Student Profile
Midori
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: Spanish
- Gender: F
- High School: Kamiakin High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
BYU is very bright and big. I love the school, but not the people; this isn't their fault, I'm just not a very social person. I get what I need from my self and the rest is all well and good. People are extremely polite (I LOVE how the guys hold the door open for us girls. Very, very chivalrous) and nice, making it a pleasant and easy environment to ask questions. Classes are mostly interesting and informative (usually because of the professor) and there is plenty to do. People jokingly ask me why I'm not married yet when I tell them I'm at BYU (if they're Mormon - hint: I just barely finished my first year). The over-emphasis on marriage makes walking around campus feel like walking into a den of hungry, but picky, lions, and generally makes the guys look like asses to the girls. Oh, and saying that on campus would've turned at least a few heads *grin*.
Academic Life
Professors know who you are if you make yourself known. In my opinion, tests are the best way to determine grades - I hate papers and always do them last minute, so they don't exactly reflect my utmost intelligence. That's not just me, everyone else I knew (barring maybe one person) did that too). Students are....intelligent. In an academic way, at least. Deep conversations don't always abound, but I think that's healthy sometimes. Too much thinking can do you more harm than good.
Student Body
BYU students have the wonderful experience of being stereotyped, being mostly Mormon, mostly white, and mostly normal. Walking around campus is like walking around a glossed over high school. There are no goths (I take that back - I saw one), few punks, and very few extreme appearances. I don't feel like BYU is suppressing student expression the least bit, but I do feel like the very similar backgrounds discourages them from either seeing the differences in others or expressing their own. Suffice it to say, I met very few people who felt completely at home in their own skin from the get go. It takes a while to peel away the layers and get to their inner weirdness.
The Best Things
The beauty.
The Worst Things
The trapped feeling.
