lessons learned in chemistry 101

When I was in junior high I had a science class that made me never to want to take another science class. This became a major obstacle for me as I contemplated getting a bachelor of science degree. In 2008 I was very blessed to have Dr. Anderson for my chemistry teacher at BYU. He began each class with a spiritual thought, used iclickers to test our understanding in class, and had a wonderful TA. I made it through the class and did much better than I anticipated - learning that I really like chemistry and sorry that it took me so long to learn that.

Here are just some of the lessons I learned in Chemistry 101

1. Truths don't always make sense - but that doesn't mean they aren't true.
2. Experiments help you visualize what is happening and you can understand it better - or at least believe that it is true.
3. The more you study the more you learn - so be patient and keep studying!
4. There are things that exist that can't be seen with your natural eyes, but the evidence is there.
5. It is possible for things to change from one state to another but it requires action, the right positioning, or some pressure.
6. Sometimes we need extra help and should find someone else who knows how and wants to help.
7. Sometimes energy is released and sometimes it is absorbed.
8. Conversion factors help us get from where we are to where we want to go which can be applied lots of different ways.
9. There is power within each of us.
10. Sharing makes you stronger (think bonding)
11. All things seek to be balanced.
12. To be noble means that you are very stable, but that is very rare.
13. The one who created all things knows how it all works.

entering the social media world by reviewing the past

This has taken me awhile to get to - but I now have a blog! In fact, I have two. This blog is more personal and the other one - Kids Creating Art - is for a social venture I am working on - but first, I need to bring you up to date since I keep getting asked what my plans are after I graduate. Before I can answer that question, however, I need to tell you where I have been so you'll understand where I am at and then if you choose, you can continue the journey with me as I press forward.

Three years ago I felt strongly that I needed to return to BYU and finish the degree I had started 30 years earlier. I was accepted back as a full-time student with the plan to take 18 credit hours straight for two years and then return to Alaska where I would design properties from the subdivisions we were developing which would have hopefully been all sold by then. We packed up our household (with a lot of help - especially since in the midst of it my thyroid went crazy) and drove to Utah. It was great to be back at school, but I quickly discovered that it was not realistic to take 18 credit hours and that some of the classes I had taken previously needed to be retaken. Consequently this four-year program will take me .... four years. I am nearing the end, however, with only two more semesters left before I graduate with a bachelors in Landscape Management with an emphasis in design and a minor in business. It is difficult to adequately express what these three years have been like for me. Each semester brought a tremendous amount of new challenges and growth, awareness and stretching such as feeling my brain burn while doing accounting, chemistry and algebra, learning that I am passionate about pruning trees and starting businesses, writing a children's book called Isaiah's Garden, being able to communicate in Spanish, starting a social business called The Kids Creating Art Business Club, becoming a Jr. Master Gardener leader, working on another business called FloraWell and learning how to do landscape designs. With all this learning, however, what I feel I have really learned is how much I don't know and want to learn and that now I am just at the beginning of being able to learn and am ready to apply what I have been learning.

Before I can do that, however, I would like to share with you some of the things I have been learning - in my next entry.