First Day of Classes

Wow! Today was my very first day of classes at Brigham Young University. What a drastic change from my classes at The State University of New York at Purchase College. Classes at Purchase were excellent but the environment was completely different. Let me talk about those classes for a bit.
The professors at Purchase are 80% working professionals; which on one hand is great because they have lots of experience in the theatre world, but on the other hand, it also means that they have the professional theatre mentality. This includes an overwhelming amount of crudeness, profanity, and every man for himself/ dog-eat-dog mentality. Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from my classes. I loved them, but the prospect of one day working in that environment was not one that caused me much excitement. The head of my program, who also happened to be my advisor, gave me some great advice. He told me at the end of every day to ask myself this question, "Am I being true to myself and what I believe." If I was unable to answer this in the affirmative, then I needed to change. Nothing else mattered except being true to my beliefs.
That advice helped to bring me to where I am today. It is amazing to me that in a collegiate setting, or any educational setting for that matter, the gospel can be so closely integrated with classes and the curriculum. Sitting in my first class today affirmed that this is where I should be and where I can answer truthfully and positively that I am being true to myself and to my values.