I was born and raised here in Orem, Utah. I have lived here my whole life, and I love it so much. I am the youngest of 10 kids. My parents had their first six children in Washington, D.C., and my dad got a job computerizing Brigham Young University’s law system. It was just going to be a one-year assignment, but they ended up wanting to raise their kids in Utah, so we stayed here. I come from a pretty remarkable family. My siblings are all fantastic people, and, being the youngest, I have always been the beneficiary of that. When I was in high school, I received many opportunities because I was a Keller. I am grateful for that in many ways, but I also felt like I did not have my place or identity. This one time, I auditioned to be in the pit orchestra for the premiere of Les Misérables at Orem High School. I decided to audition for the only flute part in the whole show. I nervously walked into the audition, and before I had the chance to play anything, the director said, “Oh, your name is Chrissy Keller? You got the part.” I didn’t even audition; she just gave it to me because my last name was Keller. I wanted an opportunity to prove myself and carry out something by my merit.

In my senior year of high school, my mom kept talking to me about where I was interested in going to college, and she said, “Wherever you can get a scholarship is where you’re going to go,” because they had many kids to support. One day I came home from school, and she excitedly greeted me at the door and said, “Chrissy, I found an opportunity today at UVSC. One of my childhood friends, Mike Maughan, is the director of the Presidential Ambassador Program there, and I scheduled an interview for you with him.” I was extremely nervous about my interview. Trying to exude confidence, I wore a purple dress that had the word Barbie printed all over it. To my surprise, the interview went well.

Mike was so warm, kind, and welcoming. He asked me how my experience could help his program and what I was interested in studying. I felt confident in my answers. About an hour into our interview, he said, “I am happy that you came in today. There is something special about you, and I am grateful you came. But can I tell you something? I have no idea who your mom is. She called me so excited and acted like we were best friends, and after looking through my yearbooks, I cannot remember who she is. But I think you are an outstanding student, and I want to offer you the scholarship.” I gratefully accepted the scholarship and excitedly drove home to tell my family. I was so happy that he wasn’t the Mike that knew my mom; he offered me the scholarship because he was impressed with my answers and who I was as a person, not because I was a Keller or because my siblings were terrific. As a presidential ambassador, I worked with the president of the university and aided with VIP events. This opportunity gave me the confidence to pursue many extracurricular involvement groups at UVU.

Although I received so much help along the way, my road to graduation was full of challenges. I started my education at UVSC in 2005 and originally wanted to be an elementary school teacher. After a year of school, I decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While on my mission, I developed a painful tooth infection from a root canal that I had received when I was 14 years old. The disease turned into a large abscess, and I was in the hospital for two months as a missionary. This experience convinced me that I should study dental hygiene. When I got home, I switched from all my education classes to the pre-dental hygiene classes. These classes were challenging for me, but I was able to push myself and get through them.

In 2012 I got ready to apply to the dental hygiene program at UVU when I experienced my first major setback. I was working as a Spanish teacher at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) at the time, and one day I was walking up the stairs to my classroom when I suddenly felt this sharp stabbing pain like I had run into something — and I fell to the ground curled up in the fetal position. I felt sweat escaping from every pore of my skin as I lay there motionlessly staring at all the missionaries walking by. After 30 minutes of excruciating pain, I wrote my dad’s phone number on a piece of paper and asked a missionary to call him. He arrived and took me to the hospital, where we found out that I had a cyst about the size of a softball pressing down on my ovaries. The doctors were able to remove the cyst, but two weeks later, I was back in the hospital with another cyst of the same size and in the same place. After six hours of consulting with one another, the doctors decided to give me an injection that would kill the cyst over six months rather than remove it surgically. I ended up having an allergic reaction to the infusion and was bedridden for six months. It was a tough time for me as I dropped out of school and lived in my room, staring at my ceiling fan day after day, suffering from hot flashes, chills, headaches, and nausea. I was on 15 different medications to counteract these painful symptoms. Finally, after the six months had passed, I started to feel better as the injection left my system.

 

The trauma that came from this experience resulted in my taking a 6-year hiatus from school. During this time, I worked for my parents, who understood my health, energy levels, and schedule. In 2018 they encouraged me to continue with my education. I was nervous to go back to school because my dental hygiene classes had been so hard for me, and I had been gone for so long. Fortunately, I met with my counselor, and, after an hour, she convinced me to switch my major to Spanish. I already knew Spanish and had taught it for four years at the MTC, so this felt like a good change for me. So, on January 8, 2018, I started my classes, hoping that this would be a setback-free semester. However, by 3 p.m. I began to feel sick, having major cramping again. I called my mom, and she took me to the emergency room. I had another cyst that had ruptured and ended up missing the first three weeks of school. I wondered, “Is this a sign? Maybe I’m not supposed to go to college.” It ended up being a challenging semester because I started upper-division Spanish classes after having missed the first few weeks of school. Luckily, my teachers were so understanding, and the student accessibility office worked with me to have extra time on exams. I am so grateful for these kinds of resources that students receive at UVU.

The help I received in my classes allowed me to take part in many extracurricular activities. In fall 2018, I had the opportunity to serve as the director of alumni relations for the Student Association. That semester Pepsi awarded us $750,000 for our homecoming week. This allowed us to have an outdoor concert and many other unique events. This was President Tuminez’s first time experiencing Homecoming Week, so we tried to make it as memorable as possible. Around that time, I contacted Rachel Parcell, who is a world-class clothes designer and UVU alum. She made multiple dresses for President Tuminez, who wore them in her first week as president of UVU. From this experience, I made lasting friendships with both President Tuminez and Rachel Parcell.

I participated in many extracurricular activities, including co-founding the fashion club at UVU, volunteering as a club member in the Women’s Success Center, participating for three years in the Center for the Advancement of Leadership as a member and mentor, joining the Career Passport program, serving in Prospective Student Services as an ambassador, leading as the director of alumni relations for the Student Alumni Association, and working as an intern at the Utah State Capitol under Senator Deidre Henderson. Thanks to the support that I received from members of the Foundation Board, I have been able to work on starting my own eyewear company.

Fifteen years after I first started my college education, I fulfilled one of my dreams and graduated from UVU. I received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a minor in communication. The majority of my most special relationships have come from UVU. I could name a million people that have blessed my life that I would not have known if I had not gone to UVU. I am so grateful to be a Wolverine.