Turtle Bay, Shark's Cove, and Waimea (there are beaches in-between, but those are the super cool ones). To the South is Laie Point (freaking scary cliff diving because you can't see the bottom and you can get thrown into the rocks by the waves...), and then Pounders.

The above picture is of the remains of the dock. 

THOSE POLES ARE SO HARD TO GET ONTO!

London and I were the last to get on (no upper body strength at all haha), and it took us tons of tries, and my arms and legs were so cut up by the end....not worth it haha. Also there weren't any pictures of my on it except this one of me holding on for my life desperately haha! Once I got on I just stung everywhere. That is one really sucky thing about salt water. You will sting.

Somewhere in the middle of this first week I GOT SICK. I know of one guy who came sick and got everyone sick and then another who brought over some European sickness. Anyways, I had it for two freaking weeks. Anddd basically the whole rest of the school has had it by now! It was kinda cool how fast it spread, not going to lie haha.

I feel like everyone must have an Acai bowl in their life. They are just too dang good. I can't wait to come home to my blender and make more smoothie bowls haha. Acai bowls are expensive here though. As in almost $9 for that sucker--I was rewarding myself for making it through the first week of school haha.

 Another one of the best things about Hawaii: HIKING!

I was going to go to Utah and do all my hiking--Hawaii is much more interesting. I never even complained! Haha that's like a huge deal. It was so interesting the whole way up though! As in, it was  kinda raining and we knew we probably shouldn't go up a steep mountain in the rain but we did anyways and it ended up being a slip-n-slide on the way down but so fun! And there were other people hiking, so we weren't the only stupid ones. There are so many other hikes to do still though!

That's why I joined OUTDOOR ADVENTURES club!

I'm so pumped !!!

I joined 4 clubs:

outdoor adventures - hiking every weekend. You can come to ones you want and then don't go to others! We also have a service project to Sacred Falls aka illegal hike but it's service so we can go! We have some smart presidency.

dive club - a dive every week! And guess how much for?? Only $40! Yes, still really expensive, but typically dives are $150. (This is scuba diving btw, not like dive board diving haha)

sidernation - our school spirit club! This is the last year of sports at BYUH. It's honestly so sad, but we are making the most of it and going to as many events as we can! Also, we know lots of people on the soccer, cross country, softball, tennis, and basketball teams. It's amazing how quickly you meet people here honestly!

filipino club - i really need to learn more culture. When I walked into "World Fest" (where they have displays for all the clubs) every single club tried to get me to join because no one can tell what I am! Haha it's really funny. But anyways, apparently it is the largest club here! There are so many Filipino's and they are so kind and proud of the culture. So I'm going to Tagalog and culture lessons on Sunday! Hoping to learn at least a little Tagalog before I go to the Philippines.

Will, Alyse, Me

FIRST TIME HITCH HIKING = SUCCESS !!!

We had a Freshman dance which I slept through (and apparently sucked so it's okay), and then a PCC dance which I think I also slept through....so this dance was the first I went to. It was a school-wide dance, but the school is so small it was awesome! I was super sick though, so I had no voice...

Me, Brittany, Lauren, Austen, Julienne, Jackie, London, JT, Ben in front, Reed in back. Don't worry we have more guy friends, this was just the "girl picture"

One of the nicest things in the whole world is that the temple is like a 15 minute walk! I've gone twice so far. Once with friends, and once by myself. My goal is to go at least once with friends a week, and then by myself whenever I need more help.

Me, Will, Lauren, Trevor, London, Reed

If you thought I wasn't going to gain the Freshman 15, think again lol:

I stopped taking pictures to make myself feel better haha. But now all my friends (mostly Scott) blame me for getting them hooked on ice cream. Some days we have gone 5-6 times..... most is just 2 or 3 though haha *cries*

This past Friday, we went to Waimea with some friends:

Back row: Scott, David, Brendan, Kendall, Jace, random guy, Jackson
Middle row: Me, Lauren, Julienne, Jackie
Bottom row: Eve, can't remember next three oops.

 We jumped the rock, and then went to the lower ones and did tons of flips (as in just me because everyone else is a baby). But then I took my front flip to the high one and that was a sucky idea. The next day we went again, but this time there were like 150 students from BYUH there! It was awesome! We played beach volleyball, football, and frisbee.

In between everything, there is hours spent watching movies, studying (don't worry), and hanging out in the Aloha Center haha

So we went back to Pounders because this time, someone built a trampoline on top of the poles! Haha it was awesome! So sketchy but awesome! Still waiting to get additional pictures though...all of our cameras died....so we had a random guy take our pictures haha (this isn't us, there were more people in our group).

SUMMER 2016

Hoping this video isn't a metaphor of my habits during college....

I finished this video tonight. Just in time for my second week of college lol. 

This is my first video, so there are obviously many many problems with it. Overall though, I do like it and enjoyed the process. I hope to get in the habit of taking more photos and videos, because there were so many things I could have videoed this summer! I did so many amazing things, and ended up with a bajillion videos of animals haha. 

Oh well, next one will hopefully be an improvement! 

Friends in College

I am so happy to say I have some rockin' friends.

Throughout high school, good friends have always been hard to find. There aren't many people to choose from with your same values, and even then, it is just difficult to be the judge of character.

I think part of what made it so hard was that people already had friend groups when I arrived in Kansas City, and they had to stick to what their typical character was.

Here, I am again at a relatively small school, but unlike BYU Provo or Idaho, I have not met anyone who has come with friends. It's amazing. Not only for me--but for everyone. Now is the time to reinvent yourself. Be the person you had wished you had always been. 

So far I've created a few--very different--relationships.

Biggest most general group of friends is:

OHANA

Ohh the Ohana haha. The "Ohana" is our big (30-50ish) group of people we do stuff with. Anything from night swimming to card games to crashing dances to eating to having out own personal FHE lol. I've met a lot of different people, but this group is a pretty great bunch. So many different personalities. And the best part is feeling included! Walking through campus and seeing multiple people you know on your way to class! You just don't get that at BYU Provo... I love hearing their stories and hanging out with them. They are all so supportive! 

I'm so grateful for the culture here. Now that the upperclassmen are here I thought the dynamics would change. They haven't though! You can still sit by random people at the cafeteria haha. London and I sat down at a huge table alone and a junior guy came, then a girl, then another, until we had like 10 new people who we got to know! I would have been SO intimidated to do that before, but now it's just a norm. I truly love it so much here and just hope I can pass all my classes now haha.