Both of my parents went to BYU and had me while they were studying there. After being born in Orem, Utah, I was raised most of my life in Arizona. I loved growing up in Arizona. I often joke that in coming to UVU, I returned to my birthplace and ancestral homeland.

In high school, I was not a good student. Most of my teachers can attest to that. Some of them loved me for my personality, but most would tend to agree that I didn’t work very hard. I have told my parents on several occasions that I just have a natural aversion to homework. Tests were not that hard for me, but I wanted to spend my time doing fun things in high school. That led to a pretty liberal splattering of bad grades. I got quite a few C’s and D’s. It wasn’t until halfway through my senior year that I started trying. It’s funny because I wouldn't do my homework most of my high school career, but I spent hours per week practicing as part of the debate team because that was an activity that interested me.

When I entered my senior year of high school, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do after graduation. I decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I learned many good habits, like the importance of doing the little things and sticking to a schedule. I reflected a lot on my high school experience and realized that I was such a punk, refusing to do the little things like homework because I felt like I knew better. As much as I hated doing the menial things, I learned that they led to bigger things.

After my mission, I applied for a number of top-tier schools, reasoning that though I had a really bad GPA, the schools would be able to look past that to the person I was. However, application after application was rejected due to my low GPA. When I heard back from all the schools I had applied for, I did not have very many options. I had heard good things about UVU, and I applied to go there for a year and transfer to BYU once I had improved my GPA. I hate saying it, but I was one of those students that came intending to transfer. UVU seemed perfect because it was in the same area as BYU, and I could get to know both Provo and Orem while attending UVU.

My intention of transferring lasted for only about three months. In my first semester, I signed up for 21 credits, not realizing how heavy of a load that was. That semester was tough. Nobody had explained to me which classes I should take, so I signed up for a mixture of lower and upper-division courses within political science, which was my major at the time.

During that semester, I took a class that changed the trajectory of my college experience. It was an upper-division class on sustainable mountain development taught by Professor Baktybek Abdrisaev, who had served as an ambassador for the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. There were only four or five people in the class, and all of them had more experience in the political science major than me. As I learned from Professor Adrisaev, I marveled that a former ambassador was teaching me. One day, he asked us if anyone was interested in going to the United Nations to give a speech. Not many of my peers were interested in this fantastic opportunity, which confused me. I thought, "Come on, this is a chance to go do something cool out in the real world." Finally, here was an opportunity to learn through my preferred learning method, which was real-world problem-solving and application. I signed up, and we started searching for funding to pay for our travel. We were fortunate to receive some grants and fundraised our way to the United Nations, where we presented on sustainable mountain development. We represented some of the first Utah college students to ever give an oral statement in front of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. After a whirlwind four days of meetings, presentations, and exploring New York, I reflected on the trip on our way back to the airport. I was blown away by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that UVU gave me. My experience with the United Nations gave me confidence and assured me that I could do anything that I put my mind to, especially with UVU supporting me.

While we were in New York, we went around to several embassies and gave brief presentations on sustainable mountain development. Several months later, to our extraordinary surprise, a fellow student and I received a personal email from the government of Kyrgyzstan, asking us if we could return to New York in two weeks and present our research during a special parallel session for International Mountain Day. We excitedly called our adviser and got hold of the Office for Global Engagement at UVU to see if there was any way we could return to participate in that event. Our mentors in that office, Dr. Baldomero Lago and Amy Barnett, found a way to get us to New York for this exciting experience.

As we entered the room several days later, we were greeted by the ambassadors of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Canada, Austria, and other prominent world figures. It was a very humbling experience to have a roundtable discussion with these important people. We gave a 10-minute presentation on sustainable mountain development, the only students invited to present at this prestigious panel.

Following that experience, I was 100% sold on the mission and vision of UVU. As I entered my second semester, I applied for as many leadership programs as possible because I wanted to get more involved at UVU. I became a residential community leader, participated in the LEAD program and honors program, started working as an innovation catalyst, served as a program director for the Center of Social Impact, worked as a referee for intramurals, and planned donor-facing events at the Center for Constitutional Studies.

Along the way, I switched my major to national security studies. With this change, I was offered the opportunity to travel to Cambridge for a summer and take classes alongside graduate students at the International Security and Intelligence program, allowing me the opportunity to research conflict resolution in Yemen.

In my junior year, I applied to be a presidential intern, and I was selected as President Astrid S. Tuminez’s intern. All of my prior experiences, especially my time spent as an innovation catalyst, helped me support President Tuminez in her research needs, as well as brainstorm ideas for new campus programs. Under the direction of President Tuminez and Associate Vice President Jefferson Moss, I helped to create the Excellence and Innovation Initiative, a new presidential initiative focused on bringing project-based experiential learning to students across campus. Through the internship, I also met best-selling author Kim Scott, who helped me recognize a blossoming passion for computer science. With the mentorship of President Tuminez and Kim Scott, I embarked on a journey to start a second major in computer science.

Today, I continue to pursue a major in computer science, work as a research assistant for President Tuminez, serve as a mentor in the honors program and the LEAD Program, and work as a UVU Foundation ambassador. Additionally, this past year I was selected from thousands of applicants to participate in an ongoing internship through the federal government, concentrated on policy analysis.

From my first semester at UVU, I was provided with real-life learning experiences that helped me better understand my classes and the world. UVU helped me go from a sub-par high school student to an engaged student involved in many leadership and extracurricular programs. I love UVU because it is an educational experience that met me where I was and showed me my potential. President Tuminez often says that “UVU has a place for you.” I can reaffirm this message with utmost confidence. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’re interested in, there’s a place for you at UVU.