April 27, 2014

     The first week of school for me was great; although, the double date did not work out. My first week of my construction management has introduced me to a new world. My patriarchal blessing says that I have an ability to absorb and retain knowledge easily, so it is not overwhelming. A class had some tests to show the faculty the knowledge that I started out with at the beginning of my study, and I have no clue what they were talking about on these tests. All I could use to get some answers right is logic and testing skills. I was informed yesterday to my surprise that Brigham Young University -  Idaho has the nation's second most effective construction management program. I feel so blessed to have been led to the opportunities here.

    

The first class that I had was an introductory course to Building Information Modeling. The teacher would throw out a lot of construction terms that I have never heard of, but the class is about teaching us how to use REVIT, a Building Information Modeling program, so I can keep up. One new friend is from my introduction to architecture class. He seems to be destined to be a great friend, since I sat next to him on the first day of another construction class that we have. I have a lot of the same classmates. In fact I have the exact same class schedule as one of my classmates, we have ARCH 100, ARCH 190, CONST 120, and B 101 together. I have special experiences that I have to write about one classmate. Before I start that paragraph, on Friday I felt pretty good because he said that he was adding the BIM class, and I was able to practice my teaching skills. The class had a lab, and I asked about a couple things that I missed during the class. After the teacher answered my question, my classmate came in the class to get caught up, since he joined the class late. His name is Patrick. The teacher doesn't really like saying things over and over, so he had me teach him. I enjoyed it, for teaching is one of my favorite activities. Teaching cements what you know firm in your knowledge.

     I first met the classmate in my ARCH 100 class, since we both habitually sit in the first row in the classroom. He was very personable, inviting me to sit next to him. One may say that he talks a lot, and I won't go too deep into it; however, he sounds like he has everything figured out. The things that he said that he was planning to do did not make sense according to my knowledge of how to school was run though. He was very open. When he found out that his academic hopes was not going to work out, I shared with him what I learn, since I basically did the same thing. He was originally thinking about getting an associate's degree in architecture technology and a Bachelor's degree in art. He wants to design and build sets for cinematic productions, but I knew that he has to get a master's degree. I just casually said that he can get a bachelor's degree in art and get a master's degree in architecture. My advice was taken sincerely, and it helped him. In our next ARCH 100 class during the time set apart for a spiritual thought, he spoke about the revelatory process, and he even mentioned me as having a important role in the process of his decision on his graduation plan. We are good friends. He is even in my semester long group.