Opus 129 - My Opinion

As stated in the title of this post, the following is my opinion. I do not, in any way, intend to offend anyone, but I really need to get this out because I'm just tired of it... (I've got your attention now, don't I?)

I first met a "BYU hater" when I moved to Arizona. Prior to that, no one else seemed to care enough to form an opinion. Or if they had one, they just didn't express it to me. The first BYU haters I met hated BYU because their mother had tried to get into BYU and wasn't accepted. So she hated BYU and taught her children to feel the same way. Throughout the past 16 years I have met many BYU haters. I've found their reasons for hating BYU very interesting and have noticed a pattern. Most people I've personally met that hate BYU have felt this way for one of the following reasons: 1) Like my Arizona friends, someone close to them was not accepted to BYU so they now hate it (I have a friend who loved BYU until he wasn't offered a scholarship; hates it now); 2) They were offended by something a BYU student/faculty/staff said or did and have decided all of BYU is terrible because of that; 3) They think BYU people think they are holier than everyone else.

Now I realize there are plenty of other reasons people hate BYU, but I've found those three to be the most common. Here's my opinion:

To the first group: Seriously? You hate BYU because you or someone you know couldn't get in? Lame. Can't you come up with a better reason to hate the school?

To the second group: Just because one person (or maybe even several people) did something that offended or hurt you, don't blame the entire school. Not to be rude, but get over it. I can't say that my entire experience at BYU was perfect. I met people who were rude, offended me, or did things that were very wrong. But they were people - not the school. In a very small way it reminds me of people who leave the Church because someone offended them (obviously this comparison doesn't work too well since whether or not you like BYU has NOTHING to do with your Eternal Salvation - I don't think the Lord cares which school you like).

To the third group: In my 7 years at BYU I never met someone who thought they were better than everyone else because they attended BYU (or if they did, they didn't express that opinion to me). I know that those people exist, but I just didn't meet any of them. Which tells me that the "holier than thou" thing that people think BYU has is a horribly gross generalization. That's like saying everyone at the U of U drinks heavily, eggs and keys BYU cars, throws ice and tequila laced snow balls at BYU fans, and can't control their emotions - because I've certainly had my share of run-ins with those U of U fans! That's a horrible generalization - I've met plenty of wonderful U of U fans and I refuse to create my opinion of the whole population because of a few.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't care if you like BYU or not. But, please, if you're going to dislike BYU can you just come up with a better reason?? You know, like... the rivalry, or something like that? I've met tons of people who hate the U of U, but none of them have lame reasons like the above three. It usually just has to do with the fact that they like another school better. So if that's why you dislike BYU (because you're a U of U or USU fan), that's just fine with me. Like I said, I really don't care who likes what schools. They're just schools! You're going to get a good education at all of the schools I've mentioned in this post, so choose your school, get a good education, and enjoy being a fan. But please, please, please don't hate BYU for some lame reason! It gets really old!

For my part, I loved my experience at BYU. It was the right school for me. I met so many great friends, had some amazing professors, and learned more than I can possibly express. I love BYU and wish some people would get over their bias to realize that it is a good school - even if it isn't the school for you. I don't understand people who hate a school. Honestly, I don't. When it comes to sports, of course I want BYU to beat the U of U. But do I think poorly of the school itself? Of course not! It's a great school! For goodness sake, it's because of the U of U that we were able to have Lissa and Joshua!! I guess I'll just never understand why people get so riled up.