alumni.

obligatory graduation photo-ops.

the man himself.

...or alumn. yahoo answers on the difference were confusing to me. anyway. that's what i am. kinda. 

i walked for graduation in august 2011, and exclaim to everyone that will listen that i did actually graduate from byu. 

technically, though, i will not be a graduate (or alumni/alum) until april of this year (2012). 

although i had high hopes and expectations for myself this summer to finish the last class on my schedule - engl 340 (aka children's lit) - i failed. and then i set new hopes and expectations for the fall term (my washington dc student teaching - hah! as if i'd get anything done during that time), which i also failed.

and therefore i will be a 2012 graduate instead of 2011. but it's ok. no biggie. it's not like i need my diploma or a degree atm. (an update on my current whereabouts and endeavors to follow after i finish what i said i would blog about)

but done with byu i am. if not in the technical sense, then for sure in the social and emotional sense. and the physical sense. because i did finish my last class on campus during spring term 2011.

my very last class period was family finance with dr. i, which and who i loved/love. it ended with an amen - fitting for a 3.5 year byu career i think. 

it felt great. and somber at the same time. 

i have loved my time at byu so so much. so much. and i still love byu. i will coax all my children into going there, because i have a conviction that it makes for better people. i am who i am today because of my time at byu. (which people can make their own judgments about.)

it is impossible for me now to in a few lines explain my feelings for byu and my time there. i am sure (and hope) that i will in the future remember stories from byu that i can write a fun blog post about. 

this said. i felt very done with byu. and provo. it was time to move on (and i have probably alluded to this in a previous post), experience new things, places, and people. 

my time in happy valley was over. 

although i miss it at times now, i am happy to have moved on, and am grateful for the memories made there. 

before i left i wandered through campus and eternalized some special spots on camera. enjoy.

my view after leaving my office in the jkb - which i did daily.

coming out of the hfac, walking to the wilk, which was usually my destination after the hfac.

oh the hbll. probably didn't spend as much time there as i should have.

the bookstore was also a frequent destination of mine. too frequent. multiple hundreds of $ spent there.

the swkt. this angle was usually a sign that i was on my way home.

the y. like the north star of byu.

goodbye provo.

i moved away. from my beloved provo in august. i am by NO means a writer, but i dabble. and try to write better. my inspiration: this book. which i was introduced to in my english 313 class spring of 2010.

here follows my ode to provo. written on august 5, 2011, 9:44 am at communal.






the streets of provo.

the streets of provo. 

they are straight. they make sense. 

they are full of hidden treasures. 

the houses are old. they have beautiful ornaments and overgrown gardens. 

i’ve walked the streets of provo. 

i have run the streets of provo. 

and i have biked the streets of provo. 

i love the streets of provo. 

and i will miss the streets of provo. 

i’ve lived on north canyon road. 

i’ve lived on 800 north, the street of brick oven. 

i live on 300 east, the street with all the stop signs. 

400 east does not have stop signs. 

so i take that one. 

now i know which one is university avenue and which is university parkway. 

now i know which is freedom boulevard and which is bulldog boulevard. 

the streets of provo are familiar. 

and now i leave. 

i say farewell to beloved center street with shops and cafes that come and go. 

i say farewell to 900 east which leads me up to where I want to be. 

i say farewell to 600 south with the train tracks i love so much.

i will never bike on my secret shortcut on 200 west (aka freedom blvd.). 

never will i walk 820 north to the i-15, passing provo college and kingdom hall. 

and never will i know my way around so easily as in provo. 

i want to explore more. 

i want to find more hidden treasures. 

more old houses. 

more over grown gardens. 

more treehouses. 

and more secret short cuts. 

i want to walk. to run. to bike. 

i want to wander. 

i want to see every alley. 

reach every crook and crevice. 

of the beloved streets of provo. 

provo bakery is on 200 north and 200 east. 

i just learned that. 

and now i leave. 

now i leave these streets of provo. 

to be loved and wandered by someone else. 

to be explored and discovered. 

the grid is memorized. and now i leave.