Utah - Again?!?

You read that right - I'm back in Utah. This time, I'm in town to visit my alma mater - BYU (Brigham Young University). I'm here in Provo to attend Education Week. This is an entire week that visitors to the BYU campus can attend classes on hundreds of topics. It's the single largest continuing education program in the world. Thousands attend classes that range from deeply spiritual subjects to law to finances to history to cooking to...well, you get the idea. In one way, it's a chance to go back-to-school. This time, however, there aren't any exams ; ) I was lucky enough to attend Education Week about 5 years ago and loved every minute of it. My choices for classes tend to be more academic. It's not that I don't like the religious topics, I just like to take advantage of the opportunity to learn about things that I don't have easy access to. This week, I'll hear from professors on the conflict in the Middle East, DNA research, the Nicean Council (OK, that's a little religious, right?), and European archaeology.

The classes run from about 8am until 9pm. That's a lot of learnin'. Today was an abbreviated schedule. I rode a bike from my in-laws' house, up to campus (about 5 miles). Having spent most of my time sitting in front of a computer lately, it was a welcome bit of exercise ; ) Besides, having the bike on campus meant that I could get from class-to-class easily. With thousands attending Education Week, you have to get a seat in the classrooms quickly.

The view from my seat (couldn't use a flash)

This morning, I attended several classes that looked at the impact of war on the LDS Church. They also focused on Mormons that had served in the military - from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan. The section on WWII was the most interesting. There is a large project intent on preserving the history of LDS members in the military. It's a joint-effort with the Library of Congress, called Saints at War. You can visit the website here. It's worth a look, as the stories are inspiring.

During a break in-between classes, I found a new cafeteria in the Tanner Building on campus. In one of the most-inspired decisions, they had this:

Talk about a celestial combination: BYU and Nathan's Hot Dogs. I was pleased ; ) Tomorrow is a long day of fantastic classes. I can't wait...