Well Being back in school is much harder than I had remembered but it is good. Utah Valley University is quite the unique experience. I enjoyed my time at a LDS school (BYU-H, go Seasiders!) and would not choose anything different, but the experiences I am having here is remarkable. By all means there is still quite the large LDS population but from many more backgrounds than I have imagined. Beyond that without the regulations placed upon students, the free flowing of experience and different lifestyles from one individual to the next is quite remarkable (something I have never really experienced in such open fashion before).
I have meet some of the coolest people and enjoyed talking and trading ideas. There is still so much to learn from people who are from the US. The diversity that was at BYU-H was unique but very different than the diversity from people who are directly tied to the US.
I guess that's kind of my theme for this post. For the first time in my life I am really experiencing changes of seasons and that is making me really appreciate Hawaii (because of the temperature drop) and also discover a new natural beauty that Hawaii rarely would have (pending where you are). Seeing the changes and the diversity of people that are here has made me rethink my original views of Utah. There are still many people here that fall under the "person from Utah" category, but there is so much more if you get out of certain places and ignore the stereotypes and focus on finding the unique people. One other thing to think about is how Utah has the highest percentage of Polynesians outside of Hawaii in the US (1% isn't too bad).
I still have my issues with drivers here and some people I can just feel the Utah culture. But as an overall perspective I have changed and have come to see diversity in one of the (at one point) least diverse places in the US.
