The End of my World? Goodbye RHA.

One of the biggest fears I had before my first semester at BYU was that I would be just another student lost in a sea of people. I was very involved in high school and I was fairly well known (a polite way to say "popular"). I had made a pretty big name for myself- I was very involved on the seminary council, I was the choir president, I was one of the principal accompanists in the area, and I had good friends in just about every clique imaginable (to name just a few). Life was good. But now I was giving all of that up to go to Utah's largest university in the state's second largest city. It was almost more than this Willardite could handle.

However, two weeks before I was to move to Provo, I got a recruitment email in "My Housing Account" from the Residence Halls Association. I knew nothing about RHA, but I saw this as a way to get involved and quickly sent off my application as soon as I could. A few days after moving down to school, I got a call from Janice/Jennifer (come to find out her real name was Jana) calling to set up an interview for the Residence Halls Association. I was so excited! I showed up to the interview in my suit (come to find out I was the only one that did so) and everything went well.

That next week was a week filled with intense anticipation. I can remember being extremely stressed about whether or not I would make it on the counsel (I needed to take 15 credits for my scholarship and I ended up having to drop my German class, which put me at 12.5 credits; adding the RHA class would bring me back up to where I needed to be). I can remember standing at the bus stop on campus and worrying about it. I said a quick prayer and I received the strongest reassurance in return. I just knew that I would make it on counsel. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt and I'll never forget that feeling. I felt much more calm after that.

I'll never forgot the day I got the phone call saying I was on the council. I was back home in Brigham City for Peach Days and was hanging out with Kourtney and Mandi on Main Street. My phone rang and I answered it.
"Hi, this is Jana with RHA."
"Hi Jana."
"I was wondering if you would like to be our Vice President."
"Sure!"
I was ecstatic! I literally jumped up and down in the middle of the street. My prayers had been answered. This was the beginning of a life- changing experience.

It was because of RHA that I met some of my closest college friends, Mary Vanderholm, Jessica Borup, Brian Stoll, and Jordan Miera. It would take me hours to write down all of the memories I've made with them: cabin trips, dying my hair, scary movies, getting Naked at Macey's, Celine Dion... the list goes on and on. They became such a stable part of my life and I'll never be able to thank them for all that they have done for me.

It was also because of RHA that I made good friends in schools all over the nation. Katie Boraz, Jaime Ingrisano, Trey Quiller... not to mention all of my wonderful friends at USU- they've all had such an impact on my life. There are so many incredible, amazing people that I never would have met if I hadn't responded to that recruitment email. Through RHA, I traveled to nine different conferences in five different states. I'm a pro at flying.

RHA provided me with jobs: RHA President my sophomore year and NRHH President my junior year, as well as a Conference Assistant last sumer. I have so many amazing coworkers who have become such dear friends. Kara Lohberg, Brittany Ralph, Jana Purcell, Annette Harris.... there are so many others. Not to mention the incredible advisors I have been able to work with: Ben Hess, Dan Chandler, Kevin Borkman, Jay Brown... even the Director of BYU Housing, Julie Franklin. All of them have helped to mentor me and guide me in the right direction. I am so blessed to know them.

But probably most importantly, RHA has also helped me change my perception of the world. When I was in high school, I was a little bit... narrow minded. And maybe slightly self-righteous. My beliefs were right and anybody who thought differently was wrong. My parents took my siblings and me to Disneyland when I was about 15 and I was shell shocked. My mom still makes fun of me because I made such a big deal of all of the "scary people" I saw.
However, working with RHA, I have discovered that we're all human beings who are just trying to do what we all think is best. Gays, Catholics, Jews, people with tattoos and piercings... they're all children of God and He loves them all equally. I have become so much more accepting of others and I've learned to love meeting new people. I've learned to love getting out of my comfort zone and to look at things with a different perspective. I've learned to love others and to not judge. After all, how do I feel when people judge me?

And so now I am sitting here in the same apartment I've lived in for the past two years, thinking about what my life would be like if I hadn't responded to that email, or if Jana Purcell hadn't selected me as her vice president. I would probably be a completely different person. I probably wouldn't know Jessica Callahan or Blake Fisher, I wouldn't have as many certificates and awards, and I would have missed out on an incredible opportunity to learn and grow. I will always feel grateful to RHA and will do everything in my power to help it succeed.
So goodbye late night freshmen dances. Goodbye purchase requisitions and council rooms. Goodbye lederhosen, sneaking food away from dances, and laughing so hard with coworkers about throwing salsa in someone's eye. Goodbye BYU taffy. Goodbye random trips in HS10. Good riddance bids. Goodbye leadership retreats and Tucano's. Goodbye NRHH, NACURH, and IACURH. Goodbye afternoons spent building floats with Jay Brown. Goodbye RHA. And thanks to everyone who has made my RHA and college experience what it has been thus far. I look forward to a new chapter of my life off campus.