Pathway Helps Construction Worker Build New Life

June 2014

Tim and Brenna Bushman have been happily married for nine years. Their lives center around their four children and the balancing of schoolwork with hitting home runs in youth baseball.

Tim is a big man with strong hands and a tender heart. Like his father before him, he has provided amply for his family. Over the years, he felt the occasional emotional nudge to get more education, but it never seemed a priority until last year when he tore a bicep muscle and injured his shoulder.

Construction, he noted, is a young man’s game with a shelf life - and he suddenly found himself with an expiration date. “Young guys come along who can do the work faster - not better, but faster,” he said.

After Tim had been unemployed for about a year, he and Brenna were getting desperate for options. “Where can you go to learn new skills at a reasonable expense?” they wondered.

“One Sunday in priesthood meeting the bishop announced a program called Pathway that he said would ‘change lives,’” recounted Tim. “The idea hit like a bag of rocks. I knew this was for me. A desire to attend started to burn.”

After enrolling in Pathway and attending the first group class, he had pinpointed his goal and knew how he wanted to get there.

“I feel my future is with the youth,” he said. “But I need formal education in psychology, not just life experiences, to help them,” he said.

After one week in the Pathway program, Tim and Brenna were pleasantly surprised with the newfound civility in their home. There was a new spiritual harmony. They had detected improved spirituality in coping with life’s struggles. Brenna was particularly pleased with the family’s interest in the scriptures.

For Tim, the opportunity to read comments posted by others on the group’s website has proven validating and revitalizing. He has gained new understanding by learning how others see and solve problems.

The lesson that Tim would like to impress upon the youth is that the Lord provides a safe passage through the winds and waves of life’s challenges. He knows firsthand, he says, because he’s now on that ride.

Help other students like Tim by supporting the Pathway Program at BYU-Idaho

Pathway is a low-cost educational program that combines online learning with support in a local group setting. The aim of the program is to help those who haven’t had success in school by preparing them for additional education. The program has widespread application around the world and is growing as fast as local leaders are being trained.

You can help defray costs with a generous donation, and, in the process, put a family back on the course of hope and self-reliance.