Graduation from SUU

I am soo happy that I graduated with my bachelors degree in marketing! Sorry this is a long post but I have lots to say after 4 years of working so hard, having fun and learning!

Some of my favorite memories from graduation weekend:

• the car ride with my parents, grandparents and Matt (all grandpas advice, playing catch phrase while Matt and Dad rescued the flat tire...)
• eating out for 4 meals in a row- A Taste of Hawaii, Sizzler (1st time there and I really like it!), Dennys and Carls Jr on the ride home
• taking pictures with all the girls in Alpha Phi that are graduating

• Taking tons of pictures in general (Grandma Dickson was there- what else could be expected. THanks grandma, mom and Matt- i love pictures! But I havent loaded them onto the computer yet so they are COMING SOON...)
• seeing old friends that I had tons of classes with over the past 4 years
• the Jazz winning! lets hope they can win a few against the Lakers
• having the support of the best fiance, parents and grandparents!
• and last but definitely not least...walking across that stage when they called my name (and not tripping) and Graduating! with my Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing!!

I LOVE Southern Utah University! I would seriously recommend it to anyone. The feeling down there and the campus are just beautiful. Some of my favorite memories include but are not limited to:

• Late nights (not having a curfew for the first time and then regretting it when I had to wake up the next morning for class)
• Running the 5K Dino Fun Run in St George with my roommates
• Bonfires, shooting guns, rock climbing, boating, hiking and living by the beautiful outdoors of Southern Utah
• Going to Price is Right in Cali before Bob Barker retired
• Having sisters in Alpha Phi (it's like a home away from home.

Alicia (my little), Me, Tamara (my big), Kaily (Kady's little), Kady (Alicia's little) and Mikella (Alicia's other little)The day Alicia found out I was her bigSally- my other little!

• Teaching as a ski and snowboard instructor at BrianHead (Skiing or snowboarding 3 days a week, getting paid for it, going to school 3 days a week for 2 years=great life)
• Anything we did in the snow- built ramps to practice snowboarding, pulled a sled behind the jeep after a huge snowstorm, sledding behind Cal Ranch, walking to school when it 14 below zero, snowmobiling and almost getting stuck. Call me crazy but I really do love the snow!
• Studying with Jonada and mostly just joining her and her husband for movies and dinner because we needed yet another break form studying
• Joining the best lifelong organization- Alpha Phi- where we make tons of great memories, friendships that last forever, sisterhood retreat, formals, Lake Powell, pudding wrestling, service projects (Sub for Santa, Relay for Life, 5K for womens cardiac care, Red Dress Gala- raising thousands of dollars for womans cardiac care) and activities (80s dance, greek week, cheering at all the football games even if we do lose almost every game, haunted hospital, games nights, Rush week, trash bash, family sleepovers, unity, powder puff, birthday dinners, everything else)

Amber, Sally, Michelle, Ashley, Me, Jennie and Sarah at Wingers

Me, Camille, Carli and Jenn at Unity

Sally, me and Amber at Casino Night
Me and Whitney after Pudding wrestling

Rush Week- Bid Day party

Kaily, Noel and Me at a Football Game

Powder PuffSkit night for Rush Week

Camille, Jennie and me at the SUU football gameMe, Alicia, Kady and Kaily at Red Dress Gala raising money for Women's Cardiac Care

• Living with some of my best friends over the years: Angela, me, Whitney and Camille our Freshman yearI lived with Kady, Alicia, Tiffany and Kassidy my junior and senior year

• Trips to St George to go to the temple, shopping and out to eat somewhere other than Chilis, Wingers or Applebees
• Study Abroad in Mexico for a semester = AWESOME!

• My marketing professor Wayne Roberts

• Placing in the top 12 nationally in a marketing competition (DEX) in California

Me, Beth, Kim, Coleen and Lisa

• Our team's (Katie, Charles and my) marketing project getting published and implemented after we met with the recruiting and retainment advisors and board of SUU
• Going to midnight showings of movies and Dennys at 2 AM
• Writing (while he served his mission in Brazil), dating and getting engaged to the love of my life- Matt Romero

• Going to class (notice its last on the list)

In college you learn more about life [relationships, budgeting (what to do when you run out of money= Get a Job!!), making ends meet, learning how to learn, getting involved, doing your part and developing your own personality and character] than you ever learn in your classes. Although I did learn a lot about business and marketing as well.

My favorite classes were statistics (good times with Alicia being told we are immature because we have facebook before it became so popular by you know who), Consumer Behavior (took this in Mexico- this was my all time favorite class), and American History (shocking cuz I hated history in high school).

My mom gave me great advice- take a fun class every semester to keep it exciting and get involved on campus. The semesters I did I was able to relax more in my other classes and have fun. I loved bowling, scuba diving, social dance, and rock climbing.

I would definitely suggest taking college classes in high school. It is totally worth it. And if you know a language test out! At least try. One thing I wish I would have realized before college- grades are somewhat important but really in the end they dont matter, the important part is learning the material and trying to remember it in a way that you will retain information. Sometimes I would learn for a test then dump the knowledge afterwards- dont do that. Most classes build off each other so do well, study hard, not to get good grades but to learn and because you want to!

Another thing I learned- sometimes I act like i hate hard things or I complain but honestly the classes that were the hardest (Business Law (studying with a dictionary next to me so I would know what my book was talking about), Managerial Accounting (study groups almost everyday with Jonada), Statistics (going to tutor lab everyday because I couldnt understand my teacher's accent), Strategic Management (pretend owning a shoe store and having to make huge decisions) and Quantitative Methods) actually turned out to be some of my favorite classes and the things I will need to use in my future careers. I can do hard things!

And some classes you just plain hate. And come home and cry after you get back every test. Even though you study for hours you still might almost fail. Like Macro economics and Managerial Economics. Im glad they are over. So glad.

I'm so thankful I have a job. Especially a job I like, with benefits, somewhat related to my degree. It's exciting. I loved my 4 years of college! But I'm glad its over and ready to move on. I got done in December but I'm glad I went back to Cedar City to walk. It gave me closure and the talks and stuff were inspiring. Wahoo!