Return of the Intern.

Do you remember when I graduated from BYU in April 2009? I blogged about it here, in case you need a refresher.

That was the last time I set foot in Utah.

Crazy, right? The place of my birth, the place of my people, the place of my alma mater and yet I haven't had cause to return for the past eight years. Until now.

And, I'm pretty stoked about it!

The choir I sing with (Millennial Choirs and Orchestras) is performing in six (SIX!!) concerts at the historic Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City this week, and as such I am hauling myself to Utah to join them. ALONE.

Yes, a trip for me, by myself, no spouse, no kids -- just me, navigating the Beehive State like the legit adult I supposedly am. I'm also renting my first AirBnb (LOOK AT HOW CUTE IT IS!!!) and my first car. Which kind of makes me nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine, right? Please tell me I can't screw this up.

Aside from enjoying SLC, I'm excited to see my sister Mariah and take a gander at the BYU campus because I hear it's changed a whole lot since I was there. And, let's be honest -- I miss BYU. Sometimes, I long for the sunny, pristine atmosphere of BYU. It's like the Disneyland of college campuses. Everyone is nice and good-looking, the landscaping is perfection and it's not uncommon for a group of students to bust out in song, Broadway musical-style.

(A lot of people there also live in Fantasy Land, but that's another gripe for another blog post.)

Anyway, I am excited to report back about the AirBnb experience and tell you all about my travels, but I need some help from you! I'm going to be eating out a LOT during the week, and I value high-quality food experiences, so give me your dining suggestions from Provo to Salt Lake City! Especially sushi, because Mariah and I have this tradition where we get sushi together any chance we get, and we're definitely going while I'm there. Fire away!

My conversion to Libertarianism, part I.

After Ted Cruz dropped out of the presidential race yesterday and it became clear all hope is lost for America, internet searches shot up for one term in particular: Libertarian Party.

All I can say is it's about danged time.

I've been a mostly-closeted libertarian for a few years now. Closeted, because a lot of people equate libertarians with crazy, pot-smoking, gun-toting tax-evaders. But the truth is, we're not. Actually, I believe most people can identify with the Libertarian Party more than they think -- they just don't know it. So what I'm saying is, you're probably a closet libertarian, too!

My conversion to libertarianism is a story 10 years in the making.

It started in the fall of 2005, during my freshman semester at Brigham Young University. I wanted to major in business at the time, so I enrolled in ECON 110. At that point, I didn't know much about economics, except for the basics. But I didn't really understand how economic policies could affect me.

The professor, Dr. Kearl, taught the class from two perspectives -- one that supports a totally free market, and another that relies on government intervention to steady the market. On the first day of class (right after my chair collapsed in front of a billion people in the packed lecture hall -- yeah, that was awesome), he told us to keep an open mind about the two schools of thought we were about to study. He challenged us to think about which would work best and decide for ourselves which we would espouse.

Thus began my enlightenment.

Before ECON 110 opened my eyes, I thought taxes were a necessary evil. I thought people had to be forced into charitable giving because they'd never behave altruistically on their own. I believed the price of goods was inherently unfair because people were meanies and wanted to screw their buyers over, so the government needed to step in and protect us little guys. I felt the concept of supply and demand worked just fine in a vacuum, but not in reality. I thought if I wanted to be a successful entrepreneur, there were a lot of pesky rules I'd have to play by, but I just accepted this as a fact.

As I learned about Adam Smith his philosophies regarding self-interest and the invisible hand in the free market, I wondered, how had I not learned these things in high school? Even earlier? The concepts were so simple and made so much sense. It was like I intuitively knew all of it, but I had somehow unlearned these basic truths along the way. I had been conditioned to believe that if the government can help a little (by, for example, eliminating negative externalities), it can help a lot.

As Dr. Kearl taught the Keynesian approach to economics during the second part of the term, it took everything in me to keep an open mind and not discard it all entirely. I came away understanding the government does have its place in society, to be sure. But the market functions best when government is extremely limited. 

I couldn't un-know what I had learned in economics class. I watched the free market work beautifully all around me as student entrepreneurs started companies of their own, some which quickly flourished and others which fizzled out as competition drove them out of the marketplace. It fascinated me to see Smith's principles in action.

Then, we witnessed the economy fall to pieces as the subprime crisis turned in the Great Recession of 2008 (good read on that here). It became apparent to me that the government was causing the ruin of the American economy, not the people. Many economists are starting to agree that a slew of government policies -- quantitative easing, low interest rates and homebuyer facilitation programs, to name a few -- are what caused the GDP plunge of the late 2000's, leading us straight into the recession.

I saw something else happening, too -- right at BYU. As I walked from one end of campus to the other for work each day, I passed a few electrical boxes spray-painted with the words 'Ron Paul Revolution,' along with the image of a man's face.

I was initially curious, so I Googled the name. Then, I was turned off. Who are these anarchists running around tagging stuff in the name of some unknown politician? I wondered. Ron Paul sounded ... well, crazy. And if his supporters were spreading his message by defacing public property, I wanted nothing to do with it.

Mitt Romney was my guy. See, as much as I supported the idea of a free market, I was also raised in a staunchly-conservative Mormon home. The idea that drugs and other immoral activities should be legal appalled me. I believed the government was responsible for upholding Christian values, and I erroneously thought if something was against the law, most people wouldn't do it.

Since Mitt holds my same Mormon values and he's a capitalist with gubernatorial experience, I threw my support in for him during the 2008 and 2012 elections. I watched as Ron Paul ineloquently fumbled through Republican debates, trying to share his message of liberty with the world only to be mocked to scorn. At first, I was annoyed by this kooky codger. Then, I started to feel bad for him. The things he was saying seemed lunatic on the surface, but actually made sense when I further examined them. But he struggled to be heard, and eventually dropped out of the race.

The idea of a truly free people, governed on an extremely limited basis, sounded beautifully simplistic to me. It was what the Founders had intended. And, it was even kind of ... Mormony!

But, there was still the issue of social liberalism which comes with a libertarian mindset. I couldn't accept immorality on a widespread basis! All my life, I'd been taught to "stand for truth and righteousness" in everything I did. How could I reconcile the "live and let live" attitude of the libertarians with this concept?

Maybe you're thinking the same thing. I'll tell you how I did ... another day.

To be continued ...

Best class at BYU.

Did I tell you guys? My mom, my brother and his wife AND my cousin all graduated from BYU last week! Sadly, I could not be there to cheer for them due to performing with EVMCO the very same day. I was really looking forward to getting some fudge from the Bookstore, having a J-Dawg and stuffing my face at Guru's.

(Apparently, all I did at BYU was eat.)

Anyway, in honor of their impressive accomplishments, I've decided to tell you about my most favorite-ever BYU class. It's been three years since I donned my navy cap and gown and pranced across the deJong Concert Hall stage to get my diploma. Remember?

Such a great day.

I can't say I loved every class I ever took at BYU. Some were downright pointless (American Heritage, I'm talkin' to you). Many were dampened by my morning sickness and a constant urge to vomit. Others were made miserable by my gigantic belly and accompanying sciatica. But there were a handful of courses I truly loved and would take again in a heartbeat if given the chance.

Today, I will tell you about the best one of all: Flexibility.

I was six months pregnant with Bubby and a sad sack of pathetic. It was Summer term, and I was in need of a few credits in order to maintain my scholarship. Being so large and in pain, I knew I didn't want to take something serious, or something that would require a lot of studying and homework. So I turned to the physical education classes, only to quickly realize I could not participate in any of them.

Except two: water aerobics (which was full, plus I didn't own a one-piece) and flexibility.

I'd heard the flexibility class was highly-coveted amongst Zoobies. I wasn't sure why -- girls in tight pants in provocative poses, maybe? -- but as soon as I saw it had ONE opening, I snagged it up. It wouldn't be available for long. God was definitely looking out for me that day.

I contacted the instructor and she thought the course would be low-impact (read: easy) enough for me to complete in my current state of gestation. I was so pumped! I was going to become so limber I wouldn't even need the stirrups during my next obstetric examination! And when it came time to push out my baby, I'd just collapse into a split and there she'd be.

Awesome.

Little did I know how absolutely radical this class is for pregnant women. Seriously, they should rename it "Third Trimester Bliss" because that's what it was.

The class was an hour long, but we got 10 minutes at both the beginning and end to change into our BYU-issued gym clothes. So that left 50 minutes of class time. We'd all meet our super-sweet instructor on the track in the Smith Fieldhouse to take a one-lap leisurely warm-up walk. Then, we'd head upstairs to the dance room where the real fun would begin.

Each of us would locate a squishy blue yoga mat in the back of the classroom, roll it out onto the floor in our desired spot and stand on it. The teacher, a cheerful, blond, 20-something master student, would then lead us in some very basic stretches while she discussed a health-related topic. One day, it was the benefit of eating nuts. Another, it was the crucial importance of drinking water. It was never anything scary or difficult to comprehend, mostly just common sense stuff. And the best part was, we didn't have to take notes or even remember these things. She assured us, it was "just for our information."

After about 20 minutes of stretching and smalltalk, the instructor would turn off the lights and put on some soothing music. We would then get cozy on our yoga mats and proceed to take a 15-minute nap while Dido or Kalai serenaded us to sleep.

Ok, you can stop laughing now. I'm not kidding.

I vividly remember the first day we had naptime. It was only about a week into the semester. For our lecture, we discussed the benefits of taking a 10-15 minute nap each day. The teacher told us that 10 minutes of napping buys you 3-4 hours of added energy. I was perplexed by this fact but I totally ate it up. Who wouldn't?

After our stretching and nap lecture, the teacher informed us she was going to provide us with this blessed naptime from here on out. During class. "Students are so busy and don't even have time to eat, let alone take a nap!" she chirped. How noble of her! As a pregnant woman, I was especially grateful for this unexpected benevolence. I may have even cried in hormonal joy.

At the end of the nap, the teacher would kindly wake us by turning the lights back on, one by one so as not to startle us into wakefulness. She really was a sweetheart.

Then, we'd lazily meander back to the locker room -- or in my case, to the bus stop -- I never bothered with bringing my clothing back and forth. I figured no one would care to see my inflated Beluga whale body in all its glory so I changed at home. Brilliant, because it meant I got to leave 10 minutes early every day.

The final exam was the crowning jewel of Flexibility. The teacher handed each of us a sheet of paper a few days before our exam was scheduled. The paper had about 10 questions on it, and each one inquired about something we had "learned" during our lectures. I momentarily panicked, thinking, She told us we wouldn't need to remember that stuff! LIAR! But my anger was quickly replaced with relief when she began to tell us each of the answers. "Just memorize these questions and answers, and be prepared to fill out this exact sheet again in a few days!"

It really was that easy. We even took our tests on yoga mats for old time's sake.

I don't know if BYU still offers Flexibility, or if it's still this easy, but I think every student should try to take it. I mean, you get to wear comfy clothes, stretch, learn about some inconsequential health topic, take a nap and earn half a credit for it. It basically rules.