Dictating My Undergraduate Career

My mother recently commented to my girlfriend that "things just tend to fall in Andrew's lap." I don't know why they do. They just do.

This has been a good week. It started out last Wednesday with BYU e-mailing me, telling me that a budget surplus had granted me an additional $1,025 of scholarship money this semester. But Friday night was the real shocker.

With graduation looming in 15 months, I decided that my year-long honors thesis should likely begin. Over dinner conversation with some friends, the idea of ethical development in business students was raised as a potential thesis. I liked it. I ran with it. I contacted a half dozen professors in the Marriott School and hashed out ideas with them. One agreed to be my thesis adviser with several more suggesting they would like to play a role in my project.

One of the professors I met with recently had dinner with a Marriott School Associate Dean. The Dean and the Marriott School had tested students using an ethical/moral reasoning test at entrance and graduation from the school for the past 2-4 years. He had no idea how to crunch the data, nor did he have anyone to crunch the data. The professor suggested that I do it. Friday, I received an invitation from the professor to meet with the Associate Dean.

I just finished my meeting about 45 minutes ago. I met with Associate Dean Thompson and fleetingly with Dean Cornia. They were thrilled to have a "win-win" situation. It's so much of a win that they would like me to work for the Dean's office on this and other related projects for the foreseeable future. What a blessing. I can not detail the multiplicity of significant blessings poured out upon me recently by a benevolent Providence. To do the project I will be coordinating with the faculty as a whole, doing more primary research, learning critical research computer programs, and doing a crash course on what they've done so far. I feel utterly incapable to do the task before me. I hope my inner mettle will prove equal to the challenge.

This post's humorous link (don't mess with an over-worked, over-stressed graduate student):
http://www.switched.com/2008/11/14/why-you-should-never-try-to-steal-a-law-students-laptop/?rss

The Beginning

A friend approached me several months ago and suggested I start a blog. She noted my expression of strong, but (attemptedly) educated, opinions on a wide variety of topics. Expressing those opinions in an open forum, she thought, might prove interesting to a select few. Following that advice, I started this blog but never posted anything, reasoning that those who wanted life updates would seek it themselves. I figured that my opinions were redundant among the expressive thinkers in the community, nation, and blogosphere. Above all, watching the woes of others who had their words misconstrued and distorted made me fear what the future could bring decades down the road. Such opinions from collegiate years tend to bite people in the rear end.

Despite these internal objections, I have become anxious enough about contemporary issues to air updates and opinions. With the recent campaign season and my inability to keep tabs on dozens of great friends, I felt strongly to start. Ensuing blogs will cover various topics like my personal thoughts on Proposition 8, the recent election, various moral and ethical issues, clever youtube videos and other links, as well as the occasional update on my life for those who actually care to read. Before I post anything political, know that I'm a political moderate, and like to have fun with both parties and their frontmen.

Pop in occasionally. I'll make sure to make this an interesting read.

Today's video comes from Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPBvFXf9Q2U