Holidays!

Finally it is time for the holidays(after finals of course).. I am luckily going back home to Kenya so cannot wait. I did have a taste of Christmas. My friend from Orem invited 7 girls and I to go to her house for a Christmas dinner and to open presents that we bought each other.. We did not have an actual traditional dinner but we did have amazing chicken soup with bread and martinelli.. It was really nice to also sit next to the piano and listen to all of them sing carols and Christmas songs. I had a good experience. i am also really happy as this shows that it is the beginning of the HOLIDAYS! :)

Just wanted to say that writing this blog for MCom was fun.. I will miss the class a lot..

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Finals week!

Finals week again!!! oh how much i hate it.. i am not sure what to even say.. I hate the fact that we all study so much and in the ending some of us, even after study very hard, do not get good grades.. it is upsetting.. But I am looking forward to the Christmas break.. Luckily i will be able to go home.. :) I do honestly think it is a short break.. People think it is not worth me going home all the way to Kenya, but even ten days at home is so satisfying. It helps to go home as once i get back i will be ready for the winter semester and will not be home-sick or anything that could affect my studies... I am happy that it is the end of the semester but at the same time I am going to miss the people and classes of fall.. It has been a wonderful semester.. :)

Thanksgiving!

Wow! Thanksgiving feast was an amazing time.. I have never seen a turkey(whole) being cooked and stuffed.. Luckily this year I had the opportunity to experience all this.. I went to my friends house to spend thanksgiving day with her and her family. The turkey was put in at about 8! It took almost 6 hours to cook!! That was surprising! I never thought it would take that long to cook a turkey.. But hey in the ending it ended up being delicious! I loved it.. We had the turkey with various salads, mash potatoes, dressings, vegetables and other delicious items.. Of course, I got so stuffed I could barely WALK!! I was full and then was told there was pie still to come.. but luckily we had about 3 hours break before that.. During the break most people took a nap and some watched a movie.. This was the best holiday ever! Seeing so much family around and good food..

I have never been that full in my life but I did enjoy ever bite I had.. Thanksgiving is a day where one just eats, eats and eats.. That just makes it the best day ever!!! :)

MCom - Business Writing

MCom 320 has been the best class this semester. This class was rather an amazing class as the professor (Mr. Clarke) was very amusing and intelligent person. Of course we all hated the grammar test. I never knew that grammar would be so intense and difficult to remember all the rules. I thought I knew all the rules but hey it ended up that I didn't do well at all. Not even in the re-take. Lol. Oh grammar! I hate it! But on the other hand to be honest, I did learn a lot in this class. I actually look out for punctuation errors and grammar in all my papers and e-mails. I have also learnt how to be a strong speaker and how to survive in the business world when writing papers or reports. I am so glad I took this class with this professor and students. It has been very enjoyable and I have learnt a lot. I would highly recommend everyone to take this class even if they are not a business major.

End of Fall 2010

Finally it is almost the end of this semester.. We all get to go home and spend christmas there.. Also it is a very very short break from school, assignments and ofcourse the worse thing, TESTS! The break for christmas is too short.. I feel that we shud make winter from like 2 weeks of Jan till end of april or whenever... Who doesn't want a long christmas holiday??
Anyway since it is the end of the semester, assignments are all due and the pressure is building for finals.. But hey thanksgiving break is almost here so hopefully that is a stress-reliever break.. I feel that thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday when the whole family meets up and enjoy a huge dinner together as well as pray and appreciate all that the Lord has done for us.. There should be more holidays where families meet.. Spending time with family is a wonderful experience...
One thing I am going to miss about this semester is my MCom class( I am not saying this just because Mr. Clarke is going to see this).. :D This class has been the most exciting and amazing class..

Indian Dishes...

Cooking is something that I am honestly not familiar or good with. My mum has always been the one cooking. At first when I cook for myself, it never turned out as my mum made it.

Anyway, I was at a friend's house and we invited a few people over. Unfortunately, the girl that was meant to cook had a problem and feel sick so I had to take over(like i knew how to cook :s )... I somehow just managed to make some chicken curry... After a friend tried it, he turned around looked at me and said "will u marry me?".. hahahaha this made my day.. Ofcourse it was a joke.. Apparently it turned out to be good... (I am not boasting or anything but I am just happy people enjoyed it..)

Their compliments really helped me gain confidence.. So then I tried to be courageous and cook some south Indian dish.. Upma is the name of the dish and it is made of sooji... It ended up good but not good compared to my mom's.. :/

Halloween

Halloween is a rather interesting celebration. Back home, we had halloween parties but they were not as extreme as those in the United States. This is my second halloween in USA. The first one I spent the night just in a friend's house so was not able to experience the whole celebration.

This year, my friends and I decided to go for a halloween party. We all bought costumes(everything is so expensive; the costumes are like $25 and above). I was dressed as an Egyptian princess but many called me Cleopatra. I guess that is the best name for an Egyptian princess. Anyway, I thought we were all crazy for wearing costumes as people back home never did.

We arrived at the party and to my surprise EVERYONE was wearing a costume! I was left in a shock! The creativity and difference in each costume was magnificent. All kinds of costume were worn. The best was a boy who dressed as Willy Wonka. He had the perfect outfit and make-up and not to forget the hat.

Halloween has been the best this year! I know feel like I will celebrate it every year by wearing a costume! I encourage everyone to wear a costume as the experience is completely different and refreshing!

Different cultures

BYU is a school with the majority who are Mormons and Indians as a minority. There are just about 45 students who are Indian. Of these 45, half are always into their studies therefore making it hard to socialize with them

Today, I was lucky enough to have spent time with many people of the same religion and background as I. One of the families threw a baby shower party. There were about 15 couples, 7 children and a few other people. We all spoke in our mother tongue, Telugu. Being in that house made it feel somewhat like I was back in India. I was reminded of home and how comfortable the environments there is with people of the same background and language. Later, we all enjoyed the scrumptious South Indian specialty dishes while playing a few games.

This post may seem absurd and weird to people. But this is something that doesn't happen too often. I hardly used to get to spend time with people from my home town. The feeling is satisfying and marvelous.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The phrase " absence makes the heart grow fonder" was something I didn't understand. But coming to USA, far away from home made me think about this phrase. This is a phrase everyone can relate to. It made me realize the value of family and home. Home can be anywhere depending on whether the people in the environment love and care about you. Having my family all the way in Kenya with different time zones make it hard to communicate. This is always a problem as there is a 9 hour time difference. Furthermore, this doesn't apply only to family, it also applies to friends. Not meeting a close friend for a long time will make you miss them. Some debate that in the process people end up forgetting there special people as time goes on. This is true in very few cases. I personally think that it is almost impossible to forget someone so close unless some problems arise.

Also, when a close friend or loved one passes away. Many people come to fully understand the value and impact of that person in their life. This has made me appreciate everyone I care about all the time. I express more so that they know what they mean to me and how they impact my life.

Buy a stranger a "COKE"

As an assignment, we were meant to buy a stranger a "coke" or something like candy, lunch or drink. I was confused when Professor Clarke mentioned this. Nothing happened during the week as I could not find anyone. Luckily, I happened to be standing behind a girl in the Museum of Art Cafe. She was counting every penny and note in her wallet. She even turned around and asked if I had $0.10. I did and gave it to her. Then, we ordered and went to the counter. While the lady was making her bill, I said " Please add my meal to her bill also." The girl turned around shocked and speechless! It was the best moment as her expression was priceless. I then explained that I was going to pay. She just stood there stunned and confused.
After getting my food, I went and sat down. 5 minutes later, the girl comes up to my table and asks me why I bought her food. She thought I was crazy! I then explained that it was an assignment. She laughed and thanked me. Her name is Jillian. We sat there for about a half an hour talking about school. Also, we decided to do lunch again someday. It was a amazing-feel-good experience! Not to forget to mention, I was also able to make a new friend!

Smart people or easy courses?

I don't know how many people feel the same way but does any wonder how SO MANY people are getting 4.0s?! Out of every ten people i talk to at least 3 have 4.0 and the rest are 3.7 and above.. I am not sure what classes these people are taking but I really want to know. All my classes are so competitive and hard. Literally, if I do not put 3 hours of work for ever class, I will maybe get a B in the exam. It is crazy! If I get a B in any exam I will be happy! There are some characters that when they get a 93 they are sad that they didn't get a 100. If I got such a high grade in some of the demanding classes I would throw a party! But this doesn't mean that all the students here are like that. There are some who are even below 2.0.

This is also influenced a lot by the programs as they require students to get all As or GPAs from about 3.6 to 4.0. This just makes the students stressed and sometimes this leads to an end to their social life!

Stress!

Unbelievably, it has already been almost one month since school started. As we all know, this just means that it’s time for exams; the day every college student wish never came. Exams just lead to stress, panic and sickness. The only good thing is that BYU gives students the freedom of time. This helps as the student is not stressed out about the timings. Also, time pressure leads to stress which will make the student panic and maybe even mess up the exam.

This week, I have 3 midterms: (1) Accounting 310, (2) MCom 320 and (3) Physics 101. This is going to be one of my worst weeks. All these subjects have lots of material that I need to learn. This only gets harder because everyone in BYU is so smart. The average always ends up being so high making me feel that I should do better to make sure I am above average.

Good luck to everyone for the midterms!

Friends

"A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are."Friends are a very important part of everyone’s life. This is something that came into my mind as we were celebrating a birthday of a close friend. We all made her dinner and baked an awesome cake. She was surprised; she said “I was really missing my family but I just realized you all are also my family so I am not missing out on anything.” Home is far away for most of us and we spend all our time with our friends. Spending so much time with them makes them a second family. I think that one should have lots of friends but have a few that are the closest and the most precious to them. These will be the ones that you share you good and bad days with. Also, these will be the ones to help during hard times and always be there for you.

some experiences

My experience here in America was one of the most life changing experiences. Coming from Kenya,my home town, where people are the kind where they mind their own business and are not too friendly. Here in BYU I have met with people who are very warm, kind and loving. They have made me feel at home and comfortable. Making friends has been one of the best experiences. People come out of their comfort zone and talk to people. I have now learned to do so this has helped me become more social and improve my networking to a great extent.
In Kenya, having family around never made me realize the responsibilities I have. Two weeks ago, I moved into an apartment with 6 other girls. I had to learn to cook, do laundry and clean but the biggest responsibility was dishwashing. Never in my life have I washed dishes. I had to ask my friends to help me learn. It has taught me to be more responsible. I also learnt to be independent and not always have my mum around. I think that American families that make their children move out from home at the age of 20 are only doing so to help the children. They all learn to be more independent in life. This is one experience I think that Indian families and people from other cultures should learn so as to help children become more independent and know their responsibilities in the real world.

My experiences are plenty but these were the two I felt like talking about. I have learnt a lot and hope to keep learning more everyday.

Choices. Meditation. Faith.

Many times, one is faced with difficult choices in life. Not long ago, I was a high school student faced with some tough choices in my education. I had to choose some universities to apply to - in the United Kingdom (UK) or in the United States of America (USA). At age 17, I was sad and very stressed out that I would have to leave my family and friends behind, and go abroad for studies for four or five years. My mom, who is very spiritual, had given me this advice from the Bhagavad Gita, the holiest of the holy texts of ancient India: "Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is the surrender of attachment to results to the divine, because there follows immediate peace," this made it easier for me to come to BYU and also made me realize that once you leave everything up to God, He will take care of you in every way. I was reminded of this as I have been sick for the past few days. I rest my whole faith on Him, hoping to get better soon. Faith is necessary in everyone's life.

Finals week!! :(

AHHHHH!!! less than a week before finals begin!!!!
Finals week is the week we all dread and never want.... It causes excessive amounts of stress, lack of sleep and bad food eating habits.. :) Finals are the worst invention ever.. (not really but its too much work and stress)
My finals are biology, french and accounting... Student development's final is hiking the Y and a take home paper while for book of Mormon it is an essay..
Firstly, everyday I spend every hour working on the Book of Mormon essay..
Then everyday I will spend 5 hours on accounts.. (1/4 of the time is distractions, setting up and people passing by)..
For biology, I will study everyday for two hours... During this time I will go through the notes and look at the slides on black board. Also, will look at all the homework given it.. I will keep two hour each day for TA consultancy or research on the Internet..
Student development's take home exam I am planning to do it on Saturday... I want to sit and finish it all in order to hopefully get the 2 credit points..
French is a subject that requires a lot of work as we have to learn the vocabulary and also understand the rules. French will take me the rest of my time..... excluding eating time which is about 3 hours and also socializing which is required so as to take a break while blowing off steam... Socializing will be about 2 hours...
The most important thing is that I get 6 to 7 hours of sleep everyday so that I am not too exhausted to study the next day... This might just lead to me feeling tired and lazy on my final day which will be harmful...
This is my schedule for the next week til Thursday night....
Then I have french at 7am on Friday the 16Th.... followed by biology at 11am... Then will spend Saturday afternoon hiking the Y... therefore Sunday and Monday will be studying accounting... lastly will take the accounting exam on Tuesday and hand in the book of Mormon essay on Wednesday...
I really hope to get as much work done as I can before the finals... Being a procrastinator might just cause me the stress the night before the exam... That is why I am trying real hard to study from now on... Hopefully I will be able to do so and attain the best grades in my finals...

GOODLUCK TO EVERYONE!!!! :)

Stress!

Every college student undergoes stress. For me stress is when i have an assignment due the next day or in a few hours and i have not even started it yet. Also, for exams and finals or small grades that can affect my overall GPA making it harder for me to get into the Marriott school...
I deal with stress either by watching a movie, talking to friends or even taking a walk but the best way is to meditate and later on think about all that I have studied and try remember it. This helps me see what I do not know and what more I should work on. It helps a lot to meditate and calm myself before going back to study.

Reading

My concentration span is rather hopeless. I can sit and study for 45 minutes maximum then I end up taking an hour break. When the assignments are boring, I play maybe some good music or go sit out in the sun with just that book. This means i have to read it. Or sometimes everything I read I assume pictures or sometimes make up funny words to remember what i read. I first look at how much I have to read then I plan how long it will take. I will make plans(which can easily be canceled) for maybe an hour after so I take that as a reward. This helps as I will not leave till I understand it all so I will study hard so as to get everything the first time. Or sometimes I read through the material then make a small personal quiz and do it. Depending on how I know on that quiz will show me whether I need to study the material again or not.

Memory

I really do not believe in the concept having good memory. I just think the person either understands the subject or have memorized it. In my opinion, I believe that good memory is just when one actually takes in and stores what they want to remember. It is something that will take a lot of hard work and time. They have to train themselves as well as they brain to be able to store and remember things. People think that if they are forgetful that it is because they have bad memory but it is just because they did not really store that in their mind in order to remember.
Someone who studies the material over and over again and have understood it in depth is someone that is said to be having good memory. It is just their hard work and effort that helps them re-collect.
Images are the best memory technique for me. I will look at images and remember them later on. Therefore, for the information that I cannot remember I will draw pictures or even sometimes make up funny words that will help me remember it. Another technique is singing songs or making up rhymes about what you are learning. This helps as the tone could be from a favourite song so will help me remember all the lyrics made by me. Flashcards also help.
Most techniques like images. songs. flash cards are all short-term if they are not revised or gone through over and over again. If one keeps using this techniques to keep studying the material then it will help this will help them remember it as a long-term memory.

Oh noo...Exams! ((collapse))

Firstly I would like to juts put it out there "WHO INVENTED EXAMS?? WE HATE THEM!!!". :) Exams are the most frustrating, boring and tedious ever invented. Once someones talks about exams this sudden current of fear goes through my body. Exams have always been a weak point.
I am a procrastinator and am really trying hard not to be anymore. Applying this to exams is that I don't start studying till the night before the exams or a day or two before. This causes so much stress and pressure. But I have convinced myself that I work better under pressure. This is not good as I then usually end up sick or drained out. Therefore, I have now started studying everyday(rather trying to) which is pretty good. Unfortunately, most of the time I don't end up remembering what I read the day before the exam and so have to study again but in a faster manner as it is only to re freshen memory.
Nowadays, I started keeping reminders and a schedule showing the up coming exams and so I start studying for it whenever I have time. This has helped me a lot little by little. Even though there are days when I do not study at all maybe because of social activities, I make sure that when I get back I should at least read a chapter before bed.
By developing these good study helps a study achieve their goals and also help them be on top of class by not only achieving good grades but also a lot of knowledge.
When one prepares from before for an exam and doesnot procrastinate then this helps a person deal with anxiety or stress related problems.

Monitoring progress

Mmmm....I consider grades as a monitor of progress as if I get As in my classes then I know I'm doing well and have to maintain the grade. Also, by doing all my assignments and papers on time for the deadline shows me that I am doing well by doing everything. Except procrastination sometimes where I wait till the night before to do it(like this blog.. oops). These I keep in track on blackboard or in my planner. This helps me see what assignments I have due when or how much better I have to do in the next quiz or exam to get a good grade in a particular class. It is very important to keep in track of these so that one can know where to work harder and where they can devote less of their time.
I, personally, think that having a social life. Not having a social life makes your college experience the worst. This is why I love making friends all the time. I will always try make friends and remember them when I see them next. This helps to get to know people and not feel left out.
One thing I am bad at keeping is track with exercise. I am not a big fan of excercise even though clearly I need it. I usually plan to go but never end up going. Slowly, I have realised is that I need to keep a record of my excercise and also stick to the plan and dates for it. College freshman for sure caught up with me and I guess its time I work hard and make the exercise work. :) The best way to be able to motivate oneself is to put up, on your cupboard or fridge, picture of when you liked the way you looked or of your favourite top that you want to fit in. This helps you a lot in motivating and wanting to go and lose the excess weight from all the junk and Cannon Centre food! :)

My story

I am an Indian, born and brought up in Nairobi, Kenya. I am 18 years old. Religion and moral values have been etched into my up-bringing. These moral values are almost the same as those followed by the LDS church therefore making BYU my choice for higher studies.

I love making friends, going out, parties, music, movies, TV, watching sports(not playing :) ) and reading novels.

I wish to pursue accounting as a major and french as a minor. By doing so I could hopefully work in various international embassies.

Goals for this semester are to get a 3.7 GPA but mostly to get an A+ in Accounting 200 which is a pre-requisite for my major.

Another goal is to enjoy and survive the winter. This is my first winter ever so it exciting!

I love being in BYU. I luckily was able to make really good friends!

I thought that come to BYU would be a mistake especially because I am brown but to my surprise being brown has made me meet so many amazing people who wanted to know more about me. I love it! :)

Test

Kenya with Indian elephants!