Extra Credit Blog Post

This semester, all of the instructor conferences were very helpful to me. However, i believe i gained the most insight and guidance for my paper when it was closest to the deadline. The rhetorical analysis was the paper we did right before the deadline, and it is the paper i received the better grade on. I also believe that it helped the most because we already had our papers pretty much done so we could receive guidance on last minute changes. With the issues paper, we only met with four pages of our draft completed. The other half of our essay was not even thought of or typed out yet, so we couldn't receive guidance on things we should change and revise. I know this is what the writing center can do, but i prefer the advice of our professor and the person who will actually be grading our paper. With the opinion editorial, it was still coming up on the deadline, but i remember that my paper was still in rough draft form. I would rather go into a conference with what i think is my best work and have someone show me places where i can still improve. Of all the times to give an instructor conference, i think right before the deadline is the most helpful and effective way to achieve the best results from student papers.

One of my favorite apostles to hear in general conference is of course, Jeffry R. Holland--who doesn't like him? But this year, i am most excited to hear from President Dieter F. Uchtdrof. This semester i am taking the Living Prophets class. It has been so intriguing for me to learn about each apostles life because you more fully understand the messages they give and the stories they share. When going over each of the 15 men's "best" conference talks and learning of their teachings, each one's distinct tone and style easily shows. I love President Uchtdorfs for two main reasons. First is he has these short one line sentences that sum up perfectly a principle. He could say just that sentence and probably sit down. For example, in one talk we came up with some of these short, powerful phrases from his talk "Of Regrets and Resolutions." My favorite, and probably a good life motto as well, was "I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live." This short phrase can perfectly sum up his whole talk. I also really am looking forward to President Uchtdorf because he is so animated and shows humor in his talks. It's interesting to me because we all know Uchtdorf as a funny, kind man. When he was first called to be an area seventy, he was asked to speak in conference in 1996. If you look at the talk he gave, he spoke very slow and monotone with a thick german accent struggling to say the right words and phrasings. He used no hand motions and you could tell he was having a hard time. Now, to see how far he has come and how he now has this confidence and more personable manner through which he writes and delivers his talks is inspiring. He has completely grown into a tremendous leader. Through learning about his life and reading his teachings, i have grown to love President Uchtdorf. I never thought i would say this, but he is the one i am most looking forward to hearing this year at conference--and hopefully he will be speaking in the session i am attending.