With the rising popularity of Jimmer Fredette, I find that more people are interested in the Y. (Hahaha...I hate calling it that. It sounds like you're going to school @ the YMCA. No one should call it that, just like on Arrested Development when they call it the O.C. instead of Orange County...don't call it that!) That coupled with that dude who had sex with his girlfriend and confessed and got kicked off the basketball team? BYU is all the rage at school. (And by all the rage, I mean only with male teachers, because female teachers have no idea about anything athletic, apparently.)
So, of course, the questions begin...you went there? You really didn't drink? You never had sex? Well...I did have sex, but I was a child bride at 20, so technically I was good to go, bitches!! And of course they look at the woman I am today and are totally perplexed as to how I was able to maintain attendance at such a prestigious university. So I remind them, I am not who I once was. I was, by all appearances, the perfect Mormon girl. I wouldn't think of wearing immodest clothing or say such awful swear words, watch rated R movies, drink anything harder than the occasional diet coke...the list goes on of course!
This is not who I am today. Now, I think I am still a very moral person. When I was shopping for Christmas, I was paying at Best Buy and I was supposed to just get change back but the lady gave me a twenty and change. Who couldn't use 20 bucks, especially at Christmas? But I knew it wasn't my money, and I gave it back. I think that having integrity is still important, that hasn't changed I suppose. But I will no longer kill myself to live by a set of rules that I don't think makes me any better as a person. I wear clothes that I feel I look good in, but not slutty...I am a teacher! I swear like a sailor when I play basketball, and also sometimes when I'm frustrated, or when I'm helping my husband take his flak gun off the back of his truck...don't ask, but believe me it hurt like hell. Basically, I'm a classy lady who says "fuck" a lot. Oh, and I drink alcohol. Growing up I never had the slightest desire to drink alcohol, and I had plenty of opportunities to! But I never did...until I started teaching here. Now I go out a couple times a month with other teachers and we have a good time. And now I understand why people drink! It is actually fun! I'm still not crazy about the taste of alcohol, and I know I will never be a beer drinker, but I enjoy trying new things. Does this make me a bad person? No, I don't believe so.
But having to think back on my time at BYU has made me realize a few things. I honestly did love going to school there. I said it when I lived there and I'll say it again, I would never raise a family in Utah, but I really did enjoy going to school in Provo. I felt safe, it was very clean, there were plenty of activities, and I felt like I had to work hard to do well because the competition was fierce. Did I miss out on your typical college experience? Absolutely. But I do not resent having attended BYU in the least, and I'm glad that I can say that.
My life at 30 is not anything like where I thought I would be. But I am learning to love the new me, even though she is completely different from what so many people expect of me. I think I'm fun, I think I'm honest with myself, I think I'm driven, I think I'm a good mom, and I think I'm a great wife. In the grand scheme of things, I think that's pretty great.
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