Beginnings

Sometimes this whole college thing is really difficult.  You feel awkward as a freshman, and you wonder around the library hoping that where you're going is ok.  Even though you know it won't actually happen, you're worried you will approach a door that says, 'No Freshman Allowed' and have to awkwardly slink back to another uncomfortable chair.

Today, I attended the inauguration of a new BYU president.  It makes me happy to think that the new president is a freshman too.  He's trying to figure it out, and part of him is probably worrying about seeing signs places that are closed to him, or maybe so ingrained in routine that he can't touch them.

(Fun side note: The entire First Presidency was there and so were a few other apostles from the Church. Amazing).

The new president talked about going to the mountains, trying to excel, and pushing forward to new areas-a very apt address for this time in my life.

So yes, sometimes beginnings are yucky.  They are painful, uncomfortable, tear-jerking, and depressing.

Yet, they are also beautiful in a stark, fresh way, that it makes me smile.  I am truly having a new beginning, something I remember longing for in high school and middle school.  New faces, new rooms, a new school.  Everything is new.

And I am so profoundly lucky to be experiencing one right now and to make Elise Irene Clark whoever she wants to be.

xo. Elise