I am currently attending Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. There are about 28,000 people going here too, so even if you know a so-and-so who's going here, chances are I won't! The campus is just beautiful, and the people here are great. I am living in Helaman Halls, which are nicer than Deseret Towers. We have sinks and our rooms are rather large. I'm in Taylor Hall, which is the nicest since it just got renovated this summer. No one has ever used my room before, so it's really nice. I feel kind of sorry for the guys in my ward though - they live in Merril Hall, which hasn't been touched since the 70's. They call it the "ghetto" dorm.

BYU is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the restored gospel permeates every part of life. We pray before sporting events, and we have devotionals every Tuesday in the Marriott Center. My biology teacher opens class with a prayer, and my history teacher usually manages to tie a scripture into every lesson. Rather than being stuffy or over-religious, it comes off quite naturally. The gospel is supposed to be a part of our everyday lives, and here at BYU, it is easy to remember that.

One unique thing about BYU is the Honor Code. When we apply to the university, we sign a statement that we will uphold this Honor Code throughout our undergraduate stay at BYU. We must adhere to a dress code, which states that our shirts will have sleeves, our shorts will extend to the knee, and we will be modest in our hairstyles and grooming. We promise to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, coffee and tea during our stay, and we promise to avoid premarital and extramarital relations as well.
Some people think that the Honor Code is a big pain - so many rules to live by! I think it's great. Basically, all we are doing when we sign that form is stating that we will live up to Church standards throughout our stay. Even the dress code is part of Church standards, because it helps us prepare for going to the temple later on.

I am currently enrolled in Spanish Conversation (Span 211), Intro to Economics (Econ 110), The Making of a Teacher (HonP 203R), Book of Mormon (RelA 122), Principles of Biology (Bio 130), and World History Since 1500 (Hist 202H). I'll also be in jogging starting second block. To read the papers I have written for these classes and last semester's classes, please see the prose section.

As for my major and all that jazz, I am acurrently a Math Education major with a Spanish teaching minor. After months of deliberation (driving my boyfriend crazy in the process), I finally decided to abandon Computer Science and go with this. I don't know if I want to be a teacher or not, but this way I can focus on two subject areas that really fascinate me and I'll have some sort of viable employment prospects after I graduate.

My roommate is Whitney Palancia, and she is really awesome. She plays rugby and flag football and is working out all the time. I don't know where she gets the motivation for all that stuff, and I'm glad she is my friend instead of my enemy. She could kick my butt.

To better express college life, I've divided my page into two sections so you can better connect to me here at BYU.

Life in the dorms sure can be interesting... check out what's the latest in Beth's life.

Here, you can see some of the places that I see every day - my dorm room, campus, and other pictures that were taken at special excursions. Note: My scanner as of late has been having fits of poor quality, so it may be awhile before I post new pictures. Sorry for the inconvenience - hopefully it won't take long to fix the problem.

The college years are supposed to be the wild and crazy years, right? Well, here at BYU, our "wild and crazy" times probably don't resemble those of other universities because of our higher standards. Still, that doesn't mean that nothing funny ever happens to us. You can visit this page to read some of the funny things that have happened to me so far.

This page was last updated by Beth Siler on September 14, 2000.

Back to Beth's Haven