I survived my first week of classes! More importantly, I enjoyed them! I am super pumped about most of my classes. I say most only because I am kind of afraid of one or two of them, but I know they will be super good for me to take. One of my favorite courses so far is Positive Psychology. We are already learning so many good and applicable things! I'm also taking a meditation class, and the best part is that we can take off our masks if we are seated far away enough from each other. Otherwise I think I'd hate the class because taking deep breathes through a mask is torture, the opposite of relaxing. I did feel a bit anxious this week with the start of classes, and amazingly, the feeling was almost foreign. I've felt so much more at peace and relaxed since seeking help, that I'd forgotten what feeling anxious all day feels like. But I'm learning so many skills to help manage it, and I'm grateful it hasn't gotten as bad as it has been in the past.
Monday: The Lord answered my prayer this morning. I had lost where I put the church key after packing everything up in my bedroom, and I'd prayed to find it and searched on Sunday, but to no avail. Monday morning, I read in the scriptures about God cursing things that are buried so they will never be found, if they are not buried up to Him. I prayed and pleaded to find it (as it was His church key, after all) and the idea came to look in two places I hadn't yet looked every morning this week. So I looked in one place, nothing. Looked in a second place, found it! God is good! I didn't have any live classes, but I headed up to campus early in the morning to clock in and work. I've been spending many hours preparing the Behavioral Neurobiology course and making sure all is good to go.
Tuesday: I had my first Positive Psychology course that morning at 8am. I'd had the idea to go up to campus for it, but that just didn't happen. I needed those extra 15 minutes to make my breakfast, so I sat on the couch and attended the lecture that way. I guess that is one good thing about online classes! I had my first day of meditation class, and then I went to the class I TA for (Psych 307). I am doing that as a capstone, so instead of getting paid, I am getting course credit. Afterwards, I had my Teaching in Psych class (also for my capstone).
Wednesday: I went to the Harmen building to work for three hours this morning. I have a lot of trainings to do and courses to help design. It's pretty enjoyable, though! I helped hold the first review of the semester for my Neuro class that afternoon, and then attended my afternoon class, Applying to Graduate School. I figured some extra motivation to start the application progress couldn't hurt. The only down side about online classes is that wifi at home is sketchy sometimes. So I go up to campus, but then have to wear a mask. Oh well, at least your professor has a harder time telling when you're yawning underneath a mask!
Thursday: Such a long day! I had everything in my schedule from Tuesday, as mentioned above, PLUS a class from 5 to 7:30pm. I deserve a trophy. Hehe. That evening class is called Basic Mediation (not to be confused with Meditation) and it seems like a helpful class, but not one I am really looking forward to, unfortunately. For example, we have to watch at least 2 hours of court sessions and do a write up about it. Movie night, anyone? Yeah, no thanks.
Friday: I don't have classes today, which is a huge blessing. I meant to do a lot of my school work, but aside from cleaning in the morning, the rest of my day was filled with work things, well into the night. Then I stopped around 7:30 to eat dinner (I'd made my first meal in my new instapot. Sweet shredded pork). Then I went over to Whitney's place. They were going to have a movie night, but everyone arrived so late and then they argued over which movie to watch and finally decided on a movie I had just watched last week (Inside Out). I thought I'd stay for a little bit through the movie, but then these two new friends to the friend group had a pretty heated argument that made a lot of tension in the house and I left soon afterwards.
Saturday: So today I spent all day on homework. Not homework that was due soon, but on the papers and projects that are a ways off. I also made a stop by the BYU Bookstore to pick up a textbook that I would need. I forced myself to stop doing homework at 5pm, and then just had a relaxing evening eating food, reading, and watching a movie. Breaks are a healthy part of life! I loved this concept I learned in my Positive Psychology class: it's not that stress is bad for us and makes us sick; it's that we don't give ourselves rests and breaks to deal with it. When you work out your muscles, you usually split it up in groups by days. Monday Wednesday and Friday are "leg" days and the other days are "arm" days, for example. When you stress your muscle, that's what helps it grow. It's healthy for you. But, then you need that day break to recover. If you worked out your arms every other hour, that would tear muscles instead of strengthening them. With stress, that's what we are doing. Doing, doing, doing without a break in the day or week. When you take a day off, take a day off. Don't do anything with work or school. Let yourself recover and rejuvenate.
Sunday: Fast Sunday. I volunteered to bear my testimony in church today (and good thing, too, because I was the only girl). My roommate Mira's parents are in town and also came with us. Bishop also spoke and talked about how he had a new granddaughter as of yesterday, born in the car on the way to the hospital. I turned to my roommate and whispered, "I hope they named her Car-ly." Yep, I'm pretty hilarious, I know. I want to again take this opportunity to bear my testimony that I know President Nelson speaks with the Lord, and then speaks the words of the Lord to us. God created us. He knows our bodies better than anyone. He knows what is best for our physical and mental health. Our circumstances have very little to do with our happiness level. So in this crazy time, and no matter how much more crazy the world gets, we can be happy. We can create our joy. I also testify that the pain and trials we suffer have purpose. They allow us to have better compassion and empathy for others. Just as Jesus Christ suffered more than He had to, we have the opportunity to do the same. If He was just going to save Himself, He could have. But he chose to suffer more so he could pay the price for our sins and so that he could know how to succor and help us. In this life, we go through trials that are SO hard, and we may believe we can be saved without them, but maybe someone else needs the help and support we can offer because of that pain we went through. God doesn't limit our suffering to the bear necessities. He allows suffering to occur because pain truly brings us close together. Think of two strangers meeting for the first time that have nothing in common. Now think of two strangers meeting that both lost a parent to cancer, or both lost a teenage child. They can bond and connect in a way that draws them socially and emotionally closer together than if they had not suffered in a similar way. Pain and suffering can foster connection and allow us to grow closer to each other and to God, if we allow it.
Can I get an Amen?
Much love,
Emily Burnham
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