Hi and Op Ed Proposal

Hi! I'm Ariana and to start off introducing myself, I love to go barefoot.  Don't get me wrong, I brought a whole box of shoes with me to BYU, but given the option I'd much rather wear no shoes at all.  I understand that it's a bit gross since the ground isn't the cleanest place, but people today are really too paranoid about dirt and germs. Anyways, I'm only going on about this because I think the whole concept of going barefoot describes who I am much better than listing my favorite color and ice cream flavor, etc.  Going barefoot is freedom in a small, weird way.  It's unconventional, but nothing beats the feeling of grass beneath my feet.  It makes me feel more connected with the world; it makes me want to run around and skip and sing and dance.  It makes me happy.  I know that's weird, but I've learned to appreciate the small things in life, and going barefoot is definitely one of my favorite small things.  (Since the assignment included background information: lived in Utah, Massachusetts, and New Mexico; electrical engineering major; green and purple are my favorite colors; mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best)

It is commonly said that there are no atheists in trenches.  Apparently, there are no atheists in the testing center during finals week either.  You could say that's because this is BYU, which is probably true as far as atheism goes, but the fact remains that both students and staff refer to the testing center as the most sacred building on campus.  More prayers are said there than in any other building.  It's a basic fact of life: when life gets hard, people to turn to something greater than themselves.  The imminent threat of death makes religious men out of soldiers, and the prospect of taking a test that you didn't study for makes for devout, prayerful students.  Prayer is a great gift, and I'm proud that BYU students take advantage of it in their everyday lives. However, I find it rather shameful that the testing center and not the temple is considered the most sacred building on campus, even if the people who say that are being rather tongue in cheek.  There should be no doubt about which is more important.  It suggests that we, as students, are putting more focus on our test scores than our religion, even here at Brigham Young University.  At a time like this when the world is scrutinizing our church more than ever before, do we really want to give that impression?  The scriptures make it very clear that prayer isn't a freebie, get out of jail free deal.  We have to do all that we can, and then He will make up for the rest.  Doing all we can includes studying for our tests, keeping up with our work, and going to the temple.  If we do all that, then a fervent prayer in the testing center is worth a shot.  If not, I suppose all we can do is pray anyways, and try to remember that there is a time and a place for asking for help.

The idea of praying for tests is relevant for two reasons.  It's the beginning of the school year, so the time to decide to stay on top of things and not be reduced to begging for help during finals is right now.  Secondly, the election has brought a lot of attention to our church, and every little move we make is being judged by the entire country.  We're going to make an impression, but it's up to us to decide if it's a good one or a bad one.  The rhetorical situation at the present time is in its origin, as there is not much discussion about it.  However, the "most sacred building on campus" quote comes up with nearly every professor and older student I've heard talk about testing, so it's clearly a widely known topic.  Once the idea is brought up, it should be fairly controversial, since every single student has prayed during a test they should have studied for and they are likely to be defensive about that behavior.

I have to make several assumptions about my audience with this topic.  I'm assuming they're Mormon or religious, they're students, they have to take tests, and they've prayed during a test they didn't study for.  As a student, I have definitely done this, especially during finals week where I should have studied much more than I did.  My stance on the issue, however, is that you really can't expect any help when you didn't do your part.  College students often have a problem of falling behind, especially freshmen who aren't used to the workload.  Instead of resorting to praying during tests, we should manage our time better and get down to the temple more often.  We should make the temple where the most prayers are said and answered, not the dreaded testing center.

I will have to make many claims that will be difficult to support since I doubt there's a whole lot of research on praying for tests.  However, there should be research on proper testing preparation, the mindset of doing as much as you can before bailing and asking for help, and how others view BYU and the LDS church.  One of main claims I'm making is that having the testing center as the most sacred building on campus reflects negatively on the church and BYU as a whole.  The reason for this is that as the next generation of the LDS church, we're pretty much expected to be perfect.  Falling behind in school and relying on prayer is a very small thing, but we're being held up as examples to the world and we need to be as true to what we believe as possible.  According to scripture, we believe that prayers are answered, but we have to do our part too.  Another claim I'm making is that people who end up praying during tests usually didn't do everything they could to prepare for the test.  I know that firstly from personal experience, from talking to other students, and I think there's always a little more everyone could have done in almost every situation.  Looking at the busy campus life of BYU, it makes sense that we would have trouble balancing fun and school.  I know there are people who do their best and still need a prayer to help them out, but I'm focusing my argument on the unprepared people who just rely on prayer.  An assumption I may have to make but am not comfortable with is that these unprepared test takers are not spending their time at the temple or at church meetings.  I'm claiming there was a better way to use their time to prepare for their tests.  My reasoning for this is once again because I know how much people our age, and of all ages, tend to procrastinate.  In this day and age with all the distractions of technology, never mind all the excitement on campus and in the dorms, it is incredibly likely that we are not using all of our time wisely.  The creator of Facebook said it best when he told everyone off for complaining about finals on Facebook instead of studying.  Another main claim I'm making is that changing this behavior will actually make a difference.  While the topic seems to be about praying during tests, it's really about procrastination.  The praying habit is just a manifestation of procrastination that particularly bothers me.  First of all, it's common sense that not procrastinating will make your life easier.  It helps us become more collected and get more done.  In the end, you have more time to focus on improving yourself, and changing the world happens one person at a time.  It's not the easiest way of changing the world, but at the same time it's the most feasible to start with.  We're the young ones now.  It's our turn to make a difference, and not procrastinating can help us along the way.