Why I'm a Cougar. (The Mascot.)

We're voted:
#1 Stone-Cold Sober University. (For the 11th year in a row.)
#1 Most Religious Students.
#8 Most Conservative Students.
 #18 Everyone Plays Intramural Sports (A kid in one of my classes yesterday asked our professor if he could major in intramurals. That's pretty legitimate...I guess. With that you would  think we'd be ranked higher than 18th.)


So yeah, we're pretty cool. Here are the top 10 reasons I chose Brigham Young University.

1. We all knew it was coming: Intramurals. Where else do you pray before war?
2. The steep hike up to Y Mountain. The view from campus is pretty, but the view from the Y itself is gorgeous.
3. Study abroad. BYU has one of the biggest and best study abroad programs that allow students to travel around the world to get hands-on experience we can't get in the classroom. 
4. The Honor Code. Yes, call me a mo-mo. But--it keeps us looking and acting professional.
5. BYU Basketball. A.k.a. Jimmer/Jackson duo. I'll miss them. And I've suddenly become a Kings fan. (That will never take precedence over my Jazz, however.) BYU Football also goes in this category.
6. Professors who care. I don't think I could have chosen a better major with better professors. They love their job, but they love their students even more. Even the GE professors--they really love what they do.
7. Devotionals. Every Tuesday morning at 11, not one student is in class, and has the chance to listen to a professor, apostle, or even the prophet give a devotional that is always what I need to hear. Next up: Elder Christofferson.
8. Counting my blessings that I actually got in: top 10 journalism program. Again with the professors. They inspire me. They make me want to be better journalist. I can't explain the peaceful feeling I have sitting in a class at the Brimhall, knowing that's exactly where I need to be. 
9. Diversity. I have friends from Russia, Columbia, Brazil, East coast, West coast...and everywhere in between. BYU literally gathers the world.
10. Hands down the best part: the application to our spiritual lives in every subject. There are so many spiritual applications you learn in a media law class, a physical science class, or even a Spanish class at BYU that you can't get in Sunday School. The Lord really is in every aspect of our lives, and it is absolutely rewarding to keep discovering that class after class.

Oh...Provo. Provo is a b-u-b-b-l-e. I'm very aware. We have to go to Salt Lake every so often to "get away" and to have some fun. But campus, I really love. I could never get sick of the feeling and never ever get sick of the people. And no, admissions didn't pay me to write this.