essay #2- crappy rough draft

Cassànndrè Sager
2 November 2006
Essay #2- crappy rough draft

As human beings, each person belongs to a number of communities. Some people belong to sports teams, others book clubs, service organizations, and the list goes on. Most people also belong to more than one community as well. I belong to many communities- including the communities of Greenriver Communtiy College and Seminary.
Greenriver is an academic institution. Seminary is a theological class for high school students of the LDS faith. Seminary is an early morning LDS church class for youth that provides a much-needed community of support for upholding church standards, values, and morals. Before proceeding very far, here’s a synapsis of what seminary is.
. It is an early morning class for girls and boys in high school with the course curriculum foundation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the LDS Church, or the “Mormon Church”). There are four years of seminary- the Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Church History/Doctrine and Covenants.
Students learn about the text and also about how the information therein applies to them- the scriptures are personalized. In doing this, students learn good values.

I have not been a student at Greenriver for very long, but in my experience thus far the community is vastly different from my seminary community.
The first time I fully realized the difference between Greenriver and seminary was in my English 110 class. Within the first couple of weeks I was given an assignment to read an essay by some author about S***** rough drafts. I did a double-take. S***** rough drafts?! Okay, I suppose that it’s considered alright to use language like that in college. I’m extremely unaccustomed to it, but I guess I can see where they’re coming from… (Do you see how the title of this essay is a crappy rough draft?) In seminary, such language isn’t even considered being used because everyone knows that it is an unacceptable practice. This one aspect of Greenriver I’ve had to adjust to, knowing that many people don’t consider such language inappropriate and don’t share my opinions concerning it. I now brace myself mentally for English 110 every time I access the class online. I do enjoy this class, don’t get me wrong- I enjoy writing, and haven’t enjoyed it so much I think in a very long while; however- it would be nice if I didn’t have to worry about what people are going to say and whether or not it will be appropriate.
And on that though, there is something to be said about the friends I have from seminary. Many teenage boys in high school (and many teenage boys and young adult males in college, as well, I’m sure) like to engage in conversations which, to say the least, are not very appropriate in the least bit. Around these sorts of people, I feel uncomfortable, always on my guard, thinking are they going to say something that makes me feel uncomfortable? If so, when? And how am I going to avoid having the conversation go further down that track? This is a very stressful way to feel when interacting with other people. It is difficult to be casual, easygoing, and to enjoy the young man if I constantly worried about what he’s going say and if I will need to direct the conversation in more appropriate paths of conversation.
With young men from my seminary class, I have no such worries. I know that if I am around them they will not say anything inappropriate- no swearing, cussing, vulgar language, dirty jokes, sexual innuendos- none of that which when I hear it makes me cringe. What’s also nice is, for example, in my contemporary world issues (CWI) class that I had last year, a boy named Isaac from my seminary class was in it with myself. And we would talk about different things in that class that tend to be very controversial issues. I absolutely loved it when we broached controversial topics which, being LDS, Isaac and I had our set-in-stone opinions concerning. Sometimes other students would say something concerning these topics that was a little off-color. I loved that simple glance at Isaac where I saw him glancing back and grimacing, his thoughts seeming to echo mine. Was that really necessary to say? Or when in Mr. Larsen’s class our freshman year, Mr. Larsen drew an excessive amount of attention to the male genitalia on a Greek statue, and the female “endowments” (that’s what we’ll call the breasts)- the upstanding LDS boys (who, by the way, are in my seminary class) looked away and groaned at the teacher’s audacity. With these young men I don’t have to worry about them viewing my body as an object to be admired and that being the sole reason they enjoy my company. I know that while they might struggle with viewing my body as such, but the fact is that in this struggle they continue trying their best to do what’s right.
That last idea is part of the reason why most of the seminary girls dress modestly- even for school dances like homecoming, they find dresses that do not plunge too low and also which have sleeves (if they don’t have sleeves, they make their own sleeves or wear a little jacket over their dress). The boys respect girls, do not swear, and aren’t interested in viewing inappropriate material. Many/most of these students work hard at school, and work at keeping a long-term perspective of how their choices today affect their life possibilities in the future.
You see, being LDS, we have values, and standards, and morals and we try to adhere to them like tape, sticking upfor what we believe in. But sometimes, Sunday worship service and Sunday school just aren’t enough. In our society which can be so corrupt and vulgar at times, we often need daily uplifting. Daily reminders of who we areand what we stand for. Seminary does this for today’s LDS youth. It helps us at this critical deciding time in our lives to stick to what we believe and stand up for it.Of course, in my example about the young men being upstanding, that goes two ways. I know young men who are extremely thankful for the large amount of girls who dress and behave modestly. Some of them like to say, “modest is hottest!!”, which always gets a laugh, but is also nice for the young women to hear. They don’t feel pressured around these good LDS girls to think about sex or other inappropriate behaviors. They are able to concentrate on the girls’ personalities instead of being distracted by their more physical endowments.
Thus far in my college experience, Greenriver has a bit of a different atmosphere. Which is alright- Greenriver is not an LDS school, and so I realize that it’s quite silly to expect it to live up to my standards of right and wrong and such. That’s okay. I don’t have a problem with the Greenriver is conducted, though I must say that I don’t prefer the manner in which the freedom of speech is being carried out. Sometimes I wish for a Freedom of Hearing law. I have the freedom to not hear what I don’t want to hear… J
Between seminary and Greenriver, I prefer seminary. This is just because of the nature of the class. . People may say that seminary doesn’t teach anything that can’t be taught at home or at church. That is true, but seminary provides an unequaled opportunity for daily teaching in an environment with other people whom the students can relate to and interact with, thus providing an unparalleled support which the likes of cannot be found at home or church. People may say that seminary is useless. It is not. Ask any seminary student, most will say that they notice how starting their day off with seminary changes the whole outcome of the day.
Seminary gets me started in the morning. It gets me started thinking critically and in making good decisions through out my day. I had to choose between seminary and Greenrvier, I would chose the first in just a couple heartbeats. Why? Although I love Greenriver, I believe that seminary has a greater influence on my life- on the choices I make and what I grow up to become and what sort of person I grow up to become.