Long ago, well, 6 years ago, I was a 18 year old freshman in Stover Hall in the Helaman Halls dorms at BYU. The experience changed my life forever and created friendships that remain a daily influence in my life. All of my current roommate lived in Stover the same time. As things wrapped up and I prepared to leave I wrote a letter to those that would come after. I then taped the letter to the bottom side of my desk, a place I rarely looked at. In that letter I wrote in part:
I loved living in the dorms. It so nice to have such close friends live so close around. We are friends here on 1100. We have banded together in a manner very unusual in most places I think. You can do the same thing. Remember that the people around you are not just neighbors, they are brothers (or I suppose sisters if they switch the dorms again.) You can rely on them, they can be a great help to you.
I attached my name and email, packed up my bags, and headed off. Three years later they switched the dorms from male to female and the manly men of Stover Stadium became freshman girls. I received a facebook note from a freshmen girl who was then living in Stover 1107 about how she had received my note. She agreed with my sentiments.
Two years later (a few months ago) I received another note
Hi, my name is——– and I”m am the current resident of 1107 Stover Hall. Today my friend M— was plugging in her computer under the desk and she discovered the note you left behind. She and my other friend Sarah and I read it together and we really loved your words of advice and your testimony. The girls in our hall are exceptionally close, just like you said the boys who used to live here with you were all very close. Thank you for taking the time to write that, we have all been inspired and are each going to leave notes of our own at the end of our 8 months
Sincerely,
—–
Standing at the foot of graduation considering those times back in Stover seems like staring into the depths of the murky ocean. How far I have come and how much I have seen. I am so grateful for my time at BYU, it has been full of treasured experiences that I dearly hope these freshman can continue to have years into the future.
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