At Last, Graduation!!

The odyssey that began in August of 2001 is finally coming to a close. At long last I will be finishing my undergrad. Today I will take my last final in Mechanics of Composite Materials and the graduation ceremonies will be on Friday.

As with any major change I'm happy to see it come, but there are things about the student life that I will miss. Believe it or not, I'll miss the late night homework sessions and test study sessions. I'll miss the people that I've met during my undergrad and the friendships I have with them. (Another guy from my class got a job at the shipyard too, so I'll see him still.) I'll miss being on campus and constantly being exposed to new concepts throughout the course of the various semesters. This time has been very well spent, and now it's time to look forward.

In the future it will be up to me to decided what I want or need to learn. Hopefully, school has taught me more about learning that it has about engineering and I will be able to structure my own studies. The problem with this is that I'm no longer limited to engineering. There are so many interesting and important topics to study. For one thing, I haven't given enough time to scriptural studies. And then there's current events that must be considered in order to be a constructive member of society.

When I was a teenager I didn't like change, but serving my mission taught me (if nothing else) that change was the only constant, and that making life successful was not about moving in the direction you wanted but doing the most with the direction in which you are moving.

FrontRunner Grand Opening

One of the reasons I like my job at UTA is that I get to be involved in things that the general public has tremendous interest in. Sometimes that's a bad thing. It seems that the transit authority can't do anything right some days. But every once in a while there comes along a great historical event that is long-awaited for many. One of those events happened this weekend. On Saturday April 26, UTA held the FrontRunner Grand opening. This marks the beginning of commuter rail service between Ogden and Salt Lake, and hopefully the marked reduction in traffic congestion along the I-15 corridor in Davis County.

Last time UTA did something this significant was when the light rail opened between Salt Lake and Sandy. That was 11 years ago and 10 to 12 years ago few people would have believed the impact the light rail has had on the valley. I think that the commuter rail will have at least as great an impact. Most of the people I work with were around when the light rail service was being built, so they have been through a big even like this before, but I'm happy that I've been able to be a part of this historic event.

By 2015 the commuter rail will extend from Brigham City to Payson and it will change the lives of people all along the way.