Jason and I got married just months before the 9/11 attacks. I had barely graduated from college and Jason was still working on his degree and interning fulltime. I got my first “real” job, making wages that I would now laugh at, mere weeks before September 11^th changed everything. Then that fateful day came and the world seemed to turn upside down. Overnight America’s financial future became bleak. All of a sudden we were stock piling plastic sheeting and duct tape to cover our windows and doors in case of another terrorist attack; we were declaring war. In an instant, our future became surprisingly uncertain and filled with fear.

It was in this turbulent economic environment that Jason and I tried to keep ourselves financially afloat. As is typical of newlyweds, we had very little money to spare, and job security was basically nonexistent for us. There was an ever present threat of layoffs at Jason’s work, every few months they seemed to go through another round of them. My employer was having severe financial distress as well, and layoffs occurred on a regular basis. Once, both our companies had layoffs scheduled within a week of each other; we knew that it was quite possible that we could both lose our jobs and our entire income. But somehow, we managed to stay employed, until 2003, when my company, just months from declaring bankruptcy, let nearly my entire department go. This event was more traumatic than I could ever have guessed. Saying goodbye to the good friends I spent 40 hours with every week, along with the stress of having a temporary career hiatus, left me in tears. But within six months I had a new job with much better pay, the economy was slowly starting to perk up, and everything seemed a little brighter.

Now, five years later, the future again seems unsure. With high gas prices, low home values, and subprime mortgage issues, everyone seems to be feeling the financial squeeze. And for me and Jason, history has repeated itself. Once again, both our employers decided to do layoffs at the same time, actually on the very same day. Miraculously, we both made it through the cuts, but many of our coworkers, and friends, did not.

It is impossible to explain to someone that has not experienced a layoff firsthand the stress, sadness, and shock involved. As HR calls people, one at a time, into a room, you wonder if you are going to be next. Thoughts of “what if” race through your head. And even if you are fortunate enough to still have your job at the end of the day, you have to say goodbye to coworkers that lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

You and the other remaining employees feel like the survivors of some horrible natural disaster. With every face you see in the hall you feel a sense of relief, relief that one more member of your work family made it through.

Even after the recent events at my company, and even with the constant onslaught of bad news about the American economy, I am still optimistic. As they have in the past, things will work themselves out eventually. I look back on those first couple years of my marriage, the years it seemed that everyone in America was holding their breath waiting for the worse, and our current economic situation doesn’t seem so bad. We’ll pull through; a little patience and some optimism go a long way. I, for one, refuse to let fear and panic dictate my financial decisions.

My last three years of high school were completely devoid of pep rallies, football games, clicks, wood shop class, and the hottest clothing trends. Instead my days were filled with physics, math, orchestra, American and European history, psychology, British and American Literature, Spanish, and a multitude of other enthralling subjects.

You might think it odd that I actually learned more about educational subject matter than I did about what shoes were totally “in” when I was in high school, and perhaps you wonder where this mythical place of learning was.

I attended a private school called Meridian my last three pre-college years. And while attending Meridian did involve some of the stereotypes you might envision when you think of private schools- such as uniforms- it was much different than most of you would imagine.

The school was not filled with spoiled little rich kids immersed in educational snobbery. Sure, some of the children were from well-to-do families, but public schools have kids from that demographic as well. The majority of the kids at Meridian were just from average families and many of these families had to make great sacrifices to send their kids to this school. These parents were willing to make these sacrifices because they believed in the importance of education. Their emphasis on education meant that they were very involved at the school and in their kids’ academic progress. I believe that parental involvement contributed greatly to the success of Meridian students. I am very grateful my own parents had the foresight to send me to Meridian.

While the parents played an important role at Meridian, one can’t forget the teachers. Most of the teachers were absolutely fantastic! I don’t know how such outstanding educators were convinced to teach at this school for what I am sure were meager wages. I have not had more capable teachers before or since. So wherever you are-Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Betts, Miss Tueller, Mr. Ramsey, and the many others-thank you.

Meridian was founded in 1989 by a group of BYU professors as an educational experiment of sorts. They wanted to find out if a private school, which spent roughly the same amount of money on each student as the government spent per child in the public school system, could provide a better education than public schools. I believe Meridian is proof that the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

While Meridian’s low tuition made its education accessible to more people, there was one drawback to this affordability: our building had to be cheap. Meridian was located on 9^th East in Provo in what used to be a Catholic school, Saint Francis. The building was completed in 1955 and was built to accommodate nuns and a father. These two factors resulted in some architectural peculiarities. One such peculiarity was the hallway of small rooms built to be nuns’ quarters. These rooms were equipped with sinks and vanities and were too small to be terribly useful. But we did manage to squish smaller classes into them anyway. The Meridian School building, due to its age, was also rather rundown. The classrooms never got too warm in the winter, necessitating the use of many layers of clothing. It also always seemed like only half of the toilets worked at any given time. Additionally, our gym floor was deemed unsafe for basketball games so the school teams had to play their games elsewhere. Despite these, and the many other idiosyncrasies, I still think of that building with fondness.

That’s why, when I found out that Meridian had sold their land to BYU and the building was going to be demolished, I wanted to see it one last time. A big group of my high school friends showed up to say our farewells. And yes, we have stayed good friends over the span of a decade, another tribute to Meridian I suppose.

We wandered around what used to be our stomping grounds and reminisced about those good ol’ days. We visited Mrs. Wilson’s classroom that Jim got thrown out of repeatedly, the place in the back of the school where Cam first asked Fran to be his girlfriend (through a note of course-every important conversation took place through notes back in those days), our weedy and hole ridden soccer field where the girls team lost many a soccer game, and Miss Tueller’s lounge where we ate countless lunches of Ramen Noodles purchased at Rikki Tikki’s Tavern.

It may have been a somewhat dilapidated building but it was a great school and I’m glad I was able to pass through its halls one final time.

BTW, although its original building will no longer exist, Meridian School will continue. Starting the next school year it will be located in Orem.

It was my privilege to vote today. I belong to a generation notoriously known for its lack of interest in voting, politics, or anything patriotic. It really is our only flaw, other than that we are perfect! Right?

I am glad to say that this political apathy does not apply to me.

Every time I vote, I get a little teary eyed. I am reminded that this activity, which so many of us take for granted and don’t even participate in, was one of the primary reasons this great country was formed. And it is something, many in this world, are still not allowed to do.

I am thrilled that there are actually candidates this election that I would be proud to have as leaders. Since I have been old enough to vote I have felt like I have been voting for the candidate that I disliked the least. Not one of them has triggered my enthusiasm- until now.

I hope all of you went out and voted and that you will vote in November’s election. I also hope that you will educate yourselves. That you will watch the debates, listen to the candidates, research the issues, and decide unbiased who would lead this country in the direction you would like it to go.

I hope you will not let the race, sex, or religion of the candidates sway your decision. I would love to see a woman elected president but I refuse to vote for, or against, a candidate simply because they happen to be a woman.

Along those lines, I have to say it aggravates me when I hear of voters simply checking the box to vote entirely republican or democrat. It’s an extremely lazy way of voting. Most of the people that vote this way, I have found, know very little about the candidates.

Although many people seem to believe the contrary, integrity and great leadership are not party specific. When we think about the great political figures in American history such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, I doubt many of us, except for the few history geeks out there, recall what political party these people belonged to. We don’t remember because it is inconsequential. What matters is what they did for our country; their vision and initiatives. I hope you can all see beyond party lines and vote for candidates that demonstrate remarkable leadership and personal integrity, no matter what party they happen to belong to.

BTW for all of you who are aspiring history geeks: John Adams was a Federalist. Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were Democratic-Republican, the precursor to the modern Democratic Party. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican.

Another historic tidbit: while Andrew Jackson was campaigning for president his opponents started calling him a “Jackass”. He liked the term so much that he started using the donkey as his symbol. This eventually led to the Democratic Party being symbolized by the donkey.