Tristocity (as in Spanglish-ized tristeza)

So today admist all our working, the coders of the coding lab logged out of KRONOS for a few hours and had a goodbye party for Alex. Alex is the undergraduate student who essentially built, ran, and oversaw the coding lab and has been the liaison between the lab and the professors and graduate students in charge of the research program. Alex was also the president of the School of Family Life Student Association last year. Oh, and he's collaborated with several professors doing mentored research and is already published. He and his wife are two of the most amazing people I know. And next week they are moving away because next month Alex starts his PhD program at Purdue where I have no doubt that he will do amazing things and be wildly successful.

Today I said goodbye. Twice. I'm not good at goodbyes. I'm better than I used to be. I think I used to use the line "see you in the spirit world" a lot or thump my fist to my chest twice and flash a sideways piece sign. Yeah, I'm cool. I have a hard time saying goodbye to people that have been significant influences in my life. And Alex has been one of those. So I'm making this post a tribute to him.

I truly believe that my association with Alex was a blessing from Heavenly Father. He has been one of the most influential people of my BYU experience. I first me him in a class during winter semester 2007. I was fresh off my mission. And I mean fresh off. I was still listening to MoTab and EFY exclusively and occationally accidentally answered the phone "Bueno. Habla Hermana Ellsworth" during those first transitional months. Anyway, my memories are few and far between, but I know that Alex and I, along with another classmate or two, did a group project together in which Alex was the leader. And I could tell he was a good guy and a great student. I remember at some point I sat and talked with him before a class in the JFSB basement. And although I don't recall the particulars of the conversation, I remember hearing his ambitions, his research interests, and even his soon-to-be involvement with something called coding.

And as I listened to him, it made me start to think about my ambitions and my potential. At this point I probably hadn't officially declared my major to be MFHD, although I decided upon it towards the end of my mission. Hearing him talk about a then-distant graduate school experience made me think about that possibility for myself. He even encouraged me to email the professor in charge the coding lab about a job. I didn't get the job then, but that was my first contact with the man who will now be my faculty advisor in my graduate program.

If it wasn't for Alex, I never would have applied for the coding lab job again after India, and I suspect that he was a big part of the reason I was among those selected applicants who was offered the position. And working at the coding lab has changed my life. It has allowed me to associate with some amazing and ambitious people, it offers great insight into family life and relationships, it strengthened my resume, and, more than anything, I believe, it is what got me accepted to my grad program.

What's more, knowing Alex gave me confidence in myself. He is just a very kind, encouraging, validating person. I've never seen him criticize any of the scores of coders he has trained and supervised. He sees the good and says it. He's a leader that people want to follow. I know that his encouragement and compliments have bolstered my confidence. I remember him telling me that I'm the funniest person he knows. He's given me confidence in my capacity as a coder as he's told me I've done well, or has done things like bought donuts to celebrate when Branden and I recieved the first 100% consensus. He was among those who recommended me to speak at the SFLSA graduating seniors luncheon. And at various times, he's given me reason to believe that I could get accepted into graduate school and succeed there. If I hadn't been strengthened my his trust in my capabilities, I don't know if I would have thought enough of my abilities to have tried. I honestly believe that I would not be going to graduate school in the fall if I did not know Alex.

Anyway, I'd better wrap up this ode to Alex, so I'll just say this: He is a high-caliber gent who has blessed my life, and who I am confident will do great things in the world. And I hope that someday my future kids can take classes from him when he's a professor at BYU. And for at least the next little bit, I'm going to be at least a little sad each time I enter the coding lab and remember that he's no longer there.