The average cost of attendance at a private university in the United States is $30,094 per year--and that’s just for tuition and fees (no meal plan or housing included). This figure is not the product of bloated budgets and money hungry men in power. This is the actual amount of dollars it takes from each enrolled student to run a private (not government funded) university. The $4,940 we pay in tuition to attend two semesters is still a fair amount of cash to come up with for the average student at BYU Hawaii, but we have to keep in mind that the other $25,000 per year, or $112,500 per nine semesters is not just twinkled away in the school budget. The money has to come from somewhere. Believing in the potential of the youth of the LDS faith, our leaders are investing tithing money in us--in you and me.
Why do they do it?
I myself often succumb to the less appealing aspects of gaining an education. The semester starts with my enthusiasm high in anticipation of the new things I will be able to learn. Two weeks into the semester that same spark seems to have been smothered out of me with long readings, group projects, eternally looming due dates and any hope of a social life rapidly slipping through my fingers. Somewhere in the mix of deadlines, due dates and grades I often lose sight of what got me into the game in the first place.
Why did I come to school?
Because I want to do great things. I want to, and I can.
College is every post adolescent’s playground of opportunity and obligation. We have obligations to family, to teachers, to God and ourselves, but somewhere in all of that sense of duty there lies within us a desire to be great. To do great things. We want to fix the broken things, change the unfair things, build up the not-yet-imagined things, and become the leaders we ourselves may be lacking--and we can. We have been given that opportunity, and I contest that God wants us to take it.
Now, you likely clicked this link thinking this piece was about the process so many of us undergo as LDS young single adults. On all of our to-do lists we have written, “look for eternal companion”. For some, this aspiration takes precedence, and it certainly caught your attention in the headline of this piece. We’ve all heard the jokes and jabs about the girl who’s working for her MRS degree or the recently returned Elder who’s got the ring in his pocket, ready to pop the question to any worthy woman, but I’ve come face to face with some of these individuals in the flesh and this trend is disconcerting. Marriage is Godly, a commandment, important and a worthy endeavor, but it is not the only endeavor.
“Verily I say, men (and women) should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27)
So my message today is get up. Get out. Get involved. Say goodbye to Netflix and take a break from YouTube. Not very long from now this phase of your life will be over and you will have a collection of skills, connections, accomplishments and memories. This collection will be whatever you have made it. My advice? Get engaged with the world around you, because this is your moment. Take it for all it’s worth.