Week 9 August 1st - 6th

So this week we wrapped up the internship. On Monday we had dry runs of our presentations. I learned a lot about presentations. A person can really tell how much time someone spent on making the presentation just by the look of it. I am glad that I worked hard on my presentation. There were just a few things that I needed to change after the dry run. I was happy that I didn’t have to redo my presentation and I just need to make a couple of slides clearer. I made the changes and then practice a couple of times and was ready for the real thing. On Tuesday we had the presentations at AIP in College Park. I don’t mind talking in front of people but I still was nervous. My mom and dad were able to come and listen which is always nice but I think that made me more nervous. Overall the presentations went great. My parents enjoyed them and that should say something since they aren’t really that into physics. I was interested in a lot of the other interns work because I had been hearing about their work all summer and finally saw what they did. I think my favorite day of the week was Wednesday when the interns came to AIP and talked about the internship and then I went on a tour of NASA Goddard Space Center. I had never been to NASA even though I grew up 20mins from it. I really enjoyed the information I learned during the tour and want to thank my fellow intern Carl Campbell for setting up the tour. It was a short week for the internship as it was the last one.
To finish up my week I moved out of my apartment in DC on Wednesday night. I had to because I started work at a summer swim camp the next morning. I worked at the Fairland Aquatic Center last summer as a camp counselor and they needed me again this summer to finish up for them. So I went from one job to another. I didn’t even get a break. I enjoy working with the kids but it is completely different from working at NIST. So I am working for a week at the camp and then get a break. It was a sad day to finish the internship. I really enjoyed the experience.

Branson, MO July 24th - July 31st

So I took a week long break from my internship to go to Branson, Missouri. One might ask, what is in Branson? My response before I went was NOTHING!!!! Then I went. My mom's side of the family the Becksteads had a family reunion. I wasn't excited about going to Missouri but was excited to see my cousins. But now I do recommend people that want to have a relaxed vacation to go to Branson. There is tons of stuff to do there. It is known for all the shows. There are tons of plays, musicals, concerts, and more.
For the family reunion we all stayed in this huge lodge. Staying all together causes for some fun times. My mom and her sisters planned the whole thing. We planned activities each day to do as a family. Each day that we were there we celebrated a different holiday. Saturday the 24th is actually a holiday for us Mormons it is pioneer day which is the day that the pioneers traveling west to arrive in Utah. So that was the day that all of us were traveling to Branson. On Sunday we celebrated Valentine's Day where we wrote everyone in the family a valentine. We also decorated heart shaped sugar cookies. Monday we celebrated PI day 3.14. We made some good pies. I sure love to eat pies. Also on Monday we went to the lake and rented a boat to go water skiing, wakeboarding, and tubing. It was sooo much fun. I could've been out there all day. I tried wakeboarding and I could not get up. I would've tried all day but I knew other people wanted to try. Though I did love tubing. On Tuesday was a day of rest. We celebrated Easter and had a good dinner. I went with some of my cousins and my grandparents and saw Noah the musical show. It was really a great show. At the end one of the people working at the theater got up and started talking about Christ and how we need to accept him in our lives. This is true but there is more to it than to just accept Christ. So my Grandpa being the man that he is said, "It was a great production! Too bad they don't know what they're talking about." After dinner most of us went Go-carting and then to a hollywood wax museum. Driving a go-cart was a lot of fun but the wax museum was a waste of money.
On Wednesday we went to Silver Dollar City, which is the amusement park in Branson. There were only a few good rides and they were on the opposite side of the park from each other. I rode each of them at least 3 times. But other than that it is a waste of time and money. It really isn't some place to spend a whole day at. But it was still a fun day and we celebrated everyone's birthday on this day. We got a pair of socks for our gift. I love that because I always need more socks. Thursday was supposed to be a day of rest but it turned into a busy and early day. I went golfing in the morning with my dad and cousins Stuart and Tyler. It was lots of fun. the last time I went golfing was 6 years ago so I was out of practice. I finally got the hang of it by the last hole. We golfed 13 holes. After that we went to a Zipline place. We rode 5 ziplines and walekd across 3 rope bridges. It was tons of fun. I love going fast and swinging through the air. My favorite memory of it was when my Aunt Sandra came into one of the stops backwards off the zipline and so she didn't slow herself down and completely took out our guide. It was hilarious. I will definitely have to go again sometime. After that we went home and enjoyed a great Thanksgiving meal. That evening we went as a whole family to the Chinese acrobat show. All I can say is ouch. It was great.
Friday might have been one of the best days because it was the best holiday. Christmas!!! My sisters and I made paper stockings for everyone and got people their favorite candy in the spirit of Santa Claus. Also, we went to the water park. That was amazing. There were so many good slides and I just love the water. It was a great way to end the family reunion. We had a great Christmas dinner and then exchanged gifts. I am so happy to be a member of the Beckstead family. I was not excited to come home. More I wasn't excited to have to drive all the way home. We drove out there but I was excited to get to Branson so it was different. I was not excited to get home except that meant I wasn't in a car when we did get home. My family got home Sunday night after stopping in Louisville on Saturday night and then getting back to Maryland Sunday. I had a great vacation and love seeing my extended family every chance I get. I can't wait until the next family reunion.

Week 8 July 17th - 23rd

Wow another week down. This is crazy that the end of the summer is just weeks away. This past week a lot was accomplished. I was able to collect more data than ever about the samples of Iron I am working with. To refresh people’s memory I am working with a thin film of iron on a silicon wafer. I etch it to make the thin film smaller and smaller. This week we made a 1% solution of the phosphoric acid to etch our samples. The 1% solution etched a lot slower and smoother than the 2 and 5 percent solution I had previously used. This made for cleaner data and the ability to see a trend easier. We determined that the etching had made the surface rough when we used the other concentrations that it gave us unusable data. On Tuesday I had to make graphs of the data to present to the person from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab who is collaborating with Dr. Nguyen on this project. At that same time he gave us a sample of meteorite for us to find the optical constants using the ellipsometer. That was cool to actually touch (with gloves on) a meteorite. I have collected all the data that I will collect. I am leaving on vacation today and so my next weeks work is to finish the presentation. I am excited for the presentations and look forward to seeing the accomplishments of the other interns as well as presenting what I have done.

Week 7 July 10th - 16th

This week was full of collecting data. I was able to get the data, understand exactly what it means, and analyze it. Some of the data was good and able to be used and the bad data can’t be used. The bad data is when there is a combination of iron and silicon shown on the data it can’t really be used. This shows us though when the iron has been etched off too much of the silicon surface. By seeing this we can determine how fast the iron comes off. The problem we are facing is that the iron is coming off too quickly and so we had to lower the concentration of the phosphoric acid solution to make it not etch as fast. This week Dr. Nguyen presented the data to his collaborator from John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. Everything is going well. We need more data to figure out what is happening to the iron specifically. The process of etching is what is causing a problem it causes the iron surface to become rough which isn’t good for us. We will see where we can get in another week.
The most exciting news of the week is I survived my first earthquake. Born and raised in Maryland I have never experienced an earthquake before. It was a little weird to feel my house shaking. I was staying at my house in Maryland and sleeping in the basement and above me I hear walking and then all of the sudden the house shakes and feels like vibrating at a resonance frequency (yes I did think that). Well on to next week.

Week 6 July 3rd - 9th

So this week was a short one well I guess by one day because it was Independence Day!! I do love the 4^th of July. It was a great experience to see the fireworks in DC. I have seen the fireworks down there twice before but for some reason I liked them better this year. For anyone who lives in Maryland and close to the city of Laurel should go every year to their fireworks show. It is on the Saturday closest to the 4^th every year and it is an amazing show as well. I have been every year since I can remember. That is pretty much all the extra fun I had this week besides work of course.
Work was very productive this week. I was just taking data with the ellipsometer. Just a little background if I have never mentioned it before. Every week at NIST there is a group meeting and the interns who work in the group present a little bit about their project and get more help from all the advisors and people in the group. It is really helpful because two brains are smarter than one. This week I presented some of my data that I had collected and analyzed and was excited about. Dr. Cheung one of the other advisors noticed in my data that something was wrong. I am trying to measure the index of refraction for this thin film of iron on silicon and I was measuring the index of refraction as less than1 which it should never be. The interesting thing is that I took the numbers off the ellipsometer and didn’t have to do any calculation so we think that we need to recalibrate the machine. I am grateful that the people here are wanting to help us with our work. I am learning a lot on how to think when analyzing data and where to look to see if my data make sense. My personal advisor Dr. Nguyen got back today from being out of town and we are working on fixing the problem. It wouldn’t be a physics problem if it worked on the first time. It is getting more exciting for me when I come to work because I am understanding more and more everyday and learning a lot in this experience. I am making good progress and excited to see what comes next.
Tonight I am eager to go to the Giants vs. Nationals game. I don’t really like either team but I love baseball. It will be a fun night with the other interns and SPS staff.

Week 5

This week one of my childhood dreams came true. Also, I made good progress on my project. My childhood dream was to work in a place where I had to wear a lot of different things to prevent me as a person contaminating anything around. I needed to go into a clean room to make a new sample. My advisor was out of town and so another man in my division Oleg who does a lot of work in the clean room took me over and showed me the place. It was the highlight of my week to see all the different things that go on in there and to see the process of how my samples are made. I had heard about sputtering but I didn’t really know how it all worked. My samples have a 200nm thick thin film of iron on silicon and so we use e-beam sputtering to put that thin of a layer on the silicon wafer. For those who don’t know what sputtering is it is a process where a metal or other substance being deposited on a target. In my case the iron is being deposited on the silicon target. The electron beam is shot at the iron and then the iron is excited and sputters onto the silicon. With the samples I use phosphoric acid to etch off a little bit of the iron. Earlier this week I found out that I cannot leave my sample in for longer than 30s or the whole layer of iron is off. This is good to know because then I can know what increments of time I etch the sample. I hope this week to make a lot more scans and try to find another acid to etch with to see if it will not etch it off so fast. This will allow us to get more scans because we can change the thickness of the sample at a smaller rate than we currently are. I am excited for what is coming and I can see good progress every week.
As far as me doing anything exciting this week, there were a couple of things. The barbeque at the Dylla’s was full of good food and good conversation. I was able to spend more time with the interns and meet more people that work at AIP. On Friday the other interns came to NIST and it was fun to see what else happens there besides the projects in my division. Also, it was nice to be able to show the interns where I work. I have high hopes for a good week ahead and will be waiting to fill everyone in on my progress.

Week 4

This week wasn’t filled with much. I really didn’t do a lot of work if anything. For the first few days I was trying to figure out how to solve for the optical reflection coefficient (R). That took a little bit of time searching different websites. I found multiple equations that were all derivatives of the each other. I kept getting wrong answers. It wasn’t until Thursday that we figured out that Microsoft Excel uses radians and not degrees and I had entered the angles in degrees and not in radians. I felt pretty blonde at that point but don’t we all at one point or another in our lives. Now back to earlier in the week, on Tuesday I was told that I was done working on the solar cell project because I had accomplished with what I needed to do by finding out the External Quantum Efficiency. Well it wasn’t until I got R correct that I was completely done. My advisor has been given money from NASA to work on a project. That is the new project that I am a part of. The new project is trying to optimize the index of refraction of a thin film of iron on top of silicon. I am going to change the thickness of the thin film by etching the pieces with phosphoric acid. The longer I leave the sample in the acid the thinner it will be. I have learned how to etch and use all the safety precautions. For the first time I have to wear a lab coat, protective eye wear, and protective gloves because I am dealing with an acid. To measure the thickness of the film I use an ellipsometer. I am excited for this project because I will have work to do that I can do by myself. I do not have to wait for my advisor to tell me everything to do. It will be a great experience and I am excited to be able to update everyone every week. That was this week at work.
As far as life in DC goes. I didn’t do much this week except go and see some memorials. I thought I had been to everything in DC as far as museums, monuments, and memorials. But, I hadn’t ever seen the FDR memorial. I think that is my favorite one now. Well he is my favorite president. It was fun to see and hang out with some of the other interns. I hope to do more next week to have a better update.

Week 3

This was an interesting week, I have to say. It started out pretty good. Dr. Nugyen and I looked like we were making progress with the project. We also thought we were going to become rich. So, my main goal of the project is to find the efficiency of the solar cell. The experiment was already to run our first scan of the cell and so we did. The data that was taken was very surprising. It was telling us that we had a solar cell that was 1000% efficient. Yay!!! I have solved cold fusion. Also, the energy crisis and people won’t care that BP spilled tons and tons and still counting amounts of oil. Well as you can see that getting something 1000% efficient is not able to be done just like the things mentioned above. So of course we did something wrong. Dr. Nugyen started looking at my calculations thinking that those were the cause but of course those are correct. I already knew what the problem was because I had figured out that the way we were measuring intensity was wrong. The logic was correct but he just put numbers in the code that were wrong and made it off by a factor of 100. He didn’t know that because he didn’t understand what I had told him before. Well we figured out the problem, I guess he figured out the problem. It wasn’t a big deal and just a few things needed fixing on the program and those were taken care of in one day. Now we are able to take new measurements and hopefully this time the data will be good data. I will be working with it this afternoon. A scan is going on now and so I will get the data later. I learned that things will never go right the first time. I hope that by next week I can update about the good data and find the real efficiency of the solar cell.

I also learned this week, to make sure I have money before I go somewhere to eat and to look above me before I stand up on the bus. You are probably wondering why I learned this. Well on Monday a few of the interns were going to go see a Star Trek movie in Crystal City. We decided to go to dinner beforehand and we found a Louisiana style barbeque called the Kings Street Blues. I had the ribs and they were fantastic I recommend it to anyone. But, as we got the check I reach into my purse to get my wallet and there wasn’t one. Luckily, Raina was able to cover my check and I paid her back the next day with cash from my second story about money. So Zack and I both work at NIST and since we are the only people we really know at NIST we sometimes eat lunch together. Zack came to my office and pulled out his bread it was moldy and so we decided to go to the cafeteria. I got there just to buy some fruit but only had my debit card and then I got to the cashier and it was cash only. So I was embarrassed and I had to go to the ATM to get some cash and the change I got was enough to pay Raina back. On Thursday I was getting off the shuttle bus in the morning and as I stood up my head hit a television screen it hurt and it got worse when I hit my head again when getting off a different bus in the afternoon. So I learned a few things this week that are helpful for life and my job. Overall it is going well. I am ready to work harder and get the things done that I need to do.

Week 2

Hey so I have been forgetting to post my week 2 entry about my internship so here it is.

Well it is the end of the second week. This was the week I adjusted to not getting any sleep and have a long commute to work. Though I also got to know specifically what I will be working on for the rest of the summer. That meant I had to read a lot this week to learn about semiconductors. I am learning a lot about the research world and how slow or fast things go. One day you do a lot of productive things and another you spend the whole trying to fix mistakes but by doing that you are just making more and then you look back and you weren’t at all productive. This was the theme of my week.

Monday was a productive day. I was able to run a few scans that collected data that matched the data my advisor had. This means I set up the experiment correctly. That made me happy because I was doing things right. Tuesday was not that productive as far as the experiment goes. All I did was read different power points explaining semiconductors. I also had to prepare a few power point slides to present in our division meeting on Wednesday. That brings me to Wednesday. In the morning each intern in our division had to give a 3-5 min presentation on the research so far. I was able to answer most of the questions I was asked so I felt happy. There are some interesting projects going on that I am excited to hear about every week. That afternoon Dr. Nguyen asked me to make a few scans. I tried for an hour to put the detector in the optical system. The detector was too big to be able to be placed where it needed to be. I was so frustrated that I wasn’t able to do what I was asked but the nice thing was that Dr. Nguyen is very patient and that he wasn’t able to do it either. This was when the week got really slow. Because we weren’t able to place the detector in the system Dr. Nguyen decided to just set-up the rest of the set-up for the experiment. This made it that I couldn’t really do much until Dr. Nguyen so yesterday and today were full of reading more and more.

This week I was able to venture out and see more of DC. Tuesday I went with Linda swing dancing at the Jam Cellar. It was sooo cool to be dancing in an old mansion that had the old hardwood floors. I definitely want to go back. Wednesday I didn’t see more of DC but I did get to spend more time with the other interns. A few of us got together and played Settlers of Catan. It is one of my favorite board games. Yesterday most of us went to dinner at The Red Lion. I had an amazing burger and will go back to try a different burger some other time. What was funny was watching 8 physics majors trying to split up the bill. One would think that people that can do calculus in their heads can do simple addition and subtraction. I am excited to see the monuments tonight. I have seen them multiple times in my life but it will be fun to see them at night with the other interns. Well until next week.

Missionary Experiences

Attending BYU-Idaho doesn't allow me to have many missionary experiences. Yes, I can have missionary experiences with the other students even if they are a member but it isn't the same as when you get to talk to a person who doesn't know much or the things that they have been told aren't correct. That is why I love coming back home to the east coast where there are few Mormons.

My internship this summer has me living in DC with the other interns which is a great experience. Friday night we went to the Einstein Fellows Reception which is a bunch of high school science teachers that get an opportunity to spend a year on capitol hill. There was a little food there just some fancy stuff that I don't like so we were all hungry afterward. One of the interns Shane was like I want a burger and a beer. I was in for a burger and so were the rest of the interns. We decided to go to the Froggy Bottom Pub. I of course don't drink because 1. I'm 20 and 2. I don't want to. While we were there one of the other interns started talking about how she had a minor in religion and I started talking about the required religion courses that I have to take out at school. I then said the classes I had taken and we got talking about the Book of Mormon. It was a neat experience because the interns didn't have to agree with me but they were respectful enough that they asked more questions and let me talk.

Also, just the day before I was sitting down on the Metro riding it back home and a lady sat down next to me. I looked down and noticed a CTR ring on her finger and I was like she has to be Mormon there is no one else that would wear that than a Mormon. I turned to her and said I like your CTR ring. She looked confused and I was not going to say anything else because it looked like I had just embarrassed myself. She says, "Oh my ring, I have never heard the letters in English before." I asked her where she was from and she is from Brazil so she only had heard them in Portuguese. I got talking to her and it was nice to be sitting next to another member of the church. She had such a great spirit about her and taught me more about the importance of the temple. She travels a lot she said but where ever she is at she finds the temple she can go to. She said that the most important thing that she carries around with her is her temple recommend. That is such a great example. I was excited to meet her even though I couldn't understand everything that she said and vice versa.

Well I hope that I can be a good missionary this summer and hope that everyone else will take every opportunity that they get to do the same.

Week 1 as an Intern

My last post was about me getting a job at BYU-Idaho. I worked there for 6 weeks but while I was there I got offered a position as an intern at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through the Society of Physics Students. This internship has lots of bonuses than other internships. The first is that it is paid. Second, I get to live in DC. Third, I am close enough to home that I can come home easily. The program requires me to write a weekly update to the people that hired me because they aren't seeing me work. I decided to keep everyone else updated that had been asking me that I would post my weekly update as a blog post. Below is my first update.

So, this was the first week, meaning it was very disorganized. I moved into the apartment and am trying to adjust to life in Washington D.C. The metro is an easy system to use and so it wasn’t hard finding my route to work. Over the summer I will be working at NIST. Though that is not where I started my week. On Tuesday, June 1^st all interns reported to ACP for orientation in the morning. After meeting people who work in different places in the building and being told what a great opportunity I have as an Intern, I was taken to NIST. That afternoon, I met John Suehle who is the group leader and the management who I blame things on. He gave Zach, the other SPS intern, and I a little knowledge of what we will be working on. After the brief introduction I met my supervisor for the summer, Dr. Nhan V. Nguyen. I talked to him about the basics of ym project but not a lot. I was assigned to a desk but had computer difficulties and am currently at a computer in the lab that I am going to be working in. The people at NIST are very nice and helped me out when I asked questions about where I needed to go at the end of the day to catch the shuttle for the Metro.

Day 2 started out waiting to be trained in safety so that I can actually work in a lab. The training wasn’t going to happen until 1:30pm so I had time to kill. I sat around and had an early lunch at the cafeteria which is way too expensive that I will be bringing a lunch with me from now on. The training went on forever but there are lots of safety hazards when working in a laboratory that we need to know about. I am done with training now and am able to start actually working on the project.

So when I came in yesterday I was actually able to learn more about the project. My project is to find external quantum efficiency (EQE) of a photovoltaic device. Currently, I am trying to calibrate a silicon diode detector so that I can use that to measure the intensity of the light at certain parts in the experiment set-up. Pictures of the set-up will be up next week. So I was able to run one scan yesterday to measure the intensity but haven’t been able to run anymore or do any data analysis. After my first scan was complete another person need the cord we are using to power our light source.

As far as doing anything in DC besides work, I haven’t adventured out yet. I am from Maryland and my younger sister graduated from High School on Wednesday and we had family in town and so I have gone home to visit every night. I am excited for the weekend and next week to learn more about DC and see what is available.

Patience

So school got out for me about a week ago. At this time I had 4 days until my housing contract was up and I would be homeless. I had no idea what I was doing for the summer. I had applied to multiple internships and had been rejected from all of them. I was out of ideas of what I was going to do. So I decided that it might be time for me to talk to my adviser on Thursday. After talking with him. I had an option I could stay in Rexburg and work on a senior project. I was excited because it was doing something I was interested in. The problem was that I would have to find a place to live with short notice and no money. That is a problem. Luckily, I called up the Garner Family who were storing my belongings over the summer and asked if I could stay with them. They said yes. So problem solved. I am glad that throughout this whole situation I had remained calm and not went out and bought a flight home or somewhere else. I am glad that things worked out. I knew that something would if I just waited. Most schools don't get out in the beginning of April and so some places aren't expecting that students are needing to know about internships before May. Getting out in April is one of the reasons I love BYU-Idaho. But not knowing what I was going to do and possibly being homeless is not a situation that I like.

I knew that things would work out. And they did. I had faith that something would come up. I wasn't just waiting around. I was still actively looking for different possibilities for the summer and wasn't just going to wait around for something to come to me. For things to work out in my life I need to be actively working and I can't wait for something big to come find me I have to find it first. This same attitude is true with the gospel and receiving answers to prayers. I would not get an answer one if I don't ask and two if I don't do all I can in the situation. I need to be studying and praying and going to church. These things will have me in the right mind set to receive an answer. Also, in receiving answers you have to be patient. The answer might come right away with a big bang so you recognize it or it can come later after you have been patient and doing the things one needs to be doing.

Patience is a virtue that not a lot of people possess. I cannot say that I am the best at patience but I sure try hard. In this world people are always looking for the fastest easiest way to do things but maybe the fastest isn't always the easiest. My laptop is a very slow machine and takes forever to load. It still works fine and can do everything a normal computer can do. I have learned patience from it. I don't need a new laptop of course I would like one that is faster but does it really matter. I think not. Because I was patient I was blessed by the Lord and was able to find a job and housing for the summer. I can see the hand of the Lord in my life everyday.

Delayed Tests

As by reading this most will conclude that I did by going to my conference miss a week of school as stated earlier. By missing that week of school I missed my lab test for anatomy and physiology. I wasn't too worried about this test because there are less muscles in the body than all the little parts of each and every bone of the body. The only thing I wasn't looking forward too was the test questions that are on the cadavers aka dead people. I don't really like looking at dead people and it has pretty much grossed me out the 2 times in lab that I had to see them. The only positive thing is that the questions they could ask us from looking at the dead bodies are the easier muscles to know and see so it shouldn't be that hard and shouldn't take a lot of time.

I still have not taken the test which is why I am writing this post. I have been a little stressing with the timing of this test and my teacher has been no help until 3 o'clock this afternoon. I have been asking him all week when the test was going to be so that I wouldn't miss it. He never knew and just kept saying Thursday. Well, it was Thursday technically right now its Friday. But, anyways I was a little worried that I was going to miss it because I hadn't heard anything and it was after 3pm. So I called my teachers office and talked to him and he said it is NEXT Thursday. I jumped for joy because I needed a little more time to study. He then emailed me 30mins later and said it is changed to Tuesday at 515. That is worse than Thursday but is still fine. It shouldn't take that long and I'll hopefully get an A.

I wasn't prepared for the test and neither were the teachers and so I was blessed that the test got delayed.

Devotional

So yesterday was Tuesday meaning that it is Devotional here at BYU-Idaho. The whole campus shuts down and takes a break from academic learning to be spiritually taught. Devotional is one thing that I really like about this campus because it shows that we can still take a break from our studies while putting the Lord first and we will be blessed. The speakers chosen every week are there for me and the rest of the students.

Yesterday's devotional was one of the best I have heard so far in my 6 semesters. I was blessed to here such a humble man speak. (also got a little nap in) Kevin Myasaki was just the man I needed to hear yesterday. Brother Myasaki serves as the Dean of Students. He recently lost his wife and that is what he talked about. He taught that as we put our trust in the Lord and align our lives with Heavenly Father's purpose we will be able to know what he wants us to do. He taught about what true love is. As we love God before anyone else we will be able to love the people in this life that we want to love the most including our future or current spouse. In my case, future spouse since I am not married.

A major thing for every one in this life is marriage. I have not found "the one" yet. I am perfectly fine being single right now. I know my time will come. So a lot of the devotional addresses will stress the importance to get married. Most single students do not like those devotional addresses because they already know that they need to get married. The thing is that we wouldn't have to have the message be about marriage if all of us were married so there are still people that have not learned. I personally like the messages. It gives me a different perspective every time. It makes me excited for the day I will get married. I don't think that I will ever get tired about the messages about marriage.

I am grateful for the opportunity to attend this university. I am grateful that the church stresses education enough to make affordable schooling. I can see that it has been a blessing in my life.

Roommates

Being gone for a week of school can really put me behind. I woke up early to catch up on all the work I had missed. So I was exhausted and had a big test to take today. I wasn't ready at all but put in as much time as I could to be ready for it. I walked down in nasty slush, sleet, snow mixture falling from the sky. It was not a good day really. I was just trying to get through. As I got to the testing center and then remembered that I forgot my I-card. They won't allow me to take the test unless I have m I-card so its kinda important. I had no idea what to do because by the time I would get home and get back I would have 10 mins to take the test before my next class. That would not be enough time.

So Kourtni, my roommate, came to my rescue. I gave her a call and luckily she was on her way home and has a car so she was able to bring me my wallet. I was relieved that I was able to get my I-card and that I had a great roommate who would bring it to me. I was really blessed with amazing roommates through out college. I wouldn't have been able to survive college if I didn't have good roommates. They don't have to be your best friends but it doesn't really hurt if they are. It is hard when you don't get along with your roommates. I have had those struggles but luckily the problems that I have had were solved quickly. It is fun to look back and see how much I have changed and learned because of roommates. They are your home away from home and there needs to be harmony in the home.

I have grown to love all my roommates over the past 6 semesters, that adds up to over 20 different ones. This has been a blessing in my life.

Church

So as seen by the date it is Sunday which means church. I have always loved going to church ever since I was a little girl. Though most of the time you sit in sacrament meeting and bored out of your life because you don't understand what people are talking about because we are too young to understand. Well today I understood what they were talking about and enjoyed every minute of it.

The lessons that were taught really touched me. They made me reflect on my life and the different things that I have gone through. When reflecting I can see all the things that have been made possible because of the church and my knowledge of the truth. Here at school we have the opportunity to learn by the spirit which helps me to retain more information and do better on all my exams. It is great to know that there is someone out there that wants the best for me and will help me to get as far in life as I want to go. Every week at church allows me to see that.

I love church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the knowledge that I have gained and the perspective on life that that knowledge gives me.

Great Friends

All of my life I have had great friends. Most of the time I choose friends over family. I know it shouldn't be that way but when I have awesome friends that like to be around me and want to spend time together it is a lot better than being at home watching TV by myself. I have a lot of TFs (True Friends) that would do anything for me. It is great to know that I have people like that.

Yesterday I got back to Rexburg, ID where I go to school after the week long physics conference. That means that I didn't have any food at my apartment because the things would go bad if I had gone before I left. None of my roommates were home even though not all of them would've tken me grocery shopping. After trying to find some of my friends that live close to me to take and I couldn't I knew who to call. It was just after 9pm and so a little late for a married couple with a baby but I called up Blaine and him and his wife Katie were willing to take me. I met Blaine 2 years ago in one of my physics classes. At this time he was dating who would end up to be his wife Katie. I became pretty good friends with him. Then we started to tutor physics together and became closer friends. This year we have had a few more classes together and I have become really good friends with him and his wife and I love their adorable daughter Hailey. She is soo cute. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have had to be their friend. I like to know that they are willing to do anything for me and I for them. It will be a friendship that will last at least with Christmas cards every year.

The funny thing about friends is that they don't last forever. There are a few friendships that can last and do. But I never thought that I wouldn't be keeping in touch with my best friends all through my school years. Dani Snyder, Emily Ulrich, and Natalia Sanchez and I were pretty much inseparable in elementary school, and middle school. High school we were still pretty close and played soccer together but that is when we started to go our separate ways. And now we are at 4 different universities when we had planned to go to college together in middle school. Life makes thing change and I am just grateful for the time I was close friends with them. The thing about friendship is that for it to survive both people need to put in the effort to survive.

When friends are willing to take me to the grocery store even with a screaming baby I know that they are my friends. Also, it shows me that Heavenly Father wanted me to be friends with them. Heavenly Father knows that I need a strong support from my friends and so he puts people in my path to be there for me. I love Him and Thank Him for everything.

Frogger

So I forgot to write yesterday and so today's blog is a combination for today and yesterday. So I had the opportunity to see a friend from school yesterday named Whitney. It was fun to see her and have her show me a little part of Portland. A friend of hers drove with her, Whitney's friend was not a member of the church. I haven't really hung out with a non-member for awhile because I go to school in a 99% Mormon town. It was good to be able to talk a little about the church and be a good example to non-members. I always love to talk about the church and have missed the opportunities that I had in high school. It was great to be a member missionary again.

So why is this post called Frogger? Well I was about to play Frogger with me being the frog and I-5 is the road. The 2 other people I went to Portland with that are from my school went to downtown Portland last night to enjoy the scenery. The thing though was that our hotel is not in downtown and usually we drive back but last night the professor that we came down with had the car and was visiting his family in the area. So the nice thing is that there is good public transportation in Portland and we were able to take this Tram train to a stop that is just across the highway from our hotel. At first we didn't see the path and just saw that we needed to cross over the highway. Bryce said well we get to play Frogger. I love that game but wasn't excited at all to put my life on the line just to get back to the hotel. Luckily, there was a safer way and this is when I thought that Heavenly Father's hand opened up my eyes to be able to see the alternate path.

As far as today goes, all I can say is that we drove safely and that I am still alive. Today was the last day of the Physics Conference and then we drove half way back and stopped in Caldwell, ID. So I was sitting in a car all day pretty much. I finally started to do homework and was able to get some necessary things done that I have put off until the last minute. So it hasn't been an eventful day but I am grateful that I am alive and doing well. I am well enough to go to school and learn to become wiser. It is a great thing to have my health. Without health I don't have anything.

I know that the Lord loves me and is there for me. It gives me a different perspective for my day when I am thinking about trying to see what the Lord has had His hand in that day. I am grateful I was born to parents who love me and love the church.

Have I seen the hand of the Lord in my life today?

So my English teacher gave us the assignment to write at least 4 times a week for the next 3 weeks of school about how we have seen the Lord's hand in our life. I decided that I would instead blog about it. I am more technology based than paper and pen based.

I am half way done with my trip to Portland, Oregon right now. I can't believe the week is almost over and that I haven't really done much. It is weird to be at a Physics Conference and see that there are more people out there than the 20 physics students I know at BYU-Idaho. To me it was like coming from Maryland and being the only Mormon in my high school then going to BYU-Idaho where everyone is Mormon. Everyone here is a Physicist. I know such a weird population. I am grateful for this opportunity and know that I would've not been able to do this on my own. But, this isn't what I wanted to even really talk about.

This is my first time to Portland and haven't seen the area at all. I also forgot the people I know that live in this area. One of them happens to be my Pioneer Trek parents from when I was a teenager back in Maryland. They moved shortly after the Trek and I haven't kept in touch all that well. Thanks to facebook I am able to stay connected. By my Trek Ma writing on my wall I was able to remember that they moved out here. Though I won't be able to see them this trip I might be able to see them in the future. Talking with them made me flashback to the pioneer trek I went on with them. I sure wasn't able to get through that alone and I know that because of the great "parents" I had I was able to get through. This wasn't by accident either. I know the Lord had his hand in my life when the leaders put together the groups. I love to remember these things and see where I have come from different situations.

The Lord loves me and everyone else as well. I am grateful for His help in my life.