My very first day of coming onto campus consisted of going to the humanities college orientation. I was so excited to be a linguistics major, and yet I knew nothing about what I was getting myself into. As I walked into the orientation room, I was given a small mountain of papers. The one on the very top caught my
attention, as I saw my last name 'Elzinga' printed on the paper. My heart started to beat extremely fast, knowing that somewhere here on the BYU Campus I had a relative! After talking with the department Dean about the Linguistics Major, I put myself on the line as I asked him if he knew a 'Dirk Elzinga'. He replied that yes, not only was he a Linguistics teacher, but that his office was on the 4th floor!
I ran as fast as my little freshman legs could carry me and I tore a piece of paper from one of my notebooks. I started scribbling a letter out as fast as I could, when from behind I heard, "Can I help you?" No sooner did I look up but there was Professor Elzinga standing right next to me. After introducing myself, and sadly finding that there was no relation between us, he invited me to come to a Linguistics Activity. Well I showed up to the activity and found myself as the newest officer in the Linguistics Society. I have often thought back onto my freshman year and how I was, in a way, tricked into helping out. At the same time, I am forever grateful to him for asking me to help. Because of the Linguistics Society I was excited to apply to the Council. Not only has my courage and self-confidence grown, but my leadership skills have doubled. I now have the confidence to speak one on one with teachers and even tried my luck at an internship in Germany. While my extra curriculars will not help me enter graduate school, they have helped me grow as a person. I will forever be grateful for the faith that Prof. Elzinga had in me, to ask me as a freshman to be a part of the Linguistics Society. It set me off on a roller coaster ride into things that I never dreamed I would have the courage to try.
Haha! I love this story! You know, I totally joined the council by chance as well... I had a crush on a boy who was on it, and when he invited me to apply, I was there! But then I totally fell in love with HCSC for what it is. I think that's so cool that you got to be in the Linguistics Society from the very beginning of your college career. The cartoon for this one was pretty funny too. Even tho it didn't turn out the way you'd intended, I think it was due to your excitement and spunk that you've found yourself part of all these cool organizations.
ReplyDeleteOh Liz. The curse of the Elzinga name has followed you right from the start hasn't it? Haha! That connection did allow you to jump right in and become involved didn't it? And it is good to see that you still consider yourself blessed by the interactions that this opportunity has afforded you. Life really is a growing experience. I've always felt that we should be more than eager to take advantage of those opportunities to broaden our horizons we are presented with.
ReplyDeleteI had to read your post once I saw the cartoon. That is a great story. It's good that you were able to get involved in the college so early in your undergraduate career! And I empathize with your experience about being excited for linguistics without even knowing what it was.
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