Human

Welp, I finally did it—I got a B!!!! Yeehaw! (I’m trying to be excited about it, though I am truly kind of bummed). Econ 110 at BYU? A joke. Really, an introductory course should never be that difficult. It wasn’t even that material that was hard. It was the tests. Our teacher and TAs never prepared us adequately. But, the good news is that it’s OVER! It’s done, it’s finished—the end, finito! And that’s the best part. And I'm going to have a mediocrity party where we celebrate our shortcomings. Because we came here to earth to learn and to live and to break our hearts - to feel and to experience everything we can.

So there it is, folks—Jennifer Anne Hardy is, in fact, human.

Graducommencemutation!

Why don’t they call any of the actual ceremonies ‘graduation’? I mean, there’s commencement, then convocation, but no straight-forward graduation. It’s probably an ancient tradition like those robes and hats we wear for reasons unknown to most of the graduating population. Commencement was nice. It was long, and the speakers, excluding Elder Scott, were rather dry, but it was fun. Sitting there next to some of my best friends from the past 4 years in my cap and gown, the tassel swinging in my face, was very fulfilling.
By that point I had just dropped off my research paper—the last homework of my undergraduate career. I sat there, homework free and sleep deprived, and just smiled. Convocation was even better. More of my friends from the film program were walking than I knew, and my speech went really well. In fact, I loved giving my speech. It wasn’t boring or super serious, but it was meaningful and I put a bit of me in it. In fact, I think I’ll just post it here:

The Frog is Stayin’

I am honored to be speaking to you this morning. My name is Jenny Hardy, and I am graduating in Media Arts Studies. I would like you to think back to when you submitted your application to BYU. Why did you do it? Why did you want to go to college in the first place? Why did you pick this school over all the others to apply to and attend? Maybe BYU blue runs through the veins of your family, like it does in mine. Maybe you’ve never wanted to go anywhere else. Maybe you came for the unique spiritual atmosphere, to gain an education that is both spiritually strengthening and intellectually enlarging. Or maybe it just felt right for you to be here.
Now I want you to think back to when you applied for your major—why did you do it? Why did you choose to be a dancer, a filmmaker, a singer, a songwriter, an actor? You could have done anything—why this?
I had many reasons for coming to BYU. It was far enough from my home in Salt Lake to be “away” without actually being away. My three older brothers graduated from BYU. I loved the idea of taking religion classes. And, there was no way I was ever going to the University of Utah.
I chose to study film because as a small child I became thoroughly smitten with movies and their power to express ideas. I was the kind of kid who had Fred Astaire for an imaginary friend. I watched movies, I made movies, I devoured movies. The film bug had bitten me and I had mighty dreams. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to help people feel joy and excitement. I wanted to change the way people look at movies, to help them see that they are more than flickering images or entertainment alone. Movies are lives that we are allowed to step into, experience, and then leave feeling better off than we were before. So, I packed my bags and with my cheap camcorder in hand I set off to make my mark.
But as I started working my way through, semester after semester, I found it wasn’t all giggles and roses. It was hard work. I found my motives questioned from every possible angle and I did not have the same confidence that I had when I was 10 years old and writing the next Academy Award winning screenplay. I inadvertently put that 10-year-old in a box somewhere, out of sight and earshot, and struggled through.
A great philosopher once found himself in the same situation. His name was Kermit the Frog. In The Muppets Take Manhattan, Kermit and his friends move to New York City to make it big on Broadway, but things don’t go as planned. Every door is slammed in their faces, and, one by one, Kermit’s friends leave. They forget the dream. And now I would like you to watch Kermit’s reaction to his troubling circumstances. (Then I showed a movie clip where Kermit says the following:

"Look at all those people out there. Lots of people. But my friends... my friends are all gone. Well, I'm gonna get 'em back. I'm gonna get 'em back! 'Cause the show's not dead as long as I believe in it. And I'm gonna sell that show. And we're all gonna be on Broadway. You hear me, New York? We're gonna be on Broadway! Because, because I'm not giving up! I'm still here and I'm stayin'! You hear that, New York? I'm stayin' here. The frog is stayin'!"


“The frog is stayin’.” This poster from the Foundation for a Better Life hangs on my wall. Is it silly to be inspired by a frog? I don’t think so. I mean, look at him!
After all the challenges BYU brought me, I rediscovered myself. I found that, in addition to actual filmmaking, I loved mostly discussing film, writing about film, and learning how film works and what it teaches us about life and ourselves as people. I am now going on to graduate school to continue my study of film, and that 10-year-old self I put in the box all those years ago—the one with the dreams of being a screenwriter and changing the world—is coming with me.
And now, more inspiring words from Kermit: “Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices? I've heard them calling my name. Is this the sweet sound that calls to young sailors? The voice might be one and the same. I've heard it too many times to ignore it. It's something that I'm supposed to be. Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers, and me.”
I look at Kermit and I see us, each of us with many things we want to achieve in our lives. We entered BYU to learn, but I would like to suggest that what we came here to learn was not limited to our specific major, our chosen emphasis, or our eventual career, but something much more universal and eternal. We came here to learn how to keep going when it gets rough and to trust in God that it will all work out. Sometimes, all we can do is look back to the beginning of whatever road we are on and hold on to why we took that road in the first place.
Life after graduation holds new and bigger challenges, as I’m sure you and your parents, friends, and family here today already know. We can give up and shrink away, or we can be the frog that stays.

It was really fun, and I received a lot of compliments about it. My film friends seemed to really like it. Afterwards I got to hang out with my family—so many people came: my grandparents, aunt Jorji, cousins, parents, and brother Scott and his family. Props go out especially to Scott and family for dragging their children out of bed at the crack of dawn to come to my ill-timed 8:00am convocation. Yikes. I had hard time getting there that early. I can’t imagine bringing 3 small children along too. And Mr. Stephen Anderson also gets massive props - besides my parents, he was the only person to make it to both my commencement and convocation. Yay Steve!

After all the convocating and commencing was done we went to the Spaghetti Factory, my favorite, and had a grand old time. I felt supremely celebrated and loved—thank you to all who have supported me throughout the years and held me up when it’s been hard.

I made it!

College? SHE DONE!

That's right. You're reading the blog of a girl who has just graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Film. WORD, G-MAN! It's done! I can't believe it's been four years. It feels like I just barely moved out of the dorms. Wow. This week was one of the longest of my life. I have never been less motivated and more bugged that I'm not motivated. I literally had to set a timer for myself in order to focus - do homework for 50 minutes, and then you can watch a YouTube video. God is merciful and wonderful and I'm sure was sending down blessings of long-term memory recall for me. The biggest hurdle was the Econ 110 final. I was so freaked out about that exam. I was sure I would fail it. But I arrived at the test and got an 84% - not too shabby for an Econ test! The average for past tests is in the high 60s-low 70s, so I did great! Woot! I don't know if, with the curve, it will be enough for an A, but I am happy with my efforts and life is moving on. Special thanks to my mummy for giving three pep talks a day in order to help me get through and Shahrukh Khan who made studying bearable. Blessed Bollywood.

So, at 1:30 AM on Thursday, April 21, 2011, after I finished my last paper, Katelyn and I celebrated finishing finals (she's been done for a week) and did something really awesomely stupid. I admit fully that it was my idea. And we caught it on film! I'll be vague to protect both my and Katelyn's reputations, but just know that it involved fire and an Econ textbook...yeah... Moments like that come along once in a lifetime! We may not have any common sense, but we do have college degrees! All I can say is "Look out world! Here we come!" The world doesn't know what's about to hit them.

Game Show Hilarity

YouTube - KBC 3 - Hilarious Contestant wid Shahrukh Khan (+subtitles!):

Ha ha ha ha oh my goodness. Poor guy. He definitely phoned the wrong friend.

Hey, if SRK hosted this show in America I would definitely watch (no offense, Regis or whoever hosts it now).

New Summer Plans

I already know how my summer is going to be. It looks like this:



Yup :D

The End is Nigh

My college days are slowly coming to an end. It's so strange to think I'm done. Of course I'm not quite done. A Masters and possible PhD loom somewhere vaguely ahead, the masters less vague but still up in the air. I only applied to BYU's film studies program. There was no time for other applications, plus I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I'm still not sure. But I get excited about the prospect of watching and writing movies, sometimes I think about directing. That's something. I feel odd thinking about so-called grown up things like full-time jobs, careers, moving somewhere other than provo for a while. I'll be honest - I'm scared. I'm scared to move places alone. I'm scared that I won't be able to work somewhere I love. I'm scared that I'm doing the wrong things.

Even though I'm feeling this way, I've also never felt so trunky in my life. I'm sitting in my Econ class right now. I swear he's not talking about anything that will be on the test. So I'm blogging! I'm paying attention, really I am. But i have finally realized, after four years of busting my booty for straight A's, that grades are secondary to knowledge. Yes, grades can reflect your knowledge and allow you to obtain more in the form of scholarships and acceptances to programs (and, despite what everyone tells you, a GPA makes a BIG impression on a resume. I'm pretty sure I can attribute most if not all of my being hired at different workplaces to the fact that I have a 4.0 - everyone who says they don't matter doesn't have one), which is why good marks have always been important to me, but it's not a measure of who I am as a person - there! I finally said it. Whether or not I believe it is still in the works, but at least if Econ kicks my booty this semester I can celebrate that I'm human.

It's still important to me to get good grades. I'm kind of upset that I may not finish my college career with a 4.0 (how snobby is that?!) I've worked hard for strait A's and who knows, maybe I'll still get it. But in the end, I'll have a degree and that's the truly important thing. I put so much pressure on myself. It doesn't help that my advanced writing teacher saw my resume and now refers to me as his 4.0 student when we talk. He expects it from me now. Why do I care what he thinks? Well, his expectations only reaffirm my own. I respect him and I want him to respect me. It's the same with all of my teachers - doing less than my best would disappoint them and me. I like being the one who gets all A's. It's probably a pride thing. In fact, I'm sure it is. It would definitely hurt my pride to not finish with a 4.0, but hey, like I said before - grades don't make me a better person! And perhaps dying academically in Econ is just a little nudge from God to help me be more humble.

In summary: I know I'm good at school. But there's so much more in life that I'm not good at, and most if not all of those things trump school in a heartbeat. In a few weeks I'll know what my final GPA will be. Though I wish they would be all A's, in the end (like my mummy has been telling me since kindergarten) life will go on, and it will rock.

COLLEGE? She DONE! Almost... :)

Why didn't anyone tell me?!?

I am so grateful I'm in the musicals genre film class. If you know me, you know I love musicals. However, my personal education in this genre was lacking in two areas--Elvis Presley and Bollywood. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THEY WERE AMAZING?!?

We'll start with Elvis. In class we watched Change of Habit with Elvis and Mary Tyler Moore. It is an AWFUL movie. The acting (with the exception of Mary, who is always charming) is terrible. Elvis is so bad, and yet....I find myself loving him. Maybe it's because he's so attractive. I had never thought so before, but seeing a movie with him finally made me believe it. Attractive he is. I don't know what it is about him--maybe his complete lack of acting skills made him endearing in some way. There's a charm about him, something that I can't quite place. But he just makes me want to watch more of him. And, admittedly love him while I laugh at him. The end of the movie was just terrible. No resolution. At all. Disappointing. And, by the way, it's NOT a musical. Yes, Elvis sings in it, but it's not a musical.

Next, we have Bollywood. Holy cow, I found a new passion! I can't get enough!!! We watched Om Shanti Om in class tonight and let me tell you, I could not stop smiling during and after the movie. The filmmakers are completely aware of what they are doing, and they make the most of it. I want to live in India now. Add this movie to my top 20 all-time favorite movies list--no joke. They just do whatever they want, and they do it marvelously and beautifully. What a fun style! And I may just have a celebrity crush on hero Shahrukh Khan now. I think it's his hair. And his dancing. And his goonish charm. Why didn't anyone sit me down and make me watch these movies before?! Life will never be the same.