the brimhall.

I love Homecoming Week. I think I forgot that, or it took me a few years to finally come around to that idea. I love the Opening Ceremonies, and the game on Saturday night, and all of the unabashed love for this university that comes in between.

And lately, I've been starting to remember the things that I love so much about this place even more. This is probably because my time here is running short, but today it all came full circle. Let me tell you more about this.

The honoree of this year's Homecoming festivities is President George H. Brimhall, fourth president of BYU. With that in mind, let's rewind to the Freshman version of myself 4 years ago...

A lot has changed... no more bangs, I have almost completed a degree in the major that I couldn't seem to pick, and I've had so many life changing experiences that would make the current version of myself almost unrecognizable to the high school version of Megan. 

Back then, I walked in wide eyed and timid to The Daily Universe. Housed in the Brimhall Building on the south of campus, I found myself in a giant desk with lots of upperclassmen ready to ask questions that I didn't have answers to. I sported an oversized floral backpack that I'd still be proud to sport if I hadn't worn it out within a year, and a gullibility that died off when I learned how to respond to Rich. I met people that year that impacted the way the rest of college would go for me. I had a home away from home in the Brimhall. I went to space camp with these people, took emergency Smoking Apple lunch breaks with boss, participated in the giggle gang, and even wrote a bit for the paper by the end. The newsroom was a place to work on homework, discover memes and other pointless YouTube videos, and to get so much life advice from friends and mentors, that it rarely felt like a drudgery to go to work.

It was a hard to say goodbye when I finally had to go, but the Brimhall had given me what I needed. When I left those doors, I had a different backpack, more experience under my belt, and a better idea about the kind of person that I wanted to be. I also had a REAL Twitter account... but that's another story in and of itself. I knew how to care about the layout of a newspaper, and more importantly, I knew more about how to care for people. It seems insignificant to people who never worked there, but for those who did- you understand.

So, thank you Brimhall for bringing me the confidence that would ultimately send me across the country and across the world. You gave me a foundation for a college experience that seems to be drawing to a close all too unexpectedly. I'll forever smile when newsprint rubs off on my fingers, when I hear the sexy sax man, or when I drive by the duck pond fearing that one of them might make it into my apartment...