"I'm excited about the grains class," she said. "I want to learn how to use our wheat. There's one on adversity, not that any of us have any of that. And I can't wait to see Don Aslett, who talks about home organization. He's awesome. Funny, funny."

She also was pulling in family from around the area to attend a special campus showing of "Pride and Prejudice, The Musical."

Maybe best of all, her mother was with her every step of the way, smiling ear to ear. Marie Sandberg recently returned home to Provo after three years in St. Petersburg, Russia, where her husband, David, was an LDS mission president. She and her husband generally enjoy religion classes when they attend Education Week, but on Tuesday, Sandberg was in heaven just following her daughter around after three years apart.

The Sandbergs attended school together in Provo.

"It brings back some of the inspiration I felt at BYU," she said. "It brings back the sweet memory."

Sweet memories are exactly what 15-year-old Mariah Russell of Ephraim hoped to create on Monday after a guy friend from Las Vegas called on the weekend and encouraged her to go to Education Week. She had to start her sophomore year in high school on Tuesday, but her mom agreed to drive to Provo with her for a day.

Within an hour, Russell had made friends with 18-year-old Sara Hegsted of Pocatello during a class on "The Sensational Standard Works," by Vickey Pahnke Taylor and Brad Wilcox.

"The teachers were really good at mixing fun and serious," Hegsted said.

Russell was bummed about missing the dance but beamed when she shared her top goal: "Meet guys."

Several boys and girls in that large group Briggs was in last year came from Wyoming and returned this year. Many of them corresponded via e-mail, text messaging and Facebook during the year. Those friendships are special, said Valerie Taylor, 19, of Fort Bridger, Wyo.

"It's great to be around people you know share your same values and are feeling the same things you are."

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com